#when i get to make a refined drawings for them i'll post them

[cup-o-stars]

How to draw like you no borax

Good question!

I'd warn against following my process (at least if you want to learn), but I'll be honest and show you, lol. (Heads up: this is just how I do FAN art. When having fun, I generally care less about the fundamentals.)

1. I slap down super rough sketches, jotting lines/expressions like bullet points of my idea. Pretty much stick figures with just enough detail to remember who's who later. Not shown here, I also move, resize, and add details to express the intended composition if I'm planning something larger. You may notice a lot of curved lines / haphazard circles.

2. I refine the sketch by drawing it with more intention and build structure with slightly blockier shapes. If I'm really struggling with a pose, this is also where I'll find references or look at myself for bits and pieces to fill in the gaps. (When practicing, I would highly recommend using a reference from the start so all your limbs are an appropriate length and you don't need to say things like "that's passable" right before posting. If you're a perfectionist you'll leave that thought with the rough sketch.)

3. I'll decide around here whether or not to leave the sketch as is or commit to lineart (not likely). I guess I'd say I "shape the lines" here by going over some to add thickness/weight, and by adding basic sort-of-shading to break things up a little. Then I'll just fill in space if the page looks empty. (Usually this is where I incorporate the borax, but I hear baking soda works nicely if you're worried.)

4. Onto coloring. I don't feel confident enough to pretend I know what I'm doing here, lol. I just choose my base colors, imagine the general direction of the light source, then add minor gradients to the light and dark layers so they don't look flat. Then I just add some BS highlights and outline them. I've only recently found the motivation to properly practice coloring and just go with the flow tbh.

You may notice that Nami's forearm is too long, her hand looks like a pancake and Chopper has no joints! My kind sibling explained to me once that my anatomy is poor, but cohesive enough that nothing stands out too bad, lol. That's why it is important to use references!! And if you're me, practice all parts of anatomy at the same time with full bodies so that even when you're at a loss, your hands aren't that much better than your feet.

All in all, to draw like me, just have a very hedonistic approach to art, ha. Draw what you want, avoid getting burnt out on any single piece (sometimes that happens when you try to perfect drawings one at a time), and follow my personal motto:

Make fun, not masterpieces.

Idk how helpful this was, but there you have it!

[icantdothistodaybruh]

[[Tumblr ate another Anon's ask about my way of drawing\painting I can't with this app😭😭😭 If half a year later this ask mysteriously reappears in my notes like previous I'll edit screenshot of it up here, other then that I just hope you'll still see this post, dear Anon🕯🥀]]

Hello Anon!

I made a quick timelapse of one of my old-ish work for you, under the cut I'll go into more details about the process! I hope it'll be of use to you, but don't expect some crazy insights, I'm a messy artist ahjkakhj

So, step one! When the sketch is clean enough for me, I go in with plain colours to block out objects that I'll be refining on separate layers later. At the same time it helps me take a step back from details and break down the image into bigger, simpler shapes, so it's easier to find better composition and proportions.

Step two (actual colouring) Usually my brain shuts down on me on that part too, Anon… Basically I use a very limited palette at the start and gradually build up more hues and contrasts as I go. Sometimes I do a gray scale drawing first to get my values right, but this one is simple and was more of a vent&relax piece for me so there is none of that haha Also, since I tend to work on as little layers as possible and merge sketch layer and colour layer together at literally the first opportunity I get, most of the times I have a copy of my sketch saved on a separate hidden layer in case I overdo the painting part and need some roughness back.

Step three, Details! And when I say details I mean

D E T A I L S .

There is simply something magical in squiggly lines and dots… I can never fight them…

There is not much of advise I can really give you here, just do what feels right to you, what looks beautiful to you. Make your art finished in the way you see it finished, take another step back and ask yourself "what's missing? what feels undone? empty?". Combine styles, find new patterns and brushes, most importantly HAVE FUN!!!

Sooner or later you'll find the perfect algorithm for painting and drawing, only to 5, 20, 50 works down the line realize that's something in your own style doesn't sit right with you anymore and feels rather routinish and start that journey anew.

Never stop your searching, chase after your own definition of beauty because without you there will be nobody to show it to others.

[kozachenko]

Here's a digital sketch dump of some pose/anatomy practices and some 2hu doodles, I think from now on if I don't have any big final piece to post, I'll just post sketches I liked that I did digitally (might also reblog some drawings of mine that I want more people to see, maybe idk).

Artist's Notes:

Ok so after the recent Hifuu fanart I did, I've been hoping to experiment more with how I draw faces, how I render, as well as how I stylize things. In some of the earlier sketches I did, I had an idea for a pose that I wanted to try drawing, so I took a ref pic of myself doing said pose (the leaning one btw) and then did a sketch over top of it just to get an idea for the shapes, negative space, and silhouette. After that, I wanted to do some simpler breakdowns of the shapes so I can get better at simplifying the body (these ended up being the bottom right sketches in the post). I also did some experimenting with how to push certain parts of said sketches to create a different body type (via liquify and then a more refined version based on that sketch), as well as figuring out what makes a pose feel natural and not stiff. This was also a bit of a foreshortening practice just so I can get more confident with it, and I ended up using the arms from the liquified version for the coloured Zanmu sketch I did since I liked them so much (dw I'll get to that).

The next thing I wanted to try and draw was Hisami, mainly because.... I am very bad at drawing her in my style. Last time I drew her I made her look really creepy and spindly, and it is my headcanon now that she can switch between a more human, and more creepy look whenever she wants. I'm liking where the face is going a lot, might have to refine a few things about it in the future, but it's cute (I also made the blush purple which I think is what I'm gonna do with her face from now on). I also like how her hair in the sketch turned out a lot, but the outfit..... not as much... Ever since I started changing my style to something less cartoony, I've had a hard time drawing her outfit in my style. Especially the flower veil thing she has on, which, I did try to find a way to draw, but I ended up deleting that sketch because I didn't like it. I'm also not a fan of using the colour purple, like, pure purple, magentas are fine, indigos are fine, but not strict purple. I also have a hard time with drawing all the little pattern details on her dress. I also need to find a way to draw the flower veil in a way that looks good because everytime I try it ends up just looking off (very similar to whenever I try to draw Zanmu's blue spears). I think the only solution to this problem is to do what I normally do and make my own version of the outfit, but with adjustments to suit my style while still trying to keep core elements from the original design intact (like I do with Zanmu and Keiki, and yes I am going to get to that Zanmu drawing just gimme a minute).

Ok next up is Keiki, my favourite Touhou character who I haven't drawn since the beginning of the year. Since my style has changed a lot, I wanted to just do a face sketch of her to get a hang of drawing her again, and I..... really really like how it turned out! When I drew her eyes, I realized that a good way of keeping faces too same facey can be via varying the sizes of their pupils, so that's an idea I'm gonna keep in mind from now on. I had a lot of fun with her hair, I initially was gonna do it like how it is in the official art, but I ended up not liking it, so now I'm gonna draw Keiki with wavy heir like this because it's fun and it looks nice. I also included my base sketch for Keiki's face since I was initially struggling with drawing her bandanna, and in the coloured sketch I added some more detail into her hair.

Now to finally talk about the sketches for Zanmu. Good lord was I having a tough time with her face. I also did this sketch before I figured out how I wanted to draw hair, so that's why the rendering on her hair is different (I did this soon after the Hisami sketch actually). Since I changed my art style a lot, I had to find a way to translate her face from my more cartoony style to my more detailed style, so while the face shape, nose shape and mouth was fine, I was really struggling with the eyes. I did get somewhere eventually though, and I am super happy with how it turned out. I wanted to lean more towards the androgynous side of the gender presentation spectrum, mainly because I think that makes sense for her character. Also made sure to include the silver hairs and some wrinkles just to bring some signs of her aging into her face because those are just staple features of how I draw Zanmu at this point lol. You will also notice that I gave her some scars on the right side of her face, and that's because I am a Zanmu-with-scars truther, I fucking love it whenever I see someone give Zanmu visible scars like that it just adds so much omg (I also tried to put a wolf bite mark on her arm in the full body drawing but idk if it reads well). While you can argue that her not having scars sells the idea of her being this "powerful, untouchable mastermind who is impossible to defeat," I'd say that instead of those scars representing times she got injured, they represent everyone who has failed to defeat her.

As I was drawing Zanmu's face, I referenced my sketch of to help with contrasting their features since I made Keiki's face more traditionally feminine. I also didn't mention this in my commentary on Keiki's face because I wanted to save it for here, but giving Zanmu scars also plays into the fact that she used to be human, wheras Keiki doesn't have any scars because she's a god who doesn't follow the rules of normal human biology. Plus I'm thinking about the two of them interacting again (return of Zan/Keik??? (I'm a multishipper btw) maybe???) so drawing their faces together will definitely help me in the future if I wanna draw them together (again, maybe as a ship? I've kinda been ironing out the kinks in their potential interactions (romantic and non-romantic) for a while now so idk maybe expect that in the future lol).

And now for the full body drawing, when I was doing the face sketch I did this little snippet of an outfit, had a vision, and the made it into a reality. I'll admit, part of me was worried that it would end up looking too much like Yuugi's outfits in the spinoffs and mangas, but I feel like I made enough changes to differentiate them. I tried to keep a few of the major details in Zanmu's design (i.e. the red tassles and yellow lining on her shirt) while putting a new spin on it. I also dialed up the scars to 11 since without them the whole thing kinda looked incomplete. Also, while I could say that the leaves on her kimono are "a nod to the fact that technically she should be a tengu because back then people belived that corrupt monks would turn into tengu but no Zanmu is an oni and they're maple leaves because...tengu...ahahahaha" what really ended up happening was that I looked up clothing patterns from Sengoku era Japan, liked the leaves the most because the red picked up on the red from the rest of her design and just ran with it. I also always had the idea to put Zanmu in men's clothing from Sengoku era Japan and while the accurate thing to do would be to put her in a Buddhist's clothes from that era.... from a character standpoint, I don't think Zanmu is pious enough to strictly wear the proper monk uniform, and also since she's basically the king of Hell, she would probably dress herself like royalty from that era. TBH, I probably could've been a bit more historically accurate, but again, this was mainly for conceptual purposes because I had a vision and I needed to see it through.

If I were to draw her in this sort of outfit again, I should probably try and use more references, although now that I look at it, if she were to wear it properly this would maybe, probably look a bit closer to a Kyūtai sugata (a very huge stretch, but it just kinda reminds me of that) just without the layers under and over the main piece of clothing (In the website that I searched up to try and compare the outfit in my sketch to, they name the outfit pieces but don't label them on the image, so I don't know 100% what everything is called) so I will definitely have to use that style of clothing as a reference going forward.

Also, I was kind of inspired by the ToTK design for Ganondorf since I have finished the game a while ago and I absolutely love what they did with his design (it's just so fucking cool omg) and I thought that sort of look would look good on Zanmu, so yeah got some inspo from that.

And those were all the notes for each of the sketches, I'm motivated to draw rn but kinda art blocked, so doing these little coloured sketches helps a lot.

[chrysoula]

Albedo spent sixty years rescuing Nahida from her cage, because he was looking for a challenge to test himself against. He didn't spend much time thinking about how, after the rush of satisfaction had faded, he would be in possession of a newborn god of wisdom who was so lost she tried to go back into her cage.

"Why are you here?" she asked, puzzled, as soon as the door to her cage opened. "There's so much-- You did so much, so why are you here?"

He stared at her as all of his sense of accomplishment washed away.

She began to gabble. "I knew something was happening, I could see your echoes, the ripples like a fish underwater, and I didn't know what you could want but I helped you when I could, because I wanted to see them beaten so why are you here?"

Because this is the finish line. But he knew better than to say that. Instead, he ran a rapid post-mortem on his plans over the last sixty years. When had the flaw been introduced, and how could he compensate for it?

"Okay," she said into the silence. "Now what?" Her eyes reminded him of glass marbles.

"I don't know what you want me to do," she said bitterly after a moment. "There's nothing I can do."

It was a worldview alien to Albedo. Ever since his mother abandoned him, he'd practiced turning his knowledge into power over the world around him. Before they called him a mastermind, they called him a meddler, and usually he didn't bother tidying up when he was done. 

"Oh. I see," she said, drawing her own conclusion and dropping her gaze. "You didn't come for me after all. How stupid I am." 

And even then, he struggled. He could see the potential shapes of the consequence he'd created and he didn't like them. He'd done something terrible and he had to repair it, but how--??

Tears began to spill from those green eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm just not good enough yet. I shouldn't... I shouldn't get involved." And, wiping her eyes, she'd turned to step back into the cage.

That, at least, he could respond to. "No, don't do that. It would only make things worse."

"What?" She half-turned, her mouth open in surprise.

"Would you like something to eat or drink?" That was probably a safe thing to ask in the situation. The government imprisoning her had been thoroughly disabled that morning. And newborns were often hungry.

"What?" she repeated, and then ran over to him. "Did you change your mind?"

Pleasantly, he said, "I think you did, but that's not an important detail at the moment. Why don't we sit down and talk about a few things?"

She promptly sat down, looking up at him with clear curiosity. He sat down on the ground too, refining his evaluation of her. "First of all, do you have a name of your own? One that doesn't belong to the Archon?"

"Nahida," she said, possibly for the first time. She looked a little surprised, in any case.

"I'm happy to meet you, Nahida. My name is Albedo." He gave her a friendly smile, and she stared at him like she was decoding his face. "Let's try to figure out what you'd like to do now."

"May I ask a question first?" She spoke with a respectfulness he didn't deserve. Not from her, anyhow. He'd have to earn it first.

"Please do. I'll do my best to answer it." While she formulated her thoughts, he began to synthesize some fish snacks he hoped she'd find palatable.

"Beyond your name, who are you?" It was a question carefully considered, and not the one he expected. But her earnest gaze remained fixed on him.

He considered his own response. It wasn't a question he was in the habit of answering. "Mostly, I plan things for other people. I'm quite clever and I've lived a long time compared to most, so I have certain advantages I enjoy sharing. In quite a few places, I'm considered a criminal, because what I help people do is often illegal. " He offered her the fish snacks. "I also engage in projects of my own, like this one."

She accepted one and nibbled on it. He observed as her eyes widened and she nibbled a bit more before finally making a face and putting it down. "I don't know how to taste it right. I'll work on it later."

"Is that what you want to do?" He saw this as a natural way of leading back to the core topic, but when she flinched, admitted to himself that such directness might have been a little cruel after already thrusting so much change on her unannounced.

"Do you think it tastes good?" she asked him uncertainly.

"Yes, I do."

She thought for a moment. "I'd like to learn to like it too, then. And I want to stay with you, please."

Did gods imprint? He'd never looked into the question. But the truth remained: she might be the god of wisdom, but she was also a powerful and traumatized child. If he walked away now, one way or another, she'd show up in his life again, the worse for it.

Calmly, he said, "Yes, I thought you might say that. Do you also want to rule Sumeru?"

She shrugged, curled up in a ball, rocked back and forth. "Sumeru is a dream to me, a world on the other side of pages and glass." Then she sat up again. "But you are somebody I never imagined existed. That seems more interesting than governing a country that doesn't want me to exist, all by myself."

"I agree," he said. "Still, having Sumeru on a stable footing may be useful in the future, so we should probably sort out the knot I made before we go on our way."

[aquarius-cookie-jar]

Right. I'mma just dump these ref sheets I made here because I'll be making some drawings with these guys, and I am bad at staying consistent within the design lmao.

I was inspired by these amazing designs, go check them out.

X || X || X.

Ramble down here, where I try to explain the ""lore"" and my design choices:

So as mentioned above, the majority of the Dark Cacao kingdom is actually composed of kirins, mainly because Cacao was already a kirin in my older designs, and I wanted more of his citizens to match him. Maybe I'll draw the other Cacao NPCs mlp-ified and what I headcanon their species to be.

I ultimately decided to give Cacao a mane and replace his long hair with that. Ngl, I was always on the fence about Cacao and Choco's designs, but yeah, I think the mane works better than just getting rid of it. (Old design below).

Btw, I dunno if I wanna give Cacao an actual crown, or just keep the additional horn things the leader of the kirins kinda have.

Dark Choco hasn't changed much, just in a different art style. I do however wanna say that he shaved off his mane out of shame and guilt for coming across the cursed sword not long after his banishment. Maybe when he and Cacao reconcile, he'll start to grow it out again, or maybe he'll keep it that way as a reminder of the past.

I actually drew (more like edited a screenshot) Caramel Arrow before, and she was originally just a pegasus, but honestly, the concept of hybrids and what they entail really intrigued me. I thought it would be fun if she were a hybrid kirin/pegasus.

Also, her horn doesn't exactly function, mainly because there's this headcanon I once came across a post that says faux alicorns do exist in the mlp canon. If you wanna know my full headcanon for this, feel free to shoot an ask, but to keep it short, for faux alicorns, either their wings are under developed, or their horn can't control the frequencies of magic that well or at all. Such is the case for Caramel Arrow. Though she has fully developed wings, she can't control magic with her horn, and if she tries to, it may cause a headache. But besides that, she's all fine and dandy.

Crunchy Chip, hm, I'd say when he was a little filly, he was found in the woods, either by Cacao, or Choco, and his horn was already broken by the time they came across him. When asked, the little guy said he was protecting the cream wolf pups from a monster, but he can't remember what else happened before he fell unconscious. As he grew older, his broken horn didn't really bother him anymore. He's adapted well, and picked up a thing or two about survival from his cream wolf pack.

Also, sidenote, the kirins' scales are actually very hard to dent, meaning their backs are usually safe from attacks. Crunchy once encountered... something when he was out on patrol, and he was out of commission for a week (to his incredible dismay + annoyance) because of how rare serious injuries to the kirins' backs occur.

Ah, Affogato. Actually, I really do like him as a character, I just tend to focus my attention towards the Celestia and Luna coded father-son duo a bit more. Oops. But anyway, I decided to make him a hybrid just like Carrow too, mainly to add both contrast and similarities between them. They're not too different, but their ideals and beliefs clash and cause conflict with one another, I just thought it was fitting. Also decided to give him a more elegant and curved horn design as a nod to his unicorn heritage. Unicorns in the Cacao kingdom (and maybe the Golden Cheese kingdom) have a curved horn, mainly because the east asian coded unicorns in the mlp canon have curved horns too, and I thought they looked beautiful. Affo is someone so elegant and refined in a land that's chaotic and holds danger everywhere.

And that's my unhinged thoughts for now. I think I'll design Licorice and the others next time, but no promises.

Anyway, thank you for reading.

[redslug]

Denoiser wisdom

Since a lot of people showed interest in my workflow of using SD like a renderer for existing sketches, I'll be sharing the little tricks I find while exploring the capabilities of SD with Neuroslug. Read the inpainting post to understand this one. When inpainting, the model takes into consideration what is already in the area it regenerates and in the areas around it. How exactly it'll follow these guidelines is determined by denoising strength. At low values it'll stick closely to the areas of color it sees and won't create anything radically different from the base. At high denoising strength it'll gladly insert colors, shapes and silhouettes that weren't there originally. Basically the more you trust your sketch the smaller your denoising strength should be. It doesn't mean you won't need the high denoising at some point. Let me explain it using yesterday's artwork. It all starts with a rough sketch.

Since I have a particular composition in mind and want it to be maintained, I'll be using a low denoising strength to fully regenerate this image.

It means that the algorithm won't have enough freedom to fix my large-scale mistakes, it's simply not allowed to change the areas of color too dramatically. So if you want to do this yourself make sure to set the image to black and white first and check that your values are working and contrast is good.

To make sure the result isn't too cartoony and flat I used brushes with strong color jitter and threw a rather aggressive noise texture over the whole thing. This'll give the denoiser a little wiggle room to sprout details out of thin air.

It kept the composition, the suggested lighting and the majority of flowers kept their intended colors too. This was denoising strength 0f 0.4. To contrast that, same base image with denoising at 0.7:

It's pretty, but it's neither the style nor composition I wanted. Let's refine the newly redrawn base to include the details that were lost in transition. These were intended to be roses.

It's here where I learned a little trick. You can mix and match different models to achieve the look you desire. Neuroslug is good at detailed moths and painterly environments. It's not good at spitting out really detailed flowers, they end up looking very impressionist which is not what I want in foreground. So, I switched to an anime focused model and let it run wild on this bush with high (0.7) denoising strength.

Nice definition, but it looks too smooth and isn't in line with what I want. Switching back to Neuroslug with denoising at 0.5 and letting it work over these roses.

This way, I get both the silhouette and contrast of the anime model (counterfeitV30) and the matching style of Neuroslug. It's also useful in cases where the model doesn't know a particular flower. You can generate an abstract flower cluster with the anime model and use the base model to remind the AI that what you want is in fact a phlox specifically. So I did this to basically every flower cluster on the image to arrive at this:

It's still a bit of a mess but it has taken me about 80% of the way there, the rest I'll be fixing up myself.

My "Lazy Foliage" brush set was really helpful for this. I'll release that one once it accumulates enough brushes to be really versatile. Now we block in the character.

Yes, I left the hands wonky since I intend to be drawing them manually later, same about the foot. There's so much opportunity for the AI to mess them up that I'd rather have all the control on these details.

When it renders the face it can really mess up everything, so I do it with low (0.45) denoising strength to discourage new eyes popping up in inappropriate places. Take note that I kept the antennae out of the mask. AI is easily confused when one subject overlaps the other.

Good, good. Wait. Why are your eyes hairy? Now, mask out the eyes, remove all mention of fur from the prompt and

That's about right. Since the eyes are all one color block I can afford to raise the denoising strength for more wild results. Same for areas of just fluff on the entire body, it's all one texture and having the denoiser at 0.6-0.75 is beneficial because it's going to add locks, stray hairs and other fluffy goodness. Just make sure to not make the mask too tight to the silhouette, it needs some space to add hairs sticking out.

With the skirt it was back to really low denoising. The folds I blocked in make sense with the position oh her legs under it, so I didn't want it to be lost.

Lastly, I drew in a flower that she's planting and ran over it with moderately high denoising to make it match the surrounding style. Ignore the biblically accurate roots there, I'll fix them by hand.

One last pass over the whole thing in Procreate. I draw the hands and add details such as the round pseudopupils, face ridges and wing markings to keep the character consistent with the previous image of her. And a bit of focal blur for a feeling of depth. Phew, even with generous use of AI this whole thing took an entire day of work. In the end what determines quality isn't the tool you use but the attention you choose to pay to finding inconsistencies and fixing them.

[boiled-bronze]

More designs, this time it's for the uniforms each purposed messenger wore during their respective missions

Initially I was trying to make Hunter's design look like a mix between a modern uniform and the Ancient's fashion, but I couldn't really get it to work I think. And speaking of Hunter's design not working, I know character design is generally a very iterative process but I usually am pretty happy with my first try, except this time. I had to try a bit harder with Hunter

The first design (middle) had loose and baggy pants and golden accessories for the boots, both ideas taken from one of Downpour's murals depicting an Ancient, but it just didn't look right to me. Couldn't really say why. For the second attempt I tried to change just a little bit because I wanted it to be clearer that they also had bandages on their legs, but in the end I just ended up changing all of the bottom by making the pants stiffer, more like the coat they'll eventually use in their normal design (it's also the same color, they're probably made out of the same material), and completely removing the boots and going for full bandages like both Spearmaster designs. Also changed the bag as I felt it just looked better lol Initially I wasn't happy at all with the color palette but the next day I felt better about it for some reason, still not completely convinced but not sure what else to do

NSH doesn't really care much about tradition or keeping the Ancient's customs alive, but bandages, besides their symbolic meaning, also were believed to help with illnesses and unfortunate growths. This doesn't have much scientific basis but it's better than nothing

Spearmaster's design is way simpler, and the process of making it was too. Since SRS had to try to make them not draw too much unwanted attention and the wild purposed mutations didn't help much already, their uniform couldn't really be as obvious as Hunter's, so it's very close to the normal clothes Slugcats usually wear, with just a tiny bit of more refinement

Also, I think I'm getting quite better at drawing different body-types I think? Like for example in the last post with the siblings, Monk has noticeably chubbier arms, and here Hunter looks convincingly very muscular and buff. I think I'm still very inconsistent when trying to keep these between multiple drawings though, but I'll get better :]

[apazwtsn]

The other day a friend of mine (if you're wondering: yes, it's the same friend who said that about the morgue scene and the same one who thought of drawing the Sherlock characters as rats) asked me what animals the Sherlock characters would be, but not in the sense of "ohh, John is cute and small, obviously he would be a hedgehog", no. We based on their personality, attitude and environment to choose an animal with those same characteristics.

We talked for almost 2 hours about it and I even revealed myself, but I think it was worth it. She said she was going to draw them in their animal form, so i'll maybe update this post (or invite her to upload them to her blog)

In any case, we reach the following conclusions:

Sherlock – Snow Leopard: Cunning, intelligent, lonely. We also thought of animals like orangutan or crow but crows get along well with other crows and my friend didn't want to draw an orangutan.

John – Dog (small breed): It was difficult for us to choose an animal for John because we couldn't capture all his facets. We thought about capybaras and penguins, but we were missing that "aggressive" side. We even thought of a honey badger but damn, John isn't that bad. A dog seemed like a very simple option but then we realized that dogs are sociable, can be aggressive in particular situations and are very loyal. We chosed a small breed (sized, because of John's height), but that if you bother it too much it can, you know, gouge your eye out or something like that.

Lestrade – Koala: To be honest we didn't think much about this one. We had thought about a koala for John but we realized that koalas had a very boring life for John and were mostly quite lazy. When it was Lestrade's turn, we said "yes, Lestrade is a koala" and we didn't delve much deeper into it. XD

Mrs Hudson – Siamese cat: For Hudders we wanted an animal that was cute, but in a look-at-me-don't-touch-me kind of way. A cat was what I thought of since they tend to be surly and my friend suggested a Siamese, since they are "good and refined but naughty", according to her. We chose it because Hudders seems like an adorable and naïve lady until you discover that she is the widow of a drug dealer and in her house she has "herbs for hip pain". ;)

Mary – Fox: We initially thought of a fox for Sherlock, but then my friend said that foxes are fearful, and it didn't really fit him. When it was Mary's turn, I thought that Mary was cunning and really intelligent, but the fear of her past coming to light worked against her.

Moriarty – Hyena: Moriarty was the easiest of all (yes, even easier than Lestrade). We weren't sure, so I started naming all his characteristics, "manipulative, doesn't care what happens to people or even himself, would do anything to get what he wants and in general a damn psycho" and my friend immediately said "hyena" (I knew more about the characters, she knew more about animals). Just thinking about how truly machiavellian they can be, I had no doubt.

Molly - Sparrow: "Molly must be a shy, kind animal, someone who is there but you don't really notice," I said, or something like that. And my friend immediately thought of a sparrow.

Mycroft - Panther: I'm not really sure why my friend chose a panther, but some of her justifications were: "I would like a crow, because Mycroft has connections (like crows), but it would be strange if Sherlock was a leopard and Mycroft was a crow. I should choose another feline" "like a panther?" i said (i love panthers) "Yes!", said she, "Elegant, reserved, and intelligent."

Eurus - Wolf: Honestly, i don't know exactly why we chosed a wolf. It was my friend's idea but a wolf is definetly not a feline, so it really doesn't make sense. Anyway, because Eurus is also manipulative, but cares about Sherlock and is a bit more human than Moriarty, my friend chose wolf. I'm not sure what wolves are like exactly (as I said, my friend knows the most about animals), but I trust her judgment.

That was all. This wasn't meant to be something very deep, but to have fun for a while. :D

[scribble-dee-vee]

Writeblr Intro circa 2024

Hi writeblr!! Sooo, I've been around here since about 2014. (Yes, I am ancient.) However, I've been dormant for the past 4-5 years. Blame college and a brief stint on Twitter. Now that I'm active again, I thought I should make an updated writeblr intro so ppl know my Deal. Basically, I want to engage with other folks who write fiction (esp original SF), and that's a little easier if I have a clear post that outlines what I do. Here to make connections and hear about your blorbos :)

About me

Hi, I'm Vee! They/them, 23, 💖 🤍 🧡

I do journalism/comms in western New York

My literary jam is feminist/adult SF and gothic lit (OG or modern) 🥀 ⚔️ 🌙

Enthusiastic about gay people, body horror, and sociopolitical allegories

I cook, run, play tabletop games, and occasionally draw. Other than that, I'm mostly writing (for work and for fun)

If you were on pre-2020 writeblr, you likely know me from my eight billion daily tag games. (I still like tag games and appreciate u for tagging me. I have also gained adult responsibilities and better mental health, so I respond very slowly now. <3)

Always happy to get asks or dms, tho as I've noted: I may reply slowly.

Sometimes open to beta read! I only read one longer project at a time, but it's always super fun :)

I tag very consistently – happy to tag triggers for followers/moots

Fun fact: I love mushroom hunting and worked as a mycology TA. #cottagecoreera 🍄 🧚‍♀️ 🌱

About my creative writing

I write,,,, feminist/adult SF with gothic leanings (surprise!)

Longform and short! Trying to do more short writing this year, and I'll likely share a bit on Tumblr. It's easier to clip a short story than a 150k novel, god bless.

The Aesthetic: moral g(r)ays, Victoriana, androids/cyborgs, Women™, monstrous femininity, incessant Hamlet/Frankenstein motifs, extremely boring socioeconomic worldbuilding, evil queens and/or dilfs, psychosexual witchcraft, probably a cat. Also, an ominous, plot-relevant letter laced with anthrax from your unhinged and brilliant ex-wife. Open if you dare.

Major projects

I'm going to be writing some short work this year, but these are the longer projects that I have going in the background. If I reblog blorbo-related text posts, they probably have something to do with these.

Let me know if you want to be added to any project-specific taglists 😎

Heart of Lead – Series

The big one

Perpetually evolving

Never ceasing

Pls send help I can't stop adding shit

5-book gothic fantasy epic that I'll definitely publish one day but probably no time soon! My bastard child, my wicked firstborn, my greatest love <3

Character-oriented political drama set in a pseudo-Victorian, dystopian oligarchy where everyone's heart is made out of metal. It's about coming of age and discovering queer identity in a world that is absolutely fucked. God is an extraterrestrial lesbian who gives ppl very traumatizing magic powers. There are cyborgs, shapeshifters, and morally gray women in STEM. It's tight as fuck idk what else what to tell u.

Book 1 is about achillean monarchists, and book 2 is about sapphic anarchists. There are only two genders, I guess.

At this point, I've drafted most of the books at least once. Working to refine a lot of raw material atm!

Tag: "heart of lead tag" or "hol tag"

Lost Letters – Book

Aka the current active HoL WIP, and book one in the revised series structure

Length: 80k as of now; around 120-140k when the first draft is finished, I presume.

Genre: adult fantasy, gothic, noir detective drama?? um?? If you want me to frame it in BookTok terms (why?) it's a dark academia villain x villain tragic romantasy. Hrgh.

Summary: Cyborg soldier goes to college, joins a shady socialite frat, and falls in love with the jilted heir-apparent to the throne. Hilarity ensues.

(By "hilarity," I mean a militant revolutionary faction and a tragedy of Greek proportions.)

POV characters: Charles (the cyborg), Dale (the heir), and Cecelia (Charles' sister, a junior detective, the love of my life and potentially the Chosen One???)

This book is twisty and dark and immensely fun to write.

I'm about halfway through the first full draft! Hoping to share snippets and vaguepost about my children here.

Tag: "lost letters tag" (also "hol tag," tho that one's less specific)

The Last of Mortal Tourists – Book

The next longform project on the docket!

Length: a standalone work that will hopefully fall on the shorter novel/novella spectrum.

Genre: literary SF, cyberqueer, psychological space quest

Summary: The consciousness of a dead coding genius, trapped inside a spaceship, seeks a new planet to sustain their sister, the last surviving human, after the destruction of Earth.

If you're here to get wildly philosophical about gender and the myth of essential self, this is the story for you! That's why I'm writing it, lol. 🏳️‍⚧️ 🚀 🤖

This one started out as a short story (100% finished) which I want to expand.

POV: Archer Alto, the coder. Spaceship? Human? Soul?

Supporting Cast: Pandora, the last human, and Abby, a holographic impression of Archer's childhood consciousness

Tag: "the last of mortal tourists tag" or "tlomt tag"

If you read all this way, you get a whole bouquet of flowers that are certainly NOT poisonous: 🌸 🌹 💐 🥀 🌺

<3

[mauesartetc]

Redrawing Shadiversity's AI Piece

For context, check out this post here. This is, uh... It's a doozy.

Let's start with the main character of the image. The girl's pose looks very awkward and unrealistic for what she's doing. Her feet are dragging in two different directions that don't indicate the direction she's jumping in, and it looks like her top half is getting blown back in a wind tunnel. According to one of the reblogs on the post that introduced me to this thing, the pose wasn't the generator's doing, but the artist's. "He drew the girl and photoshopped in a picture of a lizard and a picture of a church and had the image generator "refine" it."

I sincerely doubt he used any kind of photo reference for this drawing, as it'd be uncomfortable for anyone's spine to curve backward like that while they're leaping forward and swinging a heavy sword. That just looks painful.

Let's explore some ways we could make the pose look more believable.

I think I'll go with a pose that's close to the original but makes a bit more sense.

It obviously doesn't have the same level of... "polish" the AI version does (we'll get to that in a minute), but the tilt of the spine looks much more natural for the direction she's leaping in and the way she's holding the sword.

Now that we have that out of the way, let's analyze more of the image as a whole.

AI art handles detail in a way that looks good to the untrained eye, but falls apart in the eyes of experienced artists. These clothing folds, for example. There's no logic to the way they're shaped, and the shirt is randomly tight around the chest when it's loose everywhere else. Then there are the scales brought into sharp focus despite the rest of the dragon being blurred, the blood drips that look like stalactites, and so on and so forth. I'm sure there are things I missed, as well. If y'all find them, let me know in the comments!

Something to note about the sketches I made before the finished drawing: They kinda suck. And that's the point. The early stages of a drawing aren't meant to look pristine with perfect anatomy (not to say the finished product is anywhere near perfect, but still). What they are meant to have is energy. Purpose. Life. But AI bros are so afraid to make any "bad" drawings that they don't draw at all (or in cases like Shad's, they only draw the bare minimum).

I didn't make this post to dunk on AI prompters, but to encourage them to put in the necessary work that will improve their skills. And no, I'm sorry, typing words into a box won't make anyone a better artist. It might make them better at describing what they want when they commission an artist, but by and large it's like lifting a feather when you want to gain muscle instead of, y'know, lifting actual weights.

Obviously machine learning isn't going anywhere and it'd be nice to use as a tool to make different steps of the art process more efficient. It's good for silly memes, I guess. But we shouldn't treat the images it spits out as masterpieces, and, importantly, businesses shouldn't use it to replace real people.

Anyway, it's pretty easy to go to the store with five bucks and come back with a decent sketchpad and pens/pencils. Not to mention art programs like Krita and Blender are FREE, and there are plenty of tutorials on Youtube. Just sayin'.

Get drawing.

[glowingbadger]

Carpe Diem more like Carpe Petat amirite

Does this mean we get Team Urameshi reacting to sexy outfit?? :3c

As a matter of fact it DOES

(note that for YYH I write the immediately post-canon stage that the end of the manga describes, so everyone is of age)

Wearing something sexy for them - Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei, Kurama x GN/AFAB Reader

NSFW 18+

Yusuke: For him, it's more about how hot it is that you want to dress up just to turn him on. He's got extremely broad tastes, but his favorites are kinky, costume-style outfits- a school uniform or maid outfit, something that really emphasizes how naughty you want to be just for him. Depending on his mood, he'll either rip the clothes off of you like tissue paper, wearing the cocky smirk even if you pout about how now you'll have to buy a new outfit, or he'll just revel in the way the tight, skimpy clothes emphasize your curves while he fucks you breathless in his bed.

"Damn, babe, you went and got this sexy little number just for me? Y'know... it kinda makes me wanna call your bluff. If you're gonna get me all riled up wearin' something like that, I hope you're ready to take my cock til I'm worn out- and we both know that could take a while."

Kuwabara: he's an absolute sucker for those classically feminine, frilly style lingerie sets- a babydoll with cups that just barely cover your breasts and a frilled hem teasing around your hips, that sort of thing. He'd never even realized it would be such a turn on until he comes home to you waiting on his bed all dressed up, with a cute little, "welcome home, Kazuma~~" and he just blanks for a minute. Once he's got his bearings though, he's just desperate to spoil you in return, and you can immediately tell that your little outfit has got him even bigger and harder than usual.

"Oh- wow, uh, I mean- woah, you... You look. Good. Like, uh, really, really good. Stop laughing! C'mon, I can't think straight with you lookin' all cute an' sexy like that, okay?! Well, fine- if you're gonna do all this for me, then I'll just show you how much I like it!"

Hiei: there's a lot about human sexual culture that he doesn't quite "get," so a lot of costumes and lingerie would be more confusing and frustrating for him than anything- he's most likely to just tear the outfit off of you, wasting no time. That said, a simple collar that he can tug on while he's deep inside of you can get him especially riled up- or even a tiny thong that he can just tug aside to thrust into you roughly from behind. Something minimal that accents your state of undress and draws his eye, but won't keep him from having you.

"Trying to tempt me? Tch. Don't waste your time. You know that if I want you, I'll have you- these little scraps of fabric are just a distraction."

Kurama: oooohhh, Kurama. Always a man of subtle, refined and surprisingly kinky tastes, for him it's more about his desire to choose what you wear. He relishes his control over you, and that you give him that control freely and willingly. He loves to pick out a just-too-short or just-too-tight outfit for you to wear out for a date (and his tastes are, of course, exquisite), then silently smirk each time he notices someone else eyeing you. It all just heightens his anticipation for that night, when he'll carefully and slowly undress you while telling you in great detail how he admired your body all day. Oh also Kurama loves when you wear something of his and he can enjoy your scent on it later maybe while jerking off

"You noticed, didn't you? The way they stared at you today? I can hardly blame them when you look so tempting... Though of course, if any even thought for a moment of approaching you, I'm afraid I would have to intervene. You're mine, after all. Perhaps it's a bit self-indulgent of me, but I do so enjoy dressing you up as I like."

[stepswordsen]

【KagePro】 KuroEne 🖤💛💙

Happy 6/9! Happy HaruTaka/KonoEne/KuroEne day!!! 💛💙 I want to draw HaruTaka and KonoEne too eventually, but I haven't gotten the chance to draw them yet. So for now I'll post my recent Kuroha and KuroEne doodle log 🖤💙

My fave KagePro meow meow mf unhinged evil snek x my cheeky cute energetic wife!!!

KuroEne doodles

These WIPs are really messy so I'll refine them sometime in the future!

I'll post the rest of my KuroEne doodles, and rambles about my KuroEne AUs, and thoughts, under the cut!

Inspired by the Outer Science MV and Kagerou Daze LN 7 cover -from the darkness- illustrated by Sidu

Kuroha x Envy Baby (Song by Kanaria and illustrated by LAM)

KuroEne doodles

I was imagining Ene sitting on a desk or elevated ledge for the last one

My character trait is just scribbling whatever until I get to refine and clean up the sketches. So these are very scribbly for now

Kuroha is my fave KagePro chara. Murderous mad man! I'm a villain enjoyer~ And Ene is my wife~

I have folks following me for all sorts of fandoms so I'll try to explain a bit of context first so those curious can follow along with my rambles if they'd like!

Technically Kuroha is just referred to with ?? or XX in merch, but 6/9 and 9/6 (KonoEne Day) are convenient days to draw Ene and her Haruka lookalike harem~~

KuroEne AUs 🖤💙

I have 3 main types of KuroEne AUs, and my sub AUs tend to fall into one of these:

1) Canon-verse AU where Kuroha pretends to be Konoha, so Ene thinks he's Konoha with Haruka's memories. Takes place in an AU setting that's closest to canon and very angst heavy.

2) Canon-verse AU where Ene can manifest in the real world and even becomes intimate with Kuroha. Kuroha/Saeru remembers previous routes, so he's done this before and remembers their moments of intimacy in all the past timelines. Also very angst heavy.

After all the time loop resets, Kuroha/Saeru figured out a way to transfer to a humanoid android body for certain durations of time so she can interact with the real world (inspired by the CopyBots and Iris from BN6)

3) Fluffy lighthearted AU with fanon Kuroha with a much more fluffy, lighthearted, and tamer setting. Just me coming up with cute little scenario ideas. I love fluff!

Other KuroEne AU ideas:

Royals AU KuroEne (Prince and Princess/Cinderella)

KuroEne dancing in a ballroom together in formal clothes (though this could also work in KuroEne AU No. 2)

KuroEne making snow sculptures together. Kuroha makes a giant snake snow sculpture and Kuroha helps Ene make a giant chibi version of herself. Snakes tend to feel lethargic during the winter. Ene throws snowballs at him.

Snake and Bunny theme (Ene's twintails could look like bunny ears)

I think I need to name my KuroEne AUs eventually to differentiate them lmao

KuroEne AU: No. 1

I also like thinking of KuroEne in canon-verse angst AUs where Kuroha messes around in the routes (timelines). In AU no. 1, he pretends to be Konoha, decides to actually bond and get to know and befriend the Mekakushi Dan members before k*lling them this time, and Ene projects her feelings for Haruka and Konoha, onto Kuroha (who she thinks is Konoha…)

Kuroha decides to mess around in the Routes and befriend the Mekakushi Dan members. I feel like Kuroha should experiment that way cuz he doesn't want the "fun" to be over so soon yet. And also because he's curious how things will play out, and see what will be the same and different compared to previous routes.

In the present day, 2 years later, when she meets Kuroha, she recognizes his appearance, and thinks he's Konoha. After seeing Kuroha, who she thinks is Konoha, she's surprised to see "Konoha" in the flesh...

In my KuroEne AU, Ene thinks that Kuroha is Konoha with Haruka's memories, because Kuroha/Saeru remembers previous routes (timelines) and thus knows her true name (Takane) and context.

I'm insane LMAO. I love angst! KuroEne's angst potential is so high.

I love how KagePro ships are all super heavy and tinged with angst and tragedy.

I love that aspect of them, but ofc, I will delve into light-hearted AUs with them too that take place outside of canon~ I want to write/draw KuroEne in a much more fluffy and lighthearted setting too.

KuroEne AU: No. 2

Canon-verse AU where Ene can manifest in the real world (since I'm taking creative liberties here for the sake of my ship) and even becomes intimate with Kuroha. Very angst heavy.

Takes place in an AU setting close to canon, except the only difference is that Ene can manifest in the real world (unlike in canon where she can only interact with the digital world in devices)

Especially with all the time loop resets, you could see this as an AU where Kuroha/Saeru finally manages to figure out how to make Ene able to manifest in the real world as well.

It was inspired by the Copybots from MMBN/EXE (Battle Network: 6) where Iris, a NetNavi (Network Navigator, companion digital AI, a digital cyber girl), interacts with the protagonist, Netto, by transferring into a Copybot (Android body) to be able to move around in the real world.

The CopyBots take the form of the NetNavi currently in it. They are battery charged, so NetNavis (MMBN/EXE's digital AIs) can only stay in them for certain periods of time.

I imagine this is the case for my KuroEne AU too

Due to Kuroha's knowledge of previous routes, I imagined that since Kuroha keeps memories of previous routes, at some point, he starts to play around in the routes and experiment with different possibilities. He eventually gets to know and bond and spend time with Ene.

Though eventually, Kuroha proceeds with the "Plan" on August 15th to kill everyone in the Mekakushi Dan and force Marry to rewind the world. Thus, repeating the "never ending tragedy."

I imagine Kuroha eventually found a way for Ene to be able to transfer into an android body so she'd no longer have to be stuck in electronic devices like in canon…

Ene tops and hate fucks Kuroha/Saeru (when she finds out about his real identity). Kuroha obliges in letting her top him when she wants to "play" with him. I think the smug personality he has would really rile up Ene and make her competitive side come out. They're playing a "game" with each other.

Kuroha has been intimate with Ene before and keeps memories of previous routes. He knows about the context of the Mekakushi Dan, therefore, knows about Ene's past as Takane (and her relationships with Haruka and Konoha)

And, due to the time loops, he makes improvements to the Android bodies (CopyBot-like models that I need a name for eventually), for his encounters with Ene, throughout the routes, like improving the battery life and durability and such

It'd honestly be pretty funny if tsun tsun Ene tries to justify her trysts or intimate encounters with Kuroha like this

Ene: They're not trysts!!! I'm just doing this with you so that I can finally defeat you!!! Hmph!!! (//>3<//) Kuroha: And yet, you seem to enjoy our little... encounters.

Trying to convince yourself you're fucking a guy (your most hated enemy) only to defeat him, sounds hilarious ngl 😭

Cuz technically, they are playing a "game" of some kind, so the competitive side of her comes out here~~

I think KuroEne has a very unique context that makes their relationship dynamic sooo interesting to think about because of HaruTaka and KonoEne's context.

I love conflict and tension in ships, and KuroEne has sm of it cuz it's with the series' big bad villain/antagonist who's the main source of conflict and tension in KagePro.

How I got into KagePro

Kuroha/Saeru and Konoha, and Ene hanafuda arts by Sidu

I first got into KagePro when I was 12, so Kuroha was my 12 year old self's big fave~ KagePro was my kid self's first fandom interest.

12 ~ 16 y/o me was OBSESSED with this mf and the KuroEne ship 😭 Ene my wife… 🥺💙 I think the KuroEne ship has such great angst fuel. I love fluff and angst~

The Kuroha liker in me coming out with the unhinged anime man / meow meow mf core taste, HAHA.

Sen's unhinged anime man (insane meow meow mf) pipeline

Kuroha (2013) -> Saeran (2016) -> Judar (2022)

Kuroha (KagePro), Saeran (MysMes), Judar (Magi) pipeline

Black/white haired meow meow mfs with monochrome/black/white design aesthetics are my ultimate fixation

Obviously I have so many faves like this, like Douman (FGO) and Idate (WATGBS AU), but those 3 kinda have similarities in terms of their basics and design vibes/aesthetics tbh

I love smug evil bitches with black/white design aesthetics 🐈‍⬛ I love his expressions ✌️ And Kuroha has a great song and MV too~

Also I’m gonna admit that seeing this thumbnail got me into KagePro

I first got into KagePro after watching the Outer Science MV and kid me immediately went like "I NEED TO KNOW WHO THIS MF IS" and then became obsessed with Kuroha and KagePro

The first song I ever listened to was Headphone Actor, and Outer Science showed up in my recommended soon after, and when I saw the thumbnail (this exact thumbnail), kid me was just like “I NEED TO KNOW WHO THIS MF IS”

And then I fell into the KagePro/Kuroha/KuroEne obsession.

Kuroha BITCH

You are my favourite KagePro character <3

OUTER SCIENCE MY FAVE KAGEPRO SONG <333 It's so catchy~~

I'm laughing so hard at how obvious my character taste has been since FOREVER. Glad to know that my character/ship tastes are as ancient as time!

Kuroha is mad entertaining it's not surprising why kid me would be obsessed with him

KuroEne rambles

KuroEne relapse… KuroEne reload. After 10+ years I'm still not over them ADKSKLDKLSLK

I was so obsessed with them, I think it's because it was the first ship I was really obsessed with and made AUs for

Also I'm REALLY not surprised why kid me was so obsessed with them... It's literally a ship between my wife x meow meow mf (of the series)

My fave ships are usually between my fave (usually the meow meow mf chara) and my other fave charas, which is exactly the case here

I swear they made up at least 80% of the KagePro art I drew omfg

Takane was 157 cm (5'1") and Konoha is 182 cm (6'0"), and Ene is 640 px tall and weighs 2 MB. Portable wifey…

KuroEne Art Ideas

Things I wanna draw eventually...

KuroEne doodle with Maid outfit Kuroha wearing spiked high heels while he has a bloody mop (maybe it's just red paint instead???), and slips a finger into Ene's thigh highs while he kisses her cheek. Ene's entire face gets all red and she just goes like "WORST MAID EVER!!!"

KuroEne wearing hanfu

KuroEne wearing Việt Phục

Pokemon AU KuroEne where Kuroha is a Dark/Poison type trainer with snake/serpent-like/serpentine body Pokemon (ie. Arbok, Seviper, Rayquaza), and Ene is an Electric type trainer (ie. Rotom), and Konoha is a Normal/Grass/Fighting type trainer (ie. Serperior, Bewear)

Imagining Ene's blushy pouty face (//>~<//) is cute~

KonoEne/KuroEne Shitpost

Kinda wanna make a joke/shitpost meme like

Ene: (<- Would fuck a snake)

(<- Having an existential Crisis)

(Applies to both Kuroha and Konoha)

Humanoid snek…

Inspiration

Outer Science (MV) (Illustrated by Sidu) (Fan-translation by vgperson) Kagerou Daze LN 7 -from the darkness- (Illustrated by Sidu)

Inspired by the Outer Science MV, and my fave Kagerou Daze (LN) cover: Vol. 7 -from the darkness-

It's based on the classic "Welcome to my womb" line in the Outer Science MV and my fave Kagerou Daze LN cover 🤭✨

Sidu's gorgeous Kagerou Daze VII (7) cover with Kuroha on the cover 🖤💛 This will always be my favourite cover. Sidu's art style is IMPECCABLE I love their aesthetics sm… The pose and blood splatters and expressions... AHHH IT SLAPS SO HARD

I thought of a sketch concept where all the "Keep out" tapes bind around him just like in the LN cover.

I'm still amazed by Sidu's MVs. Outer Science is still my fave KagePro song and MV. Sidu's art style is so nice and their MVs are gorgeous. Sidu really appealed to my aesthetic tastes when I first saw this MV in 2013 as a 12 year old, I was immediately enamoured with it. They have such great aesthetic sense.

The colours and chosen visuals… The insane attention to detail...

Outer Science my beloved~~

Sidu you will always be famous!!!

Sidu's MVs just hold up SO WELL

The art, visuals, text and animation effects are so good...

[stepswowdsen]

【Magi】 JuAli Scenario Idea: Flower Crowns 🖤❤️💛

Intro

Judar spots Alibaba and Kougyoku making flower crowns, so Alibaba makes a flower crown for Judar. After being given a gift of bouquets (sunflowers) by Alibaba, Judar asks Kougyoku later what flowers to get as a return gift 🌻💐

I quickly wrote it this morning. I forgot to post this writing idea I had whoops 😭

Judar and Alibaba's friendships with Kougyoku is everything to me

I've always wanted to write about the 3 of them together~ JuAli with their bestie Kougyoku hehe

Judar, Kougyoku, and Alibaba sketch by Ohtaka

Flower Symbolisms

If you haven't seen it, feel free to check out my Flower Symbolisms post:

PW: meowmeowcollection

I'll put it here nonetheless, but it contains the context for my scenario idea

JuAli Scenario Idea

This is gonna be new from me, usually I post just the dialogue script itself and my rambles under, but since I wrote this quickly, this is gonna be a combination of my rambles + dialogue ideas

It's a huge WIP so I still have to add to it

As said before, JudaAli (ジュダアリ) is the Magi JP fandom's main ship name for them. It also has a cute sounding ring to it~ I've seen JuAli (ジュアリ) used a bit in the JP fandom.

I like typing the shorter one, it makes my life easier HAHA

Due to the common "First few characters of each characters' name is used and combined as a ship portmanteau" ship naming convention in EA fandom

Though sometimes, other characters may be chosen for better aesthetics.

Kougyoku my wife <333

I also want to write more of her in general too when I get the time

The idea came to mind yesterday. I'd love to draw this sometime in the future (not now cuz I'm slow)

Since I wrote it quickly, it's not as refined as my other ideas. So it's a mix of my rambles and bits of dialogue I came up with

Hopefully I'll get to refine & add to it soon 👍

Huge rough draft WIPs

Just wanted to get the ideas down so I don't forget

I thought about it recently when I was coming up with flower picks for my faves based on Hanakotoba meanings

In terms of meaning, I chose red hydrangeas and sunflowers for JuAli 💐🌻

They also fit colours wise and thematically too!

Also for the Flower Symbolisms post. I'm still planning to add more flower picks for JuAli eventually 🙏

I had a list of potential ideas in my rough drafts, I just need to check them over and see which ones are good

Since I spend time looking at Hanakotoba meanings and seeing if my interpretations align, specifically how I interpret the Hanakotoba meanings in JP). I also check JP florists' blogs to see other popular/common interpretations that may not be included on the Hanakotoba official site

And I'll be looking into more flowers too 😌

[starakex]

Wurmple Build Log

Guess who's back to drop another overly detailed post about a cosplay project. Another Pokémon one, unsurprisingly! My dumb ass made a Nargacuga fursuit head back in 2020 so I could learn how to work with upholstery foam. It looked... alright... but I know in my heart it was a horrible, horrible mess. Fast forward to 2023, I go to a 3-day convention, wear a bunch of different heavy wigs the whole time, get a rash on my forehead and think, fuck it, I am cringe and I am free, I'm gonna finally live the dream and make a Pokémon suit. It'll be great, and I won't have to wear a wig; I'll just have to worry about heat strokes instead. Fun! Of course, in true shitpost fashion, my perfect fursuit candidate has 10 legs and is shaped like a sausage.

Click on over to read the wondrous tale of building a Wurmple Partial Suit in like two weeks.

1. The Worm

Wurmple started as a dumb little sketch in the corner of my notebook. I have a lot of cosplays and plushes under my belt but the last fursuit (head) kinda looked like it would belong in a bootleg Freddy Fazbear establishment, so I brainstormed over a bunch of Pokémon I like that would work as a partial and are simple enough in design to avoid accidentally creating Uncle Uncanny 2.0. The goal was something that would be relatively comfortable and easy to bring to events 'cause I'm just not mentally prepared to drag a suitcase in public transport and wear a full body sweat carpet yet. I ended up doodling a few ideas like Haunter or Koffing, but then I pictured a Bug Catcher trainer with a bug head and I thought it was funny as hell, so the choice was made. I picked up my copy of Alpha Sapphire to get a good look at the model and immediately ran into a problem; the eyes on Wurmple are literally on the side of the head. They sit so flush you literally cannot see them if you look at them from the front. Not a great start. I figured I could probably hide a small hole for vision right above the mandibles where the red and cream colors separate. I wasn't super confident it would work, but dammit, I was already commited to being a stupid Bug Bug Catcher. Similarly, I looked at the side profile and figured I could open a hole behind the mandibles at mouth height to breathe out of. With an disproportionate amount of confidence for the bullshit I'm about to summon into the world, I began the project by patterning out the tail.

2. Bug Ass

I'll be honest, I started on the tail so I wouldn't have a reason to back out of it if the head ended up being a hot mess. I've patterned out and sewn a few plush before, so making a big ol' headless grub sounded like a reasonable goal. I usually make plush patterns by building out the shape with newspaper and tape, but Wurmple's tail got pretty big when scaled to fit a human, so I searched for alternatives. I ended up building the base shape to draw a pattern out of by taping two pillows together. I tied down small sections to shape the belly and slapped a layer of masking tape over half of it to trace my pattern. Once everything looked good, I cut the pattern pieces out and laid them flat. The pillows were returned to the couch safely once they recovered from the barbaric treatment.

I dug through my materials storage (a sad lonely plastic bin) for some Trash Fabric ™ leftovers from other Trash Projects ™ and tested the pattern out to see how it looked. I made the pattern for the spikes and legs at that point based on the test build and adjusted some seams on the tape pattern to refine some shapes, but overall the first pattern was a great success!

With the mockup done, I pulled out the minky fabric and got to sewing the tail together. I picked minky for the project 'cause it felt right for the cartoony 3d models to have that smooth short-pile look in real life (kinda like the official mascots, really). I was aware the margin for error when your fur pile is 3mm long is basically non-existent, but hey, at least I could work without a respirator on unlike fur! Sewing the body of the tail was pretty straightforward; I assembled the belly panels together, stitched the darts on the red parts to form the curve, and attached the backside of the zigzag spikes to it. I assembled the top and bottom halves together, tacked each zigzag down in place by hand, and filled the whole thing with polyester stuffing to see my beautiful bug sausage take shape.

Once I was sure it everything looked good. I stitched six little white legs and attached them onto the belly by hand using the belly seams as a guide.

Before moving on to the top spikes, I took a break from handsewing to build the tail base. It's a little nub made out of sandwiched upholstery foam with a belt running through a channel carved into the foam. It's topped off with a layer of high density EVA Foam glued at the base to keep the anchor point sturdy. Huge thanks to Neffertity for her tail tutorials as this was the main inspiration behind the method I used for the tail attachment. The foam nub goes about a quarter of the way through the tail, with the rest of it being filled up with the polyester stuffing that was added earlier.

Once the tail attachment point was secured, I started sewing all the spikes for the top half of the tail, stuffed them, and then stitched each of them to the tail by hand. Once they were all stitched on securely, I sewed the back closed with one last minky piece and Wurmple's tail was complete!

(Looking back, I could probably have machine stitched the legs and spikes on... But I was watching some really good Resident Evil Randomizer streams while handsewing these, so I didn't wanna get off the couch to work on the pattern again)

I'm so glad I started with the tail. It was basically a big plush, and I was so proud of the results when I was done that I was energized to start working on the head. Oh right, the stupid worm head with no vision.

3. The Head

Building up the shape of Wurmple's head was simple enough. I began by building a bucket head base out of upholstery foam by following Skyehigh's Studios old tutorial (new one linked here) and slapped some paper on it to figure out the size of the main elements; the mandibles and the eyes. I immediately regret following the tutorial steps for the eye holes, since I Forgot We Weren't Gonna Be Doing That, and mark where my cyclops eyehole is generally going to be instead.

Once I was satisfied with my patterns, I cut some more upholstery foam slabs, carved them with scissors until I got down to the general shape of the mandibles and horns, and glued them onto the base. I immediately got another stress injury carving everything down and realized I did not learn from my wig ventilating mistakes. I took a break to add a turkey carver to my online shopping bookmarks, which I immediately forgot about until I sat down to write this post. Since I was using minky for this project, I needed to make sure my base was as smooth as possible. The fabric is so thin it would pick up every wrinkle ever and look sad if I didn't. I dug into the bin for some Trash Felt ™ and glued it over the mandibles to smooth things out and added some mesh to the holes of the bucket head base to keep the curved shape of the head going without sacrificing those sweet ventilation holes. I also added my vision hole and marveled at my horrifying Mando helmet abomination. At that point in time I'm having some big doubts about the vision hole, but I trudge on because I'm not just gonna wear a bug ass to these conventions.

With the base complete, I covered the whole thing in tape and drew over it like I did with the tail to create a pattern, made sure to forget to take pictures of said pattern so that this step is lost to time, and started sewing the head fabric so I could slap some skin on this bad boy, starting with the horns. At the same time, I stitched the darts on the mandibles, pinned that to the head for later, and assembled the red halves of the head together on the back seam to test the fit.

With the test fit successful, I pulled the red part off in order to machine stitch it to the front half of the head along the zigzag edge and slipped the whole thing over the head again. With everything in place, I painstakingly handstitched everything up, including the side of the mandibles and the horns.

Somewhere in the magical stretch of time between midnight and 5 in the morning, I somehow summoned the inner lining of the head out of french terry knit, a tape pattern and a dream. I also painted a little piece of buckram for the eye mesh to match the red fabric and glued that to the inside of the head. I included a little velcro pocket on the back of the neck in the lining to insert a powerbank for the fans (which I then proceeded to procrastinate on installing for a whole 4 months afterwards). Since I'm an idiot and took no pictures signed an NDA with the Midnight Craft Wizard, here's a picture of the fan installation in the mandibles with velcro so they can be removed to wash it. (Fan kit by Henry's Helmet Fans)

Once the head was completed, I finally went to sleep. And then I woke up at noon and remembered I forgot the eyes WHOOPS I cut four circles out of high density EVA Foam (Two of them smaller for the pupils), heat shaped a slight curve to them, and covered them with minky. I glued the pupils to the irises and then I glued those suckers to the head and NOW THE HEAD WAS ACTUALLY DONE WOOHOO

Turns out hiding the vision hole right over the mandibles was... Actually a decent idea, in the end. It blends pretty well into the face at a short distance. The mouth opening also isn't visible in most angles so I can actually breathe pretty well, and I can even wear a portable necklace fan and have it blow hair into the head without making poor Wurmple eat the fan.

I took it for a test run and realized the eye vision in the suit was actually pretty damn bad overall because the minky covered half of the original hole up, especially on the sides. I took a heat gun and some scissors to the head so I could peel it back around the vision hole, cut some material out to open it up more, and glued everything back down with a new piece of mesh. Now I have like 40 more degrees in my cone of vision, which puts me on par with some of the guys in Metal Gear Solid.

With those adjustments done, the head was finally complete!

4. Get Worm'd on

Turns out I like it a whole lot, whoops. It's definitively not perfect (what costume ever is?), but it looks leagues better than I expected it would, so it works out. Looking back, I don't think I'd really do anything else differently on the build. I still got to make the Bug Catcher outfit to go along with it, but with winter in full swing there's no rush to do so. Definitively looking forward to making a net, though!

If you're still reading, thank you for getting through my ramblings! I hope it was an interesting read, and maybe even provided some insights or inspirations for your own future projects.

❤️

[neonscandal]

Thanks for answering my ask from a few weeks ago @neonscandal ..... If you don't mind me asking (again), what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before....

Thank you for asking in the first place! ❤️

Not at all unique is the fact that, as soon as I get asked a question about my top faves, I immediately draw a blank on everything I've ever enjoyed or watched, ever. 😅 I'm sure that's not the first time you've heard that. No need to apologize, as you can probably tell from other asks, my answers change regularly. This is my anime/manga blog so without any regard for order:

Life Lessons with Uramichii-Oniisan (anime) - depending on how old you are, there's a cognitive dissonance that occurs when you're no longer younger than nor the same age as your favorite protagonists in the stories you grew up with. This is the anime that eases the blow of that like the ibuprofen you now keep at home, at work and in your purse. And it's hysterical.

Attack on Titan (anime/manga) - There is something to be said for the eloquence of the exposition in this story which, when you know Isayama spent years shopping his art around to no avail because of the roughness of his style, makes perfect sense. While refining his art, he had all this time to pore over the story, hide little easter eggs so there'd be one string that gathered up all seeming loose ends. Just an incredibly interesting story to unfold. It's the kind of thing you wish you could read again for the first time but that's laughable because, every time you read it, you notice something you hadn't the last time.

To Your Eternity (anime) - This is the Grey's Anatomy equivalent in anime. Like, oh. You're emotionally constipated and need a good cry? Pick an episode at random. Watch a whole season if you're really about that life.

Sasaki to Miyano (manga/anime) - TBH I tied between this or Horimiya. They are not the same story but hold similar places in my heart. What I love about Sasaki to Miyano is how delicate it is. Yea, slow burn, whatever. But no, it just kind of gives Miyano space to come to terms with himself and Sasaki is the safety net that accepts him in all forms. Can love be this sweet?

Goodbye, Eri (manga) - Fujimoto is off the wall. Chainsaw Man is an excellent representation of that. Seemingly unfocused and always good for some sort of shock factor. I've been wanting to write, for some time, about how Fujimoto is like a trickster of a genie but I'll shelve that for the time being. Goodbye, Eri's disjointed narrative as if told in photographs and the art style which shows movement despite its static medium. It's a really elegant piece with a plot twist you don't see coming because, of course you don't. That, in fact, is part of the whole message of the story, isn't it?

Ranma 1/2 (anime) - Nostalgia. This was the first anime I ever watched that I locked into. It started me on a path of drawing, it encouraged me to seek out other shows.. this series is what started it all wayyy back then (okay, not that far back then, this was in the 00's). Tsundere x tsundere, yes but also just the immediate identification with characters who couldn't authentically be themselves because they kept bending and breaking under external pressures. I could very much relate and empathize even if the chaos of their universe was too fanciful for my own. Also, pretty sure Rumiko Takahashi is the longest running mangaka with consistent chapters in Shonen Jump for the last 40+ years is wild.

Vinland Saga (anime) - I honestly don't even know what to say about this story. But I think my favorite observation is a post I saw someone make where they wrote "No one will know the violence it took to become this gentle" with a picture of Thorfinn. And they were so poignantly right. Phenomenally twisted revenge story that is not at all satisfying. 10/10.

Link Clink (donghua) - This show is a vibe. If it hasn't been on a recommendation list yet, it's coming. The music, the art, the unfurling back story of the main characters as they untangle the lives of others? It manages to be both gutting and cerebral at the same time. Like every time I watch I'm like... I need to read the source material because the complexity of the concurrent storylines makes it such a head scratcher as to the larger plot.

Jujutsu Kaisen (anime/manga) - *Gestures vaguely to the rest of my blog.* We're still in the throes of how this story is going to play out which is nerve wracking and exciting for all its possibilities. I hold out a lot of hope that we'll see some stunning exposition in future chapters that we won't see coming.

Belle (anime) - It's just beautiful. 😘👌🏾 I talk a lot about my niece and nephew because I've turned them into my dorky little mini-me's. Also, being an aunt is like the best job. Belle is a movie that had them both gagged with the animation. If a show or series can get both of them to put their ipads, books, art supplies, etc. down, then I know I put them onto something special. Honestly, anything I enjoy with them makes it that much more special to me, personally.

This was lovely. I'll get back to posting lists soon, feel free to check out other recommendations!

[hypnofantasma]

"Where's the Ulterior Spectacle remake?"

I know i've gotten this a ton of times, and seeing how it's been a couple years since i said it'd exist, i decided i'd give all of my reasons why it's taking So Damn Long. hopefully, this'll reduce the amount of... hate? judgement?? i keep getting regarding this song.

1) The only reason I SHOULD be giving: the simple fact that I am working on an immense universe

I'm not working on JUST Stars Below, and even THEN, a remake has the lowest priority of all when it comes to new Stars Below songs, character development, design solidification, etc. I'd rather solidify the world and story FIRST before making a remake that might swiftly become outdated once again if I rush it. This is also why songs IN GENERAL have been slow; I'm refining the story. It's a HUGE WIP.

I'm not a company, I'm One Single Person with OCs on the internet. If I don't work on one singular aspect, I'm sorry? I guess? That leads into...

2) I'm so immensely stressed at the moment that I'm having physical health issues and can't reliably/consistently work on things

Like I still CAN draw, but completed PVs are so high-effort (and risk), low-reward for me right now that I have to make smaller things. That's why I'm focusing on Artfight for now. On top of that, I'm gonna try to get another term of college this year so I can accomplish something tangible in my life and get a degree. (College is ALSO why stuff's been slow)

If you want to know WHAT my health issues are, all you need to know is that I've got visible ribs yet my weight is constantly depleting.

3) People keep reuploading my stuff

People keep taking things from my Discord server and reuploading them on sites like Youtube. If I don't upload something, I do not want it uploaded, plain and simple. No, I am not free game just because I'm on the internet. I'm just an independent artist and not a company, and this is breaking several boundaries of mine.

If you claim it's "out of fan love" or "giving me free promotion", it doesn't change the fact it makes me (and even my community) exceedingly uncomfortable. The big one being reuploaded was Tundra Lens, and while I did make it public again, it was solely to appease the reuploaders. Please don't reupload my stuff.

It's killing my motivation and drive for the Ulterior Spectacle remake.

4) Multiple abusers in my life

I won't dive into this one but just know that, behind the scenes, I have been treated like a goddamn ragdoll. I have been treated like an object by both strangers and people extremely close to me, and I'm drained, man.

These events have been adding to my current status of being physically ill and chronically fatigued.

5) I am currently being stalked by a group who hates me and intentionally mocks me

A certain group of individuals (who will remain unnamed) are currently stalking me, gathering my creations, and making a complete mockery of a project that intends to break all of the universal rules I have crafted. I don't mind if you don't know everything about my universe; it's a lot, after all, and I'm more than happy to educate.

However, this group intends on making a complete mockery of not only my universe but also my art. It is out of malice and not parody. Due to this, I'm almost too scared to post anything, really. I don't want this to stop me, but damn it does it sting. I'll ride this out with god-rivaling perseverance if I have to.

Now....

While all of this is there, I'll also say the remake IS NOT cancelled. I'll be dead before it's cancelled. But I just wanted to give some perspective a little bit, and maybe- if you're someone mad about the lack of the remake so far- you'll understand why a little more.

Just please respect my boundaries for things, don't drum up drama with me, and leave me in peace. That's all I ask. One day this song'll be completed, and it'll be a day where I'm no longer treated as some soulless machine.

Thank you.