was thinking about next-gen kids and decided to doodle a couple. elaborated thoughts below:

Iphis is named with the same naming conventions that Sally used when naming Percy - primarily, mythological figure who had a good fate. Nice for Percy to honor his mom by naming his own kid the same way and Annabeth gets a fun nerdy mythology name. Also sending good vibes to their kid. Plus middle name directly in honor of Sally, of course.

Specific myth is Iphis and Ianthe, with the idea that a.) it's gender-neutral so works regardless of kid's gender and b.) not only does Iphis have a good fate, but arguably nothing bad happens to them ever and they get helped out by like three whole pantheons who show up in a literal parade and they live happily ever after. Percy and Annabeth are pushing for the BEST vibes possible.

(Also I am a very strong proponent of the "I don't think they'd name their kids after dead family/friends" so none of them have that)

Iphis of course inherited the Jackson family early grey hairs <3

Virginia is named after Juniper (cause Juniper is specifically implied to be Juniperus virginiana). She's probably been childhood bffs with Iphis since Iphis was born.

Chuck is Chuck. I gave him a Yankees jersey cause you know he's being raised as a sporty kid.

Do you ever think about how OP Frank and Hazel's kid would be. It's ridiculous. Quadruple legacy, including 2/3 of the Big Three. Frank by himself was already so OP the gods had to nerf him. Hazel came back from the dead and Frank kinda just said "nope" to dying that one time. Hazel presumably has every power that Nico has which is. A lot. Not to mention what Hazel has been shown to just be able to do on her own (including but not limited to SINKING AN ENTIRE SMALL ISLAND). Ares/Mars kids can functionally be completely invulnerable sometimes and also have some limited necromancy. Combo that with Hades/Pluto kids also being hard to kill and having necromancy as one of their main powers. Not to mention how Pluto geokinesis might combo with Chloris (goddess of spring) powers? And this kid is 100% being protected by both Nico (who is probably a deity by that point) and probably Pluto himself as well? Hello?

Anyways Hazel and Frank's kid is a total powerhouse. Possibly functionally immortal. Easily strongest demigod of her generation.

I like to think the latent Chloris legacy would crop up (probably in combo with Mars and Poseidon's plant aspects) and give them an accidental Persephone-type theme and that's fun. Frazel's goth daughter who takes after her grandmother (and uncle).

Figured since Frank is Canadian and Hazel is from Louisiana they'd go for a French name. The flower theme was not intentional on their part it just happened. Law of demigod naming conventions appears nonetheless.

I figure Leo might not have kids of his own but he probably still hangs around with Hazel and Frank so of course he's going to make their kid a cool thematic robot pet. He's probably her godfather or something.

Ronan is literally just some kid who showed up at the Chase Space who coincidentally was a legacy of Freyr and could shapeshift. Magnus and Alex obviously can't have kids cause they're dead, BUT some orphan with essentially a combo of their powers just shows up on their doorstep? Their kid now.

The ironic part is of course their shapeshifting powers just happen to be because they're distantly related to one of Annabeth's friends. Ronan finds himself suddenly gaining two parents and two cousins (Iphis and Lily) in rapid succession.

He only picks up Magnus' last name though cause Alex has 100% disowned her mortal parents.

He has a seal flipper cause shapeshifting and apparently "Ronan" means seal. I just wanted to draw those two showcasing their shapeshifting a lil bit.

Might try to doodle the other next-gen kid thoughts I had at some point but idk when. anyways yeah.

I'm trying to design a photography studio that will suit my needs. I'm trying to make sure it is simple and easy to maintain. I'm trying to eliminate wires and anything that would require getting up and down a lot.

My previous studio was way too complicated. And it was very small so moving around required a lot of labored movements. Always stepping over cords and having to shimmy behind lights and ducking under stuff.

It took me about 30 minutes to set up the studio before I could even start taking photos.

Upstairs I will have a lot more room for activities and I think I can set things up to where I just flip on the lights and start taking photos with minimal fuss. I think I'm also going to try to put everything on wheels.

EVERYTHING will have wheeeeels.

Camera on wheels.

Lights on wheels.

I'm going to wear roller skates.

Wheels galore.

I'm deep into research mode. I'm actually finding some reasonably priced equipment. There are some great deals on lighting these days. And I might try to find some used items as well.

But it is hard not to drool over the super fancy stuff.

Believe it or not, this is a "budget" lighting kit.

That is the Chinese version that was "inspired" by this.

And that's only one light.

If you think about a flash that you see on top of cameras, all of the power bits are in the same device as the flashy bits. Whereas these packs put all of the power in a contained unit and just let the light be a light.

It's a great deal more powerful. You don't have to wait for it to recharge in between flashes. It has fancy functions like a super fast flash duration so you could almost photograph a bullet in mid-air. And the actual light is much lighter because all of the power guts are separate. These packs last for decades too. There are photographers with 20 year old gear that is still pumping out light like the day they bought it. And considering the abuse a high end studio would put on their lights, the premium cost is probably worth the investment.

But I'm probably going to have to get something a bit more... economically viable.

It has the power bits and the flashy bits and a powerful "modeling lamp" that lets you see what your light will do when it actually flashes.

They put a light in my light so I can see what my light will do.

Unlike my old studio lights, this can be controlled with a little thing on top of my camera. Or I can use an app on my phone. So I don't have to get up and down to adjust the power.

So... is 8 times more power worth $28000?

I hope not.

I'd love to be able to get battery powered lights so I could have 0 cords, but those are a bit pricey yet.

I'm probably going to have to use my photography to generate a little extra income. Maybe a photoshoot per week or something. I don't think I'll be able to keep the house if I don't find a little more each month. I really wanted my photography to not be tied to my financial circumstances but a frog's gotta do what a frog's gotta do.

That said, I am hoping to specialize in pet portraits. I think I could be really good at that. Plus I'd get to play with doggos without the burden of taking care of a doggo.

There is still a lot to figure out. And there is a lot I still don't know about my future. But designing a cool studio is a good distraction. And it could be how I keep the house.

TLDR - stop all the hate on innocent love interest. 

I’m not understanding the hate I am seeing for Tommy (9-1-1) and Bucks story arc this season. I understand buddie shippers wanting them to get together, but they both need to figure out their own personal feelings for themselves and each other in their own time and Tommy is such a good first relationship because he’s understanding of what Buck is going through. And he also understands the work schedule the they have so will understands if something comes up and one of them have to cancel a date and is also friends with Eddie so there will be less issues with Bucks and Eddie codependency that a lot for Buck’s exs did not understand. First same sex relationships are hard enough without both parties trying to figure out what is going on inside of their heads. I understand shipping to characters and wanting them together but hating on a new love interest that is a guy just because it’s not the guy you want in the relationship is no better then hating on a female love interest or making comments about how buddie shippers are insane for thinking it will ever happen because the character are “straight”. There are toxic fans in every fandom but everyone should try to understand where others are coming from and get along. If Tommy and Buck(TEven) stay together and are end game till the end of the show great let them be happy, if they don’t and Buck and Eddie get together great let them be happy, if in a very long shot ( mostly because this would be hot) all 3 get together then great let them be happy, or if none of this happens let them all be happy separately and together. But please just stop hating on characters that do not deserve it. This is not me saying if the actor or actress is a terrible person you have to like the character. Or if they are good you have to like them but but don’t hate just because of the people they are with.

Hi!! Your art is so fucking cool! Can I ask what the process looks like for form line? Ex. What do your sketches look like when they are really rough? How do you go from idea -> final product. 💕

Hadih, thanks so much for your question!

Honestly, it's sort of hard to explain? I do have some sketches to sort of give an idea though.

This sketch I posted a couple days ago is a pretty good example of what my initial concept sketches sometimes look like.. As you can see, they're pretty chaotic and very rough, and usually these sketches are more about getting the idea down then actually making the formline itself. There aren't formline shapes just yet, although I do sometimes sketch out elements or shapes like eyes or bodies or paws/hands that will usually have an ovoid in it, because those elements tend to be a focus or centerpiece. The sketch is obviously not final, and things can change along the way to account for space and balance as well as what I'm trying to convey. (These sketches aren't entirely accurate of course because they're for pieces that are meant to be fusions of character illustrations and formline art, but they're the best thing I can find on my pc at the moment)

The rough sketch helps me figure out the flow of the piece, and once I'm satisfied with it I try and get to putting down the shapes and silhouette, and it's here where I try to find the balance with my rough sketch and how the shapes can fit and behave in the piece to the best of their limits while also still conveying the message I want to send. The most common shape I start with is the focus shapes, which are usually ovoids.

This rough of my harbor seal formline which I sent to my aunt for review sort of gives a better Idea of what I mean when I say I try and focus on where the centerpoints will be. Ovoids are usually a focus, so you can see them pop up a lot; in the body, the head, the eyes, the tail, etc. Ovoids are so important and probably the most common shape in formline art, and one of the most common feedback I get from my aunt is to adjust how the ovoid looks in any one of my pieces; she often compared them to a loaf of bread! You don't want your ovoids to look like a loaf of bread! (Her words, not mine). I feel like I've gotten better at drawing ovoids though, because she gives it as feedback less and less nowadays. Ovoids usually also have to have a bit of weight/perspective to them; it's hard to describe but essentially the top of the ovoid should usually be bigger/thicker/have more weight then the bottom.

From ovoids, the next shapes are usually circles, u-shapes and crescents, then usually y-shapes/trigons. It can be difficult, because the key is to make sure the shapes flow together and feel cohesive, as well as to make sure the negative/positive space balance feels right. Also a fun tidbit, trigons are most typically used to essentially fill space; it's always important to make sure that they are binding bigger shapes like u-shapes and ovoids and not stealing all the space and attention.

The lines in this stage tend to be very rough and messy, and I always try to go over the next rough draft with a smoother and cleaner pen.

Once the initial shapes are done, I'll usually send the piece to my aunt (sometimes I send them earlier on, when I'm in the middle of working out the shapes) for feedback! I am still a student in formline work after all; basically all of my teachings come from my aunt, who has a lot more years of work in formline art then me. She'll give me feedback and tips of what she thinks I should fix or experiment with. I adjust and fix and sometimes even completely delete and redo parts of the piece with her guidance. The list of things she tells me to change decreases with each piece, so I like to take that as a sign that I'm improving!

Once the black and white version of the design is done, I move onto coloring. Usually I already have a color scheme in mind when I go into a piece, so I'll mess around and put down colors and see how well they contrast before I color it. Typically, a piece will have about 3 colors; one for the background, one primary color, and one secondary color. I use a clipping layer to color the entire formline piece with the primary color, and then go in with the pen tool and bucket tool to use the secondary color. Adding in the secondary color is tricky but important because it once again falls into balancing positive and negative space/colors and the transitions between the two.

Once coloring is done, the project is basically finished! Unless there are some other plans I have for it, ie using it for an overlay in a bigger piece, colouring is usually the final stage.

And that's about it! I hope this helps you understand a bit; this isn't a perfect explanation as this is just from my own artistic POV and other nations and artists have their own process, but I hope it helps nonetheless!!

Edit: I forgot I posted other WIP formlines here before 😭 here and here!! You can sort of see me figure out the flow and balance of the designs in between the WIP and the finished piece!

congrats, everyone, dickwing is officially yuri 🎉

steph: aaand got it!

dick: really? ah thank you steph, that looks great!

steph: so how are you going to edit it to look like you're... y'know, interacting?

dick: babs lost a bet and officially owes me one.

steph: ahaha, nice. send me the photo once its done, yeah?

dick: oh, of course.

tim, walking in: hey have you guys seen my-

dick:

steph:

tim: what are you doing?

steph: we, uh-

tim: did you guys superglue butterfly wings to my headphones

dick: well i mean, i use air pods and steph uses earbuds so it wouldn't have worked with-

tim: wait. wait. is this that vocaloid song.

steph: wait you know- i shouldn't be surprised actually that makes sense

dick: we didn't use glue, anyway. see, the wings come off just like-

tim: dick.

dick: ...yeah?

tim: you're not doing it again are you

dick:

dick: whatever could you mean, dearest brother of mine?

tim:

dick: have i ever told you you're my favorite sibling?

tim: give me one good reason not to report you to bruce right now.

dick:

dick: cause i'm your brother and you love me?

tim:

tim: yeah i'm telling

dick: WAIT WAIT NO- I'M NOT EVEN GONNA POST IT ANYWHERE PLEASE-

thinking about how raph, april, and mikey are less focused on by the fandom than donnie and leo, the only two main characters in rottmnt with white voice actors

eeneks sister having a fuck ton of scars, but later most of them being revealed as just from her childhood/from mundane accidents is so fucking funny to me for some reason.........

heya! 🥺 and 🤯from the writer asks :]

Ooooh thank you laya! and hey back :}

(Writer Asks)

🥺 Is there a certain type of moment or common interaction between your characters that never fails to put you in your feels?

Ohhh man I mean hurt/comfort is everything to me, but one of my all-time favorite tropes is when one person thinks the other person is dead/grievously wounded and whatever composure or decorum they held onto just dissolves. The moment when there's no longer any reason to hide how much they care about someone is absolutely wrenching to me. And I love it deeply.

Or just in general, someone seeing the other person---seeing through a façade or a sort of public "face" and saying "hey, it's okay, you don't have to explain yourself; be whoever you have to be. I'll still be here." I get emotional every time.

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

Mystery lmao. Whatever happened here is actually none of my business.

22 isn't very much at all, I think.

mother: "theres this great job where you'd be on-call to come in!"

me: "ahhh i don't really want to be on-call, that would stress me out a lot because I'd always be on edge,,"

mother: "no you wouldn't, you could make it your thing!"

me: "...my thing?"

mother: "being on call! it'd be great! :)"

me: "i would probably be crying like... a lot ahaha. because I would always be on edge never knowing when to expect having to go into work, yknow?"

mother: "nooo, you could just make it a thing!"

me: "sorry, what do you mean by thing?"

AND I NEVER FOUND OUT !!

How did you know you were gay?

ah, couple reasons i guess. some that only became obvious with like 15 years of hindsight, and only after pulling myself out of the deep dark pit of compulsory heterosexuality.

like. classic symptoms of lesbianism include shamefully staring at the floor when you pass the women's underwear racks in the department store, even though you're not quite sure why you're uncomfortable. that sort of thing.

i have memories from early elementary school of accidentally glimpsing down a girl's shirt at recess and then bottling up that feeling and refusing to think about it. any time i had a crush on a boy, it was from an extremely idealized and safely non-actionable distance. the one time i did have a boyfriend, it was just my guy best friend from middle school, we dated for barely a school year before i ended it and the most physical intimacy i was ever comfortable with was holding his hand when we walked to class. i went to a different school's prom because a guy i was kind-of friends with asked me, and spent the whole night uncomfortably avoiding eye contact.

basically i started questioning my sexuality towards the end of high school, when i noticed myself getting like. jealous about my guy best friend's girlfriends?? like. i wanted to date them. i wanted to steal them from him lmao. i thought girls were pretty and soft and nice and cute and i was too afraid of being a predatory creep to do anything about it besides have far-fetched daydreams, but there was no heterosexual explanation. like, i hugged a girl i thought was pretty one time and it did things to my brain. that memory got locked in for life.

i identified as ace/pan early on, but again- compulsory heterosexuality. the idea of being with a guy romantically or sexually was never actually appealing. i had just been told that was what i was supposed to want my entire life, and the movies do a great job of selling that fantasy. but really i was just a lonely depressed helpless romantic teenager that wanted to be loved lol.

a large part of why i identified as asexual was because i was so sex-repulsed by the idea of penetration, honestly? (which i have since gotten over, but specifically Only with girls. the idea of having sex with a man still icks me out, and my preference is definitely femme-presenting ppl) a bit of it was probably also because i hadn't unpacked gender yet either. it made it very difficult to actually imagine myself having sex with anyone ever lol. this is gonna sound so cringe to say, but reading gay smut did awaken things in me.

in conclusion, tldr, i just like to think about tits and kissing women sometimes, idk. thanks for coming to my tedtalk.

also if you guys see me with like five tabs open in regards to the gulf war don't. don't worry about it-

vent iii.

Cancelled the in person interview for today after discussing phone interview with Mum and Housemate last night (and the numerous red flags and cost of the lyft there and back for a job that ultimately the place wouldn't be able to convince me to take if offered, bc the general consensus was 'this is literally likely to be as bad as the current job BUT with the added cost of lyfts back and forth that they wouldn't be paying enough to offset, why on earth would you (me) take this job lmaooooo')

Which works out good bc the ongoing Mum trauma stuff is hitting hard as soon as I've woken and maybe I can get the Big Cry out today. Or write down any of the memories that have been playing on repeat in my mind

(with all this said, yes, I still asked and do legitimately care abt my mum's opinion and experience with jobs despite this; yes it feels weird; no I don't know how healthy that is or not lmao but I'm gonna lean towards Not Healthy bc im discovering that the work my previous doc did certainly uncovered this codependency and trauma which absolutely was a great help but like...we didn't actually really untangle any of it so I could try and untangle myself from my mum, even from 1600+ miles from one another. So. probably not healthy.)

.

coworker is angry about normal work duties in a big way today and its simply a Lot for me this early in the morning