well. remember how a couple of posts ago i said that everything was going suspiciously well and i expected a disaster to strike? OH BOY did i predict the future with that sentence!!!!
after a delightful day 10, i then spent most of the evening/night of day 11 in hospital a&e. thankfully i didn't need surgery but i spent the next few days in a lot of pain and severely sleep-deprived, and then days 15 and 16 gradually getting better thanks to a bunch of medication and shitty christmas movies. that makes 5 whole days where i did no writing whatsoever, and my beautiful 3k headstart has been destroyed :'(
i'm feeling pretty much back to normal now, just slightly achey and bearing a giant bruise on my arm from badly-administered blood tests, and i have finally been able to have a proper work-and-nano day today with a count of 2193. my stats tell me it'll take 2108 words a day to catch up, so let us all manifest an absence of further medical issues and a smoother path to the end of the month!
Drawn in Photoshop, animated in Spine Pro. The final art piece I made for my bachelor thesis on GIF as a medium for art.
I've been researching digital art in the context of modern folk art, outside institutional or commercial art. I analysed almost 500 art GIFs across Tumblr, Artstation and GIPHY.
There's almost no academic research on art GIFs, so it was important to me to examine and document it. I also examined the optimisation of GIFs and how it relates to web sustainability.
And because the bachelor program was focused on art practice, I then created my own art GIFs, and it seemed only right that I should do it through fanart of something I've been really into lately. Thanks @samreich and the rest of Dropout for giving me some unhinged content as inspiration. Watch 'Game Changer' everyone, it's great.
Being on the nostalgia train this week really helped stretching my artistic legs again. So here, have some old things and some new! For now I'm done with this.
ok listen to me. a long time ago aha made a worm really smart and tried to get it into the genius society. but even though that worm was smart as hell, nous did not give a fuck about it.
you know who else is smart as hell but nous doesnt give a fuck about?
heh. yeah. thats right. despite many people (including himself) feeling like nous should have recognized him a loooong time ago, that computer just doesn’t care.
now, we are left to wonder… why does nous refuse to acknowledge this man..?
i think it’s quite obvious.
my theory is that aha made a SECOND worm really smart. and Then they made the worm into a sexy guy.
and now they’re outside nous’s window, giggling, as everyone in the universe ponders why veritas ratio is not permitted into the genius society.
“what’s wrong, nous? he’s a genius, isn’t he? let him in,” aha goads.
nous is glitching in frustration. “it’s the worm again. i know it’s the worm again.”
rewatching neverafter knowing gerard was never properly socialized and spent most of his life as a frog makes me feel so much. of course he’s awkward and weird! of course he’s going to say the wrong thing! he was a frog for a huge part of his life! he literally didn’t have anyone to converse with from the end of childhood until the beginning of his adulthood. he missed out on some incredibly formative years.
also “outside is scary inside is safe that is why castles are built! everything is good in here!” from a man who was only safe once he was allowed inside and suffered intense trauma for years uninterrupted while being forced outside goes so insane. it only makes sense that he added “and flies” to elody’s list of threats. flies represent the worst part of his existence. he is unsafe when surrounded by flies and forced to use them as a source for food. gerard is forced to learn that you can be unsafe anywhere. he can be a frog anywhere, even in a position of royalty that should grant him to utmost comfort.
Fig: Hah! - Nobody ever expects an Archdevil rockstar to be nice.
Riz: … yeah. - 's just budget work tho. (the stuff I'm working on) - I've heard it's boring.
page 05
Fig: yeah, but you do it…
Riz: It keeps things going, right? - Nothing happens if nobody sits down and - does the thing.
Fig: That's right… - though. Yeah.
page 06
Fig: sometimes it's someone else who - doesn't want the same thing to happen.
Riz: … - mm.
page 07
Riz (off screen): …It took me a long time to get that not everyone likes doing what I do. - 's probably because you guys are so nice– - or. - kind.
Riz (off screen): to anyone too, not just. - the people you /love/.
page 08
Riz: that's not how it is elsewhere. - The world's– not. hostile. - but 's not like it's kind.
Riz: So I'm doing as much as I can now…
page 09
Fig: Hey.
Riz: ?
Fig: Go dig some dirt with me.
page 10
Riz: [blank speech bubble] - oh you meant like - actual dirt. (not incriminating information)
Fig: o yea.
Fig: there's clay in the backyard soil. - sometimes when I'm sun deficient or something I go touch dirt for a bit.
page 11
Fig: here u go
page 12
Riz: uh
Fig: now we make a thing! - 'm pretty good at freehanding a bowl.
Fig: I'll show u
page 13
Fig: just– yep, flatten that out as evenly as u can, then–! - actually ur nails'd be so good at cutting out the strip. [larger than usual space] wait. - wait. wait u can carve patterns with them! we HAVE to try
Riz: uh - What. do I carve?
Fig: anything!!!
page 14
Fig: and– yep just seal the inside uh. seam?
Fig: yep that works - okay time's up! all contestant hands up
What do you think riddle's dad is like? He was so randomly dropped lol are they divorced? Unhappy couple? Off getting milk with Ruggie's dad????
I swear he talks about his dad at some point? (I thought it was one of the birthday cards, but I just skimmed through them all and didn't see it, I am at a loss as to where else it might be). assuming I didn't just make it up, his parents are still together, but they don't actually get along very well and his dad mostly just...avoids interacting with them both. just in case you were worried for a second that Riddle might have one non-sucky parent! 👍
honestly is it any wonder that Trey spent thirty seconds with him and immediately was like
finally completed my comic based on the song ivy by taylor swift!✿ please zoom in to read the text and see the details~
✿.✿.✿
you can get the digital zine pdf here! it includes extras like character profiles, costume design, more art of willow and ivy, zine-exclusive sketches and an illustrated guide to the symbolism of all the flowers in this comic.
(A/N: prt 4 and the finale of the Mama Riley au! Thanks for all the support and nice comments. It means the world to me! No content warnings. Enjoy!!)
If the ground would swallow him whole, Simon would consider that a blessing. God, he never should've asked his mom about you. Of course she'd clock him. Who knows the man better than his own mom?
He stares blankly at you for far too long. Long enough that you're wondering if there was a chance Mama Riley had it all wrong. You open your mouth, ready to backtrack the statement, when Simon settles a hand on your thigh.
“I… yeah. It's true,” he answers you. He tells you it's fine if you don't feel the same. You were his mom's friend first, and he can see how deeply you care about her and vice versa. He wants his mom to be happy.
“What about what you want?” You ask, curious.
Simon's quiet for a moment, thinking. He wants to marry you, but that might be a bit much to admit right out the gate. So he gathers his nerves, and quietly admits, “I want to kiss you.”
You can't help but smile in response. You lean in a little closer to him, your eyes already half lidded. “I want you to kiss me,” you reply softly.
The kiss is a little awkward. It takes Simon a second to get comfortable in the kiss, but it's good once he does. (You find out later on that it's his second kiss.) His hands come to cradle your face, tipping your head back to deepen the kiss. That's when the kiss becomes perfect, the kind that makes your head spin.
You break away at the sound of the door opening. Simon's hands linger in your face for a moment longer, before he drops them back down to his sides. But you're quick to lace your fingers with his, more than eager to start displaying affection. You've been holding back for far too long.
Mama Riley smiles at the both of you, a coffee in hand. “You kids get your feelings worked out?” She teases.
You and Simon share a look, before responding simultaneously.
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Yeah, Mum.”
Going to sleep that night is incredibly bittersweet. You two finally made progress, just barely started your relationship, and he's leaving in the morning. Simon has never hated his job more than now. He's waited, since the day y'all met, for this, and he doesn't feel like he even has a chance to enjoy it.
But it makes returning, two months later, all the more worth it. This isn't the first time you've gone with Mama Riley to pick him up, but this time is different. There's no fanfare, no balloons or signs, although you and Mama Riley had joked about it. But there is a new energy in the air, excitement to see your boyfriend.
He's easy to spot amongst the crowd, tall and imposing. But you see the way his shoulders sag with relief, when he spots you two. He greets his mom first, crushing her in a hug. There's some whispered words between the two of them, before Simon turns his attention to you.
He hesitates, before tugging his face mask down. “Can I kiss you?”
You can't help but giggle a little, nodding your head. His hands move to cradle your face, so gentle despite the horrors he's witnessed. And when your lips meet his, Simon decides there's no better way to welcome him home.