#this is VERY old art from like 2021 done for a friend

[seafoamsol]

Woooo yeah!!! Wooooo!!

[u3pxx]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S 2024?!?!

next, you're gonna tell me it's gonna be some made-up year like "2025" next. tch, imagine that.

anyways, whoo! 2023! compared to both 2022 and 2021, i gotta say, my art style took a hard swerve in some direction this year. i mean, look at that klavier from january and that butch kim from just this december! (granted, i heavily referenced the portrait of butch kim but still, i didn't use to paint! mama mia!)

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the way i drew faces has definitely changed, that's what i get for getting into something that's live-action and into smth that has realistically proportioned art lol

OH! OH! HOW COULD I FORGET!!! IT WAS (and still will be) THE YEAR OF THE OLD MAN!! i really learned how to draw aged faces this year! ach fraulein, i have not stopped drawing people in their 40's-50's! i would say "send help" but i'm actually having a lot of fun ASKSKS

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i think a funny thing about these art summaries i've done is that they're mostly ace attorney but then there's just a month where i become a different type of ill LMAO this year it was four months for the price of two new interests!

cheers! here's to 2024!!! hope y'all have a fun art year!!!!

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i'm gonna ramble more below about like, other art things i did this year but i'm gonna put it under 'keep reading' bc this baby is getting way too wordy now WHEEZES

1. FAVORITE THINGS I'VE DRAWN THIS YEAR (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

⚖️ mea culpa comic [x]

drawing this one was so time-consuming and ambitious but boy, do i love the end result! i had fun doing the inks for this one but was it a lot! i usually color in lineart and render everything but i had to stop myself from doing it for this one bc man, i'll die asksks

this also has some of my favorite apollos i've drawn, definitely

also! the part about the lineart not being colored and no rendering ended up being a deliberate stylistic choice for this one bc i had like more freedom to do just shadows with inks without it looking too out of place.

💐 my lawfully wedded zine spread [x]

now this one isn't out yet but take my word for when i say that this is one of the most craxy things i've ever drawn for this year, on account of drawing a comic AND group shot all in one!

also literally one of the prettiest things i've rendered this year, lookit that klav...

🎉 aa4 redraw - 2022 anniversary [x]

kind of like my wedding zine piece, group photos are insane, and rendering like uhhh [looks at drawing] 11 CHARACTERS IS ALSO INSANE if i try and draw a group photo again you have to stop me DFGHDJ

🎨 my art fight stuff [x] [x]

was possessed in the month of july or smth bc i pumped out like how many drawings so quickly (before i got burnt out that is pftt)

pace yourselves and don't be like me pls ajshgdghhjk

💥 people park day [x]

my friend told me that it was very obvious i watched across the spiderverse when they saw this FDFGHJD

but yea! this is when i started getting really into like, thought bubbles or just like, panels or drawings within a drawing when coming up with layouts

i still love the colors on this one...

🪩 fem disco portraits

ok so i haven't uploaded these yet but you have to trust me when i say that something was in the water DFGHDJ

who knew that all it took for me to learn how to paint was butches

2. ALSO DID YOU KNOW THAT I SOLD STICKERS THIS YEAR IN OUR UNI'S ART MART?

THE ONLY GOOD THING ABOUT THAT SCHOOL I SWEAR PFTTT this experience has also awaken the merch beast in me and i need to make more physical things for my brain to be happy, that's just how it be pfttt

hopefully next year i can actually start like a shopee shop or whatever lmao

3. ART FIGHT

i'm actually quite happy i got to participate in art fight this year! very delighted for all the art i've gotten and very fun to have drawn for others too!!

4. ZINES

i got invited and joined so many zines from 2022 continuing to 2023 that i kind of got burnt out from participating for now ngl ASKSKSKS not gonna be joining much this year oopsiessss! (unless i lose self-control [very likely])

5. SCHOOL

i don't actually like a lot of the stuff i draw for art school bc i tend to cram and not have fun pftt <- adhd moment, tragic! but here are some that i actually kind of like lol

6. THAT'S IT!

i think that's it! thanks for reading all the way down here!! o(*￣▽￣*)ブ

[fran-aka-mak]

art development !!

i started doing digital art in 2013 but the template starts at 2015 hehe

[[ template ]]

my essaying about my digital art journey below!!

2015 - i was very immersed in the soul eater community! i kept doing resbangs and making friends, and i love doing AUs, specifically soul & maka centric. this is the HTTYD AU where soul is the dragon!

2016 - yes this is Little Things PH's OCs that i did back in the day! i love their lil guys so much i had to make fanart. this was the art i gave to Ate in person!!

2017 - i drew a lot more pokemon this time ! idk why i didn't draw more of it digitally before. i had too much soul eater brainrot lmao. so i combined them! behold contestshipping x soma AU

2018 - this was the time when i got into K-pop! specifically Monsta X haha, i got more interested in doing fashion, especially for male characters~ (and i had to draw my beloved agenda, somakid)

2019 - my bias from MX, Minhyuk on a whale with Minggom! this was made for an artbook that was sent to him! i hope he got to see this along with my tiny message ;; i delved more into a new tiny chibi art style here

2020 - i drew way too much during this year and it led me to impossibly high standards for my art to this day //sobs. i redrew my Your Lie in April AU fanart and i really think i improved so much….. i went out of my comfort zone to really draw the background and the piano

2021 - genshin brainrot started here !! i was trying to find my style even more, and i love kokomi's color palette. i remember looking at 10x references and combining them into this specific pose in the fanart. i still think to this day this is one of my personal favorite art pieces of all time

2022 - another personal favorite art piece (and something my friend aura and a commissioner personally loved!), i was practicing on drawing men since i wasn't confident, but seeing how this turned out made me want to keep going ❤️

2023 - the latest maka & kid piece that i made! they are so precious to me. i love trying out new poses and dynamics, and i tried changing their outfits a bit more to highlight that i wanna try new fashion stuff ^^; i'd like to say it was a job well done ngl

2024 - and finally, a recent piece that i'm most proud of, and shows a lot of my art style (and i drew the background from scratch!). i redrew an old comic panel from a now discontinued comic, but i feel like i improved so much in terms of rendering, coloring, and anatomy!!

[valhethella]

I got quite a few DMs over the weekend on twitter asking about my brushes, and as with anything, your mileage may vary, and digital art isn’t made or broken by brushes, but having them never hurt! Talking about how you use your tools is just as important as talking about what tools you use, so consider this a small breakdown of my process for digital sketching.

First thing’s first, I avoid sketching on an untextured canvas. If you like to have a flat, solid canvas, I recommend working at 50% grey, or adjusting your canvas to be slightly off-white. The harshness of black on pure-white can be a hang-up for many people, including myself.

I sketch on paper textures sourced from my own old sketchbooks and papers. The one I use most frequently is available in my Sketchbook Paper Pack, and named Off White.

While a true-to-life pencil look is not what I’m actively going for with my sketches, these papers certainly help achieve it.

I do almost all of my work in Procreate, but learned digital art first in Photoshop. Anything I share here in regards to how I use brushes can be applied to any brush, I’m certain!

For my sketches, you’re seeing the work of one brush and one eraser.

For my brush, I use an altered version of Procreate’s native HB Pencil brush that I’ve named HB Pencil Beefy. It’s available in my 2021 Brush Pack.

For my eraser, I use Alexa Sharpe’s Soft Eraser. It’s available in their Eraser Brush Pack.

I use my brush at pretty consistently set sizes that are based on my standard canvas size, which is 6″ x 9″ 400 dpi or I use a double spread of 12″ x 9″ 400 dpi.

(If you work in pixels that’s 2400x3600 at 400 dpi and 4800x3600 at 400 dpi)

HB Pencil Beefy I use at 4%, 15%, and 50% size, with the brush’s opacity set to either 60% or 15%.

I set the brush to 15% opacity when I want to go in very softly with lots of that pencil texture. I use this when I need to scale back and really rough something out, or if I’m trying to get a sense of volume with some shadows or contours.

With Alexa Sharpe’s Soft Eraser, I use the eraser set at 2%, 10%, and 25% size. I only scale back the opacity on the eraser if I want to take something back to nearly gone, but still want those lines, faint, there as a guideline.

Jumping back to my file setup really quick, I like to work in a digital sketchbook! It’s just a procreate canvas with a paper texture that’s creased down its center, and all the added layers are my pages. This helps me feel less pressured to create something perfect or finished; It gives me the illusion of just noodling in any old sketchbook.

Okay. Back to the pencil. Below, I have a small idea of my process in sketching and drawing. This is not a how-to-draw demo, and it’s definitely not an anatomy demo – it’s just how I approach drawing using this brush. The page below, and the one above, were both done on a 9″x 6″ canvas at 400 dpi.

01.

Loose and light

using brush at 50% size

this brush does have a tilt dynamic, but I’ve never used it

02.

Nastiest phase

building up a little opacity

still only using brush at 50% size

use eraser at 25% size, if at all

03.

start refining

come in with 15% sized brush

at no point do I abandon larger brushwork, it just becomes about more careful and purposeful use

use eraser to hatch and cut back roughs

04.

hello 4% brush my beautiful little boy ♡

hatching in detail

build up opacity, using eraser to bring it back and to carve volume

jump back to larger sizes for larger forms and volumes

fiddle until “finished” 

P.S. the liquify tool is my best friend

[chrispykreme16]

✨Introducing my characters and some infos about them!

Thought I should do this as my official first art post, so here we go!

✨Prince Mochi:

Mochi is an OC/fanchild I concepted in 2019 and his first design came out in 2021, and he is my current most favorite OC.

He is from a Kirby AU I am making for fun and laughs with a friend and her Kirby Gijinkas (I'll perhaps show it one day...)

He is described a "himbo" for being very handsome and respectful yet STOOPID, but that's what makes him charming and loved :"D

✨Chris the human

(👆 21 year-old Chris)

(👆A younger Chris when she was 19 years old)

Chris, just like Mochi, is from the Kirby AU I am making with my friend and her Kirby Gijinkas. She is considered a self-insert since she shares the same name as me and we look slightly the same (minus the lore-)

In the main story of the AU, she is the main heroine and is the second human of Dreamland (Adeleine being the first)

(......she's Mochi's mother in the future wink wink)

Another version of Chris is "Raspberry", based from the Hi-Fi Rush game!

✨Shadow Chris/Shadelle

(Shadelle's first appearance)

(Shadelle's true face)

Shadow Chris (or Shadelle) is the Mirror Counterpart of Chris, living in the Mirror World ruled by Shadow Dedede (And yes, she is from the same AU as Chris and Mochi)

Her first appearance is after the main story, more precisely, in its sequel. She appears as kind and sweet and helping, but in reality she is manipulative and wicked, unlike her "Light Counterpart".

(...let's say I have some friends who absolutely DESPITE her because of how evil she is <x))

✨Silvera Matter

Silvera is once again from the same AU as Chris, Mochi and Shadelle, and she is an artificially created Dark Matter from Hyper Zone, under Zero's orders.

Being the first Dark Matter that was created artificially, Silvera is different from the others. Her ice powers are a part of her, causing her skin to permanentaly be the same color as in livor mortis, and causing her body temperature to be extremely low, although it is normal for her.

She's Chris's rival in the AU's main story.

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There is also my own Kirby Gijinkas but I am redesigning some of them so I'll show them once they are done! :"D

(If you have any questions about my characters or Kirby Gijinkas, my ask box is open! Don't be shy, feel free to ask anything!)

[franthonyofficial]

"Boom. Done. blossomed out of my desire to start a band with Keith Goodwin and Tim Arnold after the disbanding of Good Old War. We started trading ideas back-and-forth and writing some songs together. I didn't want to make another record that felt lonely and sad - I wanted my friends with me along the way. Bringing in Keith and Tim during the early stages of songwriting elevated these ideas and gave them dimensions that were missing in the music I had been making by myself.

The name Boom. Done. came out of a conversation I had with Keith about the kid's album, Let's Start a Band, we worked on together. We'd be discussing deadlines, and I'd be on the phone trying to figure out how to manage time between projects. I thought about a weird thing I was saying all the time, "Boom. Done." Saying the phrase would somehow affect whether the idea or concept would actually develop and come to fruition. It was almost a function of my attention-deficit and bipolar mixed together.

For me, one of the biggest challenges was deciding if I should include my name on this album. I felt that doing so might hurt the project and pigeonhole me. I had to kill off that name so I could start over and make music that wouldn't be burdened with the baggage of drug addiction, mental illness, and all the lying and deceit that came with it. After a call with Keith and someone from an artist management/record company explaining my rationale, we agreed removing. my name gave me a better chance at starting over with something fresh. These conversations were difficult, and brought on feelings of despair, self-loathing, and a sense of failure.

For a very long time I used unnatural and synthetic drugs to try and heal something in me that could have been healed through connection, humility, and service. I started looking at what I was doing as a service to others, as something that could hold a greater purpose. This took the pressure off me, and I started to remember the kid who would've been happy selling a single cassette tape at a local show - the kid who died of excitement when they got an email from someone saying they liked the music. The process of building and creating music has always been like a drug for me.

It took time and work, but I realized that if I wanted to feel joy, I had to focus on bringing joy to others. This shift in perspective altered the trajectory of the project and my life path. It was then that I started asking myself what the hell I was doing and why this meant so much to me. These songs? This album? I came face-to-face with who I really was and the things about myself I needed to nurture and let go of. I slowly started to learn meditation and how it can nurture the creative process. Being vulnerable and open with people, as well as being of service to others, was the key to healing a great deal of my turmoil. We decided to say, "Fuck it. We are going to make an Anthony Green record." Except this record would be different and we would approach it by working together to make one collective piece of art.

While making Boom. Done. there was a point where I relapsed. I thought about the irony that this could be my last record and that it would be titled Boom. Done. Maybe it was some kind of subconscious cry for help. During the winter of 2021, Keith and I flew to Palm Springs, California and rented a house in the desert to record the vocals. We escaped the East Coast winter and changed the scenery to stir up some new inspiration. During the final days of tracking I received a phone call from home that a family member passed away from a drug overdose. I did not handle this news properly, and I quickly relapsed myself. My relationship with this person had been very difficult. The process of grieving my loss along with everyone else was so painful and confusing. I still feel the spirit of this person in my life, and I feel that they have intervened in ways that have helped me immensely along my own journey.

It's possible I'll say this with every album I ever make, but this album truly changed my life and my mindset. It was a rebirth for me. A rediscovery of a part of my imagination I had tucked away out of fear and insecurity. I felt a reignited sense of wonder that can only happen when you nurture your inner child and give yourself space to accept and embrace all that you are in both shadow and light. In a lot of ways, I see this as my first solo album and everything leading up to as an experiment. When I was making this record, I wanted to create the feeling I get listening to Van Morrison or big band music, or even reggae and dub. The goal was to create the feeling of a party where you wouldn't be lonely.

I want to thank Thomas Kelly, along with all my family and friends, who helped me and stuck by me through my toughest times. I can never thank you all enough for your love, compassion, and understanding. I will spend the rest of my life trying to give back what was so freely and lovingly given to me. I know I was sent here to sing and make music, and to also be a father, a friend, and a partner. I'm lucky to have the people in my life that always make me want to be better, those who challenge me to love stronger. I hope everybody reading this can experience what it's like to do the thing you're meant to do on this earth with a heart filled with love and kindness, because there's no greater feeling.

If you're struggling with depression or anxiety, find ways of expressing yourself creatively - sing, dance, write poetry or stories, paint, sculpt - the list is endless. Creation devours your pain and suffering and gives it meaning. It shines and sharpens it into a weapon of mass creation. Through music, we are given the opportunity for immeasurable connection with others. Thank you for taking the time to make this music part of your life. Love and kindness to you all. Don't forget your magic.

Warmest regards,

Anthony Green "

[planeyboys]

Winter Hill part one, listen and download on Bandcamp: https://pilkos-musical-wonderland.bandcamp.com/

My first full length LP with many alternating themes to make your genre definition centres explode; more of a musical adventure than you are used to!!

This project started as an idea back in 2012, before I had even learned to play a musical instrument. Recording the demos was done in tandem with learning how to play, and some of the final melodies, as simple as they are, reflect that.

(Pictured: the nylon string and ukulele from which the original melodies were crudely recorded onto my PC through a really bad lapel mic)

The structure of the album came about after my first journey to the real place Winter Hill with a friend in 2015 as we adventured up through Bolton, past all the old industry, and up to the moor. It was a cold October evening and the ideas started flowing.

(Pictured: original cover art before we set everything on fire)

The nurturing musical environment of the music department in my college really helped to finalise the demos and finish off the sketch of what would become the first and second parts, although compositionally and technically compromised, the overall idea felt solid.

(Pictured: hard at work (citation needed))

Recording what would be the final version took two attempts, the first of which was lost to computer issues, hard drive faults and the like. I lost interest for a couple years because of this.

Winters getting darker and more depressing really spurred on the recording of this final version, recorded between October 2021 and May 2023. Between lockdowns and loss in the family I felt I needed a good escape from it all in this project.

(Pictured: tiny aeroplane man who took over as the mascot of the project, to feature in the video going on a journey around Winter Hill)

It reminded me of the good days I had in music tech class in college and brought me back into that hyper focused music composition mindset I felt I had been missing.

(Pictured: A version of the cover art mirroring on one of my very first school art projects from when I was 5 about the fire of London)

And now part one is finished at last, and I can look forward to recording part two knowing that I have remained faithful and have compromised minimally from the original demos, keeping most of those original ideas alive after over 10 years of sitting on them like a mother hen.

(Pictured: the lights twinkling in the distance; a familiar sight to all in the North West)

I look forward to hearing what you think of it! I might not reply to every post but I do enjoy reading them! It would mean a lot to me.

(Pictured: bbq with the fellas at Winter Hill Aerodrome, "just a couple more!!" said the grill master)

Part two coming soon

[herotome]

Special Informal Devlog

Hi-ho, Wudge here! Aaaa. I missed the update last week... as we crawl closer and closer to release, it's become harder for me to write devlogs. I'm making progress every single day, and that makes me so frustrated that it isn't done yet, you know? 😭 Something something curse of perfectionism...

Anyway.

I thought I'd try something a little different with this post by chronicling a specific screen I've worked very hard on, from start to finish!

(Pictured: a preview of where we're gonna end up)

It all began on... August 2021?! Yowza, two years ago! When I posted a poll on tumblr and on itch about how I should handle flirt indicators. The votes were split 50/50 between two popular options, and I was able to surmise that yall would really, really love an option to toggle between the two.

It didn't take me long to figure out how to implement the toggle itself.

The following year (September 2022), I came up with the idea of putting in an illustrated tutorial on how my flirt indication system works - after all, poll participants had told me that they loved the idea and had never seen it before in other games. I was on a treadmill at the time, so I quickly doodled the idea on my phone. It looks like this:

Then when I got home, I did a rough pen draft to solidify the idea...

I worked on the digital version over the next 2-3 weeks, and asked my friends for help with editing the text to ensure clarity.

.... Then I took a looong break from the infographic to, uh.... write, edit, playtest the game, draw expressions for Griffin CG, draw expressions for the landlord, work on a new Clammy Lady sprite, playtest the game again, make all the characters blink, make the first glowing animation for Jade's powers, code in Griffin's CG expressions, stress about paypal making changes in my country, do concept art for upcoming npcs, write some more, playtest some more, draw a birthday picture for Dart, write devlogs every single week, make sure all my files were safely transferred to my new laptop before my old one completely died... etc.

So it was February 2023 by the time I came back around to try implementing the infographic in code :')

... It was functional, but no matter what I tried, I didn't like how it looked with everything crammed into one page.

... Then I got really sick... but after I recovered and did some more work (drawing, writing, playtesting, etc) I came back to the infographic with the intention to learn how to code pages in renpy.

Still didn't look phenomenal, but there's a whole lot more breathing room! This was in April 2023.

I took another "break" (worked on a million other things) and then... FINALLY... in late August 2023, just a few weeks ago, I had an art breakthrough!

I had garnered a better understanding of color and poses, and as a result my chibis became a LOT cuter! I was able to redraw most of them without too much hassle - whereas when I first started, it would take me all day to draw a single one.

I also drew custom heart icons (a plain heart, a golden heart, and a broken heart), figured out how to make text buttons look more fun and intuitive..

And here's where we're at now!!! I still need to draw eyes for Dart.... but I researched and absorbed a lot about screen compositions, and had a rather late realization that I could re-use backgrounds and assets I already have in the game.

That's it for the special edition. I'll update with more soon!

Stay safe and keep warm,

Wudge.

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

art by em year in review 2023!

for the fourth time, i present to you a selection of the art i did this year! this definitely was the Year of Understanding Procreate, and i think it paid off. as usual, reflections under the cut.

january: i saw @malcolm-f-tucker tag a picture of abigail thaw with a comment about a theresa faceclaim and it left no survivors, i.e. i decided that theresa should have greying hair and did not look back. this was from when i was still trying to figure out what brush to use for lineart in procreate. luckily i had learned my lesson from the sketchbook learning curve and realized that what i liked for lineart would most likely be in the pencil section. however i wasn’t a huge fan of the brush i used in this one, so i didn’t use it again. instead, for later pieces, i decided to customize the 6b pencil brush to my liking, and…

february: …this came out of it! this is still one of my favorite things i have ever drawn, and it’s my favorite thing i’ve drawn yet for herc and linda. this piece really convinced me to use overlay layers more in my art, and the amount of detail i managed to capture in this one still amazes me now. and before anyone asks, yes, they are doing specific things in the startup procedure for an airbus a320-family aircraft, except linda is doing things off the CM1 checklist and herc is doing something off the CM2 checklist, which i learned later is not really something that is done. let’s just say herc is not the tightest stickler to convention.

march: one half of an intended two pieces centered around the f1 au (which, regrettably, i have yet to continue… i just reread what little of the second part is on ao3 and god, it slaps actually, i really need to continue it so bad) depicting a pivotal scene from around the outside, where theresa and linda decide to put aside a childhood feud at the top of the banked curve at monza. at sunset. on theresa’s birthday. i know, very meaningful, incredibly homoerotic. read the fic to see how well that turns out!

april: i always knew i wanted to redraw the first filipino!hercolyn thing i did back in 2020, the one that completely solidified in my mind the notion that These Characters Are Filipino, Actually, and when i got comfortable in procreate i quickly jumped on that. (if you notice, a lot of the stuff i did this year were redraws of old pieces i really liked but wasn’t fully satisfied with.) of course i wanted to draw them in the traditional clothes in my parents’ and grandparents’ wedding pictures. the implication of this being, of course, that this is the soft shoe shuffle wedding. i have a fic planned centered around that, from douglas’ perspective. now that grad school apps are basically done, if my honors thesis doesn’t kick me too hard, i’d love to get on that as soon as i can.

may: YOU JUST GOT COLINED! SEND THIS TO A FRIEND TO TOTALLY COLIN THEM! ah, colin fairbairn: the figure whose presence haunts all of newcastle but is never actually. named. (much to the chagrin of a lot of people who genuinely thought linda’s dad was named colin bc i Wouldn’t Shut Up About It) i just love him so much and i love this piece, i wanted to depict the wistfulness of an older colin whose airline is on the verge of collapse, who has been secure in his job as chief pilot of air cal, who looks out over glasgow airport (that’s glasgow’s runway in the background) and wonders if it’s time to put himself out to pasture. wondering what he could have done differently. it’s okay bby. there’s no way that you could have prevented this. but he’d never believe it. he’s too duty bound. he lives in my head rent free.

june: another redraw, this time of a piece from 2021. i was so happy with this one, and i am very happy with it still! everything about the older piece i loved was improved massively by this redraw: the poses, the proportions, the line work, the coloring. honestly, just thinking about the two of them just existing in the airport, overlooked by bustling passengers, just part of the landscape, but having such a rich history and relationship between them… it’s something i think about a lot and i love it.

july: this comprises the third part of an unofficial trilogy of drawings i did centered around douglas/martin/theresa. in each one, i centered a different member of the ot3: i did one centering martin last year, one centering douglas in the spring, and this one centers theresa between douglas and martin. i really enjoy how i did the expressions in this one: martin, looking out toward the planes; theresa, following his gaze, eager to share in the passion they both have; and douglas, looking down at both of them (yeah i think they’re both shorter than him. i think it’s cute). i feel like when i draw these three, where they look and how they look is very important to me.

august: can you believe before this point i had never drawn herc and douglas together? yeah, me too. anyway, them 🤍 i’ve literally only ever drawn them as older men so trying to draw them younger was. lowkey kind of hard. i’m hoping to revisit air england herc and douglas in the future, especially since i didn’t intend for this to be anything more than a quick bit due to those bisexual divorcee brackets (which i don’t know what became of them in the end except that douglas got through and herc didn’t, lmao)

september: unposted self-portrait done as a part of my aerospace fellowship application i wound up getting rejected from because they required me to do a creative component. not much to say here. anyways.

october: yet another redraw, this time of a portrait of herc, carolyn, linda, and arthur i did a year prior, in october of 2022. i like to think that lfeu!herc carries pictures of linda, arthur, and carolyn in his wallet: he had never wanted to be the family man for most of his life, but in his new life, this new form, he can play it well. something about the coloring seems a little off to me: i think i may have to go in and adjust arthur’s skin tone because i think it doesn’t look 100% right. but i love this one too. i hemmed and hawed for ages over what they should be wearing but in the end i put them in what they’d wear for work bc i couldn’t think anymore. but it turned out super cute and i think it emphasizes what brought the four of them together in the first place: aviation.

november: a cute little doodle of young!colin with baby linda, from a bigger piece. something i generally feel like i’ve gotten stronger with this year has been drawing a larger variety of poses. i discovered that procreate allows you to import reference images in a smaller window that can be very easily dragged around and resized, which was a massive improvement over my previous strategy with sketchbook, which had been to import reference images as their own layers. often, moving it around or resizing reference images resulted in some loss of quality. anyways there’s something just so tender about colin and linda and i love to revisit them.

december: last but not least, we finish off the way we started, with theresa (and an added douglas lol). and boy, how different does december look from january? granted, it’s a different angle, but i personally think there is so much more dimension at the end of the year compared to the beginning. i was less afraid of using overlays to enhance the coloring. and the brush i wound up settling on for lineart really ended up serving me well this whole year, culminating in this piece. not much to say on this one, i like it a lot :)

overall thoughts: i didn’t think i drew as much as i wanted to this year, but looking back i still think i made really good progress and improved a lot from last year, so i’m still happy. definitely want to draw more next year, explore new subjects, and maybe work on redrawing more pieces from previous years because those projects have been very fun to undertake.

once again i want to say a big thank you to everyone who’s ever shared or commented or left a like on anything i’ve drawn: it will have been 10 years next year since the end of the show i primarily create fanwork for, and to still have people out there who like what i do is such a gift. yes i create for myself, but i do also like receiving feedback from others and sharing it with others, so thank you thank you thank you. and happiest of new years to all :)

[thesunwillart]

do you have any art that youve redrawn over the years? id love to see your improvement!!

hi!! there's been a few pieces that i've either redrawn or just revisited the sketches after a year or two! i've hunted down a few here...

1 - pride alex [1st, 2nd] is probably the Most Redraw i've done, same pose and a few years apart. but it was so nice to see how my art's improved!

2 - [wash away your fear character line up] so i never posted the original sketch of these, but i had planned to do this character line up back a year ago, but i was really struggling art-wise and also just in personal life, so it was gathering dust after i gave up on it. i just decided to pick it up again the other day and redo it all!! and im SOOO happy i did. really makes me all warm to be able to redo them.

i'll put the others under a read more cuz this is. long LOL

3 - one of my first FIRST on purpose redraws! these are me and my friend's ocs Chrissy & Arcturus, and i had drawn them every year for mermay until 2020... i think there's a sketch laying around somewhere lol (I got my first digital tablet in 2018 awww)

4 - [bounty hunter siblings] do oc redesigns count? im gonna say they do. i remember i just didnt know what i wanted to draw but i wanted to draw SOMETHING in oct 2021, so i pulled out these old star wars ocs lol

5 - [what the water gave me] another case of "i dont know what i want to draw so im gonna revisit an old sketch" this time the old guard themed lol i couldnt figure out how to do the water so i gave up on it at first

6 - [kiss one, kiss two] back in 2020/2021 i was drawing so much that i felt like my style was changing rapidly (and i guess improving as well with the practice!) so i felt like the redraw a month later really had improvements!! theyre so cute

7 - [spidersona 1, redesign] another oc redesign! im really happy with how they came out!! very "first homemade suit -> official suit" vibes from these lol

but yeah!! that's the ones i found this time :D i hope u enjoyed this trip down memory lane! there's actually a small pile of pieces i want to do legit redraws for... i'll get around to them on a rainy day lol. also ty for the ask <3!

[microraptorreactor]

I feel like dumping out my box of OCs like one would do a box of lps so very long post filled with very many doodles ahead!

Reference for my Rainworld oc, Lost! He's an idiot kid I made for one joke but now he lives in my brain. I think I made this reference for him last year? Idk I don't remember. I'm just now realizing that Lost snuck into my V2 characterization lmao.

Elysium art of various ages! Made between 2021-2023 I believe. This is the oc I made before I knew what Ultrakill was and everyone thought I was making an Ultrakill joke. Tbh if it wasn't for the fact that I MADE Elysium and have their early sketches I wouldn't believe they weren't an Ultrakill reference either. Speaking of which, here's some animations from when Elysium was both a quadruped and a model of robot instead of an individual. These were both made for a class in 2021.

VERY old art (2020 I think? I wasn't using my screen tablet yet) that I normally wouldn't include if it weren't for the fact my friends would explode me if I mentioned Elysium and Lost without mentioning Nerve. She was an anxiety-ridden warforged cleric who got tragically sent to the vampire realm. Whenever Nerve comes up in discussion one of my friends brings up how I made him cry with her final speech. I don't remember tf I said lmao.

Art of my His Dark Materials OC, Zurial! Art would have been made 2022 onwards. I made her WAY back in 2019 before Hazbin Hotel even had a pilot but unfortunately now she looks like a Hazbin angel and I feel weird drawing her. Which is really unfortunate because I love her dearly, she's one of my favorite OCs. She's also the only oc I have who I've made a plushie for. Why did my character design have to accidentally look like the works of famous youtube animator Vivian Medrano T-T

(here's her plushie btw. I'm really proud of it lol.)

Here's Niphit, one of my Warframe OCs! Some of y'all might recognize her as my AO3 pfp, but her design has changed since then. The bottom reference sheet is her most recent design. She's kind of conceptually similar to Baeri/Sleet/-31 from SftBT, in terms of hacking shit and having a snout and teeth. Biggest difference is that she is a whole ass hivemind, usually pretty harmless, and also considered pretty young.

Shameless CR:K fanchild OC. Her name is Golden Parmesan Cheese Cookie (Parm or Parmesan for short) and she's also, like, an AI copy of a dead person. Or a dead person's soul trapped inside an eternal simulation? Either way she's got SO many issues. I have a massive chatfic wip from when I decided to try writeing something with her.

Okay I know technically this is a Homestuck OC but I like to say she's a Hiveswap OC. Because I played Hiveswap and loved it but never read Homestuck. Anyways her name is Vintan she's a yellowblood.

Whoa an original character! Yeah this is Corion, they come from my brain. I have a whole story concept about post-apocalyptic robot cowboys (and human cowboys) that I've done a couple doodles from but never written down. Corion serves as a sort of living taxi, guiding or carrying people across the wasteland. They are a secondary protagonist, I don't think I have art of Pike and Amelia, the actual protagonists. One funny fact about this universe is it contains a character named V1 (pronounced Vi, still written as V1) who I can no longer use for obvious reasons.

But yeah! Ramble over! Not anywere near all of them I just wanted to talk about my brain children XD

[bathoarchives]

Nthabiseng Faith's Journey of Being A Model And The Creative Director of Kwa Jewelry

Nthabiseng Faith is a 23-year-old born and raised in Gaborone, She is the creative director of Kwa Jewelry, A jewellery brand founded by artist and arts educator LegakwanaLeo Makgekgenene.

She is also a model signed to Kult Models. Nthabiseng has worked with Glotto and LWE over the last three years, curates her own photoshoots, and collaborates with other creatives. In this conversation, she discusses how she got into the model industry, her work for Kwa Jewelry and much more.

How did you start your modelling career, what sparked your interest in the field?  

I actually was never interested in pursuing modelling until later on in life. I've always loved fashion for as long as I can remember, however growing up I had other outlets of expressing myself such as photography, thrift upcycles and writing. I started when a mutual friend (Thuto from Path Images) kindly reached out for a test shoot cause he believed I had "the look". The shoot was surprisingly comfortable and spontaneous for me which I absolutely adored, topped with the very lovely end results. So I decided to research the industry intensively and give it a try with more intention and direction.

Was it easy for you to get comfortable with being in front of the camera or just being around a couple of people during photoshoots when you started modelling?

Yes it was, I never struggled to switch on what I refer to as my alter ego. When shooting the outer world all becomes a blur to me, my periphery focuses solely on the lens plus allowing my body and expressions to flow as one with the camera.

Which photoshoot/campaign that you have done, is your favourite?

I don't quite believe in favorites. I am very peculiar with what I shoot and with who, so everything I have done I value.

Nthabiseng Faith photographed by Juliana Schaller

You are Kwa Jewelry’s creative director, how did that come about and what do you like most about the brand? 

I have previously worked closely with the founder as their personal art assistant, so when they decided to relaunch the jewelry brand I was fortunate enough to be on their mind. Even though I had not done something like this before, they believed in my artistic mind and work ethic which I am very grateful for. Which brings me to your next point, honestly everything the brand embodies is very likeable.

Since joining the Kwa Jewelry brand, how are you adjusting to the role and what have you learned from the experience?

Honestly, the adjustment was seamless. If anything, it just amplified parts of me I kept suppressed over the years. So it has been such a reaffirming journey. I can be harshly critical of my work so the biggest takeaway for me right now would be learning to trust myself despite not knowing how people will receive or interact with the content.

How would you explain the experience of being a model in Botswana, and how are you dealing with it? 

All cards on the table? It has been such a horrible experience for me locally. Again, as previously mentioned I am very particular. So I think that can easily be interpreted as being "difficult" which has resulted in such a disconnect and void. I am at a point where I no longer overanalyze or beat myself about it though. Still very grateful for all experiences, everything is a learning curve.

Nthabiseng Faith for LWE (then Versa La Troy) , SS23 POLENA Collection photographed by goodlivingmedia

Are you a freelance model or are you under management, between the two which is more is easy to work under?

Since I started in 2018, for most of my career I have been a freelance model. However, early this year I got signed internationally with Kult Models in Cape Town. As for which is easier to work under, each has its pros and cons. Also it would depend on your experience and the kind of modeling one does among other thing.

You've modelled for LWE since 2021, how did that come about and did you expect this 'partnership' with Troy Gabolwelwe to continue till now?

Troy reached out to me , which I was very open to without hesitation as I could see his passion and determination. Over the years I have watched him grow and hone his skills as a designer, each collection building towards a very distinctive style which absolutely makes me happy and proud of him. I think we are able to work so well together for so long as we have since built a friendship and connection where we are able to share our dreams and hold each other accountable.

Kwa Jewelry has branded itself as an Afrocentric brand, why did you choose to do so?

(I was not the one that decided on going with Afrocentric elements, I was fortunate enough to work with a team that allows me full creative expression, so my process does get inspired to create and lean more towards Africanity inevitably)

Nthabiseng Faith for Glotto SS23  “Glide into The Last Days of Summer” campaign photographed by Wenzile Dube

How do you balance staying true to your creative vision while also adapting to industry trends

By not adapting to trends. As cliche as it sounds, literally just doing me on a daily. Each day simply aiming to enlighten my creative self through experimentation and execution.

Where do you see Botswana’s fashion industry in the future and what role do you want to play in its development?  

Honestly hard to say but I hope we grow to be open-minded and respectful of all the different roles and of one another within the industry.

 What is the biggest you’ve had moment in your career? 

My biggest moments are yet to come.

Nthabiseng Faith photographed by Juliana Schaller

Who or what has been your biggest inspiration in Botswana’s creative industry? 

Myself.

 What message do you have for young aspiring creatives?  

Do not shy away from being different. With it may come being or feeling alone. Find comfort and affirmation in knowing that despite all of that, there is a tribe for you somewhere out there and someday you’ll know when you have found it. People who will not only resonate with your highest growing self but make you feel seen, heard and understood.

What’s next for you Nthabiseng?

I just know it's bigger and better. Constantly working towards ensuring this.

[nimdreams]

My Awakening

Written November 2, 2021

When I was around 9 years old, I came across the comics Elfquest in the library with some friends of mine. We all loved this series. The art was beautiful and the characters were enchanting. My friend who was good at art, loved the style and me.. I awakened.

I don't remember much of it since it's such a long time ago. I always felt.. different. I wasn't quite like my peers and they had to teach me a lot about social propriety. When I read the Elfquest comics, I felt a recognition. I was an elf, like them. It was the start of a secret self image, something I had to keep hidden deep within myself and not share with anyone or they'd think I was weird and that would hurt incredibly much as it would be a rejection of my truest self.

I continued to love the Elfquest series and bought any comic parts I could find. But even though the Wolfriders had made me realize I was a feral elf, I also felt like I was different from them. They were half wolves and bound to wolves and even though I went through a wolf phase I knew that it wasn't a part of my self image. So I started looking for my animal half. It must've been a year later maybe when I started to identify as a voself (foxelf).

I can't remember why fox. How that started. It was around the time when Pokémon came out and my favorite was Vulpix a fox pokémon. It could've also been something else, some other way I connected to foxes.

It's really too bad I don't remember it now, I really wonder how voself became such a strong identity of mine. And yet I was always more skeptical about my fox identity, I remember a lifetime of searching for my "real" animal self while continuously landing back on fox and keeping my voself self image.

I really want to focus more on foxes, I need to self reflect and figure out why I keep dismissing them and reclaiming them. There is clearly something there that I should work out.

I continued to have my foxelf identity in the back of my mind as the years went by until I reached my 20s. At this time I was still undiagnosed with my autism and as I grew into adulthood I felt like it was time to stop being childish. To stop viewing myself as non-human, I was a human and I had to start thinking I was one and accept it. I suppressed my foxelf identity and started masking my unknown autism until I literally became so physically and mentally ill that I couldn't continue like that anymore.

I got my autism diagnosis and decided to stop masking and letting myself be my true me. Whoever that was cause I had quite lost myself.

I am still physically ill, chronically, and disabled. My world is very small. But as the years go by, I have become myself again. I'm still learning. Because of the pain and fatigue in my body, I can't really do much in a day but hang around in bed or on the couch. It has given me a lot of time, too much time really, to think about things. And self reflection is good but you also need to live life and have experiences, which is difficult for me in my state. I have at times done too much thinking to the point where I drove myself crazy, wondering who I really was and what labels really fit me. Thinking in negative downward spirals. I'm learning to let go a little now, and to feel more and focus on my body, a place that I have avoided out of fear for my agony.

I have tried to reclaim my foxelf identity a few times since joining the alterhuman community. Using it, but then switching it with other labels. It doesn't matter much what label I use, I am that foxelf child still. But I no longer have to keep it a secret. I am great just the way I am.

[gcldenchild]

man, it's been a while since i posted here properly. it's been an enlightening past two days to say the least and it's all got me reflecting not only on my time here but also the future for this blog, my lore, etc. so...

have a pretty big dump under the cut. this'll be long, i feel like i have a lot to cover. i dunno who'll even read it, but i feel it's worth getting out there anyways.

so. yeah! been a while. been a LONG fucking while. im 21 now, turning 22 soon; almost 3 years have passed since i put this blog in its weird hiatus state. prior to that i was active a lot, writing a lot - i genuinely was extremely happy. in a way, i still am - but that only came after a very, VERY involved few years of consistent therapy appointments and learning to write for myself to somehow see my ideas through instead of pushing myself to be here.

so. should probably talk about that. i wont go into mega details because it's *done* and i don't want to bring a carcass to the surface, but i *do* want to give it a gravestone.

september and october of 2021 are the two months i can easily say are up there on some of the worst of my entire life. a lot of my own personal experience with my muse - with goldie - practically *died* during that span of time as a result of the things that happened. some of you might have an *idea* of things, and if so, please - don't bring it up, don't ask me or anyone else about it. i'm making this post for me, for my OWN catharsis. if people don't like that, *don't make it my problem.*

i don't fear people knowing, i just... i don't want to constantly have things be brought back and forth. im only just now realizing that what i went through *was not a singular experience*, and that it was a pattern of behavior that i wasn't *alone* in. for the longest time, i thought i was genuinely and completely alone in the fact that no one could really attest to what i went through except for one person who helped me through all of it alongside my own personal friendgroup separate from the rpc. turns out, i'm not, and that has been incredibly validating and actually has done a lot more for my confidence in the past 48 hours than i realized it could.

i hate the month of hell. i hate everything about it. i hate how it made me feel, how i couldnt do my internship without being constantly pressured to do something else for the sake of other people, how i was constantly made out to be someone who caused the problems and couldn't compromise or apologize when that really, really wasn't the whole truth. i've spent *years* in therapy just to affirm that i wasnt crazy and that it wasn't fair to treat me - a then 19 year old - as someone who couldn't make mistakes and was expected to just KNOW things and norms despite it being known that i *didnt* get things immediately. realizing i'm autistic has been a struggle that lasted *years* and if i'd known it then, it would have made me more receptive to how badly i was being treated instead of just sitting down and taking it and BLAMING myself for it. i hate that i was talked about to other people after the fact even though i explicitly kept my struggles out of talks with rpc friends.

i hate everything about what happened that year. and i hate that it ripped ed away from me for a good while and sent me into a horrible mental state that i took a really, REALLY long time to recover from - and even then, i'm still not 100%. i still have triggers that send me right back to that year. i still have things that remind me exactly of all the shit that happened. my health issues haven't gotten better since that month exacerbated them, but they haven't gotten worse - just a way of showcasing recovery, i guess.

2021, for better or for worse, broke me. it stole away my love for writing and my ability to do art for a while. i finally picked up the pieces and now they're melted back together, but there's nothing that'll change how badly it effected me and jeopardized one of my deepest mun-muse connections i'd ever had because i was accused of not being able to separate mun vs muse.

but i'm getting better. i'm being better. slowly but surely, i'm building my own personal safe space filled with people who will actually confront me for the things i do wrong *without* being afraid to even TALK to me. that wasn't easy, not by a longshot - but i'm happier like this. i'm thriving like this. because of the safe space i've built, i've been able to write *thousands* of words for fics for this very lore and all the things that came from it. i've been living my best life on my artblog, @aubodied , because i decided i was GOING to enjoy things without all of this bitterness being attached to it, because i'll probably *never* get accountability for what happened to me. i'm learning to live life without looking back on all of it.

it's been a wild ride. and now i don't feel like i have to isolate myself anymore now that i KNOW i'm not alone. so someday - i don't know if it will be soon or not, but SOMEDAY - i'll come back here. i'll start writing again with other people, actively. until then, i'm always open to be reached out to to talk or other things. i want to reconnect, and even though that'll be a long process, i WANT to restore the feeling of home i made for myself in this rpc.

so... hi. i'm evy. i also go by vee. i use he/they/she pronouns (strongly preferring he at the moment), and i'm proudly autistic and navigating the world with those lenses. i love videogames and i stream sometimes alongside doing personal art for my obsession with edling as a ship. i'd be happy to be your writing partner someday. i'd be happy just to make rpc friends again someday. 2021 was awful for me, but i've finally moved on without fear of being able to talk about this - now i want to thrive.

so thank you for listening to me, if you read this. i hope we can talk again soon. and remember - i'm always here if someone wants to reach out.

[trappedtowers]

Trapped Towers Dev History ~ How We Got Here (Final Part)

(Middle art piece done by @/evilredyoshis)

CORRECTION FOR PART 2: THE TRAPPED TOWERS REBOOT ANNIVERSARY IS IN MAY. I THOUGHT IT WAS JUNE. NO IT IS MAY 15TH. I GASLIT MYSELF FOR OVER A YEAR WHAT.

Hey again everybody !!

So we reached the beginning of the current stage of Trapped Towers last time, the official beginning to the reboot in May 2021. This final part will cover a bit less I do think, mainly because a lot of the old/scrapped content I think I'd like to go a bit more in-depth with in seperate posts. However, there's still stuff to go through. It's gonna be a lot less story of Trapped Towers and a bit more sappy emotional though, hope you all don't mind.

So, for the final time in this mini series - lets hope into it shall we?

May 2021 - Present ~ The New Trapped Towers:

I will always remember those first few months of the new TeamT VERY VERY fondly. It wasn't perfect, we weren't all fully motivated, but we sure were making progress slowly. TeamT was always very chaotic - and sure some of it hasn't aged great and isn't the best to look at, I should have cut some stuff instantly and cut ties with others quick - but nights like staying in voice call with some of the best team members I could have asked for just screwing about, playing video games and screensharing it in about the worst way, and coming up with some amazing ideas for the project. I'll remember those fondly.

Stuff like this is what makes projects like this worth it. The memories and friends - as corny as that is.

But hey, you're here for the story, not for the sappy "the real trapped towers was the friends we made along the way" schpiel. So, what happened in the months from the Trapped Towers reboot beginning? Well, we worked. We made songs. We made new concepts, new art, and more. The story I'd written made - and I won't say who and if they out themselves AGAIN it's their own fault - made somebody CRY. Have you ever made somebody cry from a story you've written. The initial thoughts is "oh no they're crying, that's sad I didn't wanna make them sad" but very quickly the giddyness hits.

Emotional aspects of storytelling are one of the things I've been wanting to hit for ages. To have somebody connect to a character and their story to a point where it brings genuine emotion - it's the best. Not only for the reader's attatchment and immersion, but to you. To know you managed to create a story that compelling that it caused that. I won't drag this out much longer, but it's really something I'm aiming for with Trapped Towers and I do hope to get you all with some of these plot points.

Back to the timeline though, things began to slow further around November, with most things basically halting in December - though shoutout to the artists and musicians who carried us that whole time. January was a break month, February we hoped to be back in action but things didn't quite resume for a while. April picked it up a little more, with new art and concepts and writing happening, but not much else.

It's not a satisfying end to this story is it. We just kind of... died off.

But it's not the end, is it?

This was something I said in the team general channel in February 2022 and I still hold by it to this day. Trapped Towers has been a major part of my life since the day it was first made, and it always will be. I'm forever grateful for how things have turned out, even if it feels like the project never gets anywhere.

So until the day comes where I can release this, I'll keep posting, writing etc. I will keep working until it happens no matter how long it'll take. That's the end of the timeline and sappy stuff for now though. Lets go through some content.

Content Highlights:

(TO NOTE A LOT OF OLD CONTENT IS MADE BY VARIOUS OLD TEAM MEMBERS AS WELL AS MYSELF. @/evilredyoshis like usual, JackInASack who I believe does not have tumblr, Mojo, StellarDee, and many many more names I wish I could list. A full Trapped Towers credits list will happen one day, every name who was involved will be respected and honoured <3)

Y'know instead of "old content" this time, we've got highlights instead. Some of it will be old yes, but there's too much overlap with yesterday for me to just show old content because then there'd be barely anything.

MOST RECENT TRAPPED TOWERS SOUNDTRACK

ALSO TWO WHOLE DEVLOGS YOU CAN LOOK AT !!

AND THE SECOND ONE !!

Y'know I put that a lot of this was made by old team members, and yeah especially in the soundtrack more people appear but a lot of this art is done by Madeline PFFTT. Shoutout to her once again @/evilredyoshis she was actually the goat of TeamT. Did so so much.

There's SO SO much content I could share here and I would love to share it ALL. Unfortunately I don't want to ram this post with too much. If we do get a game out of this, I'll be sure to include a gallery with EVERYTHING.

There's also a lot of great animatics done. You can guess who by at this point. I have already got permission from her to use her old work for all these posts, so I'll likely do a post dedicated to the relevant/appropriate ones and explaining a bit behind them.

But seriously to end this off, I just want to say again how grateful I am for everyone and everything that has happened to Trapped Towers in these past 6 years. To anyone who sees this if you were a part of TeamT, still (technically) are a part of it despite how nobody is really doing anything besides me lol, or if you've just been following the project. Thank you. Thank you so much.

That's all from me. I'll speak to you all again soon.

- JustDaniel

[the-anime-man]

What if Sig got to the Tome of Sealing first? AKA Tomo AU

hi again tumblr, please dont expect a whole lot from this blog, once again, but, i wanted to post like a little basic thing about this au i've had since 2021 now that i'm back into puyo again,

this is an au that Heavily relies on bits of fanon and headcanon to make it work cuz canon is puyo puyo is very fucking wishy washy but essentially, what if sig had checked out the tome of sealing from the library before klug was able to? (sorry if this is a bit scatterbrained, im not good at organizing my thoughts much,,)

(also please dont mind some of the art, im like an ok artist at best and some of this shit is from 2 years ago as well)

so like, as the absolute fucking nerd i am, i made like an initial google doc on this thing outlining most of the shit im about to summarize here (that i might link if someone asks at some point i guess idk) as well as a fanfic, didnt finish that though, i got like through barely a chapter before i stopped and then i got into sam and max but that's unrelated to now

ANYWAYS, the au is as it sounds, sig goes to precise museum and, guided by the voice of the crimson soul, finds the tome of sealing and checks it out (much to akuma's chargin,,) and then he checks out the book again,,, and again,,,, and a gain,,,, (you see where this is going)

but uh, why is it called tomo au? see im being a little shitter here and i thought maybe the crimson soul's memory would be a little shot after spending ages in a book so they might not remember their name and sig is like "you're my friend now so i'm gonna call you friend/tomodachi" but then he's like "that's too long i'm gonna call you tomo instead" so they just go along with it, for future reference, anytime i mention the crimson soul i'm gonna be calling it Tomo

wow that's really fucking big sorry,

sig has an immense attachment to tomo from the get go btw, he's like, i wanna say like 8 or so when he first gets to the book, so besides the obvious literal halvsies soul connection there's that childhood connection as well,

side note: they can speak to each other cuz of that soul connection btw, it's my personal headcanon that after slug (canon strange klug/the crimson soul) can speak to anybody who they've possessed before as well as their other half, so in canon klug and sig can hear the book talk but in this au only sig can hear them

also, the reason why tomo doesn't attempt to take over sig right from the outset is A) they dunno where the unsealing objects are and B) sig is a child and uh, another part that i'm still trying to work the kinks through of is whether tomo decides to hold off on doing the fusion dance of their own volition or if because the cyan soul (which can speak to tomo, but only when sig is asleep cuz when sig is awake the cyan soul IS sig, nother headcanon sorry) decides it's too soon, they probably have memories of previous incarnations stored in there and know that eventually sig will start showing more demonic traits but not when he's baby

wow this is getting to be a lot but we're not even done cuz now i gotta talk about what this means about shit like fever 2 and such (y'know canon things and all)

boy tumblr just hates making images smaller nowadays huh,

so when sig starts showing signs of his heritage (i.e., a bit before fever 2 happens) tomo and sig start to hatch a plan to get tomo a body back! of course, tomo is omitting some things about how they're actually going to go into sig's body cuz at this point they've been together for a few years now and sig trusts tomo as like, a best friend i guess? something like that,

so sig is under the impression tomo is gonna be released and get their old body back and tomo is under the impression that as soon as the seal releases they'll enter sig's body, join back up with the cyan soul, and return to their original form,

so sig transfers over to amitie and klug's class, (tomo) overhears that lemres is coming into town with the items they need, and they steal the shit and head to the ruins to perform the unsealing

SPOILERS! shit goes wrong

ignore how shitty the ms paint art from a couple of years ago is, might change the hair to be more red in future art

for reasons (that i also need to workshop because to be honest originally it was a "whoever unseals it gets their soul swapped with whoever is trapped in the book" but like??? idk if that's how it should work when it comes to these two specifically), sig and tomo swap places instead of a fusion happening,

sucks balls for both of them cuz this is like the Last thing either of them wanted out of this tbh, sig obviously because well, trust got broken and ended up trapped til the artifacts are stolen (klug either swaps roles with amitie or sig, haven't figured that one out yet either) and tomo most certainly doesn't want sig trapped, as they wouldn't want anyone to experience the loneliness of being sealed away like they were (except klug, fuck klug specifically) (also the chronicles drama cd mentions that part of tomo's character in it so it works for my purposes)

this image wasn't necessarily specific to tomo au but i thought it would fit anyways, sorry it's a bit blurry my phone wouldnt focus on the damn thing properly

and after fever 2,,, i kind of dont have as clear of a story? or a plan? there's some tension between sig and tomo for at least a little while but sig eventually forgives them, as well i don't know how i would tackle something like sig's secret if at all?? but yeah that's the main shit to this au, sorry it's all so very long! this has been on my mind for a few weeks now and it was on my mind for months back in 2021, so i just have a lot i'm throwing out here into the wind, if you got this far: thanks so much for reading!

here's some bonus shit for getting to the end of the main shit:

tomo calls sig "little blue" sometimes, since he's yknow, younger than them and blue but calls the cyan soul their "other half"

if you couldn't tell from the first image, since sig has his bookbag, he carries tomo around in that, but if he's stopped somewhere he'll leave the book open next to him so tomo can see around (hard to see with the covers in the way)

sig was already probably ostricized for yknow, his autistic tendencies, the book did not help with that, but it gave him a trusted confidant :)

sig actually starts developing his demonic traits earlier than in canon due to his proximity to tomo, but not by much

klug has stolen the book before, both demon halves were not pleased with this and klug has not attempted to steal the book again

sig can supplement his own magic power with tomo's for an incredibly large boost, and tomo doesn't mind doing so, this gives sig almost the exact same amount of power as the full demon used to have and also changes his right eye to red

OH, both relevant to this au and my own interpretation: the full demon's name was wisteria, but neither sig nor tomo remember it until either are reminded of that

ok that's it go home now bye bye