#super scuffed but I'm painting

[lily-cmdier99]

004/365

[chimera-dolls]

What I spent my night doing. World's tiniest manicure. 💅

Storm twins were the first two dolls I got, and at a discount during amazon sales - aaand on opening them, what can I say; they'd clearly been in the box forever. Both twins' arms are stained, at least to my eye, the colour doesn't match the body (but I'm also a highly suspected tetrachromat so it might be a me problem), Naomi's faceup is scuffed and she had a MASSIVE stain from her wallet on her right hand. The fact they are a limited edition gave me pause - this is the first time I've owned something like that in a doll - but as soon as I saw the staining the gloves were off this, so to speak.

So this is my sort of test run on Naomi's right hand, acetone to remove the paint since I wasn't getting anywhere fast with isopropyl alcohol. It DOES melt the plastic slightly, it will take the sheen off but I don't really mind a more matte skin tone anyway, it's just watching not to overwork sections with a q-tip that I end up flattening the sculpt. Detail shot is before a final clean before putting her hand back on. Trimmed with cuticle cutters because length is just not my taste (and I'm trying to take the hands off as little as possible and those nails catch on everything), filed with a crystal nail file before trimmng down any hanging bits. Black base for the nails was acrylic, acrylic gold on the tips with a purple pearlescent mica powder on top before a coat of Mr Super Clear (I can't remember the specifics of that right now, it's this ancient tiny bottle I bought for a custom draculara probably a literal DECADE ago. No I don't have pictures, lost em :V)

I'll paint the rings back on again when I've decided exactly what colour to go for + what I'm doing with the skin situation (thinking of mica highlighter? idk. Might blush limbs too but we'll find out). Scratched a little with a needle I was trying to bring definition back but not too torn up about it since this is a test run and it looked SO MUCH WORSE than when I started. Helped me figure out process, what matters.

Shout out to my magnification lamp I bought, carried the weight of a god for this one. (Also yes those are custom pants she has on, maybe I'll show laterr)

[pompadorbz]

Any specific notes you’ve got on the thought process behind each student’s new uniform changes for the THH cast? And are you planning to do some for the SDR2 and V3 cast as well?

Note: Anon is referring to these designs!Hmm kinda! There are some choices I made more deliberately than others, although not many characters go as deep as the one note I had about Taka's design. But I'll happily go through the ones that I didn't!Mondo - I initially didn't have Mondo's blazer be embroidered, but considering it's such a stick-out feature of his canon design, it felt wrong not keeping it. Additionally, Mondo is a little bit scrawnier here, for lack of a better word, and that's deliberate! These are supposed to be the students at their first year of the academy, so I wanted to make Mondo seem a little younger!

Taka - I'm not gonna reiterate here so instead here's the post where I talk about him a lil. Lol.

Celeste - Girl is absolutely fighting for her LIFE with this uniform, and for what its worth she found a pretty good balance! The dress underneath is a JSK of her own design, and kinda meant to be reminiscent of earlier EGL styles. She is supposed to look a little bit "ITA", even. I also brought back the hair ribbons from her beta design, and the butterfly hairclip takes from the pattern on her tie in canon!

Chihiro - I have a couple notes on Chihiro! For starters I honestly wanted to make her look a little bit dorkier lol. I gave her the little headband and the glasses for that reason, but the glasses were also to make her match her Dad even more! I wanted to give her a massive backpack too so she always has a spot to keep her laptop and other equipment (yes she has it on her at all times). And finally I gave her a little sweater vest with a dandelion on it, since one of her favorite gifts is the everlasting dandelion! It's supposed to be embroidered on, heehee.

Sayaka - As much as I love her, Sayaka's design isn't actually all that deep? lol. I've always had an affinity for drawing Sayaka with cute little designer hats. i honestly think she has a few of them that she can whip out to give any look a little extra panache. Not to mention the constant inclusion of TONS of pink. I also gave her the flower hairclip from one of her beta designs!

Aoi - Hina is honestly one of my favorite designs in the roster! I just really like her silhouette, idk. I always knew she had to keep the shorts, so she gets the shorts!! Her typical tracksuit is around her waist instead, her eyes are a darker blue for the sake of my sanity, and her ponytail has a kinkier shape! My favorite little detail that I'm sure nobody noticed is that the thing tying her hair together is a coil scrunchie, since they're super good for wet hair in particular! I used to use them a lot back when I used to swim!

Sakura - Honestly, I just wanted Sakura to look at ordinary as humanly possible. She gets a really normal looking uniform- little to no modifications made aside from wearing her usual shoes, the armbands, the bandages, and the striped socks that I took from one of her beta designs!

Hifumi - Hifumi didn't really change all that much either, aside from getting the orange pants to match his orange tie! I do think he painted the arrow on himself, and it looks INCREDIBLY scuffed, lol. Honestly, my main priority with hifumi was to do him some actual justice on the anatomy side, lol. I hope I did an alright job!

Makoto - Makoto also doesn't really change all that much... Really, all that got altered was the blazer and the pants, although I will note that the pants are rolled up because he ABSOLUTELY ordered the wrong size by accident.

Kyoko - Going into this, LONG before I started drawing her I knew that Kyoko needed to have pants, even if it killed me. I just always thought that it'd better suit her usual design to have pants, or at LEAST a longer skirt. It always just looked kinda off to me that she had this big long sleeved blazer and then a short pleated skirt?? Like at least allow her the luxury of like. A pencil skirt. Lol.

Byakuya - Byakuya also doesn't really undergo much change. Really, all i have to say regarding him is that hes got a tall collared button-up and that he kept his usual necktie...

And that's everyone until I sit my ass down and draw the rest! I'm sure I'll eventually get to it... Possibly.

As for the other games, currently I have no plans to do anybody beyond the thh cast. I MIGHT do sdr2 at a far, FAR later date, but I don't think V3 will ever be on the table since quite frankly, I couldn't be assed. Sorry if you were hoping for them!

[broken-bottle-chandelier]

" Snowy Park "

Here's some owed art for Lechoso of their character named Cody! Super cool character to work with and I had a lot of fun making the piece!

It's been sooo long since I've last drawn pine trees so these are... A little scuffed... and the horizon line could definitely have been touched up more but eh, I'm trying to work towards not worrying too much about some of the details to save myself some headache, but I do sill find it beneficial to jot down the areas I want to work on more in the future so that I can be more conscious of it!

But the texturing of everything was a BLAST and I loved shading the background and trying out temperature painting!

Also, I am so proud of myself for that lamp post closest to the camera, that came out so good in my opinion - eeeeven if I forgot to give it light emitting off it into the background but shhhh...

And as always, here are the couple alternate versions made for this piece!

[realuity]

Hi there! Can I ask how you made your hfr guitar prop? I bought some foam boards to start making my own, but they've been sat around for ages as im not really sure how to start ^^" ur help would be super appreciated :))

hi!! glad to help!! the hfr guitar build was actually pretty simple at its base mechanics - it's a prop walking stick from probably some halloween shop, with a whole bunch of foamboard on it. the only real adhesive i made use of was hot glue - it was weird and stringy, but it sticks really well to foamboard and is incredibly fast 'drying'.

the core of the whole build is.. one really big sheet that i cut into a rough guitar shape, and stuck on the bottom. it helps to have this real simple start - especially with the further simple steps. it helps you to get going!!

the fun part is that - for the first three or so layers of thickness buildup on both sides of the foamboard - you don't really need any specific shapes! just build it up with random cut-out bits. of course, pay ttention to certain details, but you can pick these out from the actual guitar at your discresion. personally, i left out a bunch of the pipes and other specific greebly bits, to make the task easier on myself to work with what i had and minimise the amount of parts liable to fall off or break. here's the reference image i mainly used - with red highlights on bits i focused on. the fun part is that with all the stuff you don't care about, you can kinda just do whatever! the design is intentionally very cluttered - so you can fake a lot of detail by just placing stuff down where it looks good.

my reccomendation (especially for the handle, and pieces that bend) is to get a thinner, flexible foam for details. it helps with distinguishing texture without adding unnessecary bulk, bits that go around stuff, and things that needed finer detail. it doesn't have to be an expensive foam at all! those little craft sheets of foam you can get pretty much in any art/crafts shop are what i used, and they worked great! they play really well with hot glue too.

(this stuff!)

for the pipe details that are there, i kinda gave in and used cheap pipe from hardware shops. i didn't want to find a solution that'd use too much of my material, and it bends pretty much perfectly, so that's what i went for. surprisingly, it took to sealant quite well.

speaking of sealant, painting! to start, i used a whole bunch of plastic and foam primer, but i think a brush-on gesso or a whole shitload of white paint would do the job if you can't access outdoor spaces for spraying. it gets a little hard on the pockets to do that much spraying, but that's the nature of it, i suppose.

after having a nice amount of primer, a spray around the entire thing in a light silver got the basecoat. try to really get it into the inner details and layers visible through the front and back panels, to sell the effect of a solid core of scrap metal.

try to use a few shades of silver to pick out certain parts. and block in color where its needed.

for the outline effect, it's very fucking annoying to do, but i'd say worth it. use whatever black paint you have (i switched between brush, paint pens and markers a lot, could not figure out the optimal way) to carefully fill in the protruding edges of pieces in black, mostly outer ones that are the most notable. here's a really scuffed diagram of what i mean.

it's ballbustingly annoying and will take a lot of time, but the effect's worth it. to avoid getting frustrated and burn out on the project, remember to take breaks! i'm guilty of getting terribly stuck in a build whenever i work, to the point of like, forgetting to eat, so it's important to remember to step away to clear your head. restful artists make intricate work, or whatever other idiom you can come up with.

hope this helps!! prop-building is a tricky hobby, but really fun and rewarding. it's all about sectioning off your work into pieces you need to do. seperate large bits into seperate pieces you work on individually. break it up, get it done.

don't be afraid to use techniques just for fun, too. on the back of the guitar, i painted on a little tango snail gleefuly scooting away from a flaming microsoft logo. i'll have to add a subnautica peeper or something to match with recent news!

[duckapus]

When she actually has time to think about it later, she'll realize that it should've been impossible. All foreign code, from entire cities to a Pingas Head to something as small and inconsequential as a pen she'd borrowed from Wareach and forgotten to return, was supposed to have been left behind (and likely fizzle out of existence in the code-dense space between servers, if it hadn't been for a few particularly powerful visitors. not that Jayin knew that. not that she'd have cared if she did know) when the Connected Cosmos Company took GP's copy of the game back.

And yet, she'd found it, wedged in the bottom of the passenger seat collecting dust. A little red-and-white metal ball, scuffed and scratched from years of adventures with a tiny half-faded yellow lightning bolt painted on the front just above the button.

Most of the time, she has no idea what it is, what significance it holds. It's just a neat little curiosity, something to pull out of the glove compartment and fidget with when she needs to Do Something with her hands besides just steer but it's not safe enough outside to stop driving and tinker with the van. With how hectic things get sometimes she'll forget she even has it for days on end.

But in those rare moments, when the memories of her other life burst out of their cage, jumbles and raging and straining so hard at the chains pulling them back that it hurts and she can barely breathe, it becomes one of her last links to reality.

She takes shaky, shallow gulp of air, clutching Pikachu's Pokeball to her chest, and once again does her best to sort through the memories for as long as she still has them.

"M-my name is...Tulip Orpheus.

I am... seventeen years old.

I ran away from home when I was sixteen.

I'm... I am a... video game character...

Seven years ago, my game was...was filled with memes via a mod pack...to b-bring it to life.

I was seventeen when that happened. I am still seventeen because that is the age my character model was designed to be, and the people who modded my game haven't had a reason to change it yet.

I am an-an Avatar. I am the seventh Avatar.

This means that I am an anchor-point that keeps my game stable. If I... die, so does the rest of the world.

I have...two partners, who came with the mod pack. They help me st-stay alive, and they make art with the memes. This also keeps the game stable.

Their names are Super Meme Guardian 7 and Super Meme Guardian 10. They usually just use their initials because that's a mouthful.

There are currently...twenty? Yeah, t-twenty Avatars. But only across seventeen games. Two of them turned out to be evil and are in prison. Three of them died, but one came back. Two are...complicated. There was another complicated one, but that was fixed a few months ago.

I am friends with the other Avatars. I'm closest with a half-genie dancer named Shantae, a Pokemon trainer named Ash Ketchum, and a space-traveling alien delivery man named Captain Ol-Olimar.

I am being trained to defend myself by a Keyblade wielder named Sora."

Another, slightly steadier breath.

"My game...was created by the Connected Cosmos Company.

They took my copy of the game back, and put its data in a new game.

I don't know for sure, but I think they did it to three of the other Avatars too.

They tried to make me forget my time as an Avatar.

It only partially worked.

I don't know why.

I...I am alone." her vision gets blurry. She doesn't stop the tears, "I am not supposed to be alone anymore.

I am alone, I am in danger, and I am scared."

She feels the memories slipping away again, and grips the ball tighter.

"I... I am... real.

My memories are real.

My friends are Real.

MY FAMILY IS REAL!

They're real, and they're coming for me, and nothing will stop them.

And when they find me, I will never be alone again."

The bit of fire she found inside herself burns up far too soon, and she rapidly goes from determined to desperate as the cage door closes once more, "Please let them be real..."

A moment later, she looks around in confusion. She doesn't know why she's sitting on the floor of the van, or why she's been crying, or why she's holding that weird ball.

What she does know, is that she needs to get ready for another hard day of surviving the nightmare her world's become.

Not like someone's gonna swoop in and save her from it, after all.

[omoriboii]

(probably unpopular opinion)

The OMORI Nendoroids look so off-putting and ugly..

The paint job is so incredibly flat and undetailed, making them look half finished.

The mold is incredibly flat (especially the hair) and makes them look almost rubber-like instead of sketchy like the game.

The faces are just completely off. Eyes way too small and completely lacking detail, and it completely throws off the rest of the face making their heads look longer than usual and the cheeks super jagged.

Ngl i kinda like the fanart nendos more than the actual ones i've seen online. I'm kinda happy my nendo Basil never shipped because goddamn- even the omocat vinyls look more stylistically consistent.

Don't even get me started on nendo omori's long ass fuckin arms and the scuffed short lines paint job

[beepbeepbeepjeep]

Story details !!

Take 2 . smh. this one is super long so we’ll keep the additional things under the cut !!

The Magic School Jeep takes place a little over a decade after the original events of Ride the Cyclone. It follows the story of Savannah and five other strangers who just so happened to be in the same tragic road accident. Post-revival, Savannah still has ghosts of the past (and the present) haunting her. How will she deal with going from feeling as if she knows nothing, to suddenly feeling like she knows too much?

We’re also given the chance to explore the eventful lives and interpersonal issues of a whole new cast of characters, each carrying their own form of emotional baggage. 

Join them on a jeepney journey through space as they recount their lives through detailed flashbacks, touching heart-to-hearts, and a healthy-ish amount of trauma dumping. <3

By the end, they’re faced with the same dilemma. Who do they bring back? 

What will they do once presented with this decision? Why does it feel like there’s something (or someone) watching and waiting in the wings? How does this game of life and death really work? Is it worth it, in the end?

All these questions we hope to answer in a story about acceptance and healing, with a dash of humor and a sprinkling of queerness (as all narratives should have) (it's. way more than a sprinkling tbh. it's like a whole truckload of queerness). Thank you for indulging us in this already extremely self-indulgent story! We are cringe, but we are free.

additional notes!

there are different ways / iterations of the life games across time. this is important !!

even though this story is built off the events of ride the cyclone, we of course will NOT be maintagging any of these posts as rtc or ride the cyclone for obvious reasons

we view jane doe, savannah, and penny lamb as separate (but interconnected) individuals. this is for the sake of avoiding confusion.

yes, they are in a filipino jeepney. yes, this story is still set in Uranium City, Saskatchewan which is canonically located in Canada. How does this make any modicum of sense? Good question. Anyways.

Silly Interview-style Character Intros

+ ref pics! made with hellosunnycore's toon me! picrews :3 more accurate drawn ref pics coming soon ,, hopefully,, @ pastaboy. (he's the one typing this)

🌔 savannah dean (19)

she/they

5’8”

July 17

Cancer

Favorite keepsake from when you were alive?

Ah. Yes, I had my dollies. They sit above my bed and they all have names. Sometimes the names feel... familiar, but I lose my string of thought before I can figure out how.

Favorite musical?

It's been a while since I've listened to a musical, or music in general, but Phantom of the Opera is lovely.

What helps you sleep at night?

Uh, I don't get as much sleep as I used to, unfortunately. I know that doesn't answer the question, sorry.

🐛 beau balquenn (18)

(his hair is supposed to be bleached at the ends sob)

he/him

5’10”

January 11

Capricorn

Favorite keepsake from when you were alive?

Uh. Well... there's these, I guess. Butterfly earrings. They're really old. I painted them years ago. The very few who talked to me asked where I got them... I never came up with an answer.

Favorite musical?

... I am not proud of this answer but it's Be More Chill.

Can ghosts be gay?

Like the song? I'm gay and kind of a ghost, so... yeah, I guess?

🍂 tauny hep (18)

he/him

5’6”

November 1

Scorpio

Favorite keepsake from when you were alive?

Do I really have to answer this? Fine. I still carry an old pick around in the back of my phone. It's kinda funny cuz it's not even mine. I borrowed it from. Someone. A long time ago. Shit hit the fan before I thought to return it. It's a little scuffed now but, I don't know, I never bothered getting rid of it.

Favorite musical?

I don't LIKE musicals >:( ... Jesus Christ Superstar

First song you learned on the guitar?

There's this song, uh, Good Kid? It's pretty easy to play. I think that was the first. I don't know where it's from though. (Voice offscreen: Hey, you know that's from a musical, right?) ... FUCK OFF.

🍄 ascot mosbirm (18)

they/them

5’4”

August 15

Leo

Favourite keepsake from when you were alive?

I remember this one time I went downtown to buy a bottle of booze. I didn't really mean to, it was a-... spur of the moment thing, you know? Not like it mattered anyway since drinking laws in this shithole are stupid. I was going to save it for the day of my 19th but. I suppose that's out of the question now, hm?

(yes i know that's wine next to them in the pic shhhh - pastaboy)

Favourite musical?

Coldplay. (That's just... not a musical.) Is it not? They make music, don't they? (... well. yes. but-)

Do you get a lot of comments on your accent?

[Sigh] Unfortunately yeah. It gets a wee bit annoying at times, especially if people are being weird. Though once in a while it earns a laugh, so if it's funny I'll put up with it.

🌷 lizabel mayam (18)

she/her

5’5”

June 4

Gemini

Favorite keepsake from when you were alive?

Oh! Well, I don't know if this is a keepsake? But ever since I was around seven, I've carried around this little tote bag. It has all the essentials— water, first aid, stuff like that. It was pretty much a necessity back then since my younger siblings were always getting into some kind of trouble. My parents weren't always present either, with their work and other things so, I've just hanged onto it and haven't really stopped.

Favorite musical?

Do Disney movies count? (On a technicality, I suppose they have to. Any specific favorite?) Oh, I don't know, there are a lot of good ones. Um, Tangled? If I had to pick. (... Alright. At least it's not Coldplay-) Wait, who said Coldplay? (Ascot.) Awwh, of course they would. :)

Are you... you know?

... um no? I do not know? I really don’t understand what you mean.

📘 cato linn (19)

he/any

5’11

August 28

Virgo

Favorite keepsake from when you were alive?

... I don't like this question. But since I'm being forced to answer; I have this pen I received as a birthday present when I was 10. I still keep it in my pocket as a good luck charm and for— memories, I guess. It doesn’t even write anymore, it ran out of ink years ago. Nevermind, it’s stupid. I should throw it away.

Favorite musical?

I saw a local production of Lés Miserables when I was a kid. I can’t recall much but I know I enjoyed it. I don’t have time to see many musicals nowadays.

Favorite bone in the human body?

??? This one is just strange. Of all the medical questions you could’ve asked, why this one? Nevermind. If I absolutely had to pick, I’d say the... pelvis? It’s a rather important bone. I don’t know if that qualifies as a favourite but I’m not sure how else to answer.

☂️ “The Mannequin” (?)

he/it

6'

???

???

Favorite keepsake from when you were alive?

I was never alive. Though if you're asking for a keepsake, I'll have to say my hat. I can't exactly take it off, but if I could, I would feel bald. So.

Favorite musical?

The Muppets.

Favorite Muppet?

I would just like to say first that I AM NOT A MUPPET... however. I am particularly fond towards the purple one. With the schnozz.

🌒 “The Child” (10)

she/they

4’2”

???

???

Favorite keepsake from when you were alive?

Sticker sheets!! I love stickers. Especially colorful ones. I think they’re Neat.

Favorite musical?

Starship! (By starkid?) Uh, yeah? What about it? (Is that appropriate for your age?) Ummmm, no. (How’d you even find that? That’s so out of your age range.) Ummmmmm-

Favorite ice cream flavor?

The purple one! :D

Yippee! That's all, I think. If you couldn't already tell, this is all very self-indulgent. We are cringe, but we are free. :3 Speaking of We!!! Admin Introductions coming soon! probably! maybe. It's pride month and we're officially heading into summer break, so they have no excuse. 😇

[sylviegunpla]

Plamo: Super Minipla Kangaroo Armor from Mega Man X3 (full kit paintjob of Super Minipla Chimera Armor)

I have finally completed the trio of "paintable" ride armors from Mega Man X3!! This one i didn't add jewels to the yellow greebles on the legs, i just used the red stickers. I also unfortunately don't have documentation for the exact color mixture i used, but i meant to emulate the spritework mostly. I went with a lighter gray for the bottoms of the feet because that looked closer to the sprite, while the key art has a much darker foot. It's actually the same gray that was on the Hawk armor, i had leftover paint mixed and thought it gave a nice look.

There are some parts that got a bit scuffed in the reassembly process, but i'm not gonna bother fixing them up... mostly because i can't recreate the exact color mixture for the blue part.

I also did some quick & dirty details on the control panel

And here's Kangaroo and Hawk standing next to each other! Such good siblings! So once again, this is all Mr. Hobby aqueous paints, Mr. super clear gloss, GSI creos Gundam Panel Line Marker, and Mr. Topcoat Flat. The spikes on the hands were finished with Mr. Topcoat Gloss, because i thought they would look good as the only "glossy" part on the whole kit. And i was right! They're nice and shiny and pointy! So i have an urge to also build the Frog Armor, but that's gonna require some Serious Kit Modifications. I have some idea in mind how to do it, but i'll have to plan it out a lot more first. In the meantime, i still have other projects to work on! I'm so happy to have finished these two boys though, they've been the kits I'm most excited to have done custom paint jobs for!

[imtiredowo]

Made these in kilonote, i just line the 1st one in kilonote and the other one in ibx paint. I know it's super scuffed and not well done but it was fun trying to get colors to work and how to layer each color(the program has no layers from what i know).

Mostly did these due to watching videos about how your canvas shouldn't be white and a different one having their art in a notes app. Plus I enjoy Yugioh, so I drew Yuma from Zexal(4th series). Its really fun and i would recommend it

Kinda feel like i don't want to upload but I'm also proud of this for what it's worth. Sorry for the long(wordy?) paragraphs too, I'm shit at writing(english is my 1st language, but i don't like English class.) Trying out the colored text too so it might be easier to read

I just realized i forgot his eyebrow on the ibx paint version :/. I was going to ink it properly and drew his eyebrows, but I didn't want to do that in the end so now he has no eyebrows and i forgot :_|

[vibrant-leaf]

🧡My Mini Masterlist of KiriBaku Fics❤️

First, here's my one RodyDeku fic: Beginner's Luck - *NSFW* established relationship, Deku tops for the first time

Bad Timing - my very first KiriBaku drabble was a shit post... literally.

Before a battle… - super teeny tiny drabble

A Miraculous Second Chance - a very scuffed drabble that was originally just messages in the discord I'm in but I ended up loving the concept so much I wanted to post it.

You Make Me Feel... - college au drabble inspired by this song.

Sleepoverrr!! - Kirishima invites Bakugou over to his room for a sleepover and they have soft moments of mutual pining. Links to art inspired by the fic, IT'S BEAUTIFUL BTW PLEASE GO LOOK! Kirishima art >> Bakugou art

Therapy is Manly: Part 1 - Part 2 - a breakup/makeup fic that I am very proud of. I'd even go as far as saying it's my very own masterpiece. It's also my longest fic ever with a combined word count of 8,122.

Sturdy Hero, Steady Hand - A soft little one shot of Kirishima painting Bakugou's nails.

[st-hedge]

First off, I want to say, your art is beautiful. the subtle surrealism and abstractness (idk if that's a real word lmao) you use is just fucking amazing. I don't know how you do it but your art is all just so cool. I literally look at your art for inspo when i have art block-

Second, If you don't mind me asking, what program+tablet do you use to draw? I'm trying to work more with digital art, but I don't really know what to do. I have a cheap entry-level tablet I'm currently working with, and I use some free art program i can't even remember the name of (yeah hella scuffed ik). I'm feeling somewhat confident where I'm at and would like to 'upgrade', but I just don't know where to go from here. With the digital art stuff I aspire to do, you'd definitely be one of the people I'd want tips/advice from! :)

(sorry for the long ask btw)

😭💕 djvivjgjgkgkgi thank u so much! That is super kind of u! And I may not be the best person to ask about tablets cuz I have a 12” ipad pro which I shelled out on but it’s also basically my laptop and I use it constantly for everything. I dunno if u would want a screen tablet if u have been working with a plug in one (I’ve literally forgot what that type of called rip) but a small iPad (double check if it’s compatible with the pencil and which one) would work great and I heard there are also some great Samsung tablets available which I’ve not tried out personally but I’ve seen people praise

For programmes I switch between procreate and clip studio paint. U do need to pay for both but they are worth it, but they both have their pros and cons. Procreate is wonderful but I don’t know why it takes up a lot of storage (21gb vs csp’s 3gb on my ipad) im sure I’m just too lazy to look into it, but that’s something to consider. Procreate has lots of really cool options for effects and brushes right under ur hand which I love. Csp is also really awesome, but I feel like it’s more geared toward people who are working with print specifications and who already have tools to load onto the app. It also seems like csp is meant more for desktop cuz of the layout and small tabs and it could be an issue if u are using a small screen. So consider which works best for u and start there, but whichever u choose its a great app

I hope that helps even just a little bit and I’m happy to give advice on anything else if u want!

[ulec-elec]

The new Town

The Chwe's car stopped infront of the house. It was, ordinary. A usual house for a four people household. The neighborhood also ordinary, didn't seem like a lot of young people did live here. Mantha didn't really care enough to look around, while they had been preparing the house. She tried to stay at her real home as long as possible. The neighborhood was close to the human world, therefore the houses were a lot cheaper, that's the only thing she really knew.

Mantha's mother got out of the car and immediately talked to the moving gargoyles who were about to lift the couch. Sam, her brother still slept with his check against the window. Her father got the last boxes out of the back.

She sighed. It was official. This move had been the pain of her existence, at least for the last couple of months. She already was in school most of the time but now she wasn't able to see her friends she had to leave at her old town. Mantha got out of the car scanning the house again. She grabbed her backpack as her phone buzzed.

4 new messages:

Ra: Yoo you finally arrived?

Mantha: yes sadly

Ra: i'm still trusting the arson plan if yk what i mean

Mantha: yk I love destroying things but i think this won't help me get my old place back

Ra: You could live under a bridge

Ra: gtg dad's callin ttyl

Mantha smiled, Ra was a good friend, and he helped her a lot to cope with the move, even if it was by learning how to roll the perfect blunt but eh.

3 new messages

Millie: b it's already boring without you, come baaack. I miss youu

Mantha: I miss you too! I hate this town

Millie: Don't befriend another kids here okay?

Mantha: you'll always b my no 1 bestie and yk that

Millie: Ik I just like reassurance. Also Frankie asked me about you. You should text him back.

The zombie rolled her eyes. Frankie and her were broken up for almost six months but he was still trying to fix up some things. She liked him a lot, he was a good buddy but they couldn't work as a couple that's for sure.

2 new messages

Frankie: Hey are you at your new house already??

Mantha: ya

Frankie: it's a shame you keep moving further away

Mantha: yes it's crappy

Frankie: I hope we can still meet up one day

She sighed and just sent a smiley to end the conversation.

1 new message

Casper: How was the family road trip, you finally arrived?

Mantha: yes, and i hate everything about it

Casper: aw come on can't be that bad, bet you can finally turn in your own room without touching a wall.

Mantha: ok I guess that's a plus but still

Casper: give it a chance it'll be easier to look at it with optimism

Mantha: You're right but it's hard

Casper: Ik, feel free to use me as your personal trashcan to write complaints to

Mantha: I will, thanks

Mantha blushed a little. Casper was too sweet. What Ra made in comforting by having fun Casper did by listening and rambling. Listening to Casper explaining the underworlds housing marked but also beeing super understanding about her feelings was a refreshing thing. Most of her friend group was very into brushing things off, not acknowledging the bad but Casper insisted on talking about it. He said it'd be a healthy way to get used to changes.

Mantha was forced to look up from her phone when Sam passed her and kicked her against the leg. „Stop blocking the entrance." he muttered still tired. „Shouldn't you be in college or something." Mantha teased and got flipped off. Her older brother mumbled something before disappearing inside of the house. A last sigh before stepping in.

She took off her shoes in the hallway. It looked like one of these fake rooms in a some furniture shop. Everything was clean and untouched. Very impersonal.

The zombie had picked her room two weeks ago so there was no arguing with Sam which was calming. She scuffed of the stairs. Her room was still empty. The only thing standing was her bedframe. They must have started with the truck that didn't contain her stuff. Great.

Mr Chwe had insisted on painting the walls white but Mantha had convinced him to allow her to paint on them. She'd do that later when she could decide on where to put which furniture. She trew her bag in the middle of the room and then headed down again. Her mother was instructing another gargoyle on where to put the sofa. She glanced at Mantha for a second. „Mantha, why don't you look around the neighborhood for a bit? Your belongings won't be ready until afternoon." she explained while still gesturing the gargoyle instructions.

Her daughter nodded. Mantha decided she had to look around at some point. She could as well do it now. All while walking out of the house and putting her shoes on she started her music and began to look around.

There really were only living old people here. The youngest people must have been 65 or something. Great now she couldn't even listen to music after six in the afternoon without getting complaints.

House, after house, after house and they certainly all looked the same. The only difference was their shape of green. Mantha left her street and was now confronted by a crotch. One way was leading to the main road they had come from. Nothing but more houses and more old people. The other way wasn't tared. There were a few dead trees around it. Seemed good. Maybe a hangout spot?

Well not really it lead to a dead end. Bushes had completely grown over the way. Mantha was thinking about turning around but something called her attention. It was a singh. But not any regular singh like the traffic singh she had in her old room, for reasons. It looked like a town singh, but not like one from the monster world.

As she picked up the singh she remembered, this town had a portal to the human world. That's how it must have gotten here. It was heavily dented and dusty. Sometimes the portals malfunctioned and absorb things in their area. Therefore it was no wonder it was here.

Mantha blew the dust of it. She had to look twice and even a third time. The singh said »Deeztown«.

The monster world is somewhat underneath the human world. They have the same geography, well country whise. The monsterworld is a whole lot bigger tough. The point is, her little town and Deeztown must overlap each other. A nice coincidence.

Anyway. Mantha looked around for the point to activate it. It must be around here somewhere. Ah there. It was a symbol carved into the ground. A step on it and the green portal turned up. Usually she would have at first considered what her parents would say but her mom had given her until afternoon so she could as well pull a little trip to Deeztown to surprise her friend.

Luckily Casper's house wasn't far from the portal it was a five minute walk at best. Probably because Casper's house, though beeing very visible for the townies, it was far away enough to hide some minor happenings, like an zombie hopping out of a portal.

She walked through the garden up to the front door. It felt odd, Mantha usually got into the house through the portal in school, she had never visited Casper while they weren't in school. Now she was oddly nervous. Why? She shook her head and knocked on the door.

A rumbling could have been heared and then silence. Mantha rang the door bell again and then the door opened slowly. She looked inside. It was empty. No one was there. Mantha stepped in looking around. A loud scream from the left. But instead of being scared she bursted into laughter.

Casper was standing there dressed in an apron with flower print, holding a rolling pin as weapon. The ghost was too confused to react. „What's with the outfit?" Mantha laughed. „I'm- I'm making dinner." Casper answered, still confused. „Why are you- How did you- What?" he asked while he sank the rolling pin.

„I told you my new town is linked to the human world." she explained. It felt weird to just stand in his house. Usually they just were there when they needed a shortcut to deeztown to hang out with Jimmy. Casper now narrowed his eyes. „What's your town called again?"

It was obvious that Mantha was struggling to remember, her mom had mentioned it so often but she always forgot it, so she awkwardly changed the subject. „Where are your uncles?" she laughed nervously. The ghost chuckled. „At work."

Then silence. Now both were a bit embarrassed. Usually it was Ra who changed the subject and kept the conversation alive. Especially after each one of them had explained their feelings towards the other to their friend.

The ghost cleared his throat. „Do you want to stay for dinner? We're having pasta." he muttered. „Hell yeah!" She forgot her anxiety for a second. Casper was good at cooking. He had proven that multiple times by now and knowing that her mom wouldn't have the motivation to cook tonight she counted herself lucky.

They walked into the kitchen. Casper had already started. He was cutting vegetables. The ghost always insisted on cooking healthy, since his uncles were living of junk food most of the time and he himself wasn't the biggest fan of meat in general.

„Hope you have no problem with a vegetarian version." he sounded almost concerned. She knew him, this man would drop everything to change the meal if a friend demanded that. „Yeah totally." Mantha said as she threw a piece of red pepper in the air to catch it with her mouth. „Can I help with anything?" she asked. Most of the vegetables were already cut.

Casper needed to think for a second. „You can start preparing the water." he suggested. „Gimme a pot and I'll do it. Should be easy." she laughed. The ghost rumbled trough a shelf with pots and pans. He took a midsize pot and a pan. „You think you can handle that?" he asked jokingly as the zombie grabbed the pot. „I can handle everything." she grinned.

Cooking with Casper was actually very fun. Even though Ra wasn't here to continue any conversations the two had a lot of stuff to talk about. Mantha rambled about Frankie while Casper had to tell her everything about the new movie he had watched. After overcoming the awkward silence nothing could stop the two from talking, discussing, joking and sometimes gossiping. Casper was a smart guy with a lot of knowledge but unlike most smart people he wouldn't shove his intelligence into your face, or would talk down on you. He also was one of the most understanding people, they often differed in opinion but he accepted hers as well as she would accept his. (To be fair that was mostly on non political stuff, My Chemistry Nightmare is objectively better than Van Hellsing!)

„What are you even doing the whole day?" Mantha asked rather bluntly. He had to think about it.  „Well Uhm, I clean and cook, oh sometimes I do laundry." „And apart that? You know for yourself?" she continued. „Oh I read and watch movies, oh and I listen to music." he stretched every word in it pronounciation so his sentence would sound a bit longer. She pouted. „Boring." she teased. „I never said my life was interesting ma'am." he chuckled. „You think between the movies and the reading you can squeeze in your pal over here." she pointed at herself. „My door's always open for my friends so of course, but next time you probably should announce your visit." he joked.

Mantha snorted. „What were you so scared of anyway? I thought you're a pacifist." the zombie giggled. „ Girl Scouts." he shivered. Now she bursted out into laughter. „What?!" she wheezed. „They have a hatred towards us because we didn't want to buy their cookies. They even demolished our mailbox. These four year old are scarier than the entirety of Scare School." he huffed while Mantha was trying to stop herself from laughing. „Stoop." her friend whined. „That's not funny, I'm scared as fuck." he added, which only really made it worse. He knew how stupid he must have sounded because he started chuckling as well.

Mantha put the last plate back into the shelf after drying it. „It was delicious, Thanks."

„Always." he smiled. She blushed a little. He was too sweet. The zombie looked around a bit. „I've never been this long at your house." she figured. „We never hang out here." Casper shrugged while cleaning the sink. „It's a shame it's big and your uncles aren‘t really at home." she said while looking around again. „Like I've never been upstairs. The only thing I ever saw was this part." she pointed from the spot in front of the stairs to he main entrance." She explained. „Like where do you sleep?" she asked. „You want to see my room?" Casper offered. His friend nodded heavily.

She was always interested how someone like Casper lived. A room says a lot about it's occupant, but with the eight-bed dorms in Scare School it was a little bit harder to figure that out. She had seen Ra's room in a few videos but never Casper's.

He opened the door for her. It was a rather big room and very light. The only room that seemed (somewhat) freshly painted. It was quite empty. With only a bed, a small nightstand, a closet and a desk. She was impressed by the fire place though. But it seemed so as if it hadn't been used in a while.

The walls were empty except for the one next to Casper's bed. It had three photos stuck to it. One of Jimmy, a family picture with him and his uncles and the one the three had taken in a photobooth in Dis once. It had been terribly over priced, like everything in Dis was. The photo looked so chaotic. Mantha sat in the middle, Casper was pressed against the booth's wall and Ra had to shove his head into the focus while at the same time trying to not fall off the small bench. Neither Casper nor Mantha were shot very well, Ra on the other hand looked good, he was just photogenic.

„You hung that up?" she asked slightly blushing. „Uh yeah, it's the only photo we have." he explained seemingly nervous. Mantha smiled, Casper was a softie after all. They had three copies of that picture actually. Mantha had put it into a frame, with a lot of other pictures with her and her friends from home. She still didn't know where to put it though.

They sat down on the bed. „First time a girl's in your bed?" Mantha teased. „You'd wonder." Casper grinned. They both giggled and Mantha let herself fall back. His bed was comfortable. „You need some of those glow in the dark stars." she laughed. She flinched as Casper fell back as well. „You think? Isn't that a bit too cheesy?" he asked. „You're the king of cheese." she joked. „Which one, you can't just trow all kinds of cheese in a pot and pretend they’re the same.“ he huffed playfully offened. „Gouda." She answered like she had been prepared for that question.

The ghost blinked before turning his head in her direction. „Why Gouda?" he asked confused. „I don't know, fits your additude." she explained as she turned her head to him as well.

Their eyes met. It was silent for a moment but this wasn't embarrassing silence. It was kind of nice. Casper's eyes studied her's and she did the same. His eyes were very light, she had never seen this color in eyes before but it was nice. His eyes spoke a lot, he was easy to read which was actually pretty good. Made it easier to understand his true feelings. She smiled, his eyes showed that he seemed to enjoy the moment.

The silence broke by Casper's laughing. „What kind of additude fits gouda?" he giggled Mantha had to join in. „I don't know your's?" she chuckled. She liked Casper's smile. He smiled a lot, in a calming way. His smile, much like his eyes said a lot. He wasn't like Ra who always smiled because of his personal optimism, it seemed like he would smile for others to make them feel better. That sounded sadder than it was meant to be.

Mantha knew their hands were close to each other. Bold of you to assume she didn't think about taking it already. She was so nervous tough. What if he wouldn't like that? Well some people don't consider holding hands as romantic. She also could blame it on her arm malfunctioning again. Well- Here goes nothing. She slowly tried to move her finger as the loud screaming of Nigel Nightmare cut the mood.

Both sat up more of shock than really because the wanted to. A phone call. Who in the- „Mom?" she asked, trying to hide the frustration in her voice. „What? Already? You said- Oh my god calm down! I'm on my way- yeah yeah in a few minutes." she sighed as she ended the phone call. „I'm ready to move my old shit into my new room." she smiled. „Oh, I'll take you to the door."

Mantha truned around again before leaving the house. „Thanks for everything, yk the food n stuff." she expressed. „Thanks for coming over, and uhm when you're free again, hit me up." he muttered the last part. She nodded. She definitely would.

Maybe the new place wasn't that bad after all.

[jade-soulbear]

8/4/22-Things back to normal, last day before easter

Hey y'all! MC came back in today and is finally acting like their old self. I came into school really late today but it was the last day of school before a 2 week break so what are they gonna do? Give me detention? So I didn't really care about getting to school on time. I came in during religion where we got to draw but I didn't want to do that because I didn't have colouring pencils and I also use a computer for school because of my learning disability so I don't like using pencils.

So I drew a house on MS Paint, I added some clouds and a tree and a dinosaur with shoes and a top hat and a meteor. And it was so scuffed I made it my computer background. I also spoke to MC in religion and they were alot more upbeat and laughing at my computer background. French and politics went by without any trouble (FW also seemed a little more talkative). We watched more lady bird in English class, it is pretty enjoyable but I feel like Timothy Chalamet is gonna end up like a jughead Jones wannabe whose trying so desperately to be edgy lol.

For Lunch, FW, MC and I went into our tutor room, and ate, and me, MC and LH (this is a new person who I havent mentioned who is part of the friend group, talked about the BTS meal and had a pretty good time. Strangely enough OF didn't join us or walk home with us today, like last time. I am mildly worried that he's beginning to enjoy his new friends more than us, which if he does it is no fault of his own but idk, he's a really close friend of mine and I don't want to begin to drift apart from him, but I have a history of friendships breaking up super sudden before and so I know I'm just being really paranoid.

I saw OF for history, and he was getting very mad at my bad chess playing skills (I play chess on my computer in the back of class sometimes) and I showed him my new screensaver but apart from that we didn't talk alot. Irish went by pretty easy and I walked home with M-Dawg talking about the time I wrote my first diary entry (although i was way less brooding this time).  They left quite quickly (we'd usually stop to chat before going our seperate ways, but I think it was too wet and cold for them and their sister was coming to their house and they didn't want to meet them on the way there.

I walked home listening to runaway by Kanye West and when I got home I watched some adventure time. After that I and McDonald's for dinner and planned an internet treasure hunt I may or may not do. Thats all for today, Bye!