#sorry if this post makes little to no sense i'm just rambling trying to process everything holy shit

[anachronistic-falsehood]

the situation with dream rn is so fucking insane. imagine fucking gumball calls you a faggot in an uber and slaps the shit out of you. and like i'm not defending nicholas' behaviour either but he was very drunk and in the middle of a manic episode. gumball rocked ur shit dude. and on top of that, video/audio proof of dream sexting at least one minor came out so even if you somehow disregard all the past evidence of the stuff that came out with amanda and anastasia then like!! you can't fucking excuse this!!!! and now people are contacting the orange county police department about these new snapchat messages that came out!!! TAKE HIS ASS TO JAIL!!!

[jeleynai]

Hey there, I adore your art, thank you for sharing it and joining us on tumblr. Your Ghoap art makes me feel so soft.

I am curious about your rendering process. I like how your pieces are textured and coloured and the 3 dimensionality of it, is there a chance you'd be open to sharing some of the steps you take to get from sketch to the finished product? For example what methods (if greyscale, selection tool, etc.) and brushes you use? How you pick your colours?

No pressure in answering this of course, I am just glad to see what you'll be up to in the future.

Hellooooo thank you so much for your kind words!! I've actually been getting so many nice notes from people, I'm so sorry that I haven't responded to them much, I promise I read every single one and shed a little tear of joy at how nice you all are!

Now to the question!!

I made a little step by step image of one of the portraits I posted here for you with a bit of commentary underneath! I'm sorry if it's the ramblings of a mad-woman I'm a bit all over the place sometimes haha (I'm so sorry if there's typos, please ignore them)

I'll also answer the direct questions here since I don't think I addressed them TOO directly in the image.

Methods: I work with soft brushes and the lasso tool for 90% of my process! I introduce textures as well obviously but I try to let my soft brushes do most of the work. A lot of that 'soft' look people tell me my art has just comes from subtle colour shifts and general softness achieved that way over working with harsher textures. I generally like to limit my layers somewhat, especially with simple pieces like the one above. That image is actually just a single layer after step 2! It helps me not get too stuck on one area but I also just... draw on the wrong layer very frequently even if I name them so I don't use them unless I'm working on pieces with different layers of depth (fore-/mid-/background etc.) I do check my values *constantly* (I use the colour-proof setup in photoshop) but I don't work directly from greyscale. I go straight into colours from the sketch.

How I pick colours: I do try to keep my colour palette cohesive and a bit more neutral to start with. I try to avoid extremes at the start so I'm not locked into that too early since it makes that 'subtlety' harder to achieve otherwise. For those colour shifts I talk about I just pick whatever base colour I put down and then shift the colours accordingly! Brush modes/layer modes can also help but I definitely recommend looking a bit into colour theory before relying on them TOO much! Otherwise using them will also end in strange results. There's no direct 'formula' I use when choosing colours since every light scenario is unique and will affect colours differently. I would definitely recommend James Gurney's book on Colour and Light!

Last but not least! If you're more of a visual learner and my rambling is a bit much in written form (I'm so sorry, I'm very chatty I know) I also have a few painting processes up on YouTube c: So if you want me to shut up and just watch me struggle instead then here's a link to the painting that started it all, the OG ghost soap piece I did over a year and a half ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D76X0MT4W5U

I hope that all makes sense!! I'm still super new to Tumblr but I'm always happy to ramble on about art so! Thanks for reading my rant haha

[koipalm]

HI YES HELLO HI HI HIHI HIHIHIHIHI. HI. SORRY, I'M TRYING TO PROCESS. YOUR. SY ASSISTANT AU. Hey. Hi. I'm in love with it. I'm in love with your au. I keep thinking of the hijinks that Shen Yuan gets into with the other peak lords. I'm sorry, but I'm going to ramble about it - if anything, it's all your fault for making such a brilliant AU. Shoot me down if I'm wrong about any headcanons I'm making about it, but teeheeheeehehehehehee. Okay, so first, thinking about Xian Shu peak. Because Shen Yuan is so irrevocably fruity that, when other guys could be being creepy over the girls upon the peak, Shen Yuan is just trying to stay upright and not pass out because of the ✨gay thoughts✨ that stop him from sleeping. The girls could even find him sweet in the way you see a dishevelled rat and go "awww!", whereas Qi Qingqi just occasionally nudges him with her foot to make sure he isn't dead. Next, next, Liu Mingyuan. The chaotic shipper herself. She sees Shen Yuan glancing at Liu Qingge occasionally and just cracks her knuckles like, "oh, this is is going to make a great book series" and, in typical fashion, starts writing everything. She, at one point, writes Shen Qingqiu as a love rival, which is something that Shang Qinghua holds over poor Shen Yuan's head forever. Liu Mingyuan is the kind of gal that has locked Shen Yuan and Liu Qingge in close quarters together just so she can make new writing about it later. Liu Qingge, who sees this pathetic blob of a man sometimes dragging himself around the different peaks (usually in spirit but, on a couple of very strange occasions, literally), has no idea where Shen Yuan came from. So, after asking his sister, he decides to ask the man himself - in what he thinks is a very normal fashion. Shen Yuan, however, sees Liu Qingge (terrifying Peak Lord of Bai Zhan) storming towards him and promptly cornering him, and just passes out. Hands down. After this, he is utterly baffled. When Mu Qingfang asks (read: scolds) about it during what can be described as a supply drop, Liu Qingge is treated to a lecture that is basically "Shen Yuan is like a little mouse whose heart will give out at any moment because he doesn't take care of himself." Liu Qingge listens and hears "Shen Qingqiu bad." It's not like he's actually trying to steal Shen Yuan in any sense of the word, he just likes the little mouse not looking ready to pass out (he would definitely force a cup of tea into the man before he lets him leave, because he's helping right? Toootally.) I did say I would ramble...I did say I would- (Sorry, I just love love love it)

thank u so much for liking it!! im actually really blown away that this many people like the au it was very simple when i thought abt it <3

& unfortunately (& i probably should have specified earlier my bad lol) shen yuan has a lot of fraught relationships with the other cang qiong cultivators! most won't say it to his face but plenty think he's putting on an act or scheming with sqq and because of how close he and sqq work he can't escape sqq's reputation in the sect. a lot of the disciples from xian shu peak actively despise him for working under sqq, while qi qingqi herself is suspicious but mostly ambivalent. liu mingyan is reserved because she eventually sees lqg and sy get along fine, and she would have a lot of fun with his stupid humor. lqg is ALSO mostly ambivalent to him bc of sqq but they grow closer together due to proximity. his whole confusion on sqq and sy's relationship would have to be a completely new post lawl

that being said shen yuan is actually fairly close to mu qingfang in a coworkers way in that mqf actively worries after his health but he's mostly unwilling to interfere in sy and sqq's relationship due to fear of retaliation. all in all i find it really fun to take the popular views on shen yuan and his relationships and make them more complicated SORRYY my bad i just think its really interesting ^^ it's not to say that he won't ever have friends its just that i think cang qiong mountain has a whole host of problems they should address and im having fun with it HAHA

[solitarily-sofia]

i wanted to give just a few more of my heartstopper opinions lol

1.) the teachers are great characters and not at all pointless like some people try to make them out to be. heartstopper is targeted to an adult audience just as much as teens and it is soo so important to see adults having moments of discovery the same way the kids did bc its never too late to have good experiences in relationships and even if u missed out on that in high school or college, theres no deadline. i think seeing that message is very powerful.

alice was correct in switching aled for issac bc as much as i miss aled and i think having demi representation would be awesome, issac embodies aled in a good way, provides aroace rep and leaves open an opportunity for a radio silence adaptation!

charlie would definitely propose first. alice has said that n & c both plan on it and buy rings but they dont know who would actually do it. i dont think nick would propose first bc as seen in the past nick always waits untill he is entirely sure charlie is ready for something, such as the kiss, or saying "i love you". but i do agree that they would both plan on proposing to each other 🫶.

last thought is that although it is really cool that so far all the actors physically looked so much like the characters, that is not the most important part of the casting process. i know some people are upset the actor for micheal doesnt nessecarily match the comic description, but i feel like in the clip we got he embodies the character so well that it doesnt even matter.

thanks so much for reading i love sharing my opinion and seeing other peoples thoughts 🩷

Hii I'm so so sorry I didn't even see this until I checked my ask box!!

1. I completely agree, the teachers are an incredible addition to the story. And I think it's very comforting for young adults/adults when watching knowing they don't have to be teenagers to experience wholesome gay romance. It's a great message to send :)

2. I think it's good they switched aled for Isaac in the tv adaption. Like do NOT get me wrong i ADORE aled. But his story goes far beyond heartstopper and it gave great room for aroace representation since sadly there isn't much representation for it. Also I would love a radio silence tv adaption AHHH.

3. I saw this post a little while back from someone on tumblr saying that they think nick and Charlie would try propose on the same day but one of them would go first and the other would be like "I WAS JUST ABOUT TO PROPOSE TO YOU?!" and I thought it was so cute. But I like this too and it would make more sense for Charlie to propose first. GOD I hope we someday hear about who proposes to who because that would be so cute! Or have a mini comic called "the proposal" or something

4. OHH I COULD RAMBLE ON FOR HOURS ON END ABOUT THIS! I watched the new clip and I instantly thought "hell yeah, THATS Michael holden". He embodies him and hit his mannerisms on the nail. I hope to see him quite a bit this season.

Thankyou for the ask, sorry I rambled on and on I just love these unpopular opinions!! :)

[theminecraftbee]

ok so idk if you’ve answered this before but anyways,, i really love the way you write horror!

i read stuffed bird for the first time over a year ago now but i still think about the world you created on a regular basis. i rarely read au fics and it’s even more rare for me to remember them for an extended period but seriously, no joke, this is about a stuffed bird might genuinely be one of my favorite fanfictions of all time.

anyways, shameless fanboying aside, i actually wanted to ask if you had any good tips with writing horror? im a huge fan of the genre and have always wanted to create something myself but i have no clue where to even start. i feel like every idea i have is either weirdly cheesy or just unauthentic. so yeah, do you maybe have some pointers on how to get over that first threshold of not being “good enough”? or maybe just sharing what goes into your creative process when you write your stuff?

anyways i’m sorry for rambling, you’re really cool and i hope you have a good day. happy halloween!

oh goodness, thank you! i'm so glad you liked stuffed bird, and read it despite not normally liking aus! that's a big compliment!

as for the "how to write horror" tips. okay so first: it's gonna feel a little cheesy. the thing is that when you're writing it, it's gonna be less scary to you. you're going to go "well this is just silly/inauthentic/absurd" and you're going to feel like "well surely this can't scare people" and you've gotta push past that. you've gotta push past that to "well what about someone who DOESN'T know i'm trying really hard, what will they think of it?" and that can help you out a lot.

my second tip is... you've gotta know when to show the monster and not show the monster. like okay you're going to hear that things you don't show the audience can be scarier than those you do. and that's TRUE, but sometimes also you do really want to show the audience the thing. it's all about "what will cause the correct kind of impact in this moment". so, uh, example, most of the stuffed bird monsters i only describe a few aspects of, not the whole monster, and that's because the audience can fill in a scarier description than what i can come up with. however, i still describe what i personally think are the scariest/most impactful parts of the monster! because in order for it to do the thing i wanted i still NEEDED some of the gorey/horror description, i just couldn't try to perfectly describe every inch. this goes especially for horror that relies on physical description/gore actually; if you know when to show the gore, you can make it have impact. if there are certain things you describe in detail and certain things you don't, it will tell you stuff about your characters, AND it will make both of those things have more impact for the audience! so i guess that's one of my big horror tips.

my other big horror tip is that a lot of horror is emotional. doing things that reflect your character's mental state can really help sell whatever you're trying to make scary! this can both work in the "if your character is scared" sense and in the "if your character is NOT scared" sense--for example, if you are describing something scary is happening, but your character has a very happy/lighthearted emotional tone, that's one kind of scary, but if you're describing something scary and your characters are terrified, that's another! and it's useful to know when to use which.

okay and the last tip: don't worry about being "not good enough" just write what you write and post it! you will never get better without practice. the main way my horror ends up working is that i keep writing it, i think; if i never wrote horror, i'd never get used to writing horror, and it would never get scary. plus, you will be your own worst critic. get yourself some friends to help cheer you on, and then just go for it!

this is a lot of paragraphs ;-; but i HOPE IT HELPS!

[pain-in-the-butler]

Hello, this is just a kindly, no-pressure ask for your rant/essay/critique, if you still like what you wrote. I am very curious what you have to say :)

Ah, hi there... Kind of you to drop in and I guess I should expect a little bit of gentle prodding. I do feel sheepish about my radio silence, particularly after I made a whole separate post talking about how I went off answering your ask. In fact, I wrote a whole 3.5k words, and even edited it a few times but ultimately I've struggled to make myself happy with it as a good response to your question, and I'm far too passionate to give myself any grace when it comes to talking about this subject.

But it isn't just nitpicking about the way I've written that's slowing me down. See, back when I was a little English major still in college and finally learning the correct way to write a paper for the first time in my life, I struggled with conclusions. A lot of people do. All I was really told was that I wasn't supposed to use conclusions to summarize my paper but rather to bring in new information. I thought that was pretty stupid, but I was determined to get it right.

At some point, I came upon a technique for writing conclusions that I continued to use for every paper for the rest of my life. Thanks to a borderline ADHD brain and general disorganization, I would often start writing essays only with an idea of what I wanted to say and no idea why I wanted to say it. It wasn't until I reached the end of the paper that I'd finally get what my own point was.

So I'd write the entire essay out in one go and first write the conclusion as if it was a summary of my paper. Next I'd reread the whole thing to make sure my summary made sense. And then I'd take that summary, make it my opening paragraph, edit it so it sounded less like an ending, reread the paper a third time, and then finally write a proper concluding paragraph that did at last bring new information to the reader. I know it sounds like a lot of extra work, but if you struggle with essays too, give it a try.

In conclusion... I wrote a long-winded, rambling essay for your ask, only to get to the end and realize what it was I really wanted to say. And when I realized what I really wanted to say, my essay no longer looked very strong to my own eyes.

Of course I haven't touched it with a ten-foot pole since I recognized this, out of annoyance with myself. But now that I've given it a few weeks to sit on the back burner, maybe I won't hate it so much anymore. I'll give it another read soon and determine what's best to do: finagle it or start over from scratch.

Sorry this is such an extremely extra and unnecessary process, I can't help my nature. I've only been stewing about how much I wish Black Butler was different for at least seven years. The last thing I want to do is sound flimsy when I finally put all my thoughts in order.

Tl;dr, thanks for bearing with me. I promise I haven't forgotten 🫡

[ughgoaway]

the sick dad matty blurb omfg ACE i’m literally unwell at the thought of mopey messy hair matty falling asleep in ur lap and being so flustered at u seeing him like that- brb fucking crying

also speaking of which genuinely insane timing how you always post smth after i’ve had a very long shift i swear theyre really the one thing i look forward to the most after work 😭😭 uninterrupted horizontal time with ur blurbs it’s true it literally is my fav thing-

also perhaps an extension of sick dad! matty but i just can’t shake the idea of teacher reader being worried about him still and asking annie about it at school the next day and annie just randomly drops a bombshell in the way kids do and says smth like ‘oh daddys so much better today! he’s all smiley and said that you chased the bad coughing monster away for him- can you come do that every time? daddy’s never had anyone do that before’ and it just b r e a ks teacher reader completely pls anyways crying throwing up

(- bff anon also has the can’t shut up disease i fear 😭）

OMG, IM GLAD YOU LIKED IT BFF!!! I just need to look after this man.

like imagine he eventually wakes up and its like 9pm at that point so you're like "okay let's get you to bed" and he's all sad and pouty and says "only if you stay over with me" but he's still half asleep and doesn't quite process what he said for a good few seconds...

wide-eyed, he tries to backtrack, "wait- I'm so sorry I didn't mean it like that! obviously, we haven't slept together yet, but- NO, NOT LIKE 'SLEPT TOGETHER' SLEPT TOGETHER!!! I MEANT LIKE JUST SLEEPING!!! ohmygod-"

you're like "no that sounds nice, let's go upstairs," and matty is silently freaking out bc you're gonna be in his bed. with him. sleeping. he's thought about this scenario 1000 times, and none of them included him being dealthy ill and not having nice sheets on the bed first.

(more rambles below the cut as always)

you get matty to brush his teeth and get ready for bed, even rubbing some moisturiser on him (he just sits there with a dopey grin as you apply)

he always thought you'd be on his chest or he'd be spooning you, but he ends up with his face buried between your boobs and he's out within 10 mins.

oh and the morning after... so much potential...

I must have spidey senses for when you're at work bff!!! the fact that my blurbs make you so happy you look forward to them??? brb vomiting???? that is so kind. horizontal time on tumblr is my fav too, its unmatched.

OH, LITTLE ANNIE TALKING ABOUT HIM PLEASEEEEEE-

I can see her spending the night at hanns bc matty doesn't want her to get ill and doesn't trust George or Ross to keep her overnight.

"Do you even know what 5 year olds eat??"

"bro, why dont you trust us???"

"Yeah... like mushed carrots and shit right. "

you put the kids to work colouring something but secretly call Annie over yo your desk, "hi Annie! I just wanted to ask how your daddy is today, I know he's been a bit poorly"

"...please take her Adam"

she immediately lights up and starts chattering away, "Oh, daddy said he's feeling much better today. he even made me my toast this morning, and he was all smiley the whole time!!! he said you made him all better and played nurse!! can you do that every time he's poorly? he's much happier when you are his nurse than when he goes to the doctors"

obviously, internally you're like "ohmygod he really likes me, and I made him feel better. oh, he couldn't stop smiling, and annie noticed because he was so happy and -"

but externally, you play it cool like, "Oh, that's great, sweetheart! I'm sure next time he's poorly, you can help him feel better too"

Annie is like, "Oh!! I hope he's poorly again soon, I wanna play doctors with you!!!"

you try not to laugh at her wishing her dad ill and just send her back to her desk, but the grin doesn't leave your face all day. thinking about the fact you made matty giddy makes you just as giddy as him.

the next day a bouquet of flowers show up at your door with a note,

"dear nurse y/n,

thank you for coming to look after me even after I cancelled our date. whilst I am slightly mortified you saw me looking like that, I'm more grateful for your help. you made being sick worth it. Spending any time with you is always worth it.

love, matty x

ps, I hope the next time you stay in my bed, I'm substantially less sick, and we're both wearing substantially less clothes ;)"

[alwayslurkinginthebackground]

Bad Day - A "Kissing You" Drabble

Pairing: Frankie Morales x f!reader

Rating: No warnings that I know of, just a bunch of fluff with the briefest of mentions about other enjoyable activities with our boy

Word Count: 800

Prompt #5 : Intertwining fingers

a/n: Okay, so I've been working on something for a while, and this is not that something, but rather a small piece of a different something that I'm really trying to convince myself to share. But for now, here's a small piece of that thing that I want to share for @browneyes-issac. I'm so sorry you had a horrible day at work and my brain wouldn't stop until I wrote this in hopes that it might help, even just a little. This is also my first ever released Frankie fic, and also my first time writing f!reader, and also the first thing I've written and shared on Tumblr in literal YEARS, so go easy on me. And if you like it, tell me to post the other ones that may or may not be sitting in my folders.

Masterlist | Next Drabble

Your day has been nothing short of miserable. 

As if a broken water heater hadn’t been enough, the standstill traffic on your way to work and the blown tire just two blocks from the restaurant gave you pause. And then you’d been foolish enough to believe that maybe, at least, work would be tolerable for once. 

But it hadn’t been, and now you're alone in an empty restaurant with a room full of tables still yet to be cleaned. Your coworkers had been no help, piling onto your load with table after table, nevermind your lack of a break. And then they’d left, all citing important events that they needed to attend while you stood, glancing at your watch as it told you your shift should be ending in ten minutes. Keyword, should.

A flash of headlights from outside brightens the empty room, and with a sigh, you head toward the front door, unlocking the deadbolt as Frankie appears on the other side. He’d agreed to pick you up when you’d called him about your blown tire, and he was, of course, on time. 

You're willing yourself not to lose it entirely when you breathe in his familiar scent, but it only takes a second for his wide smile to fade into genuine concern. “What’s wrong?” 

Saying nothing, you turn and walk back into the dining room, gesturing to the tables still stacked high with dishes. “There’s more in the kitchen,” you sigh, eyes falling to the ground in front of you, trying to hide your frustrated tears. 

Slowly, he takes your hand in his, lacing your fingers together and raises them to press a kiss to the back of your hand. “I’ll help.”

A laugh escapes you as you finally glance up at him, “You can’t.” 

Frankie’s eyebrows raise quickly, “and why not?” 

“For starters, you don’t work here. And you wouldn’t get paid. And it’s my job. You probably shouldn’t even be in here like this and you really can’t go in the kitchen and…” 

His grip on your hand tightens, causing you to stop your rambling. Without missing a beat, he counters your concerns with a plan. “How about you wash and I collect the dishes and bring them back to you? Then I can wipe down all the tables and rearrange everything out here while you finish up.” 

“Let me help you, Querida,” he continues when he notices you biting your lip, eyes flickering over the piles of work, and you feel him kiss your hand once more. You have to admit that his plan makes a lot of sense, and it would probably allow the two of you to be out of here long before you would if you did everything on your own. 

“Okay,” you agree after a long breath.

Frankie looks pleased, almost excited, and kisses your forehead quickly before rushing off in the direction of the nearest table. He picks up a stack of dishes and follows as you lead him toward the kitchen. Once you’ve shown him where to set things, you head toward the sink to begin the cleaning process. 

He appears every minute or so as he clears the dining room, stopping in between each trip to kiss you. Sometimes on your forehead, sometimes your shoulder or your nose. Whatever part of you he can reasonably reach, and with each passing moment you feel the weight of the day become a little lighter. A smile here and there, a laugh when he kisses you in the crook of your neck before rushing back into the dining room once more.

Methodically, you scrub away at the dirty plates, working as quickly as you can. Frankie is gone for a while, probably cleaning the tables, and soon the pile dwindles down to nothing.

Strong arms wind around your waist as you rinse off the plate in your hands, a warm chest at your back, and he presses a kiss to the side of your head. “Almost done?” 

You nod, pressing into him as you place the last dish on the rack. “Done.” You turn in his arms, and he doesn’t protest when your wet hands wind around his neck to bring him down for a proper kiss. It’s soft and warm, and you hum when you pull away to find Frankie smiling at you. “Thank you,” you whisper. 

“Anytime,” he returns, hugging you a bit tighter. “Now, are you ready to go home? Because I think I have the perfect remedy for your bad day.” 

His contagious smile finally transfers to your own face, “Is that so?”

Frankie nods eagerly, and you know the spark in his eyes well, so without another word you lace your fingers through his and tug him in the direction of the door. 

And later, when you’re laying in his arms, feeling sated and so very loved, your bad day is nothing more than a forgotten memory. 

Masterlist | Next Drabble

[lemon-wedges]

Just wanted to ask (and feel free to not answer), but how do you draw so much so quickly? I'm always impressed by how fast you doodle or paint. Also, wanted to say that I appreciate your Barok and DGS art as a whole.

and with this ask i have finally reached an artist milestone 😭

Well theres a short answer and a REALLY long answer (which ill put under cut when i get there).

short answer: practice + refs

which.....can be an annoying thing to hear. And as someone who studies art and has bought a LOT of online courses trying to figure out how industry people can just churn out work like nothing. it feels like a let down every time i find out their big secret. just practice and photo refs. Every. Single. Time.

LONG ANSWER:

its how you studying your refs. heres how i do mine

sorry if this is rambly. but ill try my best to at least be clear. BUT THIS is the EXACT way i taught myself how to be quicker.

I do not know if youve taken any art classes but essentially one of the ways to study gesture drawing is by first tracing ur photo ref to get a sense of the flow/proportions of the body. youve probably seen a billion of these tutorials floating around:

So last year around hmmmm june/july? i was NOT looking to get better at my anatomy or gesture. i was actually trying to get better at clothes. but my problem was it took me so long to draw out a figure (which i was fine with cause i liked how my people looked at the time) that i could never really just focus clothing part.

So i told myself look. ur not looking to draw in this style like this forever. so for now SIMPLIFY SIMPLIFY SIMPLIFY!!!! I WANT THE BAREBONES OF A HUMAN HERE TO MAKE A MANIQUIEN FOR CLOTHES OK

but how do i do that....

Im gonna use this piece as an example from my rise and yosuke fashion palooza month. FIRST u see i got all my photo refs together. i like those poses on the right and i want to switch out the clothes for the other ones i picked out. i trace out my poses. kind of like the tutorial up top but since this is about draping i was focused the exact places their waist/arms/legs/etc would bend.

and like the tutorial u turn off the photo ref and do a drawing based off that traced piece.

then i would turn on my refs and add on my clothes

And after a month of just doing that over and over and over. i was surprised to find that figures and poses were so much easier to understand when i would break them down like this. and once u get familiar with them the faster and more confidently you'll draw them.

I and still do this btw. heres my otasune from the last week

i used photo refs for all my sketches. if i cant find anything online to match what i want i just take photos of myself. and some might say well arent u just relying on reference TOO much?

AND AGAIN take it from someone who has spend a lot of money buying classes from their fav artists in the industry. The Secret of how they churn out so much cool work so fast always turns out to be this. practice and photo refs.

Every. Single. Time.(tho this is omitting a lot. im not getting into like they way they stylize their art work. that actually the fastest and funnest thing to do once u have ur base down)

Now PAINTING

The thing is, i dont actually post up all my work on this blog. So theres a ton of stuff you havent seen me do. These are some paintings i did 2 years ago for a class.

I already know how to pick my values and set up lighting. When you see me painting my figures now. i am not focused on learning these basics im actually just honing a technique.

you might see me post readmores with these kinds of wips. I lay in all my colors and lighting with the lasso tool. ALL THE MAJOR DECSIONS ARE DONE HERE

(the little miniature i add on the side basically tells me what the overall feeling is going to be when i blend in the lineart to be cohesive with my colors) ( also if you had any questions on my prepainting process tho. feel free to ask!!!)

and if you compare this wip to my finished piece youll actually find that i dont stray that far from what i've laid in.

everything happening at THIS stage is about feeling out how i want the textures to blend with one another and getting funky with some brush strokes.

and thats it? im not sure if any of this is helpful but if anything. i hope you come away from this feeling like what ive been doing here is nothing special. "THATS IT???? THATS ALL THERE IS??? well i could have done that :T"

exactly man. you can do ALL OF THIS aND MORE!!! I BELIEVE IN U :D

but ill let this be the last thing i leave u with my friend: my barok sketch and the refs i used for his boobies

[atalienart]

I feel you so hard on the whole "what if my story sucks" thing, I know that other people saying it might be great usually doesn't help much because the issue comes from our own insecurities. I was never one to make up full stories in my head, or at least not ones that required any worldbuilding or planning, I just thought of my characters in daily life scenes lol. But I happened to have a dream with some of my characters in a very specific world setting, and that ignited a spark I guess, so I've been trying little by little to think about the whole story and how it works... I don't know what the fuck I'm doing or where the fuck I'm going with the story, I just get overwhelmed at some point because I feel like I barely make any sense. To be fair I am very inexperienced with making stories that make sense so it's nothing that I wasn't expecting lmao.

All this to say that writing is hard, I'm not even trying to write the story, I'm just trying to THINK about it, so I can't even imagine how complicated it might be to put everything into words with every chapter. I love reading your updates, they make me quite happy for some reason, I really enjoyed your creativity with your characters back when I found your art years ago, they inspired me a lot, and it hasn't changed one bit honestly. Sorry that I rambled a little, I just wanted to say that I appreciate you posting about your creative process even when it gets hard :).

Hugs! I'm sorry you doubt in your story too. I'm very familiar with the chaos of the first story, it's like handling fifty kittens at once xD What I found helpful was writing down the ideas, loose dialogues and facts and then working with all that. Thinking is way harder than writing, honestly. It's weird but when I actually started the first chapter the rest just set itself into place (still, the story needs tons of edits but whatever xD). Anyway, you'll figure it out! I think those little sparks of joy every time something works in your story are worth creating and writing it. You never know if it's good or bad but when you can read about your characters and record their adventures to get back to them later it's so satisfying. I hope you find a way in your mind labyrinth soon, I keep my fingers crossed. Also, thank you so much for the kind words!! ❤️ If you'd ever want to talk about your story with someone (because talking about it helps a lot with figuring stuff out) then drop me a line ;)

[sparvverius]

Can you please stop idiotic takes by ignorant people or trolls? Giving them more visibility even if you covered the name won't do anything good, a part from getting people angry, but this is not a good thing. Or at least add a specific tag so that I can blacklist them. Like, I get it that they can be fun to read, but not for the 8474848737th time, thank you.

i post that kind of thing because it's fun for me to pick apart (and yes to make fun of) and i frequently learn something in the process, even if it's just something about the way that the people i disagree with think and what exactly are the differences between my point of view and theirs. it can be something of an exercise, or some sort of whetstone for me to make sure that i both know what my rebuttals to the points in the screenshot are and whether i can articulate them in a way that i think is satisfactory. ideally this is what i would consider an ethical haterism--if i don't like a take i see, i want to be sure that i can say why i don't like it. i consider myself a rather competitive, argumentative person irl, not over petty things (...usually), but in the sense that i like to start/engage in long political debates. sometimes this is a bad thing and the other person gets stressed and starts thinking i'm mad at them when i'm under the impression we're both having a great time.

however--i can't deny that sometimes i do get a cheap adrenaline rush out of arguing online, and sometimes this makes me go overboard with it. this has been true of me historically and still is. sometimes i go too far and say something mean cause i think it's witty and that's not cool. i'm very sorry if i made you uncomfortable with the discourseposting and will try to be mindful of my own motives in the future, and i will tag it in the future with something--does #hall of shame sound good to you? please message me if it would or wouldn't.

sorry if this answer is a little long and rambly, i'm tired but i wanted to address your concern seriously. thank you for bringing it up!

[nectardaddy]

It was hilarious how you corrected the ask about you being a bad teacher lol

I genuinely have a question for ppl though-

Do they not understand that how you act on your social media or outside of your work doesn’t mean that’s how you act when you’re doing your job???? Like my blog is full of comments abt my fictional men 🥴🥴🥴 but do I act like that at work?? No. Do I act like that around kids (namely my little brother bcs he’s fr the only kid I interact with) no. So like it doesn’t make sense to me

To me that’s similar to the “Oh they have dyed hair so they’re incompetent!” Or “They have piercings and tattoos so they obviously do drugs!” Kinda of people but that’s just my two cents.

You seem like a really fun teacher and I think if I had a teacher like you when I was in school I wouldn’t have hated it nearly as much as I did. You’re making the day fun for the kids based off the stories you tell and treat them like humans which is really important and something easily overlooked by some other teachers and parents. Anyways…that was my ramblings. Have a good day Dodger and I would love to hear more teacher rambles 🥰🫶🏻

-sincerely bakery anon 🍪 <3

I popped off in this I'm sorry lol, I just had A LOT to say about this topic.

I dropped everything to answer this because I love to speak on this topic, despite it being frustrating. But ahhh thank you for enjoying my reply lol!

A lot of people (and I say a lot because it truly is, I have at least 4 parents every year that think similarly to this) think that social media IS REAL. The whole "what you see is what you get" thought process really rings true for a lot of people and it is genuinely concerning. With that though, a lot of people ALSO think how you act OUTSIDE of work describes who you are as a worker as well which is SO STUPID!

I mean, I get it, I am teaching children at the end of the day. I understand there are some things I shouldn't post on a PUBLIC platform with my name attached to it (and I don't) because my students may see it. That being said though, everything I do post that's even a little risqué, especially anything thirst related to fictional characters, is under LOCK AND KEY and completely under a different name (see "nectardaddy" with the pseudonym dodger lol).

As for the kinds of people you brought up, you are 100000000% correct. In my four years of teaching, the parents (and I bring up parents a lot bc they are the adults here, children genuinely don't care and are 9/10 beyond kind and accepting) that give me the most grief about MY behavior think like this. I have tattoos (lots of them), I have many piercings, I have a blue mullet for christ sake lol and there is always someone (an adult parent) who COMPLAINS ABOUT IT??? I have had calls to my principle before that a parent SAW ME AT A BAR AFTER SCHOOL. AFTER SCHOOL!!! Apparently I'm not allowed to do that?? Because apparently to them it was "inappropriate to do that because I'm a teacher." Thank god I have a good principle, she laughed right in that woman's face.

I've also had nasty, heinous comments about my preferences (which isn't any of their business #1 and doesn't pertain to school AT ALL #2) and disgusting assumptions made about me, my past, my husband, and who I am as a person BY ADULTS all because I didn't let little timmy talk to his friend while I was trying to teach him math. (But then when he fails math because I let him talk that's my fault too.) I truly think this mindset comes from simple entitlement and need for control, amongst some other things but I'm not one to delve into politics too hard here.

But, it warms my heart to know that a lot of people, including yourself, think I'm a good teacher! At the end of the day though, I do this (teaching) for THEM. I wouldn't want to sit there for 7 seven hours either so we don't! We go outside, move around, work in groups, we talk to our friends, we're loud, WE'RE LEARNING! I think the worst thing a teacher can do is treat students less than, because they are, although small, HUMAN! As well as many other things, it's my job to teach them HOW to human! How to express emotions healthily, show compassion, learn empathy, know one's self worth, and know that failing isn't an end - it's a step forward in the right direction.

So bakery anon, I want you to know, from a teacher that would've loved to have you in class, YOU ARE WORTHY. YOU ARE AMAZING. YOU ARE SO GREAT. YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU PUT YOUR MIND TO AND YOU WILL ACHIEVE GREATNESS. DO WHAT YOU LOVE, DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU YOUR DREAMS ARE SHIT. DREAMS ARE WHAT KEEP YOU HUMAN! NEVER, EVER, EVER STOP DREAMING!

[dungeonmeshimybeloved]

Hiii!! I just finished your fanfic “Of course I came back for you” and I absolutely loved it! It was so amazing! The writing is genuinely so gorgeous and the story is just phenomenal! The ending made me wanna scream and cry :,)

I also loved how you took some of the original scenes and tweaked them to better fit the characters! I always see people complaining about it (which doesn’t make sense to me) and I think you did it well! I also liked how you added other little scenes like when Chilchuck was stitching Laios’ shirt! And when he tore it off made me wanna cry!!!

Also laios breathing fire is so cool! I also loved your characterization of them! I love the idea that Chilchuck suggested that they should eat monsters as a joke and Falin took that as Chilchuck being serious! I giggled a little at that! :)

Would you ever think about continuing the fanfic or making a full swap AU?

Thank you so much for posting this fanfic! You honestly gave me inspiration and motivation to write my fanfics (or try to actually work them out in my head). Tysm!! I loved your fanfic! Please never stop writing! <3

(I’m so sorry if any of my grammar is off, I’m not able to check it right now)

HI HELLO IM ABOUT TO EXPLODE THIS IS THE NICEST THING EVER ?? I'm so serious the amount of encouragement and support I've gotten these past few days has made me feel dizzy with excitement and I'm nearly drunk off the happy vibes. First off - your Grammar is perfect don't you worry, and Secondly!!! I would love to read your fics when you get to writing them!

This is sorta - off the cuff stream of Conscience rambling, so I apologize in advance I'm all over the place, I just -!!! Screams. I'm so happy

Firstly I wanna encourage you in your writing endevors.

Writing is a difficult process, and oftentimes, when writing, it can feel so hard to think it's actually good. I'll admit that at several points during this fic in particular, I was worried that some of the dialogue was melodramatic (specifically the bath confrontation), but that's a case of me being overly critical of my own work. When you start, aim to just have fun with it! Don't stress about making a masterpiece because you'll improve as you go, and it's likely that others won't notice the weaknesses you find in your own work. Take your time as well. I've been working on this fic over the course of a month or so, and I'm glad I started it early, because I was able to include so many details and flesh out scenes that - if I hadn't had the time - would fall flat.

I wish you luck, and I am excited to possibly read some of your works <3

Also !! I felt odd taking some of the Canon scenes and tweaking it, but I found it easier to write when I had a basis to go off of. A reference point if you will. It was like laying out ground work, so the scenes I added in (like Chilchuck stitching up Laios' shirt - only to have it torn off, I'm super pleased that it had the emotional impact I was aiming for). So thank you so much! It makes me happy to hear that it worked well in your eyes <3

And about Chilchuck joking about eating monsters, I can't really take credit for that specific detail, lol! That idea was something I borrowed from this post by Ciderjacks. It was so funny to imagine chilchuck of all people suggesting they ate monsters, I had to include it. Thank you so much, though. I had a lot of fun wrangling their characterizations to make everything work. I'm happy the characters shined though <3

To answer another question, I'm not sure if I'll continue this au! I've read the Manga to completion, and I have some ideas of how to proceed with Falin and co, but at the moment I want to take a small break from this au.

I have a couple of other fics that I've been meaning to work on and finish, so I'm most likely going to go back to those. However! That doesn't mean I won't continue this. I'll probably be thinking about it for a while, so i may be hit with inspiration to start drafting a new fic. If I do, it'll probably follow Falins perspective. She is the defacto leader of the group, after all. If you read the Manga to its completion, you'll see that she's got quite the journey ahead of her. (Ngl tho, as I think about it, I'm more and more intrigued with the idea........)

Okay, okay, so I'm gonna take this opportunity to talk about Chimera Laios bc I had thoughts that I couldn't actually incorporate into the story due to it being from Chilchucks' perspective. I have a design thought out about him, and I plan to draw it sometime soon, but with Laios, I wanted to incorporate more of the red dragons biology! (There's some slight spoilers under the cut if you're anime only, dealing with summoning monsters and their behaviors, tred carefully)

First off, him breathing fire was to make up for the fact that he didn't have magic. I imagine that in his transformation, he had some sway and was able to incorporate a way to ignite the fuel organ. Not only that, but the extra scales Laios has were actually due to the armor he went to bed in!

His arm and leg armor were still intact, so when he got fused with the dragon, the metal spread around his human portion of the body (and wings) to add a layer of durability. It's why the undines attack was deflected and why Kabrus knife broke - it's because kabru struck the metallic scales instead of the fleshy bits.

Not only that! (And this section does contain the spoilers for anime only watchers, but ill try and be vague)

But I was thinking about how dragons - when summoned - are their own creatures and can be stubborn and resist their orders. Falin was sorta - subservient to thistle as a chimera, while natural biological dragons tended to do their own thing despitr their orders.

Laios has a stronger will, and he embraces his monster form, but that means he won't just refuse to eat and rest. When he arrived at the scene with Toshiros party, he was hunting. Specifically hunting the harpies. He just so happened to stumble upon the parties. If the ninja hadn't attacked him first, he might've just left them be and left with his kills.

[stabberghost]

how did you come with your ocs??? i lov all of their designs and concepts and would love to hear your thought process behind it all hehehe

OHH WONDERFUL QUESTION. Ohh man this post is gonna be really long I'm sorry.

i usually come up with what they teach first and then go on trying to imagine what they'd look like. its usually a somewhat long process for me

for b. happy, he wasn't really supposed to teach about emotions at first. i almost considered making him teach about fame and comedy but something in my head was like "comedy = laughter = happiness = emotion" and I was like OH MY GOD. IM A GENIUS. if I didn't come up with him being an emotions teacher he wouldn't exist at all really. instead of happy I wouldve made mic take his place and teach about being a famous comedian instead. Good god can you imagine

yeah I'm also showing concept art idgaf

after i made happy i had an idea for another oc but this time they would teach about acting and drama. you already know this is about comedy and tragedy but they were originally one person, with tragedy being the host and her having comedy as a seperate mask on his head that would occasionally talk to them. basically some kind of evil parasite. Although I ended up splitting them into two different people as i felt like it would be better

AND FINALLY PERI!!!! It took me a while to design her honestly ! I came up with the idea of a character that taught about how dangerous the world can be, without realizing THEYRE a danger to the world itself. I wanted something related to caution and hazard signs so she was gonna be a really tall stop sign at first... But i thought that was basic as hell so THANK GOD you guys don't have to deal with stop sign peri. Not pictured because i didnt draw it but after I trashed her stop sign design she was gonna be an armadillo! I thought it made sense since she's a really skittish and nervous character, she could curl up and hide in her shell. Buuut I immediately scrapped that idea Rest in piece armadillo peri

out of all of them peri was by far my most favorite one to conceptualize and design. she was such a fun character to work with

little fun fact. I've definitely said it before but they had other names! After i posted b. Happy for the first time, I thought his name was goofy and was gonna rename him to Mr. Smiley, but the post was gaining a lot of notes and so I thought. Why even bother with the name change!

comedy and tragedy also had names at first, those names being connie and tracey. Comedy and tragedy were originally placeholder names but i ended up settling on those ones because it just. Fit yknow

It took me about a day to come up with peri's name. I wanted her to be named after dangerous chemicals and whatnot, and i told myself that if i couldn't find a name for her i would have to name her methyl bromide. Literally. But I ended up naming her after the periodic table itself

ANYWAYS SOOOOO SORRY FOR THE RAMBLE!!!!!!!! I definitely went off topic but yeha

And oh god i feel like drawing my ocs now. What have you done to me

[singrate]

Charlie Spring is Also Autistic

A little while ago I made this post about Nick Nelson being autistic and got a handful of requests for one about Charlie because, well, obviously. So here it is.

First of all:

I'm sure you agree.

This post won’t be as long as the Nick one because quite frankly I am trying not to ramble. Once again referencing the webcomic and the series. 

TW: very brief mention of OCD & eating disorders

The Converse collection. And the knitwear collection. Even the skinny jeans. He always wears the same jumper/jeans or button up/t-shirt/jeans combination. I just know he rotates through wearing all of his jumpers because he doesn’t want any of them to be left out.

The jumpers are definitely a sensory thing, too — in the part about their wardrobes at the end of Volume 2 Alice mentions that he loves anything ‘snuggly and oversized.’

Both in the webcomic and the series, Charlie’s ‘misfit’ status is fairly important to his character, regardless of whether or not he’s popular. Even though he fits in well with his friends, there’s something that makes him quite distinctly different from everyone around him.

His special interests are indie/alternative music, classic literature and ancient history, especially Roman and Greek. 

Drumming is a stim for him. At the start of S01E02, right after that delightful encounter with Ben, and in the scene with Tori in S01E08, it’s fairly clear he’s using it as a way to process and release his emotions.

When he wears headphones on the bus… yeah. Stressed, anxious; much more likely to be overstimulated. 

Pattern recognition: he picks up pretty early on that Nick probably isn’t straight and nobody else around him believes him.

Mental illnesses like OCD and anorexia are commonly comorbid with autism.

His resting face. That’s all.

Actually, that’s not all. These too:

There's so many more of these but I don't have the energy to find screencaps for all of them right now. Also, getting home from school and immediately collapsing on his bed.

The wave in S01E01 and S01E06 when saying bye to Nick. Can’t find screencaps but you know the one.

And the little giggle after Nick tackles him and says, “Well done!”

His sense of humour is exactly the sort of offbeat sarcasm a lot of autistic people use. “Oh, she left, long ago!” (S01E01) (same vibe as Tori asking, “Was he a knob?” because obviously Tori is also autistic and I find the similarities between these two so wonderful), “I’m not hiding.” “Then what are you doing?” “Eating lunch.” (S01E01)

Saying sorry a lot. First of all, he’s not sure when it’s appropriate/necessary to apologise and when it isn’t. Secondly, it seems like a form of masking — he is likely aware of his tendency to miss social cues but doesn’t know which ones he’s missing and apologises as a way to compensate.

There is just something very autistic to me about the way he delivers his monologues — to Nick in S01E04, staring at the floor the whole time, hello??, to Ben in S01E01 and S01E08, just very impassioned and earnest, but still kind of monotone. Yeah.

A lot of his lines from the series that people (mostly on Tiktok) find cringe are just like… things that an autistic teenager would say? S01E01 after Nick’s pen explodes when he says, “You should make it the new school fashion!”, S01E01 when he’s confronting Ben: “Thanks for telling me. Oh wait… you didn’t”, “Why are we like this??”, the ‘gay panic’ lock screen, I’ll probably think of more of these later because Heartstopper Tiktok does not deserve Charlie.

Isolating himself when he’s struggling socially because dealing with anybody, even his close friends, is just too much. I think that one is fairly universal for autistic people.

Just want to add that Joe Locke did such a good job of bringing Charlie to life. His delivery is literally perfect and I will not ever shut up about this.

Anyway, feel free to add stuff!

[b-o-e]

hello!!!!!

i just wanted to let you know that i love your wally series sooo much lol

i try to reread it at every waking moment of my day lol<33

quick question! i was wondering if you had a basic plot lined out for the story or if you just poofed an idea into existence and wrote it lol

i tend to have a basic plot outline but then sprinkle my own random ideas into it as i write lol

its interesting to see how different writers actually write, and i love your style sooo much so i wanted to know how you did it!

sorry for rambling lol

have a fantastic day/night and remember to hydrate! <333

~ 🍞 anon (if i can be lol) <3

gawwwwwhhhh thank you, that's so sweet! I am honoured B) and no worries for rambling at all! I love it to be honest! I think this is basically how things went.

one night, I was tryna sleep, then the plot of snorrrk mimimi popped into my head! I tried to go back to bed, but I was like "yknow what, if I don't write this down right now, I'm going to forget it by morning" so I wrote my idea down, then tried to sleep again. then the plot extended in my head, so I wrote it down, tried to sleep. then again, and again, so I was like "yeah I guess I'm staying up until I've written this entirely" bahahah!

after I wrote and posted that, a few more ideas popped into my head, so I started them off n picked away at em when I could. everything was made to be readable as a oneshot (although the more recent ones are definitely more dependent on the prior fics), with little nods to the fics that came before for people to be like "ooooh" as they connect the dots between them, n just. yeah, haha!

when it comes to plot, I am mostly reliant on music and random stuff that pops in my head haha. I am an avid daydreamer, so that is a big help! makes me sad I can't just transport them into writing, haha! I really just go with the flow for the most part n let stuff come to me. I typically only have short term plot lines in my head, which unfortunately leads to me getting a bit lost as to where to go next at times.

I believe that's all I can really think to talk about. I don't know, I have a really hard time explaining my thought process, so I hope this at least slightly made sense!

sorry for my thoughtless rambles, and I hope you have a fantastic day or night as well! I appreciate your message very much! <3 I like the name as well, hehe.