#they dont even know how much i had to draw and erase just to create the illusion of Somewhat Smooth Line

[tipsieocart]

I am an original character and story creator. I draw mostly my own OCs and occasionally other people's OCs. Probably no canon characters. I write sometimes too.

‼️MINOR: under 18 years of age ‼️ I am a teen

I am okay with interacting with adults just don't be weird

I'm always open to making friends, DMs are always open and I will respond. Preferably nobody under the age of 13 (though you are still more than welcome to interact with my posts)

Some of my interests 🐾

Anime / manga : death note, TBHK, banana fish, sk8 the infinity, YOI, Ouran host club, to your eternity <3, tgswiiwagaa, erased, death parade, LINK CLICK MY BELOVED 😍 and wayyyy more

Music: Mitski, MSI (just the music), glass animals ( Love <3), marina!!, bbno$, vocaloid, alien stage (idk what category to throw this in lol)

Hobbies: all forms of art, writing, story making, character making. Crafts.

Games: little nightmares, kind of genshin impact and hsr. Stardew valley, little big planet, ROBLOX<3. Sky- children of the light.

Other: I enjoy dark media (not fetishized content) thrillers, horrors, and just things with dark themes in general . ( Again,Not fetish bullshit that glorifies horrible things with the label "dark theme" slapped onto it to make it seem edgy, yes media doesn't have to glorify or sexualize things to be disturbing <3 that's fetish garbage)

IM ACTUALLY ADDICTED TO CRIME DOCUMENTARIES 😔🔥

I also absolutely love the scary stories to tell on the dark books <3

Other socials ★

TikTok: tipsy5185 (weekly use)

A03: Tipsieocstories (don't use it often)

Discord: tipsieocart (use daily)

X (Twitter): @Tipsieocart (literally almost never use)

Wattpad: Tipsieoc (never use)

Cara: tipsieocart

Roblox: minty_mint360 / I'mbricked (I don't add randoms so DM me first)

I didn't think I needed / wanted to add this but iv had problems with weirdos so PLEASE READ

★DNI ★

Dark/pro shippers, - anyone who sexualizes children or glorifies rape, abuse, pedophiles, necrophilia, incest, zoophilia, things like this. Even in fiction! Sybau Abt the "it's not real" chronically online bullshit, it's still disgusting and weird, I'm very much allowed to have boundaries. I do not promote this shit in any way! And PLEASE do not draw and post my OC content or repost my stuff. (I am not including representation, representation is okay, glorifying it isn't) DONT BE CREEPY‼️😋

Again IDC if it's in ur OC story or a story you like as long as it is NOT portrayed with disrespect, as cute / hot / okay or glorified / romanticized.

Don't be a weirdo pretty much

I know not everyone will listen. Just don't be surprised if I remove memberships from my communities / block you. DNI goes both ways! I won't interact with you, you don't interact with me Be respectful and mature!!

Click more

My stories I create (the main one at least) contains dark themes (such as assault, child abuse, drug use, celebrity exploitation and suicide - this is not written for weirdos, it's ment to be perceived in a realistic manner) it is highly centered around crimes, especially ones common in big cities, so expect to hear / see that. it also contains harsh language (some slurs) and graphic depictions of violence. There is no direct smut (drawn or written) in any of my stories, but it is talked about or implied, only really jokes and suggestive situations.

I have a lot of representation of different lives, traumas, and just people in general. I have communities specifically for Information on my main story (DM me for link or search ★Brocade★ and try to find it!.

It's an action thriller and sometimes comedy. It features two main characters named Mike and Phillip, from very separate worlds. Mike is a 19 yr old college student fresh out of foster care who works as a waiter, and Phillip is a 24 year old nation famous Chinese model. The story is about how they destroy a crime organization after finding out their lives heavily tied to the organization and one another. They struggle between their similarities, differences, and feelings for one another. More about this on my blog and community.

I have about five oc stories in total and four of them are in the same universe. And two of them are fantasy stories in separate universes.

Stories:

★Brocade★

Features Mike and Phillip, it's one of the more progressed stories with few blank plot holes. Story with the most developed characters and character backstories. This story takes place in Las Angeles California 2018-2019 (not including flashbacks, flashbacks go as far back as 1994). Mostly an action thriller with partial comedy. This i guess you could say had some mlm romance (though it's one sided and they become good close friends)

Delirium

This story features two men named Mathew and Richard. And a boy (12-14) named Elijah (Eli). This story is in the same universe as brocade but years before. It takes place in 2014-2017. This one is pretty graphic when it comes to gore and death, it's a horror / thriller with very little comedy. In the backstory is had a little bit of mlw/wlm romance.

Peters story (no title yet)

Features many characters, Albert and Billy are the antagonists, Peter is the protagonist, penny is his niece and also featured a flat character named Emery. Also tied to the first two stories. Takes place in 2008-20010. It's a horror / thriller, with little comedy. By far one of the most disturbing stories I've created. It lays heavily on realistic depictions of a serial killer. Absolutely zero romance in this one.

Aroras story

This story is about how the rest of them got started. It features an orphan girl who called herself Aron, though her name is arora. She is the protagonist and a German aristocrat named Nathaniel is the antagonist. This story takes place in 1885-1896. It's an action thriller with little comedy and some wlw romance (but not much)

Lunden and Realles story

This is a fantasy, not tied to the rest of the story. The protagonists are the god of grief Lunden and the god of corruption Realle who are lovers. The antagonist is the god of knowlage Anuva and an enemy I have not yet named lol. It's a fantasy action and drama?? And ofc some mlm romance. but it's mostly about humanity and war and power

Zeniths story

Another fantasy story, very different from the other one. This one goes for a more realistic fantasy (if that makes sense) the protagonist is the child of the sun god Zenith and the antagonist is the moon gods mortal body (no name for her yet) this story has the largest main cast. The story can be labeled as a horror in some parts,but I'd say it's mostly a fantasy action with some mlw/wlm romance though it's a more about war, cults and sacrifices.

[rqbossman]

Hello Mr Bossman! (and possibly anyone else who reads this)

Its an honour to be here, I have a few questions. First i appologise for the long paragraph, you may dismiss it for the questions at the bottom. For context, i am here after finishing TMA and being up to date with TMAP, i then went over and listened to RQG, and have just finished listening to Epilogue 3 and might i just say, good sir I am grateful for your podcasts. I am currently just a few months away from my final exams of High School, and as someone who even just 1 year ago was very lost, struggling with school and being just overwhelmed. TMA isnt exactly comforting, but the characters and plot managed to serve as a good form of escapism while sorting myself out. I found my self engaging more in creative things that i had originally put aside in favour of maths and science (which i hated but thought i needed to do). I started drawing again, even if just fanart. and i found things going well. By finding podcasts, story telling and these communities have helped me in my own understanding of what i want in life. I got an ADHD diagnosis earlier this year, and almost directly after started RQG and as my first hyperfixation (that i was aware of as an hyperfixation) gosh dang it hit hard. (in a good way). Ive been able to do so much more creative writing and drawings, and got re-involved with a small dnd group with some friends who i played one game with almost 4 years ago now. So overall, inspirational sounds cringe, but it was. Im doing my best with the upcoming exams, but trying to get in to Medicine is not my only prority, and the fact ive been re-introduced to my first love (Literature and story telling), im planning to go do an Arts degree and i know i wouldnt have been able to confidently make this decision, or even have survived this long in the school system without the work you and your coworkers do. Now the sap is out of the way, Question time! (if you could answer even just one of these questions it would be so cool)(they go in order of RQ relevant to random stuff)(dont feel pressured to answer all/any. i know i wrote alot): 1. what would you say is the best way to draft out a long-form story. (with "Erasing the Line" as an example) Did you start at the end, with the links to the overarching plot.

2. When working with the players (in a form of TTRPG), what did you do to make sure you didnt miss relevant timing of plot points/ avoid creating spoilers while still giving enough detail?

3. What are good places to start with making a job out of storytelling/voice acting/audio etc. In the case of RQ, how is this a job and where do i sign up please! /j (what i mean is, how is best way/how did you find all the people involved and was there a common path that you were all on before getting to where you are now?) 4. Do you have recommendations for Terry Pratchett Books, i may be an literary-leaning student, but it seems i have never actually properly read any of his books. so where is best place to start?/What did you read first?

5. Similar authors or similar inspirations? Did you have a favourite podcast you listen to in your free time that you havnt had a hand in producing/directing/working on. 6. Favourite song/album/artist. And more specifically, what you like listening to in background when doing either writing or (for ttrpg) character research/game planing. 7. Since the olympics are on at the moment, what has been your favourite sport to watch, if you have been watching at all. Thank you for your time :)

Thankyou for all the kind words. Knowing our work is helping people really keeps our engines fired up. Let's see if I can't answer your questions: 1. I "sandbox" which is where I just shove everything I can think of into an unorganised bullet point list. Characters, setting, plot, all of it in one big mess. Then I decide what type of story you want to tell, copy and paste to a new document and then start to organise the thoughts (with the sandbox on standby if new stuff comes in I don't know what to do with). I think of it like scultping, you cut away bits and reshape until something comes out the other end that is story shaped. Only then do I attempt to build the sandcastle and put something coherant together like a synopsis or scratch draft etc.

2. Very tricky. I did a complete review and update of all notes after each recording session and don't forget the audio eas edited. I made lots of gaffs that you never heard as audience.

3. I contacted anyone I could convince to take part and just proved I was serious by overworking. I don't reccomend that route. Unfortunately it really is "who" you know. That doesn't mean chase established professionals as much as it means you need to get out there and associate with other up-and-comers who match your vibe. For me the route was long and windy and not a particularly good example. 4. I normally recommend people do not read his books in publication order. Don't get me wrong, its wonderful watching his craft grow from one title to the next but I would recommend new readers tip their toe into his later works to see if they like where he ended up before committing the time. I often recommend 'Monstrous Regiment' as people's first one. My favourite though is 'Thief of Time.'

5. I don't get much time to listen to podcasts in the last couple of years. I used to listen to a lot of non fiction. 'Stuff you Should Know' and that ilk. I also read a fair amount of classic YA fiction to unwind (Windinsger trilogy, Bartimeous, stuff like that.) 6. Paul Simon's Graceland but when working I assemble a playlist for each seperate project that is tonally appropriate. If I really need to focus I listen to Classical Minimalism. Or the Old School Runescape soundtrack. I'm allowed to be ecclectic. 7. I am actually in an incredibly busy work crunch at the moment so haven't seen any of it!

[god-of-tyow-ken]

the first concepts i had too. the siggy is so funny looking

ok this is going at the bottom since i cant figure out how ot put it at the top

ok so um a while back when i was super into mo4 i made a little undertale au with kei.

i actually love the au even though its honestly not the most fleshed out and completed thing (mostly because theres alot thats hard to create equivilents with for both games) it made me wanna replay undertale again and im so glad i did because i hadnt fully played since i was much younger. it was honestly like playing for the first time because there was so much that i didnt quite understand when i was younger.

if u cant tell who i have solidly pinned down as who.. (or it just isnt in any of the art)

jack is frisk

sigkin is flowey/asriel (thats why i call his au counterpart siggy!)

jeraldy is chara

bachikin is asgore and adukin is toriel. #toxicdivorcedyuri

marikin and fusakin are sans and papyrus. if you know me you know i ship marifusa but for obvious reasons i dont ship them in this au lol. the dynamics just fit them perfectly

syumitaro is gaster

ive always thought of jungle as monster kid

kashikin as undyne

zakuro as temmie

kirimi as mettaton

koritora as grillby

taiyo as mad dummy

now. the one im most conflicted about is for alphys. i thought about having morikaze in the place of alphys, (in fact i did draw him there) because of the association with kirimi. but i honestly am not sure! i do not really like him !! really the only thing id be comfortable with doing for him is a complete rewrite of his character if i do put him in that spot because he is a creep lol. maybe kouhai would fit better? i think that would be kinda cute actually. ive also thought about otsukin because he doesnt have a role.

id love to use every character (that i like) but its hard assigning everyone a role. and also this au . fucks up established lore/relationships for undertale and mo4 alike. which really isnt an issue ? most of the time? except with the undyne and alphys thing because i dont want to erase their relationship from the au 😢😢

i actually just got an idea from that . arakawa as alphys . i might actually do that lol bc i ship arakashi.

but on the messing up established relationships thing . it also makes me have to completley make up some ? such as axez and kirimi having an association in this au .

also if you cant tell . i realy love jerady and sigkin in this au. theyre so sweet. (i do not ship them in this au. or in general. bc that ship grosses me out.) most of the au art ive done is of them 😭😭😭 i just love them so much .

ok! i think thats all. i hope you enjoy!!! i may actually draw more for this au after i make this post . have a good day and happy holidays!

(and if i find any more art ive made for this au ill add it on in a reblog later)

[my-castles-crumbling]

hi cas!! okay im just gonna pray to the lord that this wouldnt come out racist. week ago my little sister asked me “ people get upset when they draw black people white, so why dont they get upset when they draw white people black??” i honestly never give that much thoughts before so this question really threw me off guard. bc of that i cant give a proper answer to her and shes been asking the same question since then. i was kind of afraid people will saw it as racism so i was hoping that you would understand it and if its not a bother i hooe you can give me an answer to this

loveed the new chap of clandestine btw!! your jegulus makes me feel single in the best way posiible!! hope you had a good day

Ooo okay so please keep in mind that I'm white, so the things I'm saying are based off of what I've learned from research. Please please if someone sees something that is wrong, correct me!

First, I think it's important to listen to what POC have said on this subject. Here is a link to a youtube video I just watched by a POC creator and artist that does an amazing job of breaking down why this is an issue and how to correct it- even going into techniques for drawing darker skin. At time mark 4:25, he answers your specific question. This is, hands down, the best place to get your answer.

Basically, society has a history of whitewashing. For centuries, POC have been erased- taken out of history, not been given proper/literally any rights or voices, literally killed and hunted down. Both their achievements and the way they have been targeted have been purposely not discussed or reported on, and please be aware that even though people disagree, this is still a constant problem. It's not going away.

Society whitewashes in so many ways it's impossible to count them all- giving white people credit for the work of POC; casting white people for the roles of POC characters; basing healthcare rules on research conducted only on white people; teachers taking points from students if they don't use 'Standard' American English and instead speak using AAVE or HVE terms even if they still get answers completely correct; schools only teaching the history of historically white countries and populations; the list goes on and on and on.

Keep in mind too that for years, diversity in literature and media was close to nonexistent in most places. Why? Because any literature created by POC or about POC is not taught or as widely distributed. Think about the books you were/are given in school. Any books from years ago don't have racially diverse characters, and if they do, they either are a caricature of their race, or are solely written about based on the 'struggle of being their race.' They are not given the 'luxury' of personality traits outside their race. It is only recently, as POC have spoken out about this issue and are being given the chance to publish their own work with characters that reflect them, that main characters can both be black AND solve a murder mystery- amazing! (/sarcasm). So now that we are starting to see more diversity in media, it is vital not to take that away.

So, with that knowledge about the history behind whitewashing and lack of racial diversity in media, you now know the context. So when a person chooses to draw a black character as white, they are taking with them all of that history and context. And in a moment, by drawing that character white, they are bringing back that context, and taking away the diversity that is so needed in literature.

And- why? Why do people insist on drawing canonically black characters as white? There is no good reason. People can say "oh, I think she'd be better as white" but that's just racism, plain and simple. If an artist doesn't know how to draw dark skin, they can look up a video.

In contrast, drawing a canonically white character as a different race doesn't take anything from them. It doesn't bring up a history or context with centuries of racism behind it. The only thing it does is add diversity to a fandom and allow people to see characters that look like themselves in media where they might not have.

I hope this makes sense and I hope I've done the topic justice! Please know that any racist or hateful comments on this ask will be deleted, but if someone has anything to add or any corrections to make, please let me know!

[pamaizai]

Hey, what's your favorite Dont Starve Character(by Lucy from last post I would guess Woody) and why you preffer this character, also whats your least favorite one. And besides of that, any advices for a person that just starts to learn drawing? (like i sketch a bit from time to time with pencil or on secondhand graphics tablet (small wacoom one) for relax but i would like to draw more often and try to improve my skill from almost zero XD, and do you have any advice about shaky line in digital? Like sure I can use stabilizer setting, but if i put it too high i draw hella slow, and if its too small its too shaky(I use fire alpaca and medibang if it has anything to do with it).

I am playing as him since 2018 so even before he got his update. Why? well, he has Lucy- undestructible axe that you cant get rid of (you can actually abuse it bc by design its a flint axe and you can switch a 1% durability one into Lucy, giving other player the brand new) and i vibe a lot with him regarding his backstory. Also most friends i played with are Wendy, Willow, Wortox, Wickerbottom, Warly and Wx players- so we have fire and charcoal, attacker, healing, quickstart with backpacks, food making and a aguy who goes head first underground- but no real gatherers.

Before updates he was just a "chop chop" guy that could go insane if he did it too much (rel) so you had to balance it with planting and cutting down the trees. After his character refresh it he became ace of all trades- he can gather wood, stone, grass saplings as a beaver, he can kill hoardes of hounds and spiders and even the Deerclops as a moose, he can locate lunar island and discover the map as goose.

And after skilltree update he can even create a helmet and +15% speed walking cane- tho other perks regarding his wereforms i think make his character too easy, especially when you earn points by playing as him so you KNOW his weaknesses and learn how to work with them, to just turn them off (hunger and sanity).

He is useful in every situation in my eyes. And i like bringing 5 stacks of wood in first 3 days. Also i learned to kite treeguards :D

I dont really mind any characters. All of them are pretty balanced and dont have annoying drawbacks that makes me not want to touch them-i simply prefer Woodie. But i aint fond of one decision Klei made regarding Wortox, Wurt, Wormwood and Wanda, so all purchasable ones-not because of mechanics tho.

Why do they have ghost models corresponding to their equipped skins, but not other characters? I want wood themed Woodie transformations too q-q even Abigail has her own skins whyyyyy

Regarding drawing i dont really have good tips. The only ones that are coming to my mind is

breaking model into geometric shapes might help (thats how i draw most of the time and its visible in my sketches)

referencing instead of tracing, even badly referenced helps you more with drawing

using your own hands as a reference is enough XD and its not cheating to look out poses

the more you draw something the better you get at it

you can actually make black shadows work but it will make it seem flat, dark purple set on multiply is enough to me but it depends on artstyle i noticed

Those happened to me:

you may see a lot of mistakes in your own artwork more often than others so dont fret abt it. But if you really are anxious (like me) you can go back to look at it some time after finishing.

you dont have to draw everything in every style. Its no artschool here and you are mostly drawing for yourself anyway. Tho dont use it as an excuse to only draw one thing, try something new from time to time.

custom brushes are cool and dont be afraid to experiment with them. Who knows, it may become your go-to/default brush.

harder pencils dont erase that well but are good with details and leave a lighter mark, als you probably wont need a whole set of 'em i am using like 3 at most (5H, HB, H)

even tho i have a sketchbook on myself 24/7 i still end up drawing in notebooks because i think "its not good enough for a sketchbook"- no, SKETCHbook, its meant for doodling so do it there and you will have a way to track your progress (i myself have a whole DRAWER of papers that i sometimes look through and let me tell ya, seeing that progress is noice)

i knooow they may seem generic but everyone has a different way of drawing and some things may or may not work for them. and i never went to artschool im self taught tho i learned a lot by looking at other artists and watching speedpaints.

With Stabilization- I didnt really use FireAlpaca or Medibang, but I remember that when i was using my old One by Wacom tablet i did had it on like 7 in SAI, because my hand was trained well enough to not shake so much but i needed it to be more precise. I would try drawing a zig zag and waves on the lowest setting and then increase it until you can draw sharp edges and smooth curves at the same time, with line following your pen path as close as possible. The slower you draw lines the more precise it gets.

it might be a bit different in each program especially with different ranges of stabilization but it might be similar to what i have here.

It could be issue of a compatibility between tablet and program, but i checked for myself and it shouldnt be it, tho it doesnt really make it impossible.

hope i helped with artist part of ask ^^"

[mbat]

i dont know how to say it in a way that people wouldnt somehow still find an issue with but i think so much about how one of my main OCs currently is a goblin from world of warcraft, and i purposefully gave her features that people would say are offensive, and yeah they are in most contexts, but idk...

like, in the game theyre from, its definitely offensive. the entire goblin species in that game is, as far as ive seen, very one-note. they think only of money, and very much dont care about what it takes to get it, including carelessly killing other people (even other goblins) just for a quick buck. ive only ever seen one goblin who doesnt fit this description, and its no surprise to me that that goblin was only from a recent expansion. as a jewish person, and honestly as a person who thinks antisemitism fucking sucks in general, it doesnt feel great! i clearly like this game, but that doesnt erase the fact that a whole race in it is a walking antisemitic stereotype, and how it makes me cringe every. single. time.

and well, goblins are almost always like that. big nosed, money obsessed, conniving, and occasionally they even still love to eat children (coughs in the direction of the most recent season of doctor who). even the least bad depiction ive seen of goblins so far, being the ones from 'tell me why', theyre described as 'crafty' and are thieves, though theyre based on the main characters so its more of a playful thing, yet it still reminds me of certain things.

these traits are also often pointed out to be antisemitic even in non-goblin characters, which is of course fair, like the villagers and golems in minecraft. the villagers are big-nosed, and they used to be the only creatures with a concept of money, especially considering that money was the green gem in the game. not to mention, golems ARE LITERALLY JEWISH FOLKLORE! golems are from jewish myth! clay soldiers created to protect the jewish people from threat... its not hard to make the connection.

theres thing to say about the non-physical traits, but theyre not necessarily my point.

so... what is my point? and what about my OC? why did i give her these physical traits that i know are portrayed as bad and offensive, even though i know why theyre offensive? i couldve easily gone down the route of trying to give her traits that are as far from those as possible, or even have just not made a goblin OC at all.

well... reclamation. the thing is, these traits on their own, theyre not necessarily a bad thing. a hooked nose, green skin, other things that clearly make the character look less human, and therefore lean into the dehumanization of antisemitic depictions. these things together make a caricature, even though on their own theyre just traits.

i just hate that these things that i think are so fun to draw characters with are a bad thing in the right context, but most of all, i hate that a hooked nose is a bad thing in a lot of contexts. real people, especially jewish people, have hooked noses! or the bump seen higher up the nose bridge that adds to the shape thats often seen/depicted! i mean, i look at my own aunt or my grandparents and they have/had those noses.

it sucks that something thats a real, natural thing that my people have, has been taken and treated as an ugly, evil thing. i could get into the same thing many people have about how physical traits being treated as ugly and evil is already a horrible thing, but my point is specifically about this trait, and how it relates to jewish people and antisemitism.

why does this trait have to only be a bad thing? i mean, you dont exactly see it in the mainstream in any context that isnt a villain, i dont even know if i can think of any [animated/drawn] heroes who have big or hooked noses.

i have a few characters with this trait, but theyre either human-ish (an elf) or a bird-like creature, therefore the nose is meant to resemble a beak, or a furry that literally just has that nose because i wanted to give them that trait. then you have my goblin... a goblin based out of world of warcraft.

when i made her a few years ago, i did it out of spite. id already played the game a little bit on my main character (a draenei) and id seen how goblins acted and looked, and how they sounded (i mean, seriously, a new york accent??). and i was genuinely like. 'fuck you blizzard, im going to take your caricatures and make her a person, a fleshed out person whos more than the traits you gave them, and im going to love her for all of the things i give her, because likely no one else will.'

so i did. i gave her a history, i gave her a personality, a future, relationships, i made her a person. im also glad that when i made her, i made her do the starting zone made for beginners where you start on a shipwrecked beach, and they dont really treat you all that different based on race as far as i remember. i later went and made a new goblin to see what the goblin starting zone is like, and it pissed me off so bad... but thats its own conversation.

i made her a person so that the physical traits i gave her were simply traits that she had. i draw her happy and in love because shes a person to me. shes not money obsessed, shes not conniving. shes respected, she cares about people, she isnt sitting around rubbing her hands together plotting in secret.

i just dont want hooked noses to be a bad thing forever. i dont want every picture of a hooked nose to only make people think of the propaganda of the past drawn to disgust people and make people hate my people.

so yeah. i do draw her with a hooked nose, but i dont encourage anyone else to draw her. i dont even have her up on my artfight even though i have my other main world of warcraft character on there, and ive definitely drawn my girl enough that she could probably fill all 6 picture slots. i draw her for me, and i love her for me.

i draw her to take that power away from the hateful depictions. the punch in the gut when i see caricatures. its like when i say faggot and tranny to take away the power of queerphobes. i mean, i still remember the first time i was called a slur, called a tranny. the shock it sent through my body. its not that different from the pain i feel when i see nazi propaganda.

so i do it to take away that pain. to make it mine, and not theirs. thats why. people could see my character and criticize me for it, and thats fair, but i at least want people to know why i do it.

[belfrygargoyles]

1) the composition, posing, framing, anatomy, stylization, all has to be consistent and done with purpose. it cant be done clumsily, appear as a "regression" in my art style, or have any room for visible error beyond what I can categorize as "permissible". The process of art generally is not a very easy or smooth one, and the less time and paper space "wasted" on adjustments, the less revisions i have to make, the less i have to erase and redraw and put the entire piece on pause at a rudimentary stage lest i waste time on details that will be erased, the better.

2) I can say "i want to draw a character." okay, now what pose? what style? what focus? what composition? what outfit, color palette, tone, etc. too much decision. unless i already know what i want i just... can't. really decide.

3) Idk man I stopped drawing consistently some time during high school and just got out of a 5 year relationship during which i rewired my brain to constantly think about & create for another person to the point that even when i got out, i found that i couldn't even write or come up with ideas for myself because i was stopping every step with what someone else would want instead. the act of writing and drawing and engaging with ocs had for the past 5 years stopped being something to do for fun and instead been made into a primary and foundational means of reciprocal "proof" of interest and investment in the other person and for at least a full year and a half I stopped getting anything back. Part of my brain is still stuck in that tired, burnt out, frustrated resignation. Part of my brain is still trapped in the mindset that i have to focus on and create for someone else specifically, that i have a target audience that i need to regularly and consistently "prove" that i care about by making things not because its what I think about, but because everything i make HAS to be for someone else or else I am being self centered and neglecting my upkeep of the relationship. Part of my brain still just feels so dead, like it's given up entirely, after repeatedly putting 110% into catering wholly and perfectly to someone else with the expectation, promise, and increasingly desperate belief that it would be mutual, that it was mutual and my expectations were too high or my memory too unreliable, only to finally learn that no, i was right, i actually wasn't getting anything back, i was being fed empty promises to "try harder" and "be better for me" for years and put my full faith that change was happening, an effort was being put in, that i'm just too self-centered and want too much attention to myself to notice.

and, if i'll be honest. there were some comments made during that time about my art that have still stuck. really minor comments, well meaning, honestly pretty inoffensive (if not a bit annoying) unwelcome and unasked for critique on wips i was showing progress on, without the context of how it felt with the years of invisible, built up, unidentifiable frustration that made me a hair trigger desperately trying to validate my feelings by finding fault anywhere and everywhere. i dont want to hold onto those comments like this, but something about them is sticking, and i still feel stupidly hyper defensive over my art. they were just small, unintentionally mildly rude comments made without thinking that they could cause offense at all, but who they were coming from, the time they were said, the state i and the relationship was in- they really meant so, so much more, in a way that is kind of emblematic of everything that was wrong with the relationship. and part of me is still holding onto those feelings, i guess- maybe because it was about something that's always been deeply personal in a kind of delicate way for me?

ugh

hurgh i wish i could still just pick up a pen think of a character and draw when the fuck ever- now even if i want to draw, if i dont already have an idea of what exactly i want to draw i just... cant. i dont know if this is a result of focusing too much on quality/the "it has to be perfect or it cant exist at all" mentality, a weird kind of decision paralysis (which it actually is sometimes), or longterm effects of burnout and relying on extrinsic motivators for so long.

actually its probably all of that at the same time now that i wrote that out

[natsmagi]

EXCITING NEWS!!! I GOT A NEW DRAWING TABLET!! my prev one was one i had had for over 7+ yrs and girl omg its like actually so bad. i bought it second-hand too. pens been broken since day 1 and theres a scratch on the screen. baffling. But now im gonna have to enter the learning stage of this new tablet. Which may take me some time. and be difficult. but its ok i got this

and also just so u guys can get an idea of how awful my old tablet was please look at this

like do u see. the hell i had to endure. Does this make sense to u guys. look at the line quality. the pen pressure sensitivity. my old tablet didnt even have a tilt sensitivity function. i cant believe i lived like this for so long

but yes now begins my "getting used to new technology" phase so if u dont see me posting for a couple days this is why. daunting stuff

[zulivaris]

Art Block tips that helped me

 I’ve recently experienced art block after 3 or so months of overcoming my last one. Thankfully this block only lasted a few days thanks to some things I’ve observed and noted down from the previous time. So I’m sharing these few tips in hopes that it might help someone get unstuck :D!

First and foremost if you’re tired, sad or anxious don’t be surprised that you can’t make art, go and take care of yourself by treating yourself with kindness and patience, the sketchbooks and canvases will wait for you :)

The tips are under here:

Separate art studies from the creative time:  When you do art studies you’re there to focus on specific things, learn and understand how things work so you can apply them later in your art. Studies take a lot of energy and focus and are the opposite of the creative "flow” of making your own pieces. If you combine the two the results are either unfocused studies or stiff drawings. When you sit down at your desk ask yourself “Do I want to learn something new or do I want to create something of my own?”

When you have an idea don’t be afraid of being messy: Let’s say you want to make a picture of several cats kolo dancing in the moonlight. How do you go about doing this? Well since you came up with the idea you already have a vague image in your mind, sketch it out with simple shapes, stick figures, circle and spheres etc Don’t worry about cat anatomy, or the dancer’s moves, sketch out the essence of it. This method removes the need to be perfect or accurate. 

Ok after the messy sketch then what? Well now that you have sketched out the essence of your idea (and hopefully had fun doing so) now you go on to look for references! You put the creative process on pause and you can do a few brief studies if you need to: anatomy, color schemes, values, poses. Pick out a few of your favorites but don't obsess over them, they are a guide, a tool.

You know much more than you think. You’ve probably been drawing for a few years now. You’ve probably done some studies and drawn more than one type of subject. Then you have already internalized some of that information. I used to be obsessed with capturing the minute detail of the subject, and not be able to draw ANYTHING without reference. Instead of a useful tool, references became another obstacle to my creativity. That’s perfectionism my friend, and that’s no good. Here is an exercise a good friend of mine offered: Draw a few characters, animals and objects from imagination. Make sure that the subjects have no personal value to you (no ocs for example) so that if you make a mistake you won’t feel bad about it. Make the process relaxed and comfortable, pour a nice cup of joe, listen to your favorite music ... You will notice that you do indeed know how to draw some things without reference, and it’ll help with your confidence. 

The more you do studies the more you understand This seems evident but the more you understand your subject the freer you can be and the easier it’ll be to draw it from imagination in the future. If you really struggle with something to the point of frustration (as in you can’t get it right even with reference) It means you have to study it. Have a study list, for example: hands, perspective, color theory etc. And one of those days you want to study pick something from the list, and look for videos on youtube or useful sites like line of action etc. Only study one thing at the time. You can go from studying hands to studying arms since they’re more immediately connected, but you can’t study hands and then jump to learning perspective right after. Trust me you can learn perfectly fine with the resources online, and I’m sure you’re clever enough to do it :D

Mistakes don’t mean you “suck”  I’ve noticed that the two most common causes for art block are perfectionism and lack of self-confidence.  The two can often go in tandem which is worse :’D But let me remind you of something, you can fix your piece along the whole process. Use erasers, lasso tools, liquify , select, paint it all over etc If something looks off to you then you also know deep inside how to fix it. Useful ways to see what clunks: flip canvas horizontally (helps with placement, proportions), turn the image to grayscale (helps to check values and where your eye tends to look), look at your image in thumbnail size and ask yourself if it’s clear, see the pose’s silhouette and ask yourself if you can tell what the character is doing etc. Don’t fret, everything can always be fixed :)

Perfectionism, sometimes it stops you before you begin Perfectionism causes you to overwork a piece, it makes you draw less, it makes art stressful, it brings insecurity. Let’s remove it with a simple exercise. It can be combined with the “draw things from imagination” once you’ve drawn something you like: dont do line art, don’t shade it, keep it as simple and crude as possible and then...post it. Yes, post it. You’re not at your best? You’re only human, this will help you embrace that very human side of you. You make mistakes. So what? The more mistakes you make the more you know what you need to study and the better at art you become. Mistakes are there to show us what we need to learn. See them as another tool and not a sign of failure.

Make the process as enjoyable as possible: You like art. You love drawing. Never forget this. Otherwise why are you drawing if you don’t enjoy it? It’s easy to fall prey to the mentality of those relatable memes that “art= suffering” or “I can’t even draw the other eye”. No no no my friends, these messages are fueling your insecurities instead of overcoming them. Let me tell you what, art is fun. It is. Art is fun, because I decided to make it fun again. And you should decide on that too. Personally I adore lineart but my hand-eye coordination is lacking to do it digitally, so....I just skipped it. Yes. I skipped it. I do the sketch, I clean it up a bit and then jump onto color which I adore. It allowed me to draw more and more freely. When I draw I listen to music, make strokes with the rhythm, I take breaks often and I drink my favorite iced teas. If you don’t like coloring do it in grayscale, if you love lineart then do that etc It doesn’t mean you won’t learn your weak points in the future with studies and practice, but you won’t let your weaknesses prevent you from drawing at all. No no, you won’t let them. You draw because you want to, despite of them.

Don’t wait for inspiration, provoke it  Inspiration is not a divine and capricious muse. You make inspiration. It’s easy just collect all the things you like, music, artists, objects, characters, animals, patterns, plants etc Make boards on pinterest or similar sites, combine things you like. You like suits? You like birds? You can draw a bird in a suit, or a bird-inspired suit design, there is frankly a lot of ideas that can spring up from little things like these.

When a project stops being enjoyable either pause it for now or move on to the next thing. Pieces aren’t precious. They’re not “the one time I got x right” they are one of many. This advice goes mainly to hobbyists who can afford the luxury of passing to a new project. I have a WIP of a character who is overly complicated (I enjoy a challenge from time to time) sitting for half a month. I sometimes come back to it and add something... but as soon as it starts to create discomfort and insecurity instead of enjoyment I move onto something else. In the meantime I created 3 or 4 new pieces. If I had waited on finishing that piece I would have been severely creatively and physically exhausted. The art comes from you, not inspiration. The more art you make the better you become.

That’s about it :D I know it’s long but I prefer to be thorough and cover all the possibilities. If you have read of this: Thank you so much I hope this helps you at least a bit, if it helps only 1 other person I’d still be very happy. Have a nice one, and kick art block’s butt!

[sweetescapeartist]

MY DBS MANGA CHAPTER 70 REVIEW

We learn in the last chapter that the Cerealian Dragon's name is Toronbo when Granolah speaks Namekian. Toronbo grants Granolah's wish but can't make Granolah stronger than the gods.

Here's the confusion I have... Goku is a mortal beyond GoDs so making Granolah the strongest mortal is making him stronger than gods. If you wanna say Beerus has been training and is now stronger than Goku, there's still a problem. It was said that Goku and Vegeta were stronger than some GoDs right before the ToP (but that might be anime only, so maybe it doesn't apply here). So Granolah is stronger than GoDs no matter what. If the gods that Toronbo is speaking of are the Angels, then that means Granolah is Ultra Instinct level of power since Goku is the lowest in Angel tier. But whatever. Bottom line is Granolah is temporarily stronger than Goku who may or may not be stronger than Beerus.

Granolah gets his wish granted and the cost is shortening his life... cool. Not much to say except let's see how its executed.

(I recently read that in DBXV2, during the Infinite History Saga, Videl is enchanted with Towa's Dark Magic spell by Dabura shaving off her life but granting her greater power. So granting power at the cost of lifespan has been done in DB before. Not in canon but in the games.)

Also, Granolah's life being shortened to 3 yrs got me thinking... Currently it's almost AGE 781 in the DBS manga timeline. Goku leaves to train Uub in AGE 784. We got 3 yrs left. The original manga shows Bulma said she hadn't seen Goku in 5 yrs. How I see DBS is that it is an alternate timeline that just happens to have a similar outcome to the EoZ.

So... why is Vegeta learing from Beerus again if Beerus isn't that strong now? Is Vegeta being like Krillin and continuing his learning from a master weaker than him, but gaining wisdom & knowledge? I-is Vegeta becoming Krillin 2.0?! (More like dollar-store Krillin)

I do think beerus got stronger tho. He seems very confident that Vegeta can get stronger from learning from him. Beerus probably saw Goku get UI then decide to train aftet the ToP

Anyways, Beerus is teaching us about hakai/destruction energy. Its erasing something from existence, not just destroying it (we already knew that). But, Vegeta quickly figures out how to do it anyways. By destroying a tiny pebble...

A tangent again but I personally think Piccolo is capable of easily learning Hakai energy. Think about it. Piccolo can create clothing out of nothing, why could he not do the reverse?

Goku is uninterested in what Beerus & Vegeta are doing. I dont know about you, but it sounds like Goku thinks that he's above Beerus in strength. Beerus & Vegeta aren't considered a challenge to him in any way. Goku sees UI as more important & better than anything Beerus has to teach, and Goku is right. Plus Goku learned Hakai on his own while Vegeta needs Beerus to teach him. It's a waste of Goku's time to learn it again.

(God Comics is funny. I imagine Toribot writes them)

Goku says "Let's see which one of us can be the strongest in the universe!" Really, Goku...? At present time, Goku is the strongest mortal in the universe already. He should know that. Then Vegeta for some reason thinks he will become the strongest in the universe. The last time manga Vegeta was the strongest mortal in the universe was... never. He's always behind Goku or whatever new opponent arises. This scene is meant to be comedic that they're arguing over who will be the greatest but it's not funny to me. And yet Vegeta fans still hold on for hope.

But why is Goku concerned about being the strongest between him & Vegeta? Goku is far above Vegeta. They're not rivals at this point. Also, Goku was the strongest in the universe until just a few moments ago. Goku should be saying "I knew bein' the strongest wouldn't last for too long. Roshi did tell me there will always be somebody stronger out there. Hehe! This is gettin' me excited! I can't wait to meet 'em!" (This would alsp parallel Monaito giving Granolah the same advice Goku already knows.)

Also, I guess Broly isn't that strong after all. Bye Broly, you served your purpose. And to think that Goku had said that he thinks Broly is stronger than Beerus...

Oh yeah. So Vegeta destroys a pebble. Impressive? Goku kinda gives a compliment or he is practically saying "Good job Vegeta! You're doing great following in my footsteps!" Seriously, this would be so much better and cooler if this seperate paths of training began right after the Universe 6 vs Universe 7 tournament. That would be the perfect spot to have them train under Beerus & Whis. [Vegeta using Hakai against Merged Zamasu, Goku able to fight Merged Zamasu temporarily because he is getting better at letting his body move on its own, Toppo & Vegeta using Hakai against each other as Goku & Jiren use power above GoDs. That would work so much better.]

Then Vegeta says he's gonna destroy bigger things soon... is that supposed to be more impressive? Its not. But this it to build up Vegeta even though there is nothing amazing about anything he is doing at the moment. Maybe later tho.

So Cerealians can't grow beards. Also I guess Granolah's race don't age? His hair grew when his lifespan was shortened but he has no wrinkles. It seems that they age more gracefully than Saiyans. If he has some wrinkles he would have looked cooler imo. Or those lines under the eyes at the very least. If the wish shortened his life & made his hair grow, it should have also showed that he aged. (Here's an edit I made of "Grampa Granolah." You're welcome)

And remember Vegeta destroying a pebble? Granolah can suddenly destroy big rocks! Cool right?! No? Its not cool? Showing Granolah destroy a much larger object right afterwards kinda belittles Vegeta's accomplishment.

Oatmil is surprised by a boulder exploding. This means one of 2 things. Oatmil is stupid & never saw an Granolah explode a boulder. Or it's implying that the boulder exploding is some technique Oatmil doesn't know of. Idk how he can tell its any different from just blowing up a rock with ki. I think it's supposed to be destruction energy. If it is then, ok. If getting his wish was so easy, then why can't he suddenly learn destruction as well?

Yay! Monaito! (This really should be a Namekian focused arc)

Granolah reminds me of Zamasu with his attitude a bit. Monaito tells him somebody stronger will definetly appear. Granolah has become like Vegeta and is over confident, so he is destined to get humbled. And think about this. Goku can probably train a bit and surpass Granolah within a week.

Granolah can now sense ki. Meaning he can have the destruction technique or UI, because why not?

Monaito blames himself for Granolah's actions. Its not your fault Monaito! You did nothing wrong! Dont be so hard on yourself.

Whis being a creep and peeping on people lol.

Granolah's hair growing was pointless because he cuts it off soon after. Nothing changed visually. This kinda reminds me of how Moro lost his arm. Goku gave him a senzu, Moro grew it back, & then Moro broke his arm when attacking Goku. Then Moro tore his arm off & reattached his old one. There was no need for Moro to grow his arm back then tear it off. Similarly, there is no need for Granolah to have grown long hair then cut it off.

Maki still brings a smile to my face. She & Gas stand out the most out of the Heeters. Maki's personality is kinda like Zangya combined with a teasing Bulma. Gas reminds me of a Krillin/Piccolo fusion with dreadlocks. I also ship Maki x Gas cause they're short and look cute together. (please don't be siblings so I can draw them together🤞)

Granolah fights Oil & Maki. I'm not impressed. They seem like they could be defeated by Chaoitzu (he's stronger than Raditz and probably Nappa now too). Granolah's movements could be seen as UI. If it is or isn't UI, it doesn't matter. Showing off that kind of power is like Goku using Ultra Instinct during a rematch with Nam or King Chappa. Its not effective storytelling. There had to be a better way of showing Granolah's new strength than making him fight opponents that give him zero challenge.

The art is good as usual and the panel flow is nice. Toyotaro is improving at creating the illusion of motion. The environment being used in the fight was smart and a good visual. Toyo still uses a ton of panels almost every page tho. But he's still a better artist than I am.

Granolah appears to have used Hakai again. Not the explosive variant but the sand variant (yes I think there are 2 ways of using Hakai).

The "Sand Variant" that Beerus & Goku (& maybe Granolah) have used.

The "Explosive Variant" Beerus & Vegeta (& maybe Granolah) have used.

Maki thinks the "Hakai" is magic so that's interesting. I would say I'd like for the next enemy to be a magic user but, we know how Moro turned out... 😓

Maki has "ki claws" & I like the idea but it would be better if she had used it against an enemy she can defeat. It doesn't make her look useful in this fight. Gas seems confident when he is about to fight Granolah, but Elec stops him. Gas would've gotten beaten but it make ya wonder what Gas can do.

Granolah appears to be a person that is easily manipulated and persuaded. He even gave information they weren't even asking for. He'll probably be easily convinced and manipulated by Freeza/the Hedters or quickly have a truce with Goku.

The Heeters plan to go to Planet Cereal to get the Dragon Balls. As I suspected, the Cerealian Dragon Balls were created so that it would be easy for wishes to be granted. Gathering 2 Dragon Balls on a nearby planet instead of gathering 7 on New Namek or Earth. Plus these new Dragon Balls ensures no interaction between Earthlings & Granolah/the Heeters. A perfect way to write Gohan & company out of the story... *sigh* 😔😒

We learn Cerealians live for 2 centuries. How's that compare to other races in Universe 7? Freeza & King Cold apparently can live more than 200 yrs, But that may be because they are mutants. Namekians can live for like 500 yrs & its possible for them to reincarnate themselves too. So in a way, Namekians can live forever. Saiyans stay youthful & live to be in their 80's, but rapidly age when they reach their 60's or 70's. Average Earthlings appear live to be in their 80's or 90's but some are over 100 yrs old (Dr. Briefs, Panchy, & Ox King are in their 90's in GT) and others can increase their lifespan through elixers or the Paradise Herb. Just some thoughts of mine.

Maki says "If he ices Freeza..." Ha, an ice pun. Elec wants to defeat Freeza so he can control his army. Its revealed they wanna kill Granolah & that they worked with Freeza to destroy his planet & race. Well... that more than likely means they're gonna die by Granolah's hand or Freeza's. This info is also an attempt to make the reader more sympathetic for Granolah. Granolah is too bland (pun intended) so I don't feel any more sympathy than I already had for him. Elec plans to make Goku & Vegeta fight Granolah since Granolah hates Saiyans. Smart but we all kinda expected it. Not bad writing tho.

The final panel talks about fate bringing the 3 (Goku, Vegeta, & Granolah) together. Sounds like a repeat of the Broly movie.

We've had 4 chapters in this arc & not 1 panel of Freeza... If Freeza doesnt appear & do something in the next chapter then I will be disappointed in the writing. Showing Freeza here and there would give tension and build up until we get the encounter with him. We also have no idea who Oatmil is. Is he an A.I. or a person? Not that big of a deal yet, but I would like to find out soon. Either show Freeza or tell us more about Oatmil next chapter pleaae

This chapter was like oatmeal (the food not the character) without butter, brown sugar, milk, & honey or raisins. Not bad, but not very good either. 

So here's my thoughts on the things that could or could not happen in this arc.

Goku vs Granolah. I don't care for the fight because the power is at a point that it doesnt make sense for enemies to get to without cheating somehow. The fight will look cool but I have no interest in it.

Vegeta vs Granolah will have Vegeta being stomped as always and Vegeta fans will make excuses & complain how it's not fair. A lot of Vegeta fans often make fun of Yamcha & Krillin for getting beat up even though those 2 bravely fight opponents leagues stronger than they are. Vegeta has gotten stomped by opponents more times than Krillin & Yamcha combined but the fans gotta deflect somehow. I don't care to hear or see the complaining again.

The interaction and dialogue between Granolah & Vegeta is going to be more interesting than their fight. But I worry because Toyo isn't the best at writing dialogue.

I have no reason to care about power growth, certain interactions, or Goku & Vegeta's training.

What I am curious about/want to see?

Monaito's well being. I want him to reunite with other Namekians. But I think he's been set up to die.

Lore about the dragon gods & Namekian lore we probably wont get.

I want Piccolo, Krillin, Gohan, & others will be involved. Piccolo because of the Namekian & wosh granting dragon lore. Gohan because his interaction with Granolah eould be interesting since Gohan is half Saiyan & views himself as an Earthling. Krillin & other Earthlings because they can bring tensions where characters like Goku & Vegeta can't. Those 2 are too strong for there to be any real tension. However Earthlings aren't all powerful so them using wits to survive is more exciting. But I doubt any of their involvement.

How long a Cerealian year is? Is it shorter than a Namekian year? How much time will pass for the Cerealian Dragon Balls to be active? How much stronger than Granolah will Goku get? Hopefully the answers aren't lazy...

Will Beerus finally fight somebody? There are 6 mortals that are near or above his power (Goku, Granolah, Vegeta, Broly, Freeza, Gohan).

Who's the villian of the next arc & what explanation is going to be given for them having power on the level of Angels? Angel tier fights don't sound interesting to me anymore. After those kinds of battles, Goku will have no challengers left.

Will Goku disappear to train or something so the story can TRY to match up with the EoZ?

Will Goten, Trunks, & Marron hit their growth spurts within 3 yrs?

Will we get spin-off manga about other characters? PLEASE!? 🙏

Also DBS moved too quickly when it comes to power. Now we're at the point that Goku & Vegeta need to stop being involved in fights for there to be any actual threat or tension. The Buu saga took place in AGE  774. After training for 4 years of peace, Goku thought SS3 & fusion was his limits as a Saiyan and he was right. Well, kinda... Goku was introduced to god ki near the end of AGE 778. Then in AGE 781, Goku masters Ultra Instinct... He mastered an Angel technique in 2 year or 2.5 yrs. That was waaaay too fast. As a result the storytelling & writing are suffering from this rushed progress. Now we're gonna have an Angel tier opponent? According to the pattern of DBS, Goku's gonna end up surpassing the Angels within 2 or 3 yrs after learning god ki. Thats not impressive for Goku, that's terrible writing. And no, Goku getting this strong so fast is not a benefit to Saiyans either. It just shows us that without god ki, Saiyans ain't all that powerful unless they're the legendary Saiyan like Broly. Saiyans didn't even have a concept of training until Goku was trained by Earthlings. Gohan, Freeza, 17, & I'm pretty sure Piccolo as well have all surpassed SS3 without the help of god ki. God ki makes Saiyans look like they have limits. With god ki, the writing is broken....

I got off topic again... Anyways that's the end of my review.

[the-starset-system]

Do you got any ideas for increasing communication? I really wanna talk to my system but it's so hard :(

I could just give you the common advice but you can find all of that with a quick Google search. Lemme give you some stuff that's personally helped us:

GET OUTTA mY RoOm IM PLAyiNG MINECRAF

Lmao I couldn't resist, but yee, Minecraft has actually helped us communicate more than anything. It gives everyone creative freedom and with mechanics like signs and books it's easy to leave notes within the game. The littles adore it too :D

I actually have a lot to say about playing as a system on Minecraft, so I might make a separate post if any of you want to hear. I'll probably be discussing how it helps and how to set all that stuff up, since figuring out how everything would work with inventory and stuff rattled our brain at first (;ŏ﹏ŏ)

Art!

Creating things is a great way to learn more about your system and maybe uncover trauma details in a more gentle fashion! We personally draw and write, but music, dance, videos, etc. all work!

It doesn't even have to be about your system, it could be feelings or thoughts. Just something to pick your brain, to learn more about yourself since it's easy to fall down a pit when you don't know who you are, let alone your system.

That's one of the most important things in my opinion, having a grounded sense of self before really jumping into everything. When we jumped in not really knowing who we are ourselves it was hard to understand one another and I do believe that carelessness still affects us to this day, so just try to understand your own self as well

Don't laugh, but dress up games

Yeah yeah I know the kinda reputation some of them hold, but when we first discovered we were a system and started trying to work together that was the first thing we done. We knew we didn't identify with this body, but at the same time a majority of us were particularly unsure of what we did look like. Having little avatars to dress up was so helpful cause we would ask ourselves "does this feature have any significance?" or "Why am I attached to this certain feature?". Slowly after sifting through different options we could say "that's me". It was really reassuring and helped us recognize each other. It even helped with figuring out who was fronting because someone would feel unsettled about a certain feature being missing.

We still use little apps sometimes for fun or if someone new split / came out of dormancy :]

Making time

This is gonna sound silly, but think of communicating with your system the same way you would in a relationship. This is something you're likely gonna be dealing with for a good while so it's good to have close bonds with everyone. Bonds are the key to communicating cause I mean, would you wanna talk to someone you dislike?? If you're having trouble with system conflict I'd recommend checking out my other post I made about it.

But where does making time come into this? Aha sorry I actually got off topic but I feel like it's important regardless so I ain't erasing it-

What I mean by making time is well, making time. It's harder to communicate when there's so much going on around you cause you'll get distracted. What we do is set out however much free time we have that day to bundle up in our room and pretend we're sleeping, when in reality the low amount of sensory stimuli makes it easy to focus on talking to everyone. This doesn't always goes as planned, sometimes we just have bad days and can't communicate. If that's the case we'll keep trying for a few minutes before going off to do something else.

That's one thing to always remember, everyone has bad day and that's okay!

So, those are some ideas, but I also wanted to go over some things you should avoid too, kinda like do's and dont's!

Forcing communication

There's often a reason someone in the system avoids communicating, as well as a reason you may not be able to communicate with anyone. At the end of the day you gotta remember this was formed out of survival, needing to not be able to communicate, to forget, in order to properly function.

If things aren't helping then maybe give it some time, you might just not be at a good point in your life right now and your brain knows, saying "hey, we still don't feel too good, I wanna be prepared for any other tough situations we might go through" and that's okay. The mass media loves to portray ppl with DID having flawless communication and that's just not the truth. People understand it's a hard battle and I can assure you many in the community have your back :]

Fake claiming

-One of my worst habits, it's easy to say "no that's not real". Sometimes it might not be but I know from my own mistakes that more than likely it is. It can hurt a lot of system members, making them feel like their voice doesn't matter or even make them go on a spiral if they really are real.

I don't really have much more to say, it's pretty self explanatory. Just keep an open mind

You don't have to be differentiated

Another thing we're all guilty of, we thought we had to all act super different to be valid. Spoiler alert: you're valid no matter what

Once again, I feel like it's pretty self explanatory, but forcing yourself to be different from x, y, and z person sucks cause you never get to be yourself. You don't need to be differentiated, your perfect the way you are, regardless of who may share those same traits

That's all I can think of right now, but knowing me I'll come up with a million more things after I post this

I did come up with a really good explanation of what building communication is like though and I wanted to share:

Think of it as leveling up in a video game. All these tasks may seem useless but slowly your collecting XP and getting closer to your goal. That's why you gotta keep at it!

So, keep going on those seemingly useless quests and fighting that boss monster no matter how many times you get thrown to the ground, cause every last bit is worth it (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

I hope this helps! Sorry if I got a bit off topic! I have a habit of that (• ▽ •;) I was writing on and off so things may be a bit choppy. Aaaa sorryyyy but thank you for the askkkk! And remember, I am not a professional and my words should not replace / overwrite seeking professional help if possible! Regardless, I hope you have a good week! 💫

[freebooter4ever]

i’ve seen the discussion going back and forth on boundaries and sexual objectification, and i don’t have much to add to the conversation other than to say everyone is allowed to determine their OWN ‘lines’ and just because we don’t vocalize them doesn’t make them any less valid. but here’s the limits i set for my blog if anyone feels it is important for them to know (<3):

personally I consider ‘characters’ fair game for anything goes, with ‘public personas’ a little more iffy. ‘RPF’ isn’t new - it just takes on a new more accessible/visible form nowadays. i remember reading my first fic about a ‘real person’ back in my LOTR fandom days - it was a story in first person perspective about the main character meeting orlando bloom on a plane before he was ‘famous’. like a lot of these types of stories, it wasnt so much about the person as it was about the meet cute. the actor was just a convenient placeholder with a handsome face and some personality quirks thrown in to make the romance/dialogue more specific. i personally dont read much xReader fic nowadays, but mostly only cause i’m an old fart who can’t relate to the ‘you’ format. i miss the good old days when people actually created OC’s and then inserted them into things LOL. but also LOL if you think i’ve gone an entire year of quarantine without some imagined personal fantasies of joe mazzello (or steve aoki in the years before)(ramilicious can attest to this. she can also attest to most of these fantasies ending in friendship rather than anything explicit cause that’s just how i roll these days lol). the line i draw is i would never post these types of fics in a place where the subject could accidentally find them - you have to go looking for this stuff on tumblr, most fics are given explicit ratings and under read-mores. with the blacklist tags it’s pretty easy to filter things out. its even easier to add filters to ao3 searches. i am NOT going to do something like message steve aoki and say ‘yeah i watched that movie Ibiza like five times, here is my 1k fic where you’re the dj and i’m the one night stand’. but obviously people still enjoy imagining scenarios like these otherwise movies like Ibiza wouldn’t exist?

for art, i consider anything already on display up for grabs, we all know a certain person’s ass is all over the place...all you have to do is google ‘need for speed’ and rami’s name. HOWEVER, in the case of actors i personally would not draw anything more explicit than what’s already there. i’m not gonna draw full frontal nudity for rami (unless he gifts us with it in a movie, i suppose) or anyone. this is 100% a personal choice for me. 

i was a sophomore or junior in college when i volunteered as a figure drawing monitor where i’d time the nude model’s poses and help them set up the stage and lighting and such. there was this one guy in his mid forties probably, a regular who came every week, and i always thought of him fondly till one day (the day after i ran into my Hot Programming TA during dinner and later sent him an email begging him to go on a date with me because i was desperate for kissing experience)(and Hot Programming TA emailed me back within minutes saying yes) this artist guy who i saw all the time and thought i knew fairly well, decided to draw me instead of the model. which would have been fine except he drew me naked. i was NOT naked at the time, i was wearing a shirt, and a bra, and a full prairie skirt with alternating calico and floral patterns. he drew what he imagined was underneath all that. he came up to me after the figure drawing session and showed me his drawings and told me i had been ‘glowing’ and my response was to laugh it off awkwardly and get the hell out of there as soon as i gave the model their pay check. but inwardly i was thinking a) i was NOT glowing for this creepy man twice my age and b) i did NOT give him consent to sexualize my body under my clothes and then SHOW me that objectification. i never said anything to him or anything else, i continued to be the monitor, and i continued to field off creepy advances from him including multiple job offers, but when i finally realized i could just...stop..and i passed the student volunteer monitor job on to my friend naeem, i also realized that what that older male artist did was NOT ok in my book. and it was probably not something he would do while naeem was monitoring.

nowadays im working in an industry that regularly objectifies female bodies. in the past year alone i have had to deal with requests to make breasts bigger, i have been given character rigs that in addition to the usual elbow, knee, and spine joints also have ‘nipple’ joints but ONLY for the women (to make them jiggle for animation), every time i send out a female pose i get it back with notes that push it further into the sexy type of body language reserved for women (twist the spine more! sway the back more! give it ‘energy!’), i have been told to erase wrinkles and fat and pores but ONLY for the women (men you ADD pores bc realism! and manliness!) and this is all me working for a company that is actually fairly progressive in terms of sexism compared to OTHER studios.

like it or not, sexual objectification is a huge part of specifically women’s lives and how we react to that is our business. for me, turning the tables and putting men on display feels like fair’s fair. i cant stop the men from doing it, so if i want to enjoy sexualizing male bodies, damn it im gonna! like dang it, boy do i want to send steve aoki a thank you note every time he posts a video of himself doing those ice baths during the sunset golden hour bc holy shit gorgeous or working out in his gym wearing VERY little clothes, but i dont because i know what its like when someone imposes their personal fantasies on the subject. or, god, there was that time i had to unfollow nicole’s insta for a while bc i had a very explicit dream about her and realized, shit, i need to take a break and get my emotions under control before i can refollow. and god some of the stuff i see dudes sending her during her live videos on mental illness/meditation is TOTALLY gross and not something they should be confronting her with. and she’s not even ‘famous’ famous. or how some fans send their idols explicit direct messages without consent. THAT feels inappropriate to me.

a part of me feels like i shouldn’t have to defend this. men don’t. they’re even encouraged in mass media to sexualize women. but i also recognize the importance of talking about consent. the importance of recognizing that a celebrity deserves to have their boundaries respected. these are my lines in fandom. other people have different lines they won’t cross, and that’s okay to me. i block or blacklist any blogs or tags i think go over the top.

heck, even in fandom-only spaces i still try to keep my own more sexual fantasies off this blog and only in private messages with my friends and mutuals, and i feel like that might come across as unintentionally prudish or judgmental sometimes. i’m not ‘horny on main’ very often. but like...every time i reblog that particular ‘washing machine’ gif of joe mazzello am i thinking about him naked and thinking about how he’s got very loooooong feet, and ‘gee i wonder if that means /other/ things are Too Big for my tastes’ but also ‘gosh wouldnt that make a pretty picture to draw’???? hell yeah.

i dont know who is gonna actually read this essay but yolo i guess :)

[acetechne]

I really love your art! While both mediums that you used are amazing I am fascinated by your traditional art! I was wondering what supplies do you use? I think you watercolour for colouring instead of gouache since it looks much thinner but I could be wrong.

Hi there! I’m so glad you like it :D

I’ve been neglecting traditional art a lot since I’ve moved all around the country in the past three years, so some pieces might look vastly different than others because I have access to different spaces and materials at different times. Tbh, I reaLLLY would like to get some gouache, it’s just that I have been living out of a suitcase while I was in school and wasn’t able to get any ;;

The Secret

GENERALLY however........... my secret is that I’ve been using the same watercolour palette I’ve had since high school :’ ) and I dont know what brand it is because the transparent lid literally fell off and vanished ages ago, it was something that my art teacher had picked out.

(As you can see, my yellow is almost completely gone which is a Huge Problem because I use yellow as a base for a lot of things Especially skin tones. It’s great to have other colours, but a lot of art i do relies on just mixing the three primary colours.)

Most watercolour art I do is using this palette, like this or this or this. Since I brought it with me while I was studying in Toronto, nearly all of the art I’ve done in the past three years with some exceptions has been done with this old boi. I wish I knew what it was because I’m going to have to replace it eventually... I’m back home now so if the art stores here still carry it, I can investigate.

(THIS GOT LONG SO I HAVE SOME MORE SUPPLIES AND RELATED THOUGHTS UNDER THE CUT) (feel free to ask for clarification on anything) (And if you ever need watercolour tips I cannot recommend Watercolour by Shibasaki enough, the man is a god, LISTEN to when he says to use a Big Brush he Means it)

Pricier Stuff

The great thing about watercolour is it’s a cheap and highly accessible medium. If you want strong pigments that last for years, by all means please get something a little pricier. I use a Sakura Koi field set for painting outside or in cafes, like this, this or this or even doing comics like this. Although its great for small paintings, a lot of stuff I do with these tends to turn out a bit washed out because I’m Afraid of using too much pigment which I have to get over. Also, Daniel Smith gives you rich, buttery colours and you don’t need very many tubes to get a gorgeous range of colours and you can even get a “dot card” which is like a little paper palette with a few smears of paint on it for a more affordable price. My tubes have been in storage until just a few weeks ago, so I don’t really have many examples of using them... but I think I used them here. (I even had some dried up paint on my palette when i got back and used it for this and look how rich and vibrant that blue is after sitting dried up in storage for three years).

The Secret... Part Two

However like i said, the brilliant thing about watercolour is its affordability and accessibility. Whether you prefer tubes or pans, you’ll probably find something in your price range thats easy to use and gets you the results you want as long as you practice. I have a set of Staedtler student watercolour tubes I haven’t used much yet that I picked up on a student sale ages ago (art stores, especially ones near art schools, sometimes have discounts for students of all ages at the start of the school year). But you know, if you just want to add a pop of colour to a page in your sketchbook and you’re not too worried about something fading, use that old crayola set from kindergarten! I mean it! If you have one around, dig it up and play with it. This is Crayola, and so is this and this and this! Kids paint works a little differently than other paints (and it fades like HELL if you leave it in the sun, so dont hang it on your wall too long), but it’s great for confidence boosting and livening up your sketches (or drawing attention away from sketches you dont want people looking at lol)

PAPER!!!!!!!!!!

You can get away with using dollar store paints to make good watercolour. You can’t get away with using copy paper. If you have to spend money somewhere, spend it on good paper.

Great news: Canson XL Mixed Media sketchbooks are cheap, come in all different sizes, AND THEY ARE AWESOME!!!! There are haters out there (including Quatsch, who much prefers the Strathmore Soft Covered Art Journal). The paper crinkles because it’s not as durable as Actual watercolour paper, but its fantastic for practicing and putting a light wash on other types of drawings. I love it.

Other stuff I use

- INK: Most of my inking has been done with Staedtler Fineliners. These are good quality pens, especially for technical drawing, because you can paint over them no problem, they dont get mutilated by erasing, and they draw crisp straight lines. However, they don’t angle or turn corners super naturally like a Fabercastell might, even if they are more durable and leave stronger marks. I only just started using Sakura Microns (which I’ve coveted for a long time) and as long as you are gentle with them, I think they’re the best of both worlds.

- TEXTURE: You’ll notice a lot of my art has pencil crayon (CoLoReD PEnCiLs, sorry Americans) on top because i like to beef up the colour and detail. You can use pretty much any kind for this, but I use Laurentians which sadly are no longer produced even though they were THE staple, default pencil crayon brand for Decades in Canadian schools. If you’re lucky enough to find any, hold on to them!

- WHITE: Uniball signo white gel pen babyyyyyyyy

- BRUSHES: I don’t... know, i got my acrylic brushes from high school and I just pick up a watercolour brush or four whenever I feel the need, you can’t really go wrong here. I use waterbrushes for travel which are good as long as you keep them clean (because stagnant water Will go mouldy so don’t leave it in there)

- OTHER: When I get tea from a take out place I sometimes save a paper cup or two and wash them out after i finish, they’re handy for water. I also use glass jars for pesto that I’ve cleaned out because the lids make them easier to sneak into school xD Use one for clean water and one for dirty water P L ea Se

GO FORTH AND CREATE!!!!!!!! Especially now that there’s more hours of sunlight, it’s night to sit outside or in a window and do some painting.

[audarcy]

Friends and i through a very simple and vague google search discovered something like an LGBT wiki with hundreds of pages of labels for every conceivable attitude towards sexuality and romantic leaning. and as much as i understand, on the individual scale, that better understanding urself and validating ur experiences is a positive thing, wiki-style categorization of your community of lived human experiences is fucking bleak man. Especially knowing how language tends to change our outlook, how easy it is for someone to see one of these microlabels and think "that sounds similar to my situation" and then alter their mindset towards their own sexuality to better fit a definition someone made up in a tumblr ask in 2015.

I just think its possible to understand and validate your sexuality without needing to broadcast that to the internet. i think if youve done enough introspection to find a label that resonates with what you know then whats the point of the label anyway? To seek validation and recognition from strangers? To make shorthand of your demographic, to make your personal feelings and struggles and, often, trauma into an easily consumable badge worn on your shirt? To have a flag? There are ways to find and bond with those whove had similar experiences without honogenizing those experiences into a single word and a quick definition

But on the other hand i dont object to personal self-identification. Like we have to look at this from the broader community perspective. But then, what fosters such a community but the people creating and using these terms? But theres no objective point where we can draw a line past which the labels are "too micro" to stay. Even the big ones like those of the LGBT acronym are too restrictive for some--thats why microlabels exist in the first place--and it would make me a hypocrite to tell people to squeeze themselves through those boxes for the sake of community cohesion. Plus, I don't want to do that! And we can't just ban everything but queer.

The individualization of sexuality is a tricky subject because your personal feelings ARE individual. But the creation of shorthand terms and wikis encourages division on a larger scale. Do we ideologically deny these people self-identification in this specific way for the sake of discouraging division? I don't know. I've seen the importance these labels have to people, especially those who use them to figure out that theyre queer at all. Do we hold every queer individual to upholding a strong and unified queer community? Do we disagree with microlabels but not attempt to erase them? Man, i dont know.

The nature of language to homogenize nuanced experiences has been debated since ancient fucking greece. Im just a 20something on the internet for christs sake

[rema-rin]

How do you create such detailed pieces in such a short amount of time?? Like yo, your art is so fucking amazing and when I see how short of a time it takes even the most detailed of pieces to complete I'm just amazed. Whenever I even attempt to do a detailed piece I take days upon days to finish lmao. Love your art friend (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

Sorry for the delayed response! Thank you very much!! And I think there are multiple factors contributing to faster/slow art processes; One would be, to avoid having to redo work.Here's a quick video explaining the terms "destructive/non-destructive" https://www.ctrlpaint.com/videos/destructive-vs-non-destructive

I apply that logic to the process itself as well, I might start detailing a limb of a character, but later on, I might realize that I need to add a complex pattern on that limb that I already started shading. If I didn't plan for it, and had already merged the character layers to only 1 layer, then I'd potentially have to redo lots of work.

Though getting smart with your layer usage just takes trial and error I'd say,,

But same idea with rushing to certain stages of the process before having a clear picture of what the end-product /should/ look like. You can correct a bad proportion/perspective/anatomy much much faster in the sketch phase, than in the coloring/shading/detailing phase. Basically, you ensure a much smoother ride, if the skeleton of your building is all laid out on your blue-prints, than if you try to build it blindly. (decide on placement, color choices, light setting, composition, posing, area of focus - all in the first 20% of your art process - the other 80% is for rendering out / refining/clean up) ((it's rare for me to be 100% sure about any of the initial planning, but I at least try to be as satisfied with it as possible before moving on to the next stage)) I heard one artist describe that 80% of their concentrated decision-making is spent on the first 20% of the artwork- the rest is just on autopilot. This is getting rambly,, but you'll have to find what fits you best. It's also true that part of my speed comes from developing lots of muscle-memory basically. I'm familiar with a whole set of shapes, details, bits of knowledge that I can sketch out quickly to make the skeleton-blueprints of dogs, dragons, humans, trees, etc and thus being able to spend more time and energy on planning out more intricate stuff like perspective, composition, color combinations instead of investing all the initial effort into getting the anatomy of a dog leg looking right. (So this brings us back to the age-old advice of: studying the basics :'> but alas, just draw the things you enjoy a LOT, and you'll start to naturally get faster as well, that is what's called getting "mileage" in drawing) ALsO know when there's no need for details!!!! You can suggest the existence of texture/details by just adding it in sparse places, instead of covering the whole area with it!!! You can also plan out your image as if it's taken by a camera; underexposed: the lighted areas are the most detailed https://www.artstation.com/artwork/1V5R3 / overexposed: the shaded areas are the most detailed. https://www.artstation.com/artwork/8A6wq (this can be real subtle too, it doesn't even have to be extreme, but it'll help you balance your picture and workload as well,, gives to image room to breathe too!) ((((and dont spend hours doing fine and clean lineart if your image is gonna be really dark in the end (and you dont plan on making the lineart be bright,, ) too often have I spent way too much time doing thin and precise lineart, just for it to disappear in dark shading. A cleaned up sketch works just as fine too!)))) Lastly, I believe you'll speed up your process real quick, by focusing on improving your sketching speed. Being able to sketch out the ideas in your head faster, you'll be able to nail down your image faster, because you can go through different versions quicker and find the most fitting one quicker. You can train yourself by doing traditional sketching in pen instead of pencil (no eraser = more thoughtful lines, less errors) or by doing timed gesture drawing (You can find websites for doing figure drawing with a stopwatch, 3 min -> 2 min -> 1 min -> 30 sec is possible too) Hope this helped! I'm still figuring out how to properly do the detailing phase, because I actually think I tend to rush it too much? I'm fine with character-focused details, but my stamina runs out real quick when it comes to backgrounds.

[maevelin]

what do you think would have happened if you continued sweet nightmares? dont get me wrong i loved reading this fanfic but i hated how caroline was being abused and nothing she did was her choice. i also kinda hated klaus and it was impossible for me to ship them because of what he was doing to her. anyway how do you think caroline would become? i always thought it would backfire on klaus and caroline would end up hating her vampirism instead of embracing it

That story was not meant to have a happy ending. It was meant to have a bittersweet open ending more bitter when it came to Klaus in the end. 

And since that story is in permanent hiatus here was a rough outline of my intentions about that story:

The dreams-nightmares and compulsion would continue until Caroline would realize that she’d have to fight back and would search for her father’s diaries to start teaching herself of how to resist compulsion and any kind of mind invasion without vervain. She’d start teaching herself in secret struggling to keep that progress away from Klaus.

Klaus in the meantime would also set a trap for Tyler using Hayley and he would fall for it basically choosing Hayley over Caroline and Klaus would exile both of them from Mystic Falls only for Tyler to realize it was all staged from the start so Caroline would hate him. 

Basically in would come to a point where Klaus would offer a deal to Tyler in front of Caroline. Either take Caroline and leave Mystic Falls or take Hayley and leave Mystic Falls and Caroline (with him) behind. If Tyler chose Caroline Klaus would kill Hayley which Tyler couldn’t allow this to happen to Hayley that had helped him by then to break the sire bond. So in front of Caroline Tyler would choose to become heroic and save Hayley by taking her out of Mystic Falls just in time to save her from Klaus with the mindset of him and Hayley uniting the wolf packs and waging war against Klaus and eventually saving Caroline too. Only to be revealed that Hayley betrayed Tyler and actually wanted to become a hybrid and had made a deal with Klaus that gave her Elena’s blood and his own blood for her to transition once she’d be out of Mystic Falls. Klaus had agreed to compel Hayley too so once she’d be in transition she’d remember his compulsion and that would be the loophole for her to not be sired for him since he’d basically compel her to not be sired to him and once the sirebond would form upon transition his compulsion would counteract it. Basically the sirebond would act against the sirebond since it would be Klaus’ order through the compulsion Hayley would remember and would be forced to obey due to the sirebond to begin with. So Hayley would be immortal and free and the catch would be to also kill Tyler once they’d get outside Mystic Falls and she’d turn.

In the meantime Klaus and Caroline eventually would come to an agreement of sorts where he wouldn’t enter her mind for as long as she’d stay with him in his house. Klaus would dote on her while she stayed in his mansion and would try to tempt her to come to his side and so on and while she was there she would seduce him and ask him to teach her about invading dreams with having every intention of using his own tricks against him. Which Klaus could tell from the start but from both sides it would be “game on”. Through the dreams they’d travel the world. Klaus would show her different time periods. Different experiences. He’d draw her in the dreams and outside of them and Caroline would start grasping the potential of manipulating one’s mind along with everything her father’s diaries would teach her. 

Klaus and Caroline would create am intricate dream world that would become sort of a maze for both of them and it would bend the lines between reality and dreams forging a bond between them and they’d both see the best and the worst in each other and the more they’d see the more connected they’d become.

Only for Klaus to realize this is not what he wanted at all because it was not real but at this point Caroline would have managed to turn the tables against him and he would not be able to separate reality from illusion easily giving Damon the chance he wanted to desiccate him. 

Or maybe that wasn’t real either? Madness would starting to set in. 

Klaus would start to lose grasp with reality too and would become more and more paranoid but also unable to detach himself from Caroline and their dreamworld that had turned to an addiction.

But...Klaus messing with Caroline’s mind would also have consequences that Esther’s spirit would take advantage at the witching hour of a certain celestial phenomenon. Since basically Klaus opened Caroline’s mind he opened the gates not only for him to enter her consciousness but also his arch nemesis mommy dearest. And Esther would use Caroline in order to kill Klaus and all his bloodline with him.

Bonnie would eventually be the one to see that something was awfully wrong with Caroline.

Caroline would resist Esther’s possession and with Bonnie’s help Klaus and Caroline would defeat Esther but the strain on Caroline’s mind would be too much to take after resisting both Klaus and Esther. 

Caroline’s mind would be totally erased. Nothing of her identity would be left. She’d be like a doll. When Klaus would try to enter it again to help her he’d find...nothingness. Only darkness, a void, and nothing else and he would become trapped inside it unable to bear this only for Elijah to pull him out.

Klaus would try again to reach to Caroline with Bonnie’s help and he would find a sort of last ‘light’ which would be the last remnant of what was left from Caroline’s mind which would be Caroline as a little child trapped in the darkest part of her brain afraid of the monsters under her bed, and being terrified of him even though she’d not recognize him at all, making Klaus realize that this is what he represented for her. He’d then hold on to that moment to reconstruct her brain from scratch making sure to erase every memory of him and what he had done and set her free. 

He’d then leave Mystic Falls and Caroline behind giving her a second chance at life and at vampirism without her having to fear the monster under her bed and into her dreams aka him.

Caroline would have the sense that she was forgetting something...something important... but she’d put that behind her and carry on since she’d have the prom and graduation in front of her...and from there...eternity.

Flash forward... centuries later. 

Klaus is a recluse, alone and tormented by nightmares and memories and wakes from a very peculiar nightmare only to find a card next to him bed like the ones he used to leave a long time ago at Caroline’s nightstand with his gifts and drawings. The card would write “sweet nightmares sweetheart”  with Caroline’s scent lingering in the air and Klaus would frown realizing that something was not just right. Something was off. 

Had he dreamed of this? Was he still dreaming? Or maybe it wasn’t Caroline’s mind that had been erased but his instead because in their game of illusions it was Caroline that had won and he was trapped inside a nightmare. He wouldn’t be able to know. He’d never find out. He was lost.

(Basically something like inception in the end where you don’t know if that’s a dream or not)

He’d stare the card with dread having the feeling that whatever happened in the end Caroline was the one that’d be able to sleep peacefully where’d be the one lost into nightmares not that sweet.

The end.