Fire Flower

• And all I loved, I loved alone. • • Wiŋkte/Two-Spirit Lakota NDN • • Old enough to have a Drinking Permit •

[lestat-de-lionfish]

When I mean “white people”, I’ll say white people. When I mean something else, I’ll say something else. Wild concept, I know.

[lestat-de-lionfish]

"The world is changed because you are made of ivory and gold. The curves of your lips rewrite history."

— Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

A little portrait of my DND character because I'm a fucking nerd. He's mostly based off Apollo and Viktor Frankenstein with a little bit of Wizard Howl sprinkled in. I know what I like, and it's bisexual disaster magicians who make questionable life choices in the ultimate pursuit of the greater good.

Magnus Bane, Adam Parrish, Wizard Howl, Viktor from Arcane

I tried really hard to make his eyes look like a solar eclipse and I think I succeeded. Darkness into light and all that symbolism shit.

[lestat-de-lionfish]

I think this piece speaks for itself.

[lestat-de-lionfish]

Happy Valentine’s Day!

What better way to celebrate than with beautiful women? Here’s the lovely Victoria De Angelis as the third instalment of my single-colour portrait series.

As always, ink for the line work, then coloured pencils and a touch of metallic acrylic paint for the details. (I use a *very* small paintbrush)

This is, unfortunately, censored because I do not trust social media algorithms not to falsely flag art.

[lestat-de-lionfish]

Finished this a while ago and forgot to cross-post it here. But I’m calling this piece “Thomas Durden”

[lestat-de-lionfish]

I did Ethan in blue, so I thought I’d do the rest of the band in other colours. So, here’s Thomas.

I hate drawing with purple, but I really love how this came out.

[lestat-de-lionfish]

Coming in hot with the same hyperfixation. But hey. Whatever keeps a bitch doing art, right?

Might make this into a set. Might not. No clue, right now.

[lestat-de-lionfish]

Portrait I finished recently of Ethan Torchio of Måneskin. He’s such a beautiful and magnetic person, and I wanted to try capture that in my art of him.

Wanted to try something new, colour-wise— and I’m glad I did. Had a lot of fun with it.

As usual, this was done with coloured pencils and ink, with a little acrylic paint for the metallic details

[magpie-moving]

do y'all remember when people on tiktok were talking about how it's morally wrong to name yourself "arson" because it's a crime?

anyway if you're trans and you need a new name, may i suggest Murder?

[magpie-moving]

they were like "that's a real crime that happens to real people!" like how did they think that would go irl? do they think someone would introduce themself, say, "hey, my name is arson, what's yours?" and then the response they'd get us, "a‐arson...? 😰 like.... as in... setting property on fire....? that.... that happened to me once, i... i need to sit down.."

[magpie-moving]

stop being funnier than me on my own post!!!

[penny-anna]

[lestat-de-lionfish]

So. Fun story. My nickname at most of my jobs/volunteer events has actually been Arson. Because while my last name is absolutely bitchin’, it was discovered early on that shouting “Hey! Fire!” down a flight line or across an auto shop was, generally, not a good idea. So Arson became the running nickname, and everyone knows who’s being talked about/referred to, and nobody’s confused by false alarms.

I do have some great stories about the false alarms, though.

(Also, I’m not particularly worried about putting my last name on the internet because you literally can’t find anyone in my family just by simple Google searches— even if you had first names. And that’s assuming people actually believe me about it, anyway.)

[neil-gaiman]

Hello Sir, I am halfway through the Graveyard Book and I was wondering whether it would be suitable for my 9 year old brother to read. Would your recommend a different book or perhaps skipping the beginning? The beginning of it is quite gruesome but I think he'll be fine 😅

I don't know your brother, but if you think he'll be fine then I wouldn't worry.

[lestat-de-lionfish]

I mean. My parents had no real metric of what was appropriate for a young child (consequently, neither do I), but I was introduced to The Graveyard Book much younger than 9. I loved it, even when I was little. So much so that my parents had to get me a CD set of the audiobook because they got tired of reading it to me. I’d even play it for my friends at sleepovers.

I like to think I turned out alright. At least, as far as anyone whose favourite book is The Graveyard Book can hope to be. (I love it an unreasonable amount and I keep a copy of the audio book on me wherever I go— either on CD or digitally on my phone even if I don’t listen to it as often as I used to.)

[ruimtetijd]

SAVE A BUTCH'S LIFE:

HOW DO I KNOW IF A BUTTON DOWN SHIRT FITS PROPERLY

I AM WELL ENDOWED AND MY HIPS, NOT UNLIKE SHAKIRA'S, ARE ENTIRELY HONEST

anon i wish i knew how to help you 😔 if any butches wanna help out pls do

[lestat-de-lionfish]

Biggest thing is it has to sit right on your shoulders. The top of the shoulder seam should sit right at the corner of your shoulder where your arm starts.

Accommodating for a comfortable fit around your shoulders usually has the rest of the shirt falling more or less into place— but you can also get a good tailor to alter it if any parts feel awkwardly loose. Pro tip— it’s a lot easier to fix loose than tight.

Another thing to note is the cut of the shirt. Women’s dress shirts are cut differently than men’s to accommodate the differences in body shape. Women’s dress shirts often have either darts or what’s called a Princess seam to allow for more space in the bust area— which will help to minimise the gapping between buttons for people with a larger bust.

Here’s how darts work:

Compared to the construction of a Princess seam— which is much sleeker, but more difficult to sew.

If the gapping is still an issue, you can try to add a glue/iron-on set of Velcro strips between buttons, or a similarly discreet method of extra closures.

My final piece of advice, which may not translate to women’s cut shirts (I don’t wear them, so I genuinely don’t know) is to look at the hemline. A curved bottom hem indicates the shirt is meant to be tucked into the pants, where a straight cut hemline is meant to be left untucked.

[lestat-de-lionfish]

So excited to finally have everything completed and ready to post. This series of portraits has been months in the making, and I’ve been working on it since the start of May. I’m immensely proud of the completed set, especially the final portrait.

[neil-gaiman]

So, do you think the Queen is still alive? I heard she hasn't been seen in public since October.

She was seen in public on November 18th, on Dec 16th, and she did the Christmas broadcast. Also, she stripped the Duke of York of his "military affiliations and royal patronages" (you think anyone else gets to do that?).

She's 95. When she dies, you'll know. Everyone will know. And Charles will be King, and the postage stamps and coins in the UK will be all wrong.

[neil-gaiman]

If she was dead, she got better.

[neil-gaiman]

Now I believe she's dead, yes.

[sapphicconservative]

Happy 3rd day of March! Gas jumped up 40¢ so far this month.

Maybe this will be the month we'll realize we can't be dependent on other nations for our gas? One can hope, at least...

[sapphicconservative]

@lestat-de-lionfish

We shouldn't be relying on a foreign nation who hates us for something so critical for our infrastructure. We need to be fuel and energy independent, which means considering all options before willingly signing away to nations who make threats towards us. They who control the oil, control our economy. It is a very integrated part of our economy. When gas prices rise, so does everything else because of how reliant we are with it.

I also never mentioned the keystone pipeline because there are other ways for a nation to be energy independent. Fracking is an option we can consider, for instance.

[lestat-de-lionfish]

And fracking still destroys the environment. It’s a temporary solution, sure. But whose land are they going to perform that on? Certainly not where high populations of white people are. Not unless they’re poor, at least.

Objectively speaking, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Relying on a foreign nation puts us in a bad spot like we’re in now. Fucking over our own people to drill for oil isn’t exactly the win you’re framing it as. Historically, that’s only damaged already impoverished communities or violated treaty rights. Or both.

The solution isn’t fucking the planet further, regardless of what part of the world you’re sacrificing. I agree with you on energy independence being vital. But not through oil. If the US is going to take steps to be energy independent long term, it might as well do it properly by investing clean energy.

[lestat-de-lionfish]

I’m opening up commissions for a little while, and thought I’d post about it here even though I don’t have a huge following.

These are the main things I bead, and some examples of my work within each. I do, however, have the ability to bead other things. I’ve done shoes, made and beaded pouches and coin purses, hair barrettes, etc. So if you’ve got a specific request for something that’s not here, don’t be afraid to ask.

Just message me if you’re interested and I’d be happy to discuss things with you!

[neil-gaiman]

I just wanted you to know that I always loved the graveyard book. I was really depressed when I found it but ended up sneaking to the library every lunch to read it and couldn’t loan books so I hid it with the maps so no one else would check it out until I finished it. the part about the Danse macabre and the lady in the grey has never left me, nor has Silas or Miss Lupescu loving him in an unconventional way but clearly, or the witch, or how the girl still left, or Mrs. Owens poem. It was my first introduction to beautiful spookiness that could touch someone which is one of the most important things to me now (spooky is not the right word, but horror isn’t either, so I’ll settle.) the part about how the dead don’t change but the living get to might have saved my life. So thank you I guess.

You are so, so very welcome. (I guess.)

[lestat-de-lionfish]

The Graveyard Book is definitely my favourite of yours. I grew up with it. My parents burned a copy of the audiobook onto a couple CDs for me so I could listen to it whenever I wanted, and I would put them in my portable DVD player and take them everywhere. I’d bring that book on long car rides or over to friends’ houses so they could try the book. I’d listen to it as I drew or played or went to sleep at night.

I’m almost 22, now, and I’ve got a copy of it on my phone. I still like to listen to chapters of it on bad days. Or when I’m spending hours doing art. Or sometimes on long car rides like the three hours it takes me to go and visit my parents.

I love The Graveyard Book like an old friend, and it’s always going to be something I carry with me. It’s honestly probably a big part of the reason why I just applied for a job at a cemetery I love— and why I’ve wanted to work at a cemetery for as long as I can remember. I guess I hope seeing this post today of all days, and seeing that someone else loves that book as much as I do, means I’m heading in the right direction.

[lestat-de-lionfish]

Kind of a personal, unhinged, manic ramble. But it’s 1:30 in the morning and I’m just in that kind of mood.

So, there’s nothing concrete yet because nobody answers emails at 1 in the morning in a Saturday. But.

I just applied for a position in the funeral home for my favourite cemetery in the city I live in. I’m not the top candidate because I don’t have a bachelor’s degree in anything, but it said on the listing that the degree wasn’t a necessary qualification— only a preferred one. But I have all the mandatory qualifications, including nearly 6 years of experience in customer service. Benefits of being poor as shit and joining the workforce in high school, I guess.

Anyway. I know it sounds weird to be excited to the point of mania over the possibility of working in a funeral home and helping grieving families bury their dead relatives. I know exactly how that sounds. But I really love this cemetery for a lot of reasons. And my little goth ass has wanted to work in a cemetery literally as long as I can remember. I’d like to be a groundskeeper, but I’m not physically capable. Which sucks. But the bright side is there’s still something I can do there and I really hope I at least land an interview. I’m just really excited and I hope that if I scream about it to enough people my ancestors will hear me and make it happen for me.

Just. I’m really excited and I hope I came across the job listing for a reason. I’m not sure how much I believe in anything like fate or destiny, but I think things have a way of working out in the long run.