#solreefs
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hey Dira I’m reading dracula and all the protagonists are acting like they’re madly in love with each other. it’s great. world’s most gothic polycule.
You would fit in perfectly with everyone who participated in Dracula Daily last year, just so you know. I think every 5th post I saw was about their polycule (an exaggeration but it was an incredibly prolific concept)
I once saw someone say something about how they hadn't realized before, but so much of Dracula (the novel) is about the humanity we see in everyone. How in all the places we visit, all the fleeting characters passing by, they are filled with this active care for the world around them. They worry for a lost dog, they share stories and advice to the younger generation, they fret over the health of someone close to them, they give everything they have in the hope that things will be better for someone else someday.
And I think that's captured in the main character's interactions as well. The kind of outward, eager active attempts to connect with and understand and care for each other in whatever capacity they can is so different from what so many of us have experienced. Because they are all madly in love with each other because they're all madly in love with being alive and seeing people thrive and prosper and be happy. And they all care about each other. And all the background characters care about each other because they all care about the world and want it to be good.
I'm getting away from myself, but the ever present hope and happiness and attempts at connection in this world are, to me, a very crucial part of the novel and something that can get lost in adaptations. I hope you enjoy your experience with the novel, as I certainly did :)
#dracula#dracula daily#quil's queries#solreefs#it certainly wasn't present in bram stokers dracuIa. the 1990s movie#i. do not like that adaptation#it leans 100% into the vampirism as seduction and sexual. and like. yeah that's a common interpretation#but they do so at the expense of the rest of the story#the polycule aren't a polycule in that one they're at best friend of a friend who met yesterday#oh I dislike so many things about it#mina kissed van helsing! and dracula! ugh. i can't even with it i hate it so much. more so with every thought
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I love your ocs but I fear I am a bit out of touch with some of their lore. how much does Grace know about the red honey fuckery?
thank you sm!! :D♥︎ don't worry--i'm not sure i've actually spoken about this a whole lot!! (plus my lore is scattered around random posts like a ransom note. imagine being organised, couldn't be me)
for context: the two of them are a ridiculously slow slowburn bc neither of them know how to talk about feelings, they go in different directions a lot, twitch's response to Having Feelings (or anything) is to disappear to zee. everything takes forever. there's a summary of their timeline here if you want it !!
ANYWAY to answer:
tl;dr summary: most of the time, nothing! eventually, more than anybody else.
so, for most of the time, grace knows absolutely nothing. nobody does, really--twitch doesn't tell anybody, they don't want to talk about it, nobody sees their face at all.
as far as anyone knows, including grace, twitch's bad memory, lying & inconsistent stories are just a personality quirk. and they get sick sometimes, they just need bedrest & won't be available for a few hours, a day, a couple of days. nobody is allowed to see them.
grace remains mostly unaware for a long time--he has inklings that something is up. once he gets to know twitch better, he can tell they're not themself sometimes. but prying would push twitch away, so he just offers help, if they want company, for their headaches the surgeon mentioned. he'll leave the cabin door unlocked, just in case.
he has no idea how bad the "headaches" are until it's happening right in front of him, once they're close enough for twitch to trust him to that degree. he has no idea why it's happening, but he knows twitch doesn't want to tell him, either. and when they're sobbing in his lap, pleading for something he doesn't understand to stop, begging him to help them tie a blindfold because they don't want him to see their face, it's not exactly the time to pry.
it happens a few times. it never gets easier, and it never gets any clearer. it's not til after grace leaves for the new sequence and comes back that he finally sees their face uncovered. he doesn't connect any dots-whether that's because he genuinely just doesn't make the connection, or because twitch doesn't want him to make a big deal about it, who knows!
while he was gone, twitch starts connecting some dots: something's weird with their memories. they don't know how to process it. they bring it up subtly, ask grace if he knows anything about red honey, and maybe he can figure it out himself. he tells them he does, he learned about it during nemesis, in the palace cage gardens. it still haunts him, sometimes, the prisoners with their crying, the suffering the hollow looking eyes-
the eyes.
everything clicks all at once-twitch's eyes, their headaches, the memory issues, the inconsistencies, the lies. it only gets worse when twitch tells him they're starting to wonder if the memories are all theirs.
oh, god. how could anybody do that to them? who did that to them? but twitch doesn't want him on any kind of revenge mission, they don't even think they remember where the cage garden was, and they don't want to try either. he settles for comforting them the best he can-but what can anyone do to help, really?
at the very least, trusting someone enough to talk about it is a huge weight off twitch's shoulders. grace can help them try to figure out what's going on with their memories, it makes them better at talking to each other. it's not easy, but it helps twitch to move forward-slowly, but surely
#sorry this was an essay i just had lots of thoughts#being so normal about them as always#i hope it's legible i am sleepy but i wanted to answer >:3 thank you so much for giving me the excuse to ramble hehehe#it always means a ton♥#inquiries#solreefs#londonmusings#grace#twitchery
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aro culture is relating to breakup songs in ways that have nothing to do with romance (ex: I have a playlist called “gymnastics is my toxic ex”)
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here is my dog being Long. he is a menace and I love him.
the most elongated creature of all the earth's children
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buttered chess-piece: what advanced skills do you think your oc(s) would canonically have the most knowledge of?
hooooo this is also difficult
there's three in the runnings (for the apologist, avery doesn't have any yet) which are mithridacy, a player of chess and artisan of the red science. in terms of concious knowledge though, rather than just aptitude or ability, i think it has to go to artisan of the red science (though he doesn't actually use it all that much)
ask game here!
#unless you count weird correspondence tricks as inherently red science#which i don't really?#thanks for the ask!#the apologist#solreefs
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potential christmas card: what’s your favorite fallen london festival?
tough choice.... i loved mutton island if that counts, and hallowmas was also awesome..... but christmas was cool too!!!
overall ill say mutton islands event though. i went through a lot of content, got maes destiny, and some good lore for her too :3 and i loved its vibes and shit. also fish galore. fish forever. fish is all. ft the pentamorous bride
if that doesnt count then hallowmas! cool masks, fun vibes, i liked how it felt like everybody was actually celebrating, out, about and having some fun. i got to hang with some cool people too :3
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Brigid is so unintentionally funny here. yeah I WOULD accept my impending doom better than you.
Nathalie and Lucie are having a nice moment though
oh shit Lèonie was taken by the cavalier too?
I am. want to know more about Lèonie aughgh. she fills me with curiousity
brigid is so silly, i love her so much
and that's the hope, that Léonie intrigues you!! she intrigues me too
#ask; cnqmj#cqnmj#answered#solreefs#brigid ó laighin#nathalie laurent#lucie dupont#léonie sauveterre
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that is a FANTASTIC icon
thank you very much i had to honor tiergan's true form
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Juno Steel
juno steel my BELOVED
he lives in my head permanently from the first time i listened to tpp like almost four years ago now <3
#also he did get done dirty by fans to some extent#but only some fans so im not putting that#anyway thanks for sending the ask <3#*hands u a cookie*#(its chocolate chip :) unless of course u dont like that or have dietary restrictions then its whatever u want)#solreefs#asks
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📍: where do they live?
for the prodigal astronomer
from this post.
Sorry for the late reply!!! I have had. real life stuff. BUT OK!!!
Mark lives on Elderwick Street in Veilgarden (or at least, that’s his primary residence; he has a few), in a handsome townhouse. It has plenty of nearby bookshops just nearby, along with shops selling paper, leatherbound journals, canvases, paints, charcoal, inks — everything a creative needs. He’s nice and close by to the heart of the Bohemian hangout, enough to keep a hand on the pulse of what’s going on, but with enough distance from the Singing Mandrake that he won’t be distracted while he’s working. He’s also conveniently close to the University, just a short walk away, which is great since he’s doing a lot of Parabolan research right now — and not the “heheh let’s do a fuckton of prisoner’s honey and see what happens” kind, for ONCE. I mean, he’s still doing a lot of that. But he can do that in the comfort of his own home.
As far as what his house is like, it’s a lot of dark wood, art nouveau stylings, and bookcases full of heavy, stately old books, all of them obviously well-worn. There are scattered sheets of half-finished poems strewn about, multiple ink stains on his tableclothes, and several editions of various newspapers still lying around near the armchairs. His piano bench has a folio of sheet music slowly slipping out everywhere. All of it has a feeling of casual chaos about it, an elegant form of disorder. That is markedly not the case in his actual studio, which looks like a very colorful bomb went off in it. There are sketches, poems, and notes over every surface, numerous scorch marks from Corresponding, a dozen canvases in various stages of completion, open books, long-forgotten cups of tea, empty plates stacked up in the corners, many, many jars of honey, and even a half-chiseled sculpture with dust settled on it. His studio is just regular chaos.
#plans: prodigal astronomer#thank u friend i am very sorry for the late response#life sure do be like that#solreefs
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wip 👀?
bahaha what do you wanna know darling? world, characters, plots? thank you for the ask, love <3
ask me about my wip?
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reaching through the screen to give you a slice of strawberry bread. we are sitting on the floor sharing bread and talking about books.
GIMME GIMME GIMMEE TIMEE GIMRE GIME GIME GIMME GIMME GIMMGIM IG, IGMME WANT WANT WANT WWNT WANT WANT EANT WANT EAN TNWS TNWS NTWS TNWS TNWA FQWANT WANT WANT
#quil's queries#shitpost#solreefs#sorry for the delay#when you sent this I knew I wanted to make a silly meme to answer#so I put it off but alas#the time really got away from me#but!#not anymore!!#blease give me bread
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do you have any tips for drawing expressions? it’s one thing that I always notice about your art, I love how expressive your characters are.
thank you so much!! it really means a ton bc expressions are one of the things i've focused & worked the hardest on over the years :D ♥
which ALSO MEANS--HA, YOU ACTIVATED MY SPECIAL INTEREST TRAP CARD i am now going to talk at you all for far too long about it >:) buckle up!
prefacing this by saying i Love animation, this makes me biased as hell with where i get my sources + how i study art. anyway!
i think my biggest #1 tip is don't be afraid to get goofy with it--characters don't have to look cool and stoic all the time, they can be silly! if an expression reads better, but looks a little off-model, do it anyway! make that guy look weird!
i draw little thumbnail expressions a Lot, whether for actual art or for just fun doodling. i don't have any recent ones to hand-- but here's some from a while ago. they help a ton to figure out what works quickly without worrying about actual facial features
they also help to see if i can push an expression further, it's easier to test out weird things on a tiny round doodle and then translate that into an actual drawing later on. pushing expressions To The Limits is a really good exercise in itself!
gonna put the rest under the cut bc it's getting long & i have a lot more to say
ok this in itself is a whole topic i can go on about for hours, but i'll try to keep it semi brief--i Love considering how different characters would show emotions! how one character would express sadness, how that would be different to another, how one character would smile vs. another, stuff like that!
related, giving characters individual expression quirks. twitch's :3 mouth & lazy lidded eyes if you could see them anyway & Very Smug Eyebrows, while grace has heavy low eyebrows & sad puppy eyes & usually looks at least 10% unsure at all times. it makes every single twitch smile look slightly not genuine and makes grace look. well. you know. the quirks are really fun to think of, and it makes drawing expressions feel a lot more fun when you personalise them!!
expressions can be easier to think of when you put characters in scenarios & consider how they'd react. it can also help to think of the character Moving/talking, instead of as a static image. mini comics or just adding dialogue to art helps a lot with this, i've only just started doing it and i'm having a blast!!
ok this one is weird and hard to explain and might only be applicable to me bc i can't see images in my brain-- but i'll throw it out there just in case! lots of artists make faces in the mirror to reference their own expressions, but it's never worked for me
i Do still act stuff out in my brain & make faces irl, but instead of doing it in the mirror, i just make the expression & consider how my face is moving in Words? ok for example This Comic, last panel for twitch--i'd run through the dialogue in my head and move around how i feel like they would, and list it off in Words--raised eyebrows, closed eyes, tilted head, etc etc. then i have a framework to base the expression on! and i don't need to stare into my own face in the mirror for reference. no mirror needed at all, actually. win/win. i do this for body language too
(yes this makes you look insane btw. sorry. if you do it too long best case scenario you get very dextrous eyebrows and worst case scenario you might start making cartoon character faces irl (or both) (i'm both))
not sure how much it helps specifically with expressions outside of animation, but it's a fun exercise--learning the limits of a character's face, animation calls it squash & stretch. drawing a face in the two most extreme states. so on character expression sheets you'll see weird faces like this⤵️ that's what that is
another exercise, i always have a ton of art saved that i like the expressions of. usually a lot of concept art for films. i'll do studies of them & redraw them, and/or take ocs and redraw them with those expressions! it's a great way to look at how other artists do stuff and yoink bits you like.
you'll hear this a lot if you look up Any art tips, but references & studies are great. i get a lot of inspo from disney concept art bc their artists are very talented people, but currently i hope disney studios' own hubris eats it alive. i want to see mickey mouse buried in a hole, the rat bastard. anyway some places i personally take inspiration from:
i look at a lot of animation concept art, some good sources are characterdesignreferences, livinglineslibrary, there's pdfs of animation art books all over the place too.
specific concept artists i like are jin kim & shiyoon kim !! they do Great expressions.
outside of film industry, tealin and tracy butler of lackadaisy cats are some inspirations! tracy butler has a great expressions tutorial here
if you find this stuff interesting & like reading, the illusion of life by ollie johnston & frank thomas is an incredible insight into the thought process behind stuff like this! there's a pdf here, unfortunately just a scanned copy but worth a read if you like this stuff!! specifically chapters 'character development', 'animating expressions & dialogue', and 'acting & emotions'
sorry that was an essay and a half but hopefully it was a little bit helpful!! i always love talking about this stuff so if you want anything clarified/just wanna talk about it more i am Always ready to go off >:3
#inquiries#solreefs#i have no idea how to explain these things in a way that feels Tangibly Helpful but i do love talking about it#hopefully it helps a Bit!! ty for giving me the excuse to go off hehehe#i wanted to do doodles to go along with stuff but my arms are achey today#alas. words will have to do#fredspeaks
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Jake: "Oh, I’m too old for stuffed animals." Skill issue. Sorry you can’t appreciate little creatures made to hang out with you, I on the other hand am full of joyous whimsy, and therefore vastly superior.
#submission#source: user Solreefs on Tumblr#god i hope no one has done this before#at least with jake anyhow#btw i was gonna go with jade for this but then the phrase joyous whimsy was there#and for some reason i was decked by the thought of 'what if jake instead' lmao#also you know this gave me an excuse to reference dirk lmao#bro is getting MOCKED for not owning stuffed animals (he does have the fucked up puppets tho. those gotta count for something lmao)#//#homestuck#incorrect homestuck quotes#jake english#dirk strider#mod terezi#those smuppets count for nothing i am afraid#they were not made with whimsy and are incapable of knowing joy
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happy birthday! here is a picture of my dog that my dad sent me recently. he is not supposed to be in the dirt box. this does not stop him.
no god nor man could stop this rascal. much like this beast when I ask him not to fall asleep directly where I was about to sit.
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do u think tam and or linh would just walk into solreefs kitchen looking for sweets and yelp at the living hunk of stone standing there staring at them. like oh shit. i live with this guy. the hell.
#kotlc#kotlc fandom#kotlc tiergan#sir tiergan#tiergan alenefar#kotlc memes#kotlc granite#kotlc tam#tam song#linh song#kotlc linh#kotlc solreef
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