#traditional art is so less stressful to me. until it is

[starswordartblog]

Shininginktober late Day 7: Kazin + Neptun, as that's the main spell I use with him through the game. Because of that, it kinda feels like the sorcerer promotion swapped him from fire to water mage. Though according to the manual Neptun does acid rain, so it's melting stuff all the same >:)

Version with no rain under the cut, I was so worried to ruin things under it with the effect lmao:

[malaierba]

Thinking about Karamatsu/Nozomi whole looking through some web weavings, and if I ever write something for them (currently in the phase of trying to come up with key events and organise them chronologically so it makes sense, thematically) I think I'd like this to be one of the take aways

In the event of a bad ending (dunno if I'm strong enough for that though 🫠 SHE CAN CHANGE HIM WITHOUT DYING im better than that), I hope that Karamatsu still finds it in himself to stop being so passive about his life. Like,

To stop waiting for the perfect moment or the perfect answer to dawn on him, and instead take life by reins and... Just start being an active participant in his own life. To embrace self-determination and the risk of committing to something that may not pan out but still forces you to take conscious and mindful action every day.

[kakushino]

Kuri Manju

Tomioka Giyuu x AFAB! Reader

Kuri Manju - a traditional pastry filled with pureed chestnut and white bean, served with a steaming hot cup of green tea (autumn pastry)

The shibari artist that inspired me to write this is Hajime Kinoko (Particularly Red Series: Samsara). Let me also stress this: shibari is for everyone, regardless of gender and body type, as long as you keep it safe, sane and consensual.

Tags: shibari (japanese rope art), BDSM dynamic, light choking, creampie, aftercare

Word count: 3.2k

Masterlist | Part 1

Tagging @crimsonkenjii-writes because this is bonus chapter of the Giyuu smut I promised to tag you in uwu

“Not fair… I was having such a good dream…” he mumbled into the pillow. “...had you in it…” Soft grumbles left the half-sleeping man. His voice was much deeper and raspier than normal and it reverberated through you pleasurably.

“You’re really something else, aren’t you?” you huff.

“Don’ know what you mean.” 

You could only conclude he was still a little drunk, otherwise he wouldn’t be saying that out loud. You frankly found this new side of him adorable. If you weren’t concerned about his liver, you would be getting him drunk more often.

Especially if it gave you a repeat of yesterday’s actions.

Your face flushed at the thought. Bad, bad, bad thought.

“Well, tell me where you hide your spare yukatas and where I can find one of your estate workers because you fell asleep right after and my thighs are sticky. I need a bath,” you said as you crawled out of the futon nude. You were confident he wasn’t looking, what with his hangover.

A mumbled instruction after, you found a generic blue yukata that would do for the moment. Considering your juban was stained with cum, you let it fall to the ground and put on his clothes. 

You left him lying there in search of the much-needed wash.

Sasaki, the kind head worker of the Water estate, helped you bathe and even prepared a breakfast for you while you washed. 

To your surprise, the man of the house was already sitting in the dining room, eating his own breakfast. It wasn’t fair that Giyuu looked much fresher and more awake than you did. Did he also take a bath? That was quick…

“Thanks for the meal,” you whispered as you started to eat.

The atmosphere was oddly comfortable, despite whatever happened last night. You were pretty sure he didn’t remember his last words before he fell asleep.

(He did remember.)

Please… date me…

The request still rang through your mind, like a broken record. Did he mean it? 

“Thank you, Kira.” 

You looked up. An attendant was taking away his empty bowls.

“Oh, and Kira?” Giyuu made eye contact with you. “Please take everyone with you to the market today. We want to enjoy some Kuri Manju with our guest this evening.”

Kuri Manju? It’s not yet autumn proper so why…

The attendant bowed and beelined out of the room. 

Wait, this evening? I’m staying? 

Giyuu led you to his room again. There was a slight difference - on his futon was a nest made of the fluffiest pillows you have ever seen. 

He pushed you down onto the nest, his bottomless eyes staring into your soul. He slowly backed off until he stood next to a sizable chest, opening it and finally breaking eye contact. You let out the breath you were unknowingly holding.

However, what he pulled out made your breath hitch again. 

A bright red rope.

Giyuu placed the carefully tied bundle next to him and reached inside the chest again. He took out another, and another, and another bright red rope.

You could scarcely breathe, the tension in the air thick enough to cut with a Nichirin blade.

The chest closed with a loud thud, his stare finding yours again.

“Come here,” said the spider to the fly.

And you crawled to him, entranced by his eyes. The loose yukata he provided you with less than an hour ago shifted with the movement, fabric pulled slightly apart, giving him a tantalizing show of your swaying breasts. He licked his lips.

You sat in front of him, on the edge of what he would do to you.

“Strip.”

Before your mind could process the command, your hands were tugging the obi loose and off. The yukata fell off your shoulders almost immediately, and you were bare to his hungry gaze.

Giyuu finally moved. His hand - so rough in appearance - was gentle around your wrist as he pulled you closer to straddle his lap. You took in his scent and warmth, closing your eyes.

“Do you trust me?”

You exhaled softly. “Yes.”

“If you want to slow down, say sake. If it’s too much and you want to stop, say daikon. Those two words will be your safe words today. Do you understand?” His hot breath caressed your ear as he whispered.

“Yes.” 

One of his hands reached beside him, the other placed on the small of your back, the heat branding into your skin.

“Then tell me what you would use if you wanted to stop?” His lips trailed down from your ear, making feather-light contact with your neck.

“I-I’d say d-daikon,” you stuttered, your brain not being able to focus on anything other than him.

“Good girl.”

The hiss of an unraveling rope sent shivers down your spine. He briefly leaned back to encircle your ribs with the first folded-over rope, securing it on itself at your back. His searing hot hands trailed up your spine as he positioned the binding over your shoulder, going down between your breasts. A knot secured it to the first part of the rope, simple yet intricate, and then the rope went up up up over your other shoulder.

The anticipation was killing you. He was touching you, yet it wasn’t really touching. His hands worshiped you, tying you up in the beautiful red ropes creating patterns only he seemed to know. The artful web dug into your skin, the sensation a wonderful contrast to his gentle caresses. 

At long last, he tied off the first rope, and reached for another.

You keened quietly.

“How are you feeling?” Giyuu whispered, connecting the new rope into the criss-crossed pattern at your spine, and continued to create art upon your skin.

You wiggled in his lap, your damp core brushing against his bulge. “I need more…”

He chuckled right next to your ear. “More ropes? More what, sweetheart?” 

“I need- I need-” You trembled like a newborn fawn, trying to grind on him. He pulled at the ropes, manhandling you off his lap as you whined.

“No. Be good and stay still.”

“Giyuu-” 

Smack.

You reeled back a little but his grip on the knots kept you in place. He’d slapped your thigh, an angry handprint appearing as he soothed it over with his touch.

“Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“I’m sorry,” you mumbled, kneeling steadily.

Giyuu shuffled behind you with another rope in hand. You didn’t dare turn, your breath growing heavy. 

His hot palms soothed over your shoulders, down your shoulder blades, around your ribs before his fingers started playing with your nipples gently. You sighed in pleasure, but didn’t move a smidge. 

“Good girl,” he praised you quietly.

His hands trailed down to your stomach, then around to the back to fiddle with the restraints again. He brought both your arms behind you, starting to tie your hands.

You couldn’t see what he was doing to you, but his warm caresses and the gentle way he handled you told you he was enjoying himself immensely. 

You shivered.

His warmth stopped moving. “Cold?” His lips brushed over your shoulder lovingly. 

You shivered again. “No…”

A chuckle became your answer before ropes encircled your forearms. He secured them against the knots at your back. You could feel the design there was intricate, you wished you could see it.

His hands trailed up your arms, over your shoulders and to your chest softly, rough palms catching at your nipples, sending a shockwave down your body.

“How are you feeling? Anything too tight?”

"I'm alright. Just- please-" your voice gained a whiny undertone, wanting more, needing more yet the light touch itself was so erotic, so satisfying. The mixture of sensations was dizzying.

His fingers ran feather-light all over your body. “What a sight you are…” His breath ghosted over your neck before he placed a kiss on your shoulder. “So beautiful and so wet…”

His middle finger slid between your pussy lips. You were embarrassingly riled up, your juices started running down your thigh long ago. 

“We aren’t done yet, sweetheart,” Giyuu chided you when you tried to grind on his finger, seeking friction. You keened in desperation.

The finger disappeared. Both of his hands cradled your shoulders and he pulled you backwards gently. Instead of falling into his chest, you were lowered onto the small nest of pillows, which allowed you to lay comfortably, despite the arched position his ropes had you in. 

You finally had a view of Giyuu now. His cheeks were slightly flushed, his gaze intense, tracing the bright red knots and lines. He looked a second away from losing control-

-but instead of finally pouncing on you, he reached for the last rope. 

“Giyuu, if you don’t hurry up-”

“Shhhh, no talking,” he commanded you. You immediately obeyed out of some base instinct you had no control over. “I don’t want to hear any noises from you unless it’s sounds of pleasure, do you understand?”

“Ye-”

Smack.

You shut your mouth. Another red handprint joined the first one on your thigh. He soothed over the stinging spot with his searing hot palm.

“Do you understand, sweetheart?”

You nodded.

“Good girl.”

He leaned over you, one hand folded your leg against your body, the other unraveled the rope, readying it for you. You watched in captivated silence as he wound and unwound and spun the rope around your leg, tying it up in the folded position, binding it to your torso so you cannot move, cannot escape. The bright red made a pretty contrast against your skin, digging and creating ridges into the plush. 

Like a fly caught in a spider’s web.

You whined, drawing his attention to your needy expression.

He stood up, looming over your decorated and immobile body. “I’ve kept you waiting for long enough, haven’t I?” His yukata fell down in one quick tug at his obi. 

You didn’t get a chance to see his cock yesterday but now that you could, you wondered just how he fit that beast inside of you. What’s more - it was pretty, like really pretty to look at. It curved slightly upwards and the tip was flushed and leaking, the precum decorating the head like a crown. Your mouth watered staring at it.

Your eyes shot up to meet his and you saw the small smirk he wore right before his face hardened into an expressionless mask.

Giyuu knelt back down and slotted himself between your legs, one bound up to your torso, one cradling his waist. He leaned over to kiss you tenderly, reverently, his hands cupping your cheeks. As he pulled back, one of his palms soothed over your decorated chest criss-crossed with ropes and knots. Down down down he went until his fingertips delved between your pussy lips again, circling your clit loosely, not giving even remotely enough stimulation to feel good… yet. 

You whined loudly in protest. The arched position you were in didn’t allow you to continue admiring his body, you could only see until his bellybutton.

“Impatient, sweetheart?”

The frustration brought tears to your eyes as you stared at him, pleading without voice.

He brought his fingers to your entrance, inserting two in one go. You couldn’t arch your back more but your lips fell open at the sensation. Finally, finally you were getting something. A slow and teasing pace and then the thumb at your clit-

You moaned quietly, eyes closing. “Please~”

His fingertips found the spot inside you that made you mewl. You wanted to squirm, to fuck yourself back onto his fingers yet you could do nothing but take it, ropes digging into your skin. 

"Please what?" He kept an unrelenting but steady pace. A smirk grew on his handsome face.

You strained against the bindings, trying to get- "More."

Giyuu chuckled and inserted another finger, spreading the three out briefly, stretching you. "Better?"

You whined. "Please… I can take you, please-"

“Greedy girl.”

“I need it, please-pleaseplease-”

“Fine but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He withdrew his fingers. 

The tip slipped between your puffy folds, bumping against your clit making you moan. His hand gripped at the ropes under your breasts for leverage. Finally, he slid his length inside - the glide smooth, helped by the amount of juices you made. “-doing amazing, sweetheart,” he rasped out. “Good girl, take my cock.” And you could do nothing but take it.

You keened at the slight stretch. You were more than ready for him. If your mind wasn’t in the clouds, you would have been smug about it.

The pace he set was agonizingly slow, each inch dragging against your sensitive walls. It was too much and not enough at the same time. Each slow thrust made the squelching of your juices echo in the room.

He leaned down pressing his forehead against your temple, his nose into your cheek, keeping up his torture of your insides. “You’re drenched. I bet people on the street can hear you every time-” he slid in, the lewd wet sound so loud “- I do this. Can you hear yourself, sweetheart?”

Yes, yes you could. But Giyuu had long fucked any semblance of thoughts out of your head. Instead of responding, you nearly wailed when his tip pressed against your cervix harshly.

“I can feel you clenching around me,” he exhaled sharply. You could only whimper.

Each stroke sent your nerves into overdrive, you could feel every fucking inch of him. You couldn't believe you could ever lose your mind on a cock, but he made it happen. Synapses fired off faulty messages, making you tremble and whine and shake under him. Your brain scrambled to comprehend the amount of pleasure he brought you with each roll of his hips. 

You clenched your eyes shut.

"Eyes on me."

His heavy hand circled your neck, long fingers squeezing softly at your pulse point - enough to make you light-headed, not enough to truly choke you. Your gummy walls fluttered around his length.

“You like this? You dirty, dirty girl-” he panted harshly.

You peeked into his eyes with a half-lidded and tear-stained gaze, unable to do more.

Thrust by thrust, he inched you closer to the edge at a crawling pace, so slow and loving yet so intense and dirty. If you hadn't been tied, you still wouldn't have known what to do with yourself. It was as if you were a fleshlight for him, a pretty decorated fleshlight, and you loved it - loved being his cocksleeve.

Each time Giyuu bottomed out, he ground against you a little, pushing against your needy clit and making you moan breathlessly.

“Are you going to come for me? Haah- Show me you’re not as naughty as you seem? Be a good girl?”

His tip never gave you a moment of peace, rubbing all the good spots, smooching your cervix, extracting whine after whine from you, moan after moan, all a symphony of wordless praises to him. You were barely coherent.

His eyes flickered down to where you were connected, his pace never speeding up. The hand clutching at your bindings let go of you and instead, you felt his thumb circle your clit.

You came embarrassingly fast when he did that.

Your toes curled almost painfully when the first wave of pleasure crashed upon you. Your whole body shook, muscles taunt, tears falling down your cheeks and eyes nearly rolling back. "Ghi-yuuuuh~" even your desperate cry was slurred as all your senses became muffled.

His eyes were bright, almost feverish, as he held eye contact. His hips buckled at the sudden tightness of your soppy cunt. “Fuck- yes, yes-”

He pressed as deep inside as he could as he came, the movement pressing into all the right spots and prolonging your orgasm, milking him for all he had. Giyuu groaned at the feeling, breathing heavily.

“Good- hah- good girl… Knew you could do it for me,” he whispered, rolling his hips and stirring up your insides. 

You could not think. You could not speak. Your eyes closed as you tried to catch your breath.

“Here, let me get these off of you…” He stayed inside of you as he untied your folded leg first, supporting it so you wouldn’t move too fast and cramp up. Once the ropes were off your leg, he slowly helped straighten it out. His fingers burned against the places where the bindings used to be. Curious, you looked. There were indents from the rope pattern in your flesh, some of them looking a little darker, bruised. His palm soothed over them. “Don’t worry, they won’t hurt soon.”

Giyuu had a slight smile on his face as he slowly pulled out, the lewd mix of both of you spilling out onto the pillows you laid on. He reached down as if to touch you, but stopped, hand clenching into fist, and rolled you over instead so he could reach all the knots tying your arms back.

“You did so well, sweetheart.” There was a slight tug of war behind your back, his movements quick and efficient. Bit by bit, the pressure holding your arms back eased. “Such a good girl for me.” There was a deep ache in your shoulder joints when the final knot came undone and your arms relaxed. “Are you alright?”

You’ve never heard such a soft tone of voice from Giyuu as he soothed over what you were nearly sure were bruises on your skin. “M’ shoulders…” you mumbled.

A quiet “Shit.” echoed in the room. “Let me take off the rest and we can address that.” 

You laid there boneless, pliant, like a pillow princess. You huffed in amusement at the thought. A pillow princess in a nest of pillows. But you loved it. You loved how he gently manhandled you, if that was a thing. 

Despite the complexity of the ties and the time it took to put them on you, undoing them went surprisingly quickly. Giyuu discarded all the ropes in a messy pile by the futon, before he left the room nude. 

You kept your arms close to your body, trying to limit the movement in the hurting shoulder joints as you maneuvered yourself to lay on your stomach. You felt too exposed all of a sudden and the loss of Giyuu’s warmth felt devastating. 

The door slid closed. You glanced up tiredly. His dark eyes observed you for a moment before he kneeled at your side, a damp cloth in hand. He didn’t make you move your position but he did spread your legs and cleaned up what leaked out of you. 

The cloth was thrown to the ground with a wet plop and warm arms embraced you, lifting you slightly. A few pillows of the nest, especially the ones stained with cum and sweat, were pushed to the side. 

Only then did he lay down beside you with you in his arms, a blanket thrown over the both of you. You laid your head on his warm chest, closing your eyes. 

“Sleepy?” 

“Mhm.”

“Don’t, yet. How are your shoulders?” Warm hand slid up your spine and rested on one of your shoulders, gently caressing where the joint was with his thumb.

“Still hurtin’.”

Giyuu exhaled slowly. “I apologize. I should have done it differently then.” 

“It was hot though,” you mumbled, hiding your face in his chest. Your face burned. 

His hands soothed over your back, feeling the imprints of his love. "It was,” there was laughter in his voice. “Did you like it?”

“Mhm.” 

“Then we shall do it again sometime, if you’ll have me.”

So I said the next one will be Obanai... I lied. But the next one of these series WILL be Obanai. I will just add some oneshots in between, mkay?

[moreespressoformydepresso]

EPIC: The Musical has me in a chokehold so I made a TBOSAS AU where the tributes are all eldritch creatures whose true might was dormant. Maybe reaping them at the same time was a rebel plot, maybe it was divine intervention, but it happens. It happens and the stress of the situation causes one of them to snap. The others soon follow.

All have eldritch forms tied to an element. Ones that aren’t the traditional four count (so metal, void, light etc). They have minor control over that element aside from the eldritch form and can spawn whole realms where their inner creature thrives which only they can access. So a creature tied to the element fire can be resting in their own personal badass volcano lair and then spawn in the ‘real’ world via a portal in the form of a flame. They can create the flame too, but they can’t travel very far and there are ways to mess with the teleportation. Also, the kids retain a version of their human form even when they’re ‘transformed’ because their eldritch form isn’t an alternate form, it’s more an extension of them that’s hidden until they reveal them. I’m using the word transformation because it’s easier. I’ve got many ideas but I’ll start with what inspired this AU: Treech as Scylla in the song Scylla.

I’m going with snakes over the dogs sometimes used in mythology because I think it’s more terrifying (and also I’ve seen one animatic with adorable serpents and fell in love with the big eyes and boopable snouts and massive razor sharp teeth dripping with blood). Treech’s eldritch form is a base with six ginormous serpents sticking out of it. If his human form’s attached to it, he’s a part of the base, usually with only his upper body visible. He has scales with a gradient of forest green, indigo, and Persian blue. When fully transformed, all of his eyes are a glowing icy blue or maya blue (I want to make them fully black but with all the dark shades that’s less terrifying imo) and his human form has lines of scales going in spirals down his body and creeping up on the edges of his face. When Treech starts his transformation, his pupils turn into predator slits and his irises turn light blue. The blue spreads out until it takes up the whole eye. When he gets mad, it might bleed into the veins around his eyes. The serpents themselves start out as glowing outlines all over his skin like tattoos that start to peel off and slowly grow to the terrifying size of his full eldritch form.

The part in the song after Scylla says “hello :)” is the part where he transforms, his voice slowly sounding more and more inhuman (he can sound like a human but like- go big or go home right?) and instead of just killing six people he massacres whole squads of peacekeepers (though he spares innocents like kids because he’s determined to rub it in the Capitol’s face that a literal man-eating serpent monster is more compassionate than they could ever hope to be) in his quest for both vengeance and freedom. It’s not even the biggest slaughter in the big revenge spree the tributes go on together, but still. I’m giving Treech vague siren-like aspects (his singing voice can cause a loss of focus and amply emotions like fear) instead of the telepathy Scylla has in EPIC. A little nod to the song that started this AU.

I might continue this and I’m working on some art for this AU (might post, might not, I’m not sure yet).

[marlomogensen]

excerpt from a 28 page zine i made for a fair earlier this year which you can download here. 

i didn’t call it a comic at the time but it is really, it just doesn’t have words or a traditional narrative. i haven’t had any ideas i felt inspired by in years. so instead i focused on feelings and just did heaps of associative drawings on themes and motifs until a “story” representing how i had been feeling emerged which was way less stressful, difficult and boring to make than my previous experiences making “comics”

it’s about depression and grief, and attendantly about all the stuff that may be happening somewhere inside you when it feels like nothing is, as well as a hope for change or the knowledge that things are changing no matter what. subconscious processes that happen while you are just sitting and thinking and not participating in life and what that feels like, what time feels like when it is quietly ticking by. i have to be hopeful and humorous when i make art or i can’t sit with the feelings to finish it and it just makes me feel worse. the approach that lead to this zine i think make it formally more interesting than most comics i’ve made. i really feel alienated by the kind of auto-bio and narrative work i have traditionally made right now, and much more attracted to visions and feelings than monologues and descriptions

[tblsomedoodles]

How's the status on each of your updates?

Oh let's see.

Comic wise, the yet unnamed seer twin's apocalypse comic has it's next update fully sketched out and in the process of inking. Might be out next week, if i can manage it.

Donnieverse i know what i want to do next, but haven't started it yet. (wanted to update the seer comic/maybe finish that one off before going any farther with this.)

i have a Mikey's Imaginary Friend video all boarded but i haven't started actual work on it (i'll get caught up in it once i do, so i'm strategically procrastinating so i can get other stuff done.)

Fic wise, "Proud Family Tradition" i've been picking at but it's not close to an update. (if i just sit down and focus on this fic, the entire thing would have been done by now. but alas, my brain will not allow such logic.)

"One Without the Other" i haven't started the next chapter yet (b/c it's supposed to be Leo telling his brothers but i do not want to write a seer explanation for the third time. I honestly might skip to the 'leo and donnie fighting' bit. like going and starting the entire chapter with Leo smashing the dreamcatcher against a wall of Donnie's lab and make Splinter figure out what the heck just happened in the five minutes he left his boys alone to talk.)

"Growing Pains" is all plotted out through the secondary mutations (with an actual outline and everything) and i've been working on it recently. but i'm not really close to an update there either.

Oh, and my little angsty side project "Silver linings aren't worth it" (which i don't really talk about here b/c i haven't done much art for it) has the next chapter written, but i'm trying a thing where i don't release the next chapter until I've written the one after it, so it's not going to be posted yet. (honestly, this one is probably the closest to getting an update as a result of the update rule. Idk, it puts less stress on me for somehow. It removes the 'my brain deciding it needs a break once it posts the newly finished chapter' thing i've been struggling with. So i might adopt that rule for all my fics. )

I think that's all my ongoing projects? I...have too many active projects lol. If i missed one, let me know. I'll give you the status of it.

Thank you!

[placesyoucallhome]

Drunk wasps, wild turkeys and pokemon cakes. You live an interesting life.

mmm, bear with me here-

I've taken art classes since I was a kid, like traditional art training since the age of like, five. Mostly from the same guy, he was also my AP art teacher in highschool. But for a lot of that time my art was very... bland, flat. I was taught to draw what I saw, in a very literal sense, he wouldn't even allow us to take a picture of our subject matter to work on outside of class hours (mind you, there were no cell phone cameras then we were working off digital cameras mostly but that's beside the point). So, much of my art was also literal, leaves were greens, brick was red, water was blue. My art wasn't great, and I couldn't quite figure out why.

I also took art classes in college, whole different teacher, he admitted my technical skill was there, but I wasn't pushing things at all, and I really still didn't 'get' it. I eventually got to an oil painting class, and again my technical skill was there, but it fell flat.

Until one assignment. He set up a still life, basic, I couldn't tell you how many damn still lifes I've done, but this one was only in greys. Every single item was a flat shade of grey, and our assignment was 'paint in color'. It took me a bit, to see it, and I won't say that I got it immediately right then, but it started to click. Literally, those vases and boxes were grey, and that wasn't the point, the point was choosing to see the colors in that. There's the golds of the sun through dirty skylights, the copper bouncing up from the cheap flooring, the blue shining from the jacket of the kid falling asleep in the front row. Once you think to look for it, you can see the bouncelights and colors, there's a rainbow in even a white wall, I would know, I painted one.

My point is, life is bland, painfully so, or worse, its stressful, painful. One can see things literally, in dull shades, that tree in the yard invites bugs, living near the metroparks means local forest wildlife, a lot of my 'art' nowadays is done in buttercream, and everything is... boring.

Or, you can find the color in the little things, like the ridiculousness of the fact that apparently local herds of deer like to get drunk off fermenting ornamental pears in our front yard, or the comedy of trying to find a way to explain what the hell Mewtwo is to a coworker that's never played pokemon.

I write and present things the way I do because, I choose to see the colors in mundane things. It doesn't make living less painful, but it can make it easier to bear.

[kirihotto]

Fireplace Festa {Jimin X Reader 18+}

Christmas. A special time that comes around once a year, filled with magic stories and warmth.  

I Knew the rest of the members pretty well as soon as I started dating Jimin. For the christmas season The seven guys would host a party for themselves as old tradition. But when Jimin and the band mates got big they hosted larger parties in the holiday spirit. Hundreds of idol groups and musicians were invited, sure they wouldn’t all come but it was still a lot of people. Which is exactly why I wanted him to relax before this big party tomorrow. But due to said party, this last week he has been out of the house nearly everyday. planning. It has been three years since we have been a couple. Every waking moment has been like a dream. Well. other than when we were busy constantly. But even still I couldn't believe that I was dating an idol. One of the most popular idols in one of the most popular boy bands in the world. A bad ass on stage to a sweet playful boyfriend at home. Adorably deadly. 

The Eve was nearing, which is why I was in a panic. Gift shopping. I had gotten every other member something. Namjoon tickets to an art gallery, Tae an ornament resembling Tanny, Hoseok a new mini bag , JK a new bucket hat by his favorite designer, Jin a set of lama PJ’s, then Jimin.. Nothing. Well. His main gift, yes. But we had a tradition of a Christmas Eve gift. Which I had not gotten. All I had wanted from Jimin was to spend this night with him. As silly as it sounds, I missed him this past week. Cuddling by the fire, watching Christmas movies, his kisses, his touch- That spiraled. Seeing all these couples together in the mall, made me feel all the more alone. Nonetheless, The hunt progressed. Thoughts of Jimin begging suppressed in my mind. Attempting to find something for him, nothing was to his taste. Well- nothing I had already gotten. I knew the stores were all closing earlier due to Christmas eve. Much to my dismay the mall announcement came through. 

“All stores will be closing in less than ten minutes. Thank you!”

I was empty handed. Feeling defeated, I made my way out of the mall sulking. Until my last hope. My eyes lit up as an Idea came to mind. Running into the store as quickly as I could without anyone noticing. Sure it was Uncomfortably close to closing but I’d just hoped this would work. 

***********************

Getting home I ran the shopping bag upstairs and hid it in the spare room closet. Just before the door to the house swung open. A cold breeze is sure to follow. Making my way to greet who I easily assumed to be Jimin. A slight pink dusted my cheeks. Jimin all the same, but he was from the cold. Dusting off the slight snow that dusted his sandy hair. Patting down his thick plaid sweater, a white button up easily seen and black jeans he shivered, letting the warmth soak in. His warm welcoming eyes greeted me without a word. A smile quickly spread across his plump lips. Setting down an obvious bag he opened his arms to me.

“I’m home!” He chuckled out. Flying into his inviting hug, snuggling into his chest slightly. We both embraced each other at the door smiling. Jimin’s arms reached across my back. His classic rose and spice collagen hit my nose.That’s what I had wanted all day. His touch. Him. everything was perfect.Until Jimin let out a stressed sigh.“Sorry I’ve been so busy.” 

“It’s ok!” I replied pulling back from the hug, my hand on his lean shoulders. My gaze focused up on him. His head hung low, gaze on me. “I understand you're busy. I knew that you would be. You guys host that insane party every year. If you ever needed help you could have asked. Anyway, It doesn't matter now. Your home and it's christmas eve! Let's relax before the big day hm?”

“Alright. Alright. Let's get set up.” Jimin reassured me, picking up the bag he had dropped moments ago. Waddling off into the kitchen. I trailed not too far behind. Curious at what he meant. 

“Get ready?” 

“To decorate cookies! Hoseok gave us some extra to decorate. I thought it would be fun when he made the suggestion.” He opened the bag as I peaked in. seeing a nice stack of homemade gingerbread men and trees. As well as a decent array of icing colors. He trailed off into the kitchen setting the bag on the table. Jimin’s gaze focused back on me.  “I’ll set these up and you go play some christmas tunes?”

This was my chance.

“Y-yeah! You go ahead, I'll be right back!” Before Jimin could question anyhing I ran up the stairs my face again flushed. Not knowing how I could pull this off. Going into the spare room where I had tossed the bag earlier I prepared the gift quickly. Being sure to stay quiet enough so he wouldn't get suspicious of me being so late to get this gift. Jimin had set out most of the supplies when I greeted him in the otherwise empty kitchen. Cookies filled the table along side the sprinkles and colorful bag of icing. Flicking on some background Christmas themed music. I slid across the hardwood floor with my fuzzy socks. My hands now resting on the table next to Jimin. 

“They look edible enough.” Jimin chuckled to himself. I elbowed him after his comment. Though I knew he was only teasing. Figures. 

“Well. if it were Namjoon making them, they may not be. They look great!” replying to his previous sas. My eyes scanned the table as my body leaned over the table slightly. 

“Let's start then! The night won't wait for us.” He kissed me on the cheek with a little giggle, before grabbing an icing bag and chair. I did an awkward pause after. The thought of him liking his gift taking over my thoughts. Sweet chatter about the Christmas party planning chaos. Of course it was chaos. It was BTS after all. Smiling, warming and lighting up the house. Brighter than any Christmas tree ever could. Our evening was near. After decorating all of the cookies that remained from the large batch we made hot cocoa. Stacking cookies and warm mugs on a tray. Taking the two treats to the welcoming couch, with cozy blankets.Snuggled close together leaning on Jimin's shoulder as we snacked away. His head rested on mine, his sandy hair almost in my view.. The thing I had dreamed about all day. Our warmth compared nothing to the winds outside. We sat in comfortable silence as Jimin hummed peacefully. The only music I needed to hear. The fireplace crackled in front of us. Making the most wonderful sound. 

The silence was broken by more welcomed chatter. The traditional christmas movie playing softly behind the conversation. It had been awhile since we had talked like this. Sure we lived together but it was get home and go to bed for the past while. But this lovely night was getting closer to an end. It was around ten o'clock. I didn't mention the gifts that were supposed to be exchanged soon. Hoping he'd forget. Since I had always been the one to bring it up due to excitement. But my hopes were shot down.

“I can't wait anymore.” Jimin stated as he untangled me from him. Making his way toward the tree he came back with a purple box about the size of his hand. A pretty bow was tied in the middle nearly the same color as the thin box. Sitting next to me. “Merry christmas eve. I hope you like it as much as I do.”

“Oh my goodness.” Opening the box carefully there were two silver bracelets. One engraved with Jimin and the other had my name. The ends were decorated with small designs I couldn't define as anything in particular. Upon further inspection the inside part was engraved too. With an ‘With you’ in slight cursive. Looking over to Jimin who had his hand behind his head, his eyes flickering to the fireplace then floor. Not meeting my gaze. I could feel happy tears fill my eyes. 

“I-i made them after a vlog shoot. Do you like them?- wait. Why are you crying? Are they that bad?” Jimin’s focus now is on me, his warm hand on my shoulder. Leaning toward my face. He inched closer to me, our thighs now touching. 

“I'm not crying! I love them of course Jimin! You made them!?” ok. I did tear up a bit but I didn't cry. The writing was so detailed and effort was clearly visible. He sighed in relief and let go of me. Lifting up my hand closest to him, he slipped with one with his name on my wrist. While the other went on him, baring my name. His soft lips curled into a smile as he looked down at the bracelets. This was WAY better than what I ended up getting him. Now it was my turn to give him his gift. “O-on another note. I have a gift for you too..”

Clearly he was confused. His doe eyes searched around me for any sign of a gift. Those doe eyes would soon change I'd hope. His eyebrows contorted. That's because his gift was on me.. As much as I hated this, it was all I had. Having put the effort in to even put it on. I took my hand from his. My face is red, lifting the bottom of my knit sweater slightly. His eyes instantly followed, seeing the shock visible in Jimin's eyes. Red lace. 

“I-its me-!” Before I could even finish that embarrassing sentence he pounced. His hands on either side of my head, my hands above my head. His once innocent doe eyes changed into lust in a mear second. Sandy hair falling out of place dangling over me. He leaned down to my ear, pressing his body against me slightly.

“May I?~” Jimin whispered sensually but sweetly, in a lower voice than he usually spoke. Making my stomach turn. Nodding sheepishly at him. My head turned to look into the blazing fire, warm as our bodies were becoming. Jimin lifted up my shirt to reveal my stomach and lower waist. Red lace decorated my form. Snaking his head down my body as he left soft kisses until reaching the bare skin. My body flinched at the feeling. His warm lips on my now cold bare skin. His eyes looked up to me longingly from my waist. Averting my gaze again realizing I had been staring. He let out a little chuckle. The vibrations felt easily across my stomach. 

“Ah~” I jumped slightly at the new feeling. My hands flew down to his silky hair like a reflex. He had licked an uneven stripe leading up to my chest. Covered by the crinkled up clothes and lace under yet to be revealed. At first he left open mouth kisses along my lower waist and stomach around the lace. Moans flooded out of my lips without my consent. Nonetheless Jimin certainly didn't seem to mind. As my voice grew louder and heavier breaths, his kisses turned into budding hickeys. He tugged at the hem of my shirt as his head was now above me again. 

“This isn't-too much is it?” He stuttered, his face growing pinker by each word. Again adorably deadly. 

“N-no.. enjoy your gift a-as you’d like..” I can't believe I just said that. Jimins gaze told the same expression. My hands trailed down from sandy hair to his shoulders. lips again on mine. My back arched, attempting to feel his warmth again. Jimin had yet another gift for me I suppose. Our breaths fanned across the small space between us. Until He pulled back. My heart filled with anxiety and butterflies. Jimin sat on my lap tearing off the sweater and shirt he was wearing over his head. My boyfriend's abs stared back at me tauntingly. The familiar scent of roses and spice graced my nose. His hands wandered back to me not a moment after. Finally, painfully slowly. Removing my sweater, While the red Bra matching the set I had bought, was ‘unwrapped.’ A few butterfly kisses traced my neck as Jimin leaned into my neck, sandy hair tickling my face. His hands lightly traced my figure between our bodies. 

“Fuck You're so sweet.” Jimin whispered in my ear slightly. “Behave for me?”

“Mm hm.” I nodded slightly, but fast enough to get to where I had planned with this silly scheme. He chuckled teasingly before kissing his way down my form again. My hands making their way to the sandy blonde hair. Feeling myself longing for more of his touch from every one he gave. Getting back to where he had started my lower stomach. My voice was louder and the small noises from Jimin were clear enough. He was losing his patience. With that he stopped his kisses. As I protested. “Huh?”

“Hang on baby. I’m not going anywhere. I haven't even used my gift yet.” Jimin again chuckled. My protests were shot down by my flustered face. We wouldn't be here if it weren't for my stupid idea anyway. He pulled one of my legs over his shoulder, face leaning into my thigh. Soon leaving kisses. “This is a gift I'd never refuse.”

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #149

Do you like getting flowers as a gift? I do, even though I can't quite explain why, like they're just gonna die now. I think it's pure tradition which makes me like it, despite the fact I generally don't give a microscopic shit about traditions.

Who is one person you never get tired of? My boyfriend.

How different would your life be if “that one thing” didn’t happen? I'd almost certainly be married to and have kids with someone who didn't ultimately believe in me and was by this point probably extremely frustrated with me being mentally ill that he'd likely hate me. We would not be a happy couple. Who knows, maybe I never even would've gotten the mental help I needed.

What is “that one thing”? A traumatic breakup.

What’s the most desperate thing you did? god I am NOOOOOOT going there

Where was the last place you took a train to? I've never been on a train, actually.

What are your living arrangements currently? Are you happy with them? I live with my mom and our pets. Yes, I enjoy my mom's company, but both me and Girt want our own place by now, it's just not reasonable with the housing market.

Have you met your soulmate? I don't believe in those.

If your best friend wanted to cheat on their partner, you would say what? Well my best friend is my boyfriend, so we wouldn't stay together. In the hypothetical where my best friend wasn't my own partner, I'd definitely tell them to do the same, not just straight-up cheat. Let them go first.

Who do you know that gives very sound advice? Specifically Mazzy, they are fantastic at balancing realism with acknowledgment of emotions.

At what age did you start to feel like a teen and not a kid anymore? It was the exact day I started my period, which was 12 or 13, according to my mom.

What is your parents’ idea of grounding you? Taking away computer privileges.

Do you think art museums are pointless? ?????????????????????? does ANYBODY ACTUALLY think this?????????????????????

Do you care about looks when you’re looking for a romantic partner? I don't think I do, or if I do, it must have to be a case of extreme unattractiveness for me to notice. Me being attracted to someone has to be no less than at LEAST 90% about personality.

How many times have you moved? Officially four, but I've "lived" in apartments with Jason and much later Colleen temporarily.

Is Christmas stressful? It's not for me, yet, I'm sure because I'm not expected to get my loved ones stuff because I have no income. I already have to ask my fucking mom to get at least ONE thing for my s/o, because that's one I feel WAY too bad about not getting anything for, even though he doesn't care whatsoever. It's such a garbage fucking feeling. Historically I've always made/gotten people gifts I put a shitload of thought into and often a great deal of effort, so me ACTUALLY having money to buy gifts for so many people for a holiday will likely be really stressful for me. I'd likely obsess over something not being "good enough" or overspend.

Your best friend has a good or bad taste in music? Good, we like mostly the same stuff, but there are some small surprises. His music on shuffle is insane though haha, going from death metal to some goofy parody song.

What would your friends be surprised to see in your music library? The number of Melanie Martinez songs on my iPod would definitely surprise people, I genuinely like a lot of her stuff.

Do you like to talk about the future when in a serious relationship? Yes, it's reassurance to me that you're actually interested in staying together.

Do you like public displays of affection? Only to a certain extent; I don't want to do overtly sexual things in public, but things like simple, quick kisses or calling me a petname in front of others, I do like because it shows me you're not ashamed of being with me.

Do you believe in moving in together before engagement or marriage? For me, that's what I'd prefer. I want to see how well we operate living under the same roof until we decide to do that forever.

Do you watch mukbangs? No, I've never quite gotten the appeal. Actually I have watched people who normally do vlog-like content do mukbangs as a random thing in the past, but that's primarily because I was invested in them as people and just liked watching whatever they did, but it's been years.

How do you lose weight? What’s your favourite diet food and exercise? Gonna be full honest, historically my biggest weight loss period was from extreme undereating, like I did nothing else to cause it, and because of that I'm still dealing with it as I try to re-lose weight I gained back, but I've been at a plateau for a very long time now... which I now know is likely from how extreme my hypothyroidism is. As a teenager I lost a good deal of weight from playing WiiFit daily; I got in the best shape of my entire life with it. I have gone done a bit with physical therapy too. I haven't found a reliable - and safe - weight loss method that works for me yet as an adult...

Do you have a lot of friends? Do you have a partner? Have you ever had one? I don't have many friends, but those I do have are pretty fucking great quality. I have a boyfriend and he's my best friend literally ever.

Do you currently have any hickeys? From who? No.

Who was the last person to come to your house? Girt.

Have you ever had sex with the same gender? Totally honest I'm not really sure what the consensus is on what cis female x cis female sex is, but either way I say no.

If you’ve experienced both, is sex better with men or women? I have a feeling that sexually I'll always prefer men, but I wouldn't really know.

Have you ever been the other woman? No, I will not be somebody's second choice.

Would you ever want to be with a virgin? If no, why not? I couldn't care less. Neither of the people I've been with sexually were/are, but it wouldn't bother me at all.

Do you constantly find yourself internet stalking your ex? No, last I knew he only had Facebook and I was (rightfully) blocked, but I haven't even tried to look in a very long time. I don't look at Sara's accounts anywhere because I've learned it never, ever serves me any sort of good whatsoever so I just don't.

Are you friends with any of your exes? Not really; I don't have any bad blood with Aaron, we just haven't talked since like, the start of high school, and he deactivated his Facebook many years ago. Juan and I have recently messaged some, but I'm keeping distant and have no interest in actually pursuing friendship with him.

Do you have an addiction? To what? Internet, for sure. I've been that way since I was a kid, and it's never been fixed. I am annoyingly useless without Internet connection, like I have no idea what to do and it's seriously pathetic.

Blunts, bowls or bongs? I don't smoke, so I wouldn't know.

When you have a fight with your partner what do you do? We talk it out. We haven't had many of these at all, so I don't have a big pool of reference, but we absolutely value remaining calm (something I'm learning to be better at) and being completely upfront and honest. We put a lot of emphasis on maintaining strong communication.

Who does the grocery shopping in your house? Mom.

Are your parents still together? Hell no, I have a hard time believing they ever were lol. Dad is so like, not the person I would picture my mom falling in love with.

Have any siblings you know of but don’t actually know personally? Yes, my dad's first daughter Tiffany. Never met her in my life and know almost nothing about her; I think I've only seen a single picture of her. I love my dad but he does not get any fatherly awards, given he has nothing to do with her and very barely Misty, the daughter from his first marriage. The one time Misty came here with her kids, it was literally her who reached out to him to go to dinner and just meet his grandkids. It bothers me that it's only me and my two full-blooded sisters who seem to always matter to him.

Greatest fear? Living alone on the streets with nowhere to go.

Something most people fear that you do not fear at all? Snakes are one, I'm always stoked to see a snake.

Don’t you hate getting nice & comfy & then having to pee? UGH YES, and it sucks because I absolutely HAVE to get up and do it or else I literally cannot fall asleep.

Ever faked being pregnant? No, and these people fucking disgust me. This isn't a topic you joke about.

Ever had a major surgery performed on you? I wouldn't call either that I've had "major," no, at least I don't think so.

Which of the seven deadly sins are you guilty of? I mean at some point I experience all of them, but sloth is the one I'm MOST guilty of.

Do you believe in divorce? Yes, it should absolutely always be legal to leave someone if they no longer enrich your life. I VERY much do believe you should put immense thought into marriage and NEVER rush into it, and look into various possible futures with that partner and see if you still feel the same. I do definitely believe that a large percentage of people certainly don't take marriage seriously enough and never should've gotten married in the first place, but yes, divorce should always be an available option for people.

Is intelligence a turn on for you? Yes, show me that big brain papi

Who has made the biggest sacrifice for you? My mom.

Do you treat others better or worse than yourself and why? Oh, way better. I just don't like myself enough and hold myself to absurd standards I don't have for others.

When you sleep next to someone who usually falls asleep first? Oh, it has ALWAYS been the other person, with literally everyone I've ever shared a bed with. I have always had major difficulty with falling asleep; I even struggled as a kid. My brain just cannot shut off, ever.

Do you think it is harder for a parent to outlive their child or for their child to outlive them? Both are fucking awful, but I definitely think it's more difficult for a parent to outlive their child; like you have kids being so sure that you're going out first, that you'll never have to be in a world without them again, but for plenty of people, it happens.

What is one selfish thing you tend to do? I HATE talking when I'm listening to music, specifically if Mom and I are in the car; I've controlled the music forever, and I have to admit that I get annoyed when she talks over it sometimes; unless she's literally attempting conversation, I don't reply to most things she says aloud; if it doesn't require my input, I'm not saying anything. I'm fully aware how bitchy that is, it's just this shitty thing about me I've never managed to correct.

What kinds of people do you find intimidating? Pushy, loud people that are entirely blunt and not afraid of hurting your feelings at all and are go go go 200% of the time.

Who is the most overbearing person you know? Our fucking landlord/family "friend," which I don't really consider her anymore.

How old was the first person you kissed? At the time we kissed, he was early into 18.

Do you plan on moving out within the next year? It'd be nice, but I'm not so sure it's gonna happen.

Have you ever slept nude? Only accidentally, just kinda Happened and I'm very grateful I stayed under the covers because this was with my teenage bf with his parents home lmfao

How many stories tall is your dream house? Honestly a dream house for me would still be one story; I don't want more rooms than we need (just more cleaning to do) and I'm not into stairs, lol.

Do you consider yourself to be promiscuous? Entirely the opposite.

Do you have any obscure pets? No, ball pythons are very common pet snakes, and the champagne morph is popular.

Do you consider yourself politically correct? I try to be, but I do sometimes worry about slipping up with a word I didn't know was even offensive.

[elena-oc-blog]

round 2!

🌌 ✏️ 🌪️- Goop

👑 ❇️ 🔥 -Aurora

HI SO SORRY FOR THE LATE REPLY, I HAVENT BEEN ABLE TO DRAG MYSELF TO MY LAPTOP UNTIL NOW Now onto the answers to your wonderful questions uwu 🌌 MILKY WAY - what was the inspiration behind your oc? what was the first thing you decided about them?

I created goop when I was still living at my dad's. I was working in my little studio room and I think some kids were being very loud outside? And it was giving me sensory overload so I doodled a very anxious crying dragon with big ears and colored it and that's how goop came to be! His most important features are his big pupiled crying eyes and long sensitive ears as noise is the thing im most sensitive to. He is basically my anxiety sona!

✏️ PENCIL - is there a particular quote / lyric that you associate with them?

Since he is a sona of sorts rather than a full on OC I don't really think about them a lot in that way. I moreso think of them any time I am experiencing a large amount of anxiety, emotional distress and/or sensory overload. Maybe "The world is a loud and scary place"? 🌪️ TORNADO - what is the biggest change you've ever made to them? how have they changed from their original version?

Well the first iteration of him is the image i added to the milkyway question. Since I was stressed (and also it was 2018) the art and main personality points are a bit rough. However with therapy and time I refined his personality a lot more. He enjoys nature (and its sounds) and being by himself, they don't like going out in the fcrowded city, they are an artist that prefers using traditional media. Basically he now also has some of my more positive traits instead of only being constantly terrified and crying. I mean he still is but he also finds comfort in things and some sensory experiences. Its not all bad.

(also he has beans now because beans make everything better) 👑 CROWN - what does your oc want to be remembered as? why?

She doesn't really worry about having to be remembered as something. She is a goddess and practically immortal (though gods can be killed in my universe. It would just take a lot of effort) so she doesnt think about post mortum things. She also doesn't really want to be remembered by most, she works mostly behind the scenes pulling on strings. Some mortals worship her and while she "blesses" them with dark powers and corrupted bodies, she doesn't really care about them all that much. Sure they help her in causing chaos and fear in the world but she doesn't necessarily need mortals for that. She has her demons and creations afterall. A few she is a bit closer to like sable and marble crocodile man once i make him but to them she is more like a wine aunt. She sometimes chats with them, gives commentary and advice as well as blessings but again she isnt super attached. So in short, her goal isn't really to be remembered by mortals. Just to destroy them.

❇️ SPARKLE - what is their most prized possession? what do they value?

That would be her creation Thorn. She is very pleased with how he turned out and how good he is in spreading terror amongst mortals. Rex is probably a close second, as he is basically her security cam system as well as manager of her many imps and demons. Very valuable as he allows her to watch and see all after most of her divine power was sealed away. Being a goddess, she can materialise items without any trouble so material goods do not interest her. It's souls and her living creations that she is invested in. Souls for providing an energy source as well as a base for demon creation so it costs less energy. And her 3 main creations Rex, Thorn and Crom were early creations that she made out of pure magic when her powers werent fully sealed away yet. She doesn't want all that magic to go to waste. Even if Crom gets on her nerves a lot, she doesn't want him to die. He performs pretty outstanding on soul reaping actually, she just wishes he was less clingy and annoying about it and was less obsessed with killing his little brother. I hope i answered this properly my brain is being a lil weird. 🔥 FIRE - do they have any self destructive tendencies? what habits do they have that hinder them from becoming their best self?

Aurora is extremely bitter and refuses to let go of the past. Astron is hoping that her time on earth will make her appreciate and understand mortals but so far no luck. He won't return her full powers unless she stops being so hateful and destructive towards mortals so I guess thats kinda self destructive of her to obsess over making all mortals pay for the betrayal the people she made commited. Also consuming souls is kind of a no no and might be fucking with her already corrupted ethereal body. It might make her sick. I'll need to look into that.

[highabovethecloudssomewhere]

tips/resources that taught me how to Art as an Adult - a masterlist

Four years ago I decided that “I’m too old to learn how to draw” is a pointless lie I’d believed for too long and you’re never too old to learn something new. I still definitely consider myself a novice and a learner but I’m at a very happy place with my art and I’m having a ton of fun so I thought I’d pass along the tips/resources that helped me get started and kept me motivated. 

I’ll get into resources under the cut, but here are personal tips I lined up for myself that helped during the early stages of frustration and wanting to give up. obviously they won’t work for everyone, but they really kept me going

fill 14 sketchbooks. if you still want to give up after that you can (I’m currently at 13 sketchbooks and could not imagine ever letting it go)

what specifically do you want to be able to draw? For me my goal has always been characters and cats. I’ve added things to it here and there, but starting out overwhelmed with how much you don’t know isn’t great. find a handful of things you really want to draw and see where it takes you.

get yourself a sketchbook fancy enough that you feel cool as heck but cheap enough that you don’t mind absolutely destroying it. Personally, I love EXCEED bullet journals. the dotted paper keeps me from being too picky but are less intrusive than lined paper. From my experience, EXCEED bullet journals takes acrylic and ink like a champ, and they’ve got nice covers that just make you “feel” cool. confidence is important!

acrylic paint and post-it notes are great ways to cover mistakes. I personally love anything that makes my sketchbooks feel “sketchbooky” so this is super fun. 

it is okay to “waste”/”ruin” pages. one time I was in “I’m a failure” artblock and so I poured black coffee onto my sketchbook. (it was gonna get dumped out anyway and I was Very frustrated with my art.) then when the pages dried I just kept right along using it. taught me a lot about not being perfect. sketchbooks are about learning and love, not about perfection.

try drawing in pen. seriously, draw in pen. it’s scary as frick to not be able to go back on mistakes but that’s what the post-it acrylic-paint tip is for, and it’ll help with all sorts of stuff like lineweight and line confidence. it takes some of the stress off too because, you screw up? oh well! Try again! it encourages “try again” over “meticulously nitpick until it’s perfect” and has done wonders for me. I started out my first two sketchbooks in pencil before making the switch and I’ve never gone back. 

(also sketching in highlighter and lining with pen is super fun and cool and satisfying!)

the first page doesn’t matter. I usually just use the first page of the sketchbook to write my favorite songs at the time and then do the same thing on the last page. first page jitters begone. 

(starting in the middle of the sketchbook also gets rid of those jitters pretty nicely. I tried this a couple times and personally still prefer the linear front-to-back but it was fun for a while.)

picking a color theme for your sketchbook can make it feel more “sketchbooky” too. I usually go with blue or orange- blue acrylic paint, blue post-it notes, those cheap blue BIC pens, etc. I like this bc it makes the sketchbook feel like a sketchbook and is very satisfying.

And figure out why you’re doing it. I did it because I always wanted to make cool art and draw my characters, but if you’re doing it for a career then obviously the path to that looks much different. Don’t compare yourself to others. Be inspired by people who are better than you. Acknowledge where you need to grow and where you’re strongest. Lean into those strengths. Adapt to those weaknesses. Be proud of being a beginner- you won’t be one for long. 

Now: some of my favorite creatives and resources!

///

CREATORS:

"Kasey Golden" Mostly traditional art, mostly watercolor, cartoonist, art challenges

"DrawingWiffWaffles" Mostly traditional art, alcohol markers & pens, semi-realism

"LavenderTowne" Digital art, art tips/tutorials, cartoonist

"ABD Illustrates" Digital art, speedpaints, semi-realism

"Proko" (or "Stan Prokopenko") Realism, anatomy tutorials, free complete "Anatomy For Artists" series- basically as hogwild as you can get learning hyper-realistic anatomy

"Ethan Becker" Digital art, ex-DreamWorks employee, tips/tutorials, "Perfect Practice"

"Sinix Design" Digital art, anatomy tips/tutorials, general tips/tutorials, realist

"Oliver's Antics" Digital and traditional art, tips/tutorials, speedpaints, semi-realistic style

“Nerdforge” Traditional art, painting, metalwork, woodwork, bookbinding, building, seriously these people do everything they’re incredible

///

FOR GESTURE DRAWING:

Line of Action Gesture drawing, figure drawing, optional timed practice sessions

AdorkaStock fantastic line of unique reference poses

 ///

Aaand that’s about all I’ve got! there are so many resources out there and so many amazing artists to be inspired by. just have fun with art! art is freedom. be proud to be a beginner and be excited for how you’ll grow. I hope these tips are helpful for someone out there! <3 

Here’s my first digital artwork (April 2019) up against my latest (August 2022)

April 2019:

August 2022:

best of luck to you all. I believe in each and every one of you. <3 happy drawing!

[star-anise]

Ok, I'll bite. What *is* the difference between Bridgerton and Jane Austen in relationship to their skirts?

Oh! Not in their costuming, just in their general *waves hands* everything. It's a comment I see a lot about Bridgerton: "Well, it's not much like Austen, is it?"

That's because there are 200 years of literary history between the two, and they have not been empty!

This ended up being 1.5k words, but when I put stuff under a readmore, people don't actually read it and then just yell at me because of a misread of the 1/10th of the post they did read. Press j to skip or get ready to do a lot of scrolling (It takes four generous flicks to get past on my iPhone).

First I'll say my perspective on this is hugely shaped by Sherwood Smith, who has done a lot of research on silver fork novels and the way the Regency has been remembered in the romance genre.

The Regency and Napoleonic eras stretch from basically the 1790s to 1820, and after that, it was hard to ignore the amount of social change happening in Britain and Europe. The real watershed moment is the 1819 Peterloo Massacre, where 60,000 working-class people protesting for political change were attacked by a militia. The issues of poverty, class, industrialization, and social change are inescapable, and we end up with things like the 1832 Reform Act and 1834 Poor Law.

This is why later novelists, like Charles Dickens and Elizabeth Gaskell, are so concerned with the experiences of the urban poor. Gaskell's North and South has been accurately described as "Pride and Prejudice for socialists."

So almost as soon as it ended, people started to look back and mythologize the Regency as a halcyon era, back when rich people could just live their rich lives and fret about "only" having three hundred pounds a year to live on. Back when London society was the domain of hereditary landowners, when you weren't constantly meeting with jumped-up industrialists and colonials.

Jane Austen is kind of perfect for this because she comes at the very end of the long eighteenth century, and her novels show hints of the tremors that are about to completely reshape England, but still comfortably sit in the old world. ("The Musgroves, like their houses, were in a state of alteration, perhaps of improvement. The father and mother were in the old English style, and the young people in the new. Mr and Mrs Musgrove were a very good sort of people; friendly and hospitable, not much educated, and not at all elegant. Their children had more modern minds and manners.")

Sherwood Smith covers the writers who birthed the Silver Fork genre in detail, but there's one name that stands out in its history more than any other: Georgette Heyer.

Georgette Heyer basically single-handedly established the Regency Romance as we know it today. Between 1935 and 1972, she published 26 novels set in a meticulously researched version of London of the late 18th and early 19th century. She took Silver Fork settings and characters and turned them into a highly recognizable set of tropes, conventions, and types. (As Sherwood points out, her fictional Regency England isn't actually very similar to the period as it really happened; it's like Arthurian Camelot, a mythical confection with a dash of truth for zest.)

Regency Romance is an escapist genre in which a happy, prosperous married life is an attainable prize that will solve everything for you. Georgette Heyer's novels are bright, sparkling, delightful romps through a beautiful and exotic world. Her female characters have spirit and vivacity, and are allowed to have flaws and make mistakes without being puritanically punished for them. Her romances have real unique sparks to them. She's able to write a formula over and over without it becoming dull.

And.... well. The essay that introduced me to Heyer still, in my opinion, says it best:

Here's the thing about Georgette Heyer: she hates you. Or, okay, she doesn't hate you, exactly. It's just that unless you are white, English, and upper class (and hale, and hearty, and straight, and and and), she thinks you are a lesser being. [...W]ith Heyer, I knew where I stood: somewhere way below the bottom rung of humanity. Along with everyone else in the world except Prince William and four of his friends from Eton, which really took away the sting. But my point is: if you are not that white British upper-class person of good stock and hearty bluffness and a large country estate, the only question for you is which book will contain a grimly bigoted caricature of you featuring every single stereotyped trait ever associated with your particular group. (You have to decide for yourself if really wonderful female characters and great writing are worth the rest of it.)

So Heyer created the genre, but she exacerbated the flaw that was always at the heart of fiction about the Regency, was that its appeal was not having to deal with the inherent rot of the British aristocracy. I think part of why it's such a popular genre in North America specifically is that we often don't know much British history, so we can focus more on the perfume and less on the dank odor it's hiding.

And like, escapism is not a bad thing. Romance writers as a community have sat down and said: We are an escapist genre. The Romance Writers of America, one of the biggest author associations out there, back when they were good, have foundationally said: "Two basic elements comprise every romance novel: a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending." A strong part of the community argue that publishing in the genre is a "contract" between author and reader: If it's marketed as a romance book, there's a Happily Ever After. If there's no Happily Ever After, it's not romance.

It's important for people to be able to take a break from the stresses of their lives and do things that are enjoyable. But the big question the romance genre in particular has to deal with is, who should be allowed to escape? Is it really "escapist" if only white, straight, upper class, able-bodied thin cis people get to escape into it? In historical romance, this is especially an issue for POC and LGBTQ+ people. It's taken a lot of work, in a genre dominated by the Georgette Heyers of the world, to try to hew out the space for optimistic romances for people of colour or LGBTQ+ people. These are minority groups that deal with a literally damaging amount of stress in real lives; they are in especial need of sources of comfort, refuge, community, and encouragement. For brief introductions to the issue, I can give you Talia Hibbert on race, and KJ Charles on LGBTQ+ issues.

Up until the 1990s, the romance genre evolved slowly. It did evolve; Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan's Beyond Heaving Bosoms charts the demise of the "bodice-ripper" genre as it became more acceptable for women to have and enjoy sex. The historical romance genre became more accommodating to non-aristocratic heroines, or ones that weren't thin or conventionally pretty. The first Bridgerton book, The Duke and I, was published in 2000, and has that kind of vibe: Its characters are all white but not all of them are aristocrats, its heroines are frequently not conventionally beautiful and occasionally plump, and its cultivation to modern sensibility is reflected in its titles, which reference popular media of today.

This is just my impression, but I think that while traditional mainstream publishing was beginning to diversify in the 1990s, the Internet was what really made diverse romance take off. Readers, reviewers, and authors could talk more freely on the internet, which allowed books to become unlikely successes even if their publishers didn't promote them very much. Then e-publishing meant that authors could market directly to their readers without the filter of a publishing house, and things exploded. Indie ebooks proved that there was a huge untapped market.

One of my favourite books, Zen Cho's Sorcerer to the Crown, is an example of what historical romance is like today; it's a direct callback and reclamation of Georgette Heyer, with a dash of "Fuck you and all your prejudices" on top of it. It fearlessly weaves magic into a classic Heyer plot, maintaining the essential structure while putting power into the hands of people of colour and non-Western cultures, enjoying the delights of London society while pointing out and dodging around the rot. It doesn't erase the ugliness, but imagines a Britain that is made better because its poor, its immigrants, its people of colour, and the foreign countries it interacts with have more power to make their voices heard and to enforce their wills. Another book I've loved that does the same thing is Courtney Milan's The Duke Who Didn't.

So then... Bridgerton the TV show is trying to take a book series with a very middle-of-the-road approach to diversity, differing from Heyer but not really critiquing her, and giving it a facelift to bring it up to date.

So to be honest, although it's set in the same time period as Austen, it's not in the least her literary successor. It's infinitely more "about" the past 30 years of conversation and art in the romance genre than it is about books written 200 years ago.

[azenkii]

A Long List of Trash Fire Lord Zuko Headcanons

...that i couldn't get out of my head:

(warning: SUPER LONG POST i havent figured out how to trim posts yet)

he's the one who unchains azula despite iroh's protests. she doesn't even try to fight him, just cries into his shoulder and keeps mumbling about how father's going to be so disappointed in her. he takes her to her rooms and has her drink a sleeping draught, then stations the best guards he has left outside her chambers.

his first council meeting takes place literally a day after sozin's comet. he hobbles into the council chamber shirtless with his entire torso covered in bandages and every council member just looks at him like '...what'

he does NOT sleep for like,,a week after sozin's comet and then another two weeks after his coronation. katara, aang and suki try to persuade him to sleep and he doesn't listen. eventually sokka, toph and mai team up to literally drag his ass to bed and tell him he's not allowed to get up until he sleeps (does mai pin him to the bed with her knives? yes. is it kinky or sexual in any way? definitely not.)

he drinks So. Much. Tea. at this point it's practically tasteless to him but he drinks it anyway because he just needs something to do and tea is something familiar. he keeps iroh on his toes because he's constantly asking for new tea blends, uncle, i think i actually tasted the last one,

he flat-out refuses to grow his hair for at least a year after ozai's defeat. the second it starts getting close to his chin he shears it off himself, with his knife, and his stylist has a heart attack every single time

when he's tired he'll occasionally jump up when one of his guards moves. it stops after a bit, but for the first month and a half or so he's really twitchy. when sokka asks, the only explanation he can come up with is that he's not used to having people stand behind him silently and not want to kill him, much less want to protect him (sokka immediately takes him out for a shopping trip and makes a point of walking behind him the entire time, but only on zuko's right side, where he can clearly see it if sokka moves towards him)

when the healer declares azula mentally unstable and in need of an institution, he shuts himself in his office for the rest of the night. no one's allowed in, not even iroh. he finally emerges in the morning, eyes red from crying and sleep deprivation, and tells the librarian that he'd like a list of the best mental institutions in the country, please, the best in the world if you can get them

he loves theatre (is this even a headcanon?). unfortunately it practically died out in the fire nation along with the rest of the creative arts, leaving nothing but small troupes like the ember island players. one of zuko's personal goals (meaning things he wants to accomplish that aren't as important as restoring his country) is to bring back theatre; he finally manages to do it after about eight months or so of being fire lord, along with other arts like dancing, music and sculpture

he establishes a national day of mourning, on the first day of autumn every year, to commemorate the genocide of the air nomads. from 100AG onwards, every calendar printed in the fire nation has it marked. at first it was called the day of repentance, but aang persuaded him to have it changed (by arguing that he didn't want guilt to be a literal staple of fire nation culture)

he introduces literally So Many educational reforms, plus a mandatory class that teaches students about the cultures of the other nations (air nomads included) and how some of their traditions overlap

he turns down the offer of having a statue put up of him in the capital. toph ignores him and does it anyway.

he visits azula regularly, makes sure she's (relatively) comfortable and well-fed, and sometimes just sits down outside her door and tells her about everything that's going on right now ('some of the far colonies have developed their own standardised writing, azula, you wouldn't believe it, and i've asked the fire sages to come visit more often—but you never liked them, did you? oh, well; i'll make sure none of them go into your chambers by mistake')

(he doesn't know it, but when he does this azula sits by the door and listens. she wonders what kind of writing the colonists have developed, and whether or not the fire sages have taken on some new recruits.)

he hates being above anyone else. never sits in the throne if he can help it, nor does he sit on the dais in the council room. when he talks to people shorter than him, he finds himself stooping a little bit to talk to them on their level (the exception to this rule is sokka, who he mocks for being shorter all the way up until sokka grows taller than him, the bastard)

the first time he visits the earth kingdom, the earth king's ministers call a toast. he ends up being the only one who has to sit out, because he's too young to drink by earth kingdom law

once his servants figure out he won't kill them for talking to him, they start becoming a lot more bold, telling him off when he doesn't take care of himself. at one point, they force him to let them take care of him so much that he literally just bolts into the gardens and hides there until the staff rope in mai and ty lee

when he needs to escape, he does one of two things: (a) he dresses up as the blue spirit and does some parkour until he calms down, or (b) he goes to work at the jasmine dragon. (b) happens less often bc the jasmine dragon's in ba sing se, but there's been a few memorable incidents when an earth kingdom diplomat walks in and yells, 'LEE?!' when they see the fire lord

the first court artist who draws him also happens to be the one who drew azulon and ozai. he draws zuko without his scar. zuko takes one look at it and tells him, very calmly, that he'd like him to leave, please.

zuko burns the portrait. he doesn't fire the court artist, but he never calls on him again unless he has to. a second court artist is called, and can't help but be a bit confused when the fire lord tells him to be sure to include the scar

he forgets the crown. a lot. sometimes he walks into council meetings in his sleepwear with his hair tied up in a messy ponytail and a bunch of scrolls tucked under his arm. none of his councilmen have the guts (or the heart) to tell him that this is not, in fact, formal council wear

he goes to feed the turtleducks when he's stressed. he thinks he's being subtle. he's not. the entire palace knows, and they consciously give him space when they see him in the turtleduck garden

most of his staff are older than him, so they look at him and see this teeny tiny fire lord who is So Small and who Must Be Protected. the day after zuko's coronation, the head chef holds a meeting where they commence Operation Do-Not-Let-That-Boy-Turn-Out-Like-His-Father (subsection He's-The-Only-Good-Thing-We-Have)

one night he wakes up to find suki sitting in his room, decked out in full kyoshi warrior garb and makeup, and just about screams blue murder. suki tells him there are suspicions of an assassin in the palace, and would you please stop yelling it's very distracting, we won't be able to hear anyone coming over that racket

zuko gets very, very paranoid of random spirits after that. yeah, suki looks like a possibly malevolent spirit when she's wearing her makeup, what about it? (when he tells sokka he's highkey terrified of spirit shenanigans, sokka just looks at him and says, 'man, the stories i could tell...', and THAT'S when zuko remembers sokka spent like six months more than he did travelling with the avatar)

on his first visit to the southern water tribe, he removes his boots and leg guards, rolls up his pants and kneels barefoot in the snow. even though chief hakoda immediately starts trying to pull him up, he's stubborn as hell and stays kneeling for the entirety of his very long, very sincere apology-on-behalf-of-the-fire-nation speech. he nearly loses his toes to frostbite after that, and both sokka and katara never stop giving him shit for it

the first time he grows a 'beard' is completely accidental. he's stressed over some trade miscommunications with chief hakoda, hasn't slept in a few days...and then when sokka arrives as water tribe ambassador to help smooth things over, he takes one look at zuko and says 'man, facial hair does not suit you'

zuko: facial what now

he checks a mirror to find that he's got stubble covering his chin, dark enough that it almost looks intentional, and holy gods how the fuck did he not notice this before

'UNCLE WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME' 'i assumed you were doing it on purpose' 'WHEN HAVE I EVER DONE ANYTHING ON PURPOSE'

he shaves it all off immediately, of course, which prompts a lot of teasing and rib-poking from sokka until zuko finally snaps that he's scared it'll make him look like his father. sokka stops after that.

(the day after sokka leaves, zuko finds that a mysterious someone has scribbled all over ozai's royal portrait, giving him a frankly ridiculous beard and moustache that literally CANNOT be grown in real life. oddly enough, he can't bring himself to care about the defamation of royal property. he's too busy laughing.)

his paths cross with toph and sokka more than any of the others, because sokka is ambassador and toph is technically still a beifong. most of the time, at formal functions, he ends up sequestered in the corner with toph and a hoard of snacks, and they talk and swear much more than they usually do (zuko's ministers once heard him when he was drunk with toph, and the servants swear the older ministers' ears started bleeding)

he restores fire nation cultural festivals, and in doing so subjects himself to learning a lot of complicated dances

during one memorable week, he wrote so many letters and drafted so much legislation that he ran out of paper. he had to go visit the nearest school and ask for some

he keeps up with his firebending and sword training even though it's hard to fit into his schedule. his ministers refrain from reminding him that he has guards to protect him now; it's still hard for zuko to trust his safety with anyone but himself (team avatar is the exception).

he started sleepwalking about two months into his reign. no one knew why. one time, he nearly sleepwalked right off the edge of a balcony, and one of his guards had to grab him by the back of his robes.

the sleepwalking stopped after around a month and never happened again. at this point it's practically palace legend.

after freeing the war prisoners, he went around collecting every single earthbender-proof wooden cell he could find in the capital and surrounding areas. when he'd gotten most of them, he gathered them into a huge pile in the city square and set fire to them with his own hands.

unfortunately he couldn't do that with the waterbender metal cells but he did get toph to come in and bend them all into pretty shapes (well, toph thought they were pretty shapes. everyone else thinks they're meaningless squiggles)

he learned how to write with both hands at the same time out of sheer necessity (he refused scribes until it became clear that he'd be putting some people out of a job; that was when he started letting scribes write very, very minor things, but all important documents/drafts/letters are still written by him)

he once put the wet end of an ink brush in his mouth instead of the wooden end by mistake. didn't even realise until he bit down to keep it in place and ink went oozing everywhere

when his guards rushed in to find him coughing and spluttering black liquid all over his desk they thought he'd been poisoned but no he's just stupid

on his 17th birthday, his first one after being crowned, he got tackled by team avatar in the middle of the ballroom and ended up at the bottom of a cuddlepile for like ten minutes

this cuddlepile happened at an event that was very much public and very much formal. it was a scandal for weeks

just. fire lord zuko, guys. so much potential

[writingwithcolor]

Jurassic period alien interacting with key cultures and historical figures in Middle East & Asia throughout history

@ketchupmaster400​ said:

Hello, so my question is for a character I’ve been working on for quite a while but wasn’t sure about a few things. So basically at the beginning of the universe there was this for less being made up of dark matter and dark energy. Long story short it ends up on earth during the Jurassic Period. It has the ability to adapt and assimilate into other life animals except it’s hair is always black and it’s skin is always white and it’s eyes are always red. It lives like this going from animal to animal until it finally becomes human and gains true sentience and self awareness. As a human it lives within the Middle East and Asia wondering around trying to figure out its purpose and meaning. So what I initially wanted to do with it was have small interactions with the dark matter human and other native humans that kinda helped push humanity into the direction it is now. For example, Mehndhi came about when the dark matter human was drawing on their skin because it felt insecure about having such white skin compared to other people. And ancient Indians saw it and thought it was cool so they adopted it and developed it into Mehndi. Minor and small interactions though early history leading to grander events. Like they would be protecting Jerusalem and it’s people agains the Crusaders later on. I also had the idea of the the dark matter human later on interacting with the prophets Jesus Christ and Muhammad. With Jesus they couldn’t understand why he would sacrifice himself even though the people weren’t deserving. And then Jesus taught them that you have to put other before yourself and protecting people is life’s greatest reward. And then with the prophet Muhammad, I had the idea that their interaction was a simple conversation that mirrors the one he had with the angel Jibril, that lead to the principles of Islam. Now with these ideas I understand the great importance of how not to convey Islam and I’ve been doing reasearch, but I am white and I can understand how that may look trying to write about a different religion than my own. So I guess ultimate my question is, is this ok to do? Is it ok to have an alien creature interact with religious people and historical events as important as they were? Like I said I would try to be as accurate and as respectable as possible but I know that Islam can be a touchy subject and the last thing I would want is to disrespect anyone. The main reason I wanted the dark matter being in the Middle East was because I wanted to do something different because so much has been done with European and American stuff I wanted to explore the eastern side of the world because it’s very beau and very rich with so many cultures that I want to try and represent. I’m sorry for the long post but I wanted you guys to fully understand what my idea was. Thank you for your time and hope you stay safe.

Disclaimer:

The consensus from the moderators was that the proposed character and story is disrespectful from multiple cultural perspectives. However, we can’t ignore the reality that this is a commonly deployed trope in many popular science fiction/ thriller narratives. Stories that seek to take religious descriptions of events at face value from an areligious perspective particularly favor this approach. Thus, we have two responses:

Where we explain why we don’t believe this should be attempted.

Where we accept the possibility of our advice being ignored.

1) No - Why You Shouldn’t Do This:

Hi! I’ll give you the short answer first, and then the extended one.

Short answer: no, this is not okay.

Extended answer. I’ll divide it into three parts.

1) Prophet Muhammad as a character:

Almost every aspect of Islam, particularly Allah (and the Qur’an), the Prophet(s) and the companions at the time of Muhammad ﷺ, are strictly kept within the boundaries of real life/reality. I’ll assume this comes from a good place, and I can understand that from one side, but seriously, just avoid it. It is extremely disrespectful and something that is not even up to debate for Muslims to do, let alone for non-Muslims. Using Prophet Muhammad as a character will only bring you problems. There is no issue with mentioning the Prophet during his lifetime when talking about his attributes, personality, sayings or teachings, but in no way, we introduce fictional aspects in a domain that Muslims worked, and still work, hard to keep free from any doubtful event or incident. Let’s call it a closed period: we don’t add anything that was not actually there.

Reiterating then, don’t do this. There is a good reason why Muslims don’t have any pictures of Prophet Muhammad. We know nothing besides what history conveyed from him. 

After this being said, there is another factor you missed – Jesus is also an important figure in Islam and his story from the Islamic perspective differs (a lot) from that of the Christian perspective. And given what you said in your ask, you would be taking the Christian narrative of Jesus. If it was okay to use Prophet Muhammad as a character (reminder: it’s not) and you have had your dark matter human interacting with the biblical Jesus, it will result in a complete mess; you would be conflating two religions.

2) Crusaders and Jerusalem:

You said this dark matter human will be defending Jerusalem against the Crusaders. At first, there is really no problem with this. However, ask yourself: is this interaction a result of your character meeting with both Jesus and Prophet Muhammed? If yes, please refer to the previous point. If not, or even if you just want to maintain this part of the story, your dark matter human can interact with the important historical figures of the time. For example, if you want a Muslim in your story, you can use Salah-Ad-Din Al-Ayoubi (Saladin in the latinized version) that took back Jerusalem during the Third Crusade. Particularly, this crusade has plenty of potential characters. 

Also, featuring Muslim characters post Prophet Muhammad and his companions’ time, is completely fine, just do a thorough research.

 3) Middle Eastern/South Asian settings and Orientalism:

The last point I want to remark is with the setting you chose for your story. Many times, when we explore the SWANA or South Asian regions it’s done through an orientalist lens. Nobody is really safe from falling into orientalism, not even the people from those regions. My suggestion is educating yourself in what orientalism is and how it’s still prevalent in today’s narrative. Research orientalism in entertainment, history... and every other area you can think of. Edward Said coined this term for the first time in history, so he is a good start. There are multiple articles online that touch this subject too. For further information, I defer to middle eastern mods. 

- Asmaa

Racism and Pseudo-Archaeology:

A gigantic, unequivocal and absolute no to all of it, lmao. 

I will stick to the bit about the proposed origin of mehendi in your WIP, it’s the arc I feel I’m qualified to speak on, Asmaa has pretty much touched upon the religious and orientalism complications. 

Let me throw out one more word: pseudoarchaeology. That is, taking the cultural/spiritual/historical legacies of ancient civilizations, primarily when it involves people of colour, and crediting said legacies to be the handiwork of not just your average Outsider/White Saviour but aliens. I’ll need you to think carefully about this: why is it that in so much of media and literature pertaining to the so-called “conspiracy theories” dealing with any kind of extraterrestrial life, it’s always Non-Western civilizations like the Aztec, the ancient Egyptians, the Harappans etc who are targeted? Why is it that the achievements of the non West are so unbelievable that it’s more feasible to construct an idea of non-human, magical beings from another planet who just conveniently swooped in to build our monuments and teach us how to dress and what to believe in? If the answer makes you uncomfortable, it’s because it should: denying the Non-West agency of their own feats is not an innocent exercise in sci-fi worldbuilding, it comes loaded with implications of racial superiority and condescension towards the intellect and prowess of Non-European cultures. 

Now, turning to specifics:

Contrary to what Sarah J. Maas might believe- mehendi designs are neither mundane, purely aesthetic tattoos nor can they be co-opted by random Western fantasy characters. While henna has existed as an art form in various cultures, I’m limiting my answer to the Indian context, (specifying since you mention ancient India). Mehendi is considered one of the tenets of the Solah Shringar- sixteen ceremonial adornments for Hindu brides, one for each phase of the moon, as sanctioned by the Vedic texts. The shade of the mehendi is a signifier for the strength of the matrimonial bond: the darker the former, the stronger the latter. Each of the adornments carries significant cosmological/religious symbolism for Hindus. To put it bluntly, when you claim this to be an invention of the aliens, you are basically taking a very sacred cultural and artistic motif of our religion and going “Well actually….extraterrestrials taught them all this.”

In terms of Ayurveda (Traditional holistic South Asian medicine)  , mehendi was used for its medicinal properties. It works as a cooling agent on the skin and helps to alleviate stress, particularly for the bride-to-be. Not really nice to think that aliens lent us the secrets of Ayurvedic science (pseudoarchaeology all over again). 

I’m just not feeling this arc at all. The closest possible alternative I could see to this is the ancient Indian characters incorporating some specific stylistic motifs in their mehendi in acknowledgement to this entity, in the same vein of characters incorporating motifs of tribute into their armour or house insignia, but even so, I’m not sure how well that would play out. If you do go ahead with this idea, I cannot affirm that it will not receive backlash.

-Mimi

These articles might help:

 Pseudoarchaeology and the Racism Behind Ancient Aliens

A History of Indian Henna (this studies mehendi origins mostly with reference to Mughal history)

Solah Shringar

2) Not Yes, But If Ignoring the Above:

I will be the dissenting voice of “Not No, But Here Are The Big Caveats.” Given that there is no way to make the story you want to tell palatable to certain interpretations of Islam and Christianity, here is my advice if the above arguments did not sufficiently deter you.

1. Admiration ≠ Research: It is not enough to just admire cultures for their richness and beauty. You need to actually do the research and learn about them to determine if the story you want to tell is a good fit for the values and principles these cultures prioritize. You need to understand the significance of historical figures and events to understand the issues with attributing the genesis of certain cultural accomplishments to an otherworldly influence. 1.

2. Give Less Offense When Possible and Think Empathetically: You should try to imagine the mindsets of those you will offend and think about to what degree you can soften or ameliorate certain aspects of your plot, the creature’s characteristics, and the creature’s interactions with historical figures to make your narrative more compatible. There is no point pretending that much of areligious science fiction is incompatible with monotheist, particularly non-henotheistic, religious interpretations as well as the cultural items and rituals derived from those religious interpretations. One can’t take “There is no god, just a lonely alien” and make that compatible with “There is god, and only in this particular circumstance.” Thus:

As stated above by Asmaa and Mimi, there is no escaping the reality the story you propose is offensive to some. Expect their outcry to be directed towards you. Can you tolerate that?

Think about how you would feel if someone made a story where key components of your interpretation of reality are singled out as false. How does this make you feel? Are you comfortable doing that to others?

3. Is Pseudoarchaeology Appropriate Here?: Mimi makes a good point about the racial biases of pseudoarchaeology. Pseudoarchaeology is a particular weakness of Western-centric atheist sci-fi. Your proposed story is the equivalent of a vaguely non-descript Maya/Aztec/Egyptian pyramid or Hindu/ Buddhist-esque statue being the source for a Resident Evil bio weapon/ Predator nest/ Assassin’s Creed Isu relic.

Is this how you wish to draw attention to these cultures you admire? While there is no denying their ubiquity in pop-culture, such plots trivialize broad swathes of non-white history and diminish the accomplishments of associated ethnic groups. The series listed above all lean heavily into these tropes either because the authors couldn’t bother to figure out something more creative or because they are intentionally telling a story the audience isn’t supposed to take seriously.*

More importantly, I detect a lot of sincerity in your ask, so I imagine such trivialization runs counter to your expressed desire to depict Eastern cultures in a positive and accurate manner.

4. Freedom to Write ≠ Freedom from Consequence: Once again, as a reminder, it’s not our job to reassure you as to whether or not what you are proposing is ok. Asmaa and Mimi have put a lot of effort into explaining who you will offend and why.  We are here to provide context, but the person who bears the ultimate responsibility for how you choose to shape this narrative, particularly if you share this story with a wide audience, is you. Speaking as one writer to another, I personally do not have a strong opinion one way or the other, but I think it is important to be face reality head-on.

- Marika.

* This is likely why the AC series always includes that disclaimer stating the games are a product of a multicultural, inter-religious team and why they undermine Western cultures and Western religious interpretations as often (if not moreso) than those for their non-Western counterparts.

Note: Most WWC asks see ~ 5 hours of work from moderators before they go live. Even then, this ask took an unusually long amount of time in terms of research, emotional labor and discussion. If you found this ask (and others) useful, please consider tipping the moderators (link here), Asmaa (coming eventually) and Mimi (here). I also like money - Marika.

[meruz]

once again i am answering asks in a big compilation post. included is... gotham, patrick stump, tips about drawing backgrounds, tips about drawing in general, links to my faq, and infinity train

like.... the tv series? No... I’ve drawn dc comics fanart before, though. But it’s been years since I’ve been really into it. I like jumped ship like 10 years ago when the New 52 happened LOL.

AFJHDSLKGH I’m sorry I (probably) won’t do it again??

Actually full disclosure I have a truly cringe amount of p stump drawings/photo studies in my sketchbook right now LOL. He’s just fun to draw... hats, glasses, guitar, a good shape... but I don’t think I’ll rly post those until I can hide them in another big sketchbook pdf.. probably Jan 2022. Stay tuned........ (ominous) 

(ominous preview)

These are all sort of related to backgrounds/painting so I grouped them together even though they’re pretty much entirely separate questions.... ANYWAYS

a) How is it working as a BG artist? Is it hard? What show are you drawing for?

I think you’re the first person to ever ask me about my job! Being a background artist is great. It’s definitely labor intensive but I think that could describe pretty much any art job (If something were rote or easy to automate, you wouldn’t hire an artist to do it) and I hesitate to say whether its harder or easier than any other role in the animation pipeline. Plus, so much of what truly makes a job difficult varies from one production to the next, schedule, working environment, co-workers etc. But I will say that I think while BGs are generally a lot of work on the upfront, I think they’re subject to less scrutiny/revisions than something like character/props/effects design and you don’t have to pitch them to a room like boards. So I guess it’s good if you don’t like to talk to people? LOL

A lot of my previous projects + the show I’ve worked on the longest aren’t public yet so I can’t talk about em (but I assure you if/when the news does break I won’t shut up about it). But I’m currently working on Archer Season 12 LOL. I’m like 90% sure I’m allowed to say that.

b) ~~~THANK YOU!! ~~~

c) What exactly do you like to draw most [in a background]?

@kaitomiury​ Lots of stuff! I really like to draw clutter! Because it’s a great opportunity for environmental storytelling and also you can be kind of messy with it because the sheer mass will supersede any details LOL. 

I like to draw clouds... I like to draw grass but not trees lol,,, I like to draw anything that sells perspective really easily like tiled floors and ceilings, shelves, lamp posts on a street etc.

d) Do you have any tips on how to paint (observational)?

god there’s so much to say. painting is really a whole ass discipline like someone can paint their whole life and still discover new things about it. I guess if you’re really just starting out my best advice is that habit is more important than product. especially with traditional plein air painting, I find that the procedure of going outside and setting up your paints is almost harder than the actual painting. There’s a lot of artists who say “I want to do plein air sometime!!” and then never actually get around to doing it. A lot of people just end up working from google streetview or photos on their computer.

But going outside to paint is a really good challenge because it forces you to make and commit to lighting and composition decisions really quickly. And to work through your mistakes instead of against them via undo button.

My last tip is to check out James Gurney’s youtube channel because hes probably the best and most consistent resource on observational painting out there rn. There’s lots other artists doing the same thing (off the top of my head I know a lot of the Warrior Painters group has people regularly posting plein air stuff and lightbox expo had a Jesse Schmidt lecture abt it last year) but Gurney’s probably the most prolific poster and one of the best at explaining the more technical stuff - his books are great too.

e) Do you have tips for drawing cleanly on heavypaint?

@marigoldfool​ UMM LOL I LIKE ONLY USE THE FILL TOOL so maybe use the fill tool? Fill and rectangle are good for edge control as opposed to the rest of the heavy paint tools which can get sort of muddles. And also I use a stylus so maybe if you’re using your finger, find a stylus that works with your device instead. That’s all I’ve got, frankly I don’t think my drawings are particularly clean lol.

f) Tips on improving backgrounds/scenes making them more dynamic practicing etc?

Ive given some tips about backgrounds/scenes before so I’m not gonna re-tread those but here’s another thing that might be helpful...

I think a good way to approach backgrounds is to think of the specific story or even mood you want to convey with the background first. Thinking “I just need to put something behind this character” is going to lead you to drawing like... a green screen tourist photo backdrop. But if you think “I need this bg to make the characters feel small” or “I need this bg to make the world feel colorful” then it gives you requirements and cues to work off of.

If I know a character needs to feel overwhelmed and small, then I know I need to create environment elements that will cage them in and corner them. If a character needs to feel triumphant/on top of the world then I know I need to let the environment open up around them. etc. If I know my focal point/ where I want to draw attention, I can build the background around that.

Also, backgrounds like figure compositions will have focal points of their own and you can draw attention to it/ the relationship the characters have with the bg element via scale or directionality or color, any number of cues. I think of it almost as a second/third character in a scene.

Not every composition is gonna have something so obvious like this but it helps me to think about these because then the characters feel connected and integrated with the environment.

Some more general art questions

a) Do you have any process/tips to start drawing character/bodies/heads?

I tried to kind of draw something to answer this but honestly this is difficult for me to answer because I don’t think I’m that great at drawing characters LOL. Ok, I think I have two tips.

1) flip your canvas often. A lot about what makes human bodies look correct and believable is symmetry and balance. Even if someone has asymmetrical features, the body will often pull and push in a way to counterbalance it. we often have inherent biases to one side or another like dominant hands dominant eyes etc. you know how right-handed artists will often favor drawing characters facing 45 degrees facing (the artist’s) left? that’s part of it. so viewing your drawing flipped even just to evaluate it helps compensate for that bias and makes you more aware of balance.

2) draw the whole figure often. I feel like a lot of beginner artists (myself included for a long time) defer to just drawing headshots or busts because it’s easier, you dont have to think about posing limbs etc. But drawing a full body allows you to better gauge proportion, perspective, body language, everything that makes a character look believable and grounded.

Like if you (me) have that issue where you draw the head too big and then have to resize it to fit the proportions of the rest of the body, it’s probably because you (I) drew the head first and are treating the body as an afterthought/attachment. Sketching out the whole figure first or even just quick drawing guides for it will help you think of it more holistically. I learned this figure drawing in charcoal at art school LOL.

oh. third mini tip - try to draw people from life often! its the best study. if you can get into a figure drawing/nude drawing class EVEN BETTER and if you have a local college/art space/museum that hosts those for free TREASURE IT AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT, that’s a huge boon that a lot of artists (me again) wish they had. though if youre not so lucky and youre sitting in a park trying to creeper draw people and they keep moving.. don’t let that stop you! that’s good practice because it’s forcing you to work fast to get the important stuff down LOL. its a challenge!

b) I’ve been pretty out of energy and have had no inspiration to draw but I have the desire to. Any advice?

Dude, take a walk or something.... Or a nap? Low energy is going to effect everything else so you gotta hit that problem at its source.

If you’re looking for inspiration though, I’d recommend stuff like watching a movie, reading a book, playing video games etc. Fill up your idea bank with content and then give yourself time/space to gestate it into new concepts. Sometimes looking at other art works but sometimes it can work against you because it’s too close. 

Also something that helps me is remembering that art doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking... like it’s okay to make something shitty and stupid that you don’t post online and only show to your friend. That’s all part of the process imo. If you want to hit a home run you gotta warm up first, right? Sports.

I should probably compile everytime i give tips on stuff like this but that’s getting dangerously close to being a social media artist who makes stupid boiled down art tutorials for clout which is the last thing i want to be... the thing I want to stress is that art is a whole visual language and there are widely agreed upon rules and customs but they exist in large part to be broken. Like there's an infinite number of ways to reach an infinite number of solutions and that’s actually what makes it really cool and personal for both the artist and the viewer. So when you make work you like or you find someone else’s work you like, take a step back and ask yourself what about it speaks for you, what about it works for you, what makes it effective, how to recreate that effect and how to break that effect completely, etc. And have a good time with it or else what’s the point.

for the first 2, I direct you to my FAQ

For the last one, I don’t actually believe I’ve ever addressed artwork as insp for stories/rp but I’ll say here and now yeah go ahead! As long as you’re not making profit or taking credit for my work then I’m normally ok with it. Especially anything thats private and purely recreational, that’s generally 100% green light go. I only ask that if you post it anywhere public that you please credit me.

(and I reserve the right to ask you to take it down if I see it and don’t approve of it’s use but I think that case is pretty rare.)

a) @lemuelzero101 Thank you!!! I haven’t played Life is Strange but actually  that series’ vis dev artist Edouard Caplain is one of my bigger art inspirations lately so that’s a really high compliment lol. And yeah I hope we get 5-8 too...!

b) Thank you for sticking around! I’ve been thinking about Digimon and Infinity Train in tandem lately, actually. They’re a little similar? Enter a dangerous alternate world and have wacky adventures with monsters/inanimate objects that have weird powers... there’s like weird engineers and mechanisms behind the scenes... also frontier literally starts with them getting on a train. Anyways if anyone else followed me for digimon... maybe you’d like Infinity Train? LOL

c) @king-wens-king I’M GLAD MY ART JUST HAS PINOY VIBES LOL I hope you are having a good day too :^)

a, b, c, d) yessss my Watch Infinity Train agenda is working....

e) aw thank you!! i think you should watch infinity train :)

[godoflobsters]

The Brothers and Dateables With a Tattoo Artist MC

My own MC was a tattoo artist before she came to the Devildom, so I thought I’d write up some head cannons with a tattoo artist MC.

MC is gender neutral!

Mammon

Nobody can convince me that the “Brothers Under a Pact” squad wouldn't be the first ones to get tattoos from MC, and Mammon would definitely be the first

Definitely likes to brag about it too

Don't remind him that there are countless people in the human realm that you tattooed before him or he will pout

People tend to think that Mammon is cheap and would try to talk you into giving him free or cheap tattoos, but he couldn't stand to be like that towards you especially regarding something that you’re so good at

Our first man works his butt off every time he wants to get some new ink from you

Likes to give you a big ole tip every time

Gets fidgety when he has to sit still for too long so you two have to take breaks often

Prefers small/medium sized tattoos rather than really big ones

One time after he started getting tattoos from you, he was at a modeling gig and they tried to make him cover them up with makeup, he quit and that magazine went bankrupt not too long after...dont fuck with the avatar of greed

Once your shop starts taking off in the Devildom, he and Asmo try to convince you to do a shoot for Majolish(They definitely didn't pull some strings to get Majolish to do a whole segment about you and your business)

Beelzebub

The second brother to get a tattoo from MC

Refuses to get any food related tattoos: he doesn't want to accidentally take a chunk out of himself when he gets blinded by his hunger

This man has a very high pain tolerance and sits like a rock while you're tattooing him and you love him for it

He definitely needs snack breaks during longer sessions though

Has a memorial tattoo for Lillith over his heart that matches with one on Belphie

While making this list I was randomly blessed with the mental image of Beel with abuncha old school American traditional tattoos and you can pry that headcannon from my cold, dead hands

Mammon likes to brag that he has the most tattoos from you, but Beel might give him a run for his money, he doesn't mind Mammon’s bragging most of the time though, so he just lets him believe whatever he wants this time

Simeon

But Simeon has never been all that great at following the rules that they set for him

The first of the dateables to get a tattoo

He wasn't actually planning on getting a tattoo at first, but one day he overheard Luke trying to scold you for all of your tattoos(definitely before the incident with Beel and Lucifer in the underground tomb) and that was the only push he needed to jump on the “tattoos from MC” train

There is a lot of rhetoric in the Celestial Realm about how “Your body is a temple and you should not mark it”

He’s still not willing to stray too far from his roots though, so he’d probably get something with vaguely religious undertones

Absolutely delights in the shocked look on your face and the sheepish questions on whether angels are allowed to do this

Once he’s finally convinced you that you're not damning him to fall by tattooing him, the process goes by very easily

He is very easygoing and open regarding designs and he handles the pain very well

He absolutely loves to show his tattoo off, even when he goes home to the Celestial Realm and receives his reprimands from Michael

Leviathan

The third brother to get a tattoo from MC

Didn't want to get a tattoo at first, all of that physical contact and pain on top of it? No way

But then Mammon, Beel, and even Simeon all got one and he got jealous

You're HIS Henry, why are THEY the ones who get to wear your art? He might’ve been able to deal with his dumb brothers, but SIMEON TOO?

You gotta sit down with him and have a nice long chat about it, making sure this is something that he would actually want to do and not just his envy talking

Spoiler alert: It was definitely just his envy talking

He realises that he is actually oddly attached to the idea of getting a tattoo from you now though, so he comes up with designs and draws them on himself until he is certain that he won't regret it

Would get something tiny and probably gaming related

Definitely very squeamish about the pain aspect but the design that the two of you came up with is very simple and small, so he is able to make it through without fainting

He absolutely loves his new tattoo...but he is never doing that again

Belphegor

Fourth brother to get a tattoo

Has wanted to get one ever since Beel showed him the tattoo he got in memory of Lillith, but things were very...not good...between the two of you at that point

Finally worked up the courage to at least ask if you would be okay with it after the two of you made a pact

Beel, forgetting his super high pain tolerance, told him that it getting a tattoo doesn't hurt at all, so he was in for a big surprise when he went under the needle for the first time

Whiny at first, but he manages to stay very still for you

Has a memorial tattoo for Lilith over his heart that matches with one on Beel

Will definitely start to doze off during long sessions

Convinced Satan to get a matching Anti Lucifer League tattoo with him(definitely doesn't try to convince you to get one too)

Make sure that he does not, under any circumstances, actually fall asleep while you're tattooing him. He did once and he rolled over in his sleep, almost ruining an entire tattoo

Ever since that time, Beel has come with him to his sessions so you could focus on your work and he can focus on keeping Belphie awake

Satan

Gets his tattoo not long after Belphie

One of those people that think every tattoo needs to mean something so he takes forever trying to pick out something that he wants

Would probably get some sort of quote or design inspired by his favorite book, something that really resonated with who he is as a person

Was somehow convinced by Belphie to get an Anti Lucifer League tattoo

Does he regret it whenever he realizes that he now has a portion of his skin dedicated to Lucifer of all people? Possibly, but he definitely won't say anything about it to you

Loves to look at you and just admire your tattoos, asking the stories behind each and every one of them that he can see

He might be a bigger fan of literature than the fine arts, but that doesn't mean that he has any less of an appreciation for your work

Definitely pulls some strings and gets one of his friends who owns an art gallery to display some of your work there

Can set you up with all the connections that you need to make your mark on the Devildom art world

Lucifer

The last of the brothers to get a tattoo

In the beginning he has no intentions of getting a tattoo, he does have alot of respect for your talents and how hard you work for them though

As an art lover and artist himself, he will most certainly commission you from time to time and hang your work in his study

He won't admit it, but seeing your art and thinking of you when he's stressed with work is very soothing

He eventually decides to let you tattoo him only if it’s in a place that is easily covered by his clothes, considering how he dresses that leaves you with pretty much his entire body to work with

Sometimes when he has some time off he will grab a sketchbook and join you if he finds you in the common room working on a design, you share a comfortable silence, with the only sounds be the crackling of the fireplace and the scratching of pencils on paper

The kind of person that wants a tattoo but has no idea what he actually wants, but hes picky as fuck so he will turn down every single idea that you give him for weeks

He is lucky that you love him

Whenever you two talk about placements, if you mention anything on his back to cover up the scars from his wings he will almost back out entirely

Almost

Afew months later he’ll put his pride aside come back, admitting that your ideas would be perfect and that he wants to go through with it

During the session he has way too much pride to admit that he was feeling any pain

That is until you have to start going over the scars

As soon as the needles hit scar tissue he starts to fall apart; tears, shaking, the whole nine yards

It takes you quite a few sessions to finish since he cant handle such long sessions on that portion of his back

The summer after his new back piece is finished, he goes with you and his brothers back to Diavolo’s beach, this time he takes his shirt off in front of everyone for the first time since the fall

He wears your art with such pride that he lets everyone keep the memory, he even lets Asmo keep the pictures he took of all of them up on Devilgram

Diavolo

Wanted to be the first to get a tattoo but Barbatos said no

If you want to continue your career in the Devildom for the duration of your stay, he will buy you a building to work from and any supplies to get started since you had to leave your stuff in the human realm

Diavolo has rooms in the castle filled with the art that he's collected over the years, so when he sees that you're an artist he gets so excited

Before he finally gets tattooed by you, he buys a lot of your artwork and hangs it up around the castle

It takes a few years to propose the idea again to Barbatos in a way that wont make the butler’s hair fall out from stress, but he finally relented under one condition: it has to be in an area that is still hidden while he’s in his demon form

He decides that his legs would be the perfect place to indulge in your artistic talents while also keeping Barbatos’s controlling side at bay

Hes another one that knows he wants a tattoo but no clue what he wants to get

Unlike Lucifer though, he is a true open canvas

He truly adores your art so he wholeheartedly trusts you with his body and knows that he will love anything that you do for him

He knows that this is most likely very nerve wracking for you considering his position so he tries to reassure you and make the process very easy for you

You still put everything into designing him something fit for a king

He’s the type to prefer large pieces that span over entire sections of his body rather than abuncha small/medium sized ones

Another fidgetter, he’s really not all that accustomed to pain so he doesn't have a high tolerance for it

Likes to treat you to dinner at Ristorante Six after each of his sessions

Tips like the absolute king he is, you could probably pay a couple months of rent back at your apartment in the Human Realm just from his tip

Once his tattoo is finally finished and healed, he will find every excuse that he can think of to invite you and the brothers on outings to places where he is free from scrutiny to wear shorts and show off your artwork

Barbatos

The last of all of the boys to get a tattoo

It was a complete shock to everyone when he came to you and asked if he could make an appointment to get tattooed by you

“Everyone” being you, Diavolo, and Lucifer because nobody else knows that it happened and he would like to keep it that way

Another member of the “I’ll get one as long as it’s somewhere nobody will see” club...so basically not his face

Before the two of you get to talking about designs, you expect him to go with something small and simple, maybe an elegant little teapot or something along those lines

Then this man comes to his consultation and throws you for a loop talking about a sleeve

Very picky, he has high standards for himself and what's on his body

Knows exactly what he wants but does his best not to stifle your creativity during the design process

You learn ALOT about just who lurks behind Barbatos’s mild-mannered butler facade during his sessions, he’s surprisingly upfront and honest whenever you have him under the needle

Solomon

Can't get a tattoo

This man has pact marks for 72 demons all over his body, there is simply no more room

Any open space he has is being saved just in case any other demons *cough* Lucifer *cough* ever decide to come around to making a pact

Collects your flash and hangs it up around his room

If you take Diavolo up on his offer to set up a shop in the Devildom, he will make sure to tell all of his pact-mates about you, hype up your work, and get you a lot of business in the door

Sometimes he will commission art from you and use magic to make your art temporarily appear on his skin over the pact marks

Once you become a sorcerer and have a better grasp on your magic, he helps you experiment in creating magical inks and enchanting tattoos

Asmodeus

The only one that actually doesn't want to get a tattoo

He doesnt think that tattoos would fit in very well to the image that he has for himself

And not being able to show off every inch of his beautiful skin while its healing is a no from him

Since he likes to test out his new makeup and skincare products on you, sometimes after he has had his way with your face he will let you draw on him with skin safe markers

would definitely be a wimp about the pain

Will spam pictures to his Devilgram of his fancy new temporary tattoos and you drawing on him

Will definitely try to bring you some of his flings to get his name tattooed on them, you will have to reprimand him every single time and eventually he will stop

If you're not the type to keep up with social media, he’ll offer to keep up a Devilgram account for your shop

If you're ever attempting to draw and you have a very specific pose in your head that you can't find a reference for, he will not hesitate to get up and start posing for you

Luke

He is baby and cant have any tattoos until he's older

His mind frequently bounces back and forth between the whole “your body is a temple” rhetoric that he was taught growing up and “wow that's so cool!”

After Simeon got his tattoo Luke became a lot more enthusiastic and curious about your job though

Will occasionally ask if he can have one of your flash sheets so he can color your pictures

These very often end up on the fridge in Purgatory Hall

Sometimes they even make their way to the fridge in the House of Lamentation too

Will this make the brothers jealous? Yes. Do you care? No.

Luke loves you and looks up to you so much that he goes through a little phase of wanting to copy you, yourself and the entirety of Purgatory Hall can expect loads of temporary marker tattoos