Scaevola Writes Stuff

Speculative Writer | Journalist | 28 | Epileptic | Hemiparetic

[scaevolawrites]

A WRITEBLR (RE)INTRODUCTION - @scaevolawrites

Hello there, It's been a couple of years since I've been properly active on here - so it's high time I reintroduce myself. I'm Scaevola (or Scae for short), he/him and am 26 years of age. Currently busy with a triple major in Journalism and Film & Literary Sciences. If I'm not working on that you can find me either engrossed in my writing or lost in a Wikipedia rabbit hole somewhere - it's a known weakness. I mostly write fantasy across a number of sub-genres, but historical fantasy tends to be my favourite one.

CURRENT PROJECTS;

Captured Lightning - Historical Fantasy with Horror Elements

At the tail end of the Industrial Revolution machines, factories and their fumes are becoming a permanent fixture in lands across Europe. The hidden inhabitants of the wilds that still sprawl over the continent feel the need to act. But with the fae locked away, the dryads afraid to leave either forest or lake, and the witches' plans continuing to fail, the future of the wilds seem uncertain. And what is with these odd lightning strikes that are occurring more and more frequently? [Tag] // [Old WIP Intro] (New one coming soon)

The Lightbringer Sessions - Contemporary Fantasy

Ophelia is a first-year Psychology student when she one day has the urge to visit the local park, where she encounters a strange fellow. He somehow convinces her into a therapy session, and she finds herself sitting on a park bench, jotting down everything he says. The cryptic man turns out to be Lucifer himself - and Ophelia has unwittingly struck a deal with him, to be his therapist. With all the strangeness that comes from being Satan's shrink, Ophelia tries to focus on the mundane parts of her life, until even those become alien to her. [Tag]

FUTURE PROJECTS;

The Sacred Disease - Mythological Fantasy with Eldritch Elements

During a battle Damokles, a Spartan soldier, is assaulted by terrifying visions from a vengeful and blind Appolo, the Sun God. As a result, he has been branded an ill omen and is exiled from the city. Damokles resolves to find out why this fate has befallen him and what Apollo's plans are. All while Damokles' former allies are hell-bent on vanquishing him.

More info on these projects will be coming in the future. If you'd like to be added or removed from any of my taglists, do not hesitate to shoot me a dm or send me an ask!

TAGLIST [Send me an ask to be +/-]

@lazy-bumblebee @endymions @inky-duchess @ladywithalamp @talesofnetline @seomarshalls @veneritia @seasteading @raven-ink

(This taglist will be a one time thing, and consists of people who were interested in my work in the past. This is just to get the word out. My taglists are wiped clean, so if you're tagged above, and are still interested please let me know.)

[kotori-mochi]

Can't afford art school?

After seeing post like this 👇

And this gem 👇

As well as countless of others from the AI generator community. Just talking about how "inaccessible art" is, I decided why not show how wrong these guys are while also helping anyone who actually wants to learn.

Here is the first one ART TEACHERS! There are plenty online and in places like youtube.

📺Here is my list:

Proko (Free, mostly teaches anatomy and how to draw people. But does have art talks and teaches the basics.)

Marc Brunet (Free but he does have other classes for a cheap price. Use to work for Blizzard and teaches you everything)

Aaron Rutten (free, tips about art, talks about art programs and the best products for digital art)

BoroCG (free, teaches a verity of art mediums from 3D modeling to digital painting. As well as some tips that can be used across styles)

Jesse J. Jones (free, talks about animating)

Jesus Conde (free, teaches digital painting and has classes in Spanish)

Mohammed Agbadi (free, he gives some advice in some videos and talks about art)

Ross Draws (free, he does have other classes for a good price. Mostly teaching character designs and simple backgrounds.)

SamDoesArts (free, gives good advice and critiques)

Drawfee Show (free, they do give some good advice and great inspiration)

The Art of Aaron Blaise ( useful tips for digital art and animation. Was an animator for Disney. Mostly nature art)

Bobby Chiu ( useful tips and interviews with artist who are in the industry or making a living as artist)

Sinix Design (has some tips on drawing people)

Winged canvas (art school for free on a verity of mediums)

Bob Ross (just a good time, learn how to paint, as well as how too relax when doing art. "there are no mistakes only happy accidents", this channel also provides tips from another artist)

Scott Christian Sava (Inspiration and provides tips and advice)

Pikat (art advice and critiques)

Drawbox (a suggested cheap online art school, made of a community of artist)

Skillshare (A cheap learning site that has art classes ranging from traditional to digital. As well as Animation and tutorials on art programs. All under one price, in the USA it's around $34 a month)

Human anatomy for artist (not a video or teacher but the site is full of awesome refs to practice and get better at anatomy)

Second part BOOKS, I have collected some books that have helped me and might help others.

📚Here is my list:

The "how to draw manga" series produced by Graphic-sha. These are for manga artist but they give great advice and information.

"Creating characters with personality" by Tom Bancroft. A great book that can help not just people who draw cartoons but also realistic ones. As it helps you with facial ques and how to make a character interesting.

"Albinus on anatomy" by Robert Beverly Hale and Terence Coyle. Great book to help someone learn basic anatomy.

"Artistic Anatomy" by Dr. Paul Richer and Robert Beverly Hale. A good book if you want to go further in-depth with anatomy.

"Directing the story" by Francis Glebas. A good book if you want to Story board or make comics.

"Animal Anatomy for Artists" by Eliot Goldfinger. A good book for if you want to draw animals or creatures.

"Constructive Anatomy: with almost 500 illustrations" by George B. Bridgman. A great book to help you block out shadows in your figures and see them in a more 3 diamantine way.

"Dynamic Anatomy: Revised and expand" by Burne Hogarth. A book that shows how to block out shapes and easily understand what you are looking out. When it comes to human subjects.

"An Atlas of animal anatomy for artist" by W. Ellenberger and H. Dittrich and H. Baum. This is another good one for people who want to draw animals or creatures.

Etherington Brothers, they make books and have a free blog with art tips.

📝As for Supplies, I recommend starting out cheap, buying Pencils and art paper at dollar tree or 5 below. If you want to go fancy Michaels is always a good place for traditional supplies. They also get in some good sales and discounts. For digital art, I recommend not starting with a screen art drawing tablet as they are usually more expensive.

For the Best art Tablet I recommend either Xp-pen, Bamboo or Huion. Some can range from about 40$ to the thousands.

💻As for art programs here is a list of Free to pay.

Clip Studio paint ( you can choose to pay once or sub and get updates. Galaxy, Windows, macOS, iPad, iPhone, Android, or Chromebook device. )

Procreate ( pay once for $9.99 usd, IPAD & IPHONE ONLY)

Blender (for 3D modules/sculpting, animation and more. Free)

PaintTool SAI (pay but has a 31 day free trail)

Krita (Free)

mypaint (free)

FireAlpaca (free)

Aseprite ($19.99 usd but has a free trail, for pixel art Windows & macOS)

Drawpile (free and for if you want to draw with others)

IbisPaint (free, phone app ONLY)

Medibang (free, IPAD, Android and PC)

NOTE: Some of these can work on almost any computer like Clip and Sai but others will require a bit stronger computer like Blender. Please check their sites for if your computer is compatible.

So do with this information as you will but as you can tell there are ways to learn how to become an artist, without breaking the bank. The only thing that might be stopping YOU from using any of these things, is YOU.

I have made time to learn to draw and many artist have too. Either in-between working two jobs or taking care of your family and a job or regular school and chores. YOU just have to take the time or use some time management, it really doesn't take long to practice for like an hour or less. YOU also don't have to do it every day, just once or three times a week is fine.

Hope this was helpful and have a great day.

"also apologies for any spelling or grammar errors, I have Dyslexia and it makes my brain go XP when it comes to speech or writing"

[animalphotorefs]

Boosting this in case any of the programs and books suggested are useful.

All the photos on this tumblr ad the animal photo reference site I run is another resource available for artists to use!

As long as you’re not using AI to create your art, you can reference / trace / draw / recombine / make any sort of art you want, with any of the photos, for free.

[retquits]

ideal evolution scenarios

[retquits]

a minor addendum based on feedback

[caffeineecold]

hey girl are you gold and mercury. because. AuHg

[caffeineecold]

don't be funnier than me on my own post

[kochofairy]

[eightglass]

hey girl are you nickel cerium cobalt carbon potassium silicon sulfur because NiCe CoCK SiS

[nova-mist]

@binas-official

[currentlycryingaboutlancelot]

shoutout to my brother for setting me up for this

[currentlycryingaboutlancelot]

guys if you keep reblogging this i’m gonna have to tell him it blew up on tumblr and my credibility from this comeback will instantly plummet

[currentlycryingaboutlancelot]

oh no this is still getting notes

[currentlycryingaboutlancelot]

this broke 10,000 notes so

[currentlycryingaboutlancelot]

results are in. no I can’t tell him about this I can’t do it

[currentlycryingaboutlancelot]

I’ve made a mistake

[currentlycryingaboutlancelot]

OKAY

[currentlycryingaboutlancelot]

[currentlycryingaboutlancelot]

well he believes me now!

[currentlycryingaboutlancelot]

ABORT ABORT ABORT

[what-even-is-thiss]

So many people who wanna argue with me about King Arthur clearly haven’t read the actual medieval texts. I know this because if they actually read the source material they’d know that when it comes to King Arthur, everything is made up and the points don’t matter.

[what-even-is-thiss]

“King Arthur couldn’t have fought the Roman Empire”

Try telling that to Geoffrey of Monmouth.

[what-even-is-thiss]

“You can’t just add in new characters”

Try telling that to Chrétien de Troyes. Aka the guy who invented Lancelot.

“Arthurian canon isn’t French”

Clearly you don’t own an air fryer. Also clearly you haven’t read literally anything written after the Norman invasion.

“Arthur needs to be a knight in shining armor”

If he lived at all he lived almost a thousand years before widespread adaption of plate armor.

“He can’t be in plate armor because that’s anachronistic”

Try telling that to Thomas Mallory.

“The fairy stuff is leftover from Celtic myth/Celtic gods)

A lot of that stuff including the lady of the lake wasn’t added until the 12th century actually. Centuries after England was christianized. It was also mostly added by the French poets.

[what-even-is-thiss]

God, I sure hope so.

[charlesoberonn]

It can be counted as arthurian legend now if you're not a coward.

[vaspider]

I got to write chunks of the Storyguiding chapter for the Scion 2.0 book Once And Future, which covered Arthur, the Welsh pantheon, & Welsh mythological creatures. Rather than try to reframe what I said, bc I very much agree, I'm just gonna:

(I absolutely love @dice-wizard for many reasons but in this case for telling the art folx to give us a Purimspiel scene complete with hamentaschen, masks, and groggers.)

[sycamorality]

shoutout all my neurodivergent folk who Dont have autism or adhd

[sycamorality]

hey fellow autistic folk and adhders. this post isn't about you. this post is about all the other neurodivergence that is specifically Not autism or adhd. maybe the clearest post on the site about that actually. i'm autistic and have adhd too, but this post is specifically not about that. stop making it about your autism or your adhd.

it's about npd, bpd, psychosis, schizophrenia, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, epilepsy, dld, depression, anxiety, tourettes, down syndrome, ptsd, and everything else. it's specifically about neurodivergence that ISNT autism or adhd.

[bugjolteon]

so many. stupid fucking people. smugly wrong. the term . "all art is political". does not mean. every artist puts political intent into their work. no. the guy drawing dicks on the subway did not intend any deep message by it. HOWEVER. all art. IS political. he chose to draw that dick. for a reason. society shaped what he finds funny. what he finds shocking. the fact he chose to draw a dick at all says something about his society. actually, the fact it is a dick and not a pussy is itself political. we are all. ALL. shaped by our environments. in an alternate universe a woman is drawing a vulva on the wall. and shes saying "TCH! this isnt political. stupid liberals". all art. has political CONTEXT. that is a more specific way to phrase it. because we live in a society. who has access to art? where is the art located? who is the artist? why did they draw that in that specific location. what led to them even having the sharpie they used to draw the dick to begin with. their society shaped their tools! their society shaped their choice of subject! their society shaped the location of their art! but these people are too stupid to understand this. so theyll continue pretending that they are not shaped by their political environment. SAD!

[bugjolteon]

out of all the posts ive made that have blown up this has to be the most fascinating Given how i was too drunk to remember how to form full sentences. but was i wrong? no.

[snekdood]

but have you ever even heard of the fynbos biome ?!!?!?!?!

a biome so unique in south africa that it's earned an entirely new biome classification for itself. so many plants are endemic to this area, and ofc it's under threat of extinction.

[wiley-treehouse-gardens]

It's a wonderful place! I had the privilege of visiting the fynbos last year and it was as amazing as these photos show and more!

[ladillados]

[kontrollsysteme]

we’ve gone from the yee haw agenda to the ye olde thot programme

[lloerwyn-deactivated20201104]

Ah yes, those slutty slutty Landsknecht shorts:

[petermorwood]

The bare-legged / hot-pants look was fairly common, since the whole point about being a Landsknecht (or Reislaufer, their Swiss equivalent) was to look outrageous.

Most period illustrations of Landsknechts are black-and-white woodcuts…

…though in 1905 a book called „Geschichte des Kostüms“ - History of Costume - assembled a bunch of black-and-whites and added colour.

If they look excessively gaudy, they’re not, because these next prints were coloured in-period by an artist called Erhard Schön, and it’s fair to assume he was representing what he saw.

In short - or in shorts - those reenactor costumes are spot on. :->

[brightwanderer]

Something mentioned nowhere in this post that I have just learned from googling: these guys were not Ye Olde Medieval Dandies. They were 15th-16th century mercenaries. Pretty hardcore, too. They were exempt from sumptuary laws (ie the rules that said you couldn’t wear certain colours or cloth or styles) and apparently their response to that was technicolour thotpants.

[tuulikki]

I was complaining earlier about costuming in both “historical” settings and in fantasy/scifi. This is exactly what I mean when I say a knowledge of actual history would enrich the conceptual creative palette for things like “hardcore mercenary outfits.”

[bikiniarmorbattledamage]

I dedicate this reblog to all the nerdbros who conflate “historical accuracy” with “no women, queerness and people of color” and “white men with swords looking boring and serious”. Reality is so much more colorful and interesting than that!

BTW, one of the ways you can tell this is Renaissance-era fashion are the prominent codpieces. Once again, sexy male warriors with bared skin and dick bulges are literally more accurate than sexy female warriors with boob armor.

~Ozzie

note: OP blog of this post features NSFW content. Viewer discretion is advised.

[boybeetles]

You know technology literacy is dying because I saw this meme with 76k likes

F11 the full screen button? You’re scared of the full screen button? F10?? It opens the menu bar???

[boybeetles]

Computers are so scary what if I accidentally hit F12 in a steam game and it takes a screenshot. What if I press shift + F12 while in word and accidentally save my document 😖

[yetanothergreyjedi]

[shower-thoughts-last-responder]

If you had to learn what the F keys on your computer do through me reblogging this post, then I'm glad you did. Computer literacy is not a skill that gets taught anymore, and it is absolutely one that needs to be taught in order to be learned. Don't ever feel bad for not knowing something, but ☝️ don't ever stop learning learning about your environment, the tools you use, and especially the people around you

[headspace-hotel]

Never stop learning+ Never stop sharing what you learned

[xekstrin]

My boyfriend, again blending together fanfiction tropes: So what if when you finally find your soulmate, that’s when you discover if you’re alpha or omega, right?

Me, hands shaking as I frantically search for pen & paper: KEEP TALKING

[xekstrin]

Me: Seems hellish

Boyfriend: So does being an ant person

Me: Again, baby, they’re not ants

Boyfriend: YES THEY ARE. They communicate via pheromones— LIKE ANTS.

Me: So back to the soulmate thing….

Boyfriend: You could trick them into following orders and thinking they’re dead by spraying them with a spritz bottle. I think they need a queen.

Me: So back to the soulmate thing…. Seems hellish!

Boyfriend: Not really. If being around the other person is what triggers the changes, if you want to go back to normal… all you need to do is leave.

Me, writing: (You found your soulmate. It’s changing you in scary ways. All you need to do is leave… how difficult would it be to leave? What pressures exist to stay?)

Boyfriend: So these ant-people—

Me: OMEGAVERSE IS NOT ANTS!!!!!!

[twtrout]

ough my son…

based on this

[coldgoldlazarus]

I want to see a work of fiction that reverses the "vampires are snobby upper class, werewolves are brutish lower class" stereotypes

[coldgoldlazarus]

Consider a vampire's reliance on blood as a metaphor for living paycheck-to-paycheck and depending on the kindness of others to get by, and the desparation that can make one slip into taking.

[toaarcan]

@tiredspacedragon's tags.

[intothestacks]

[fiendish-illos]

hey dont cry Autism Creature speculative biology

[jellogram]

It's crazy how humanity invented bicycles and decided to try it with one big wheel and one small wheel BEFORE they tried having two wheels the same size

[experimentaloatmeal]

This is not quite true, though it would be very funny if it was.

The classic "old bicycle" we're all thinking of, which looked like this:

Is actually a technological compromise developed in the early 1870s. The very first bicycle was invented in 1817 and it looked like this:

It had no pedals and the rider would push it along with their feet, the same way toddlers learn to ride bikes today.

In about 1864, a mechanic in france came up with the idea of adding pedals to the front wheel, making the first self-propelled bicycle.

This was a great improvement because it's a lot easier to move and a lot more fun than the Fisher Price version above. It was a big thing for about five years, but there were some drawbacks.

First, because the pedals were directly attached to the front wheel, you couldn't go very fast without moving your legs incredibly quickly, which takes a lot of effort. It also is kind of awkward to steer because your legs are in the way of the wheel.

The other issue was bumps. Roads were not very smooth in the 1870s, most of them were unpaved and full of ruts, potholes, and rocks. And at first there were no rubber tires, just wooden wheels with metal rims. Altogether this made for a very bumpy ride.

The big front wheel, which was made possible by the invention of wire spokes and solid rubber tires, solved all of these problems. A big wheel runs over bumps more easily: think of how rough it is to ride roller skates over bumps in a sidewalk that you would hardly notice on a bike. And the bigger the wheel, the faster you can move with one push of the pedals. Having the seat on top of the wheel, instead of behind, also makes steering less cumbersome.

There are of course drawbacks to this design, in particular being so high up makes it very easy to go over the handlebars if you crash, and more likely to hit your head or break your arm.

Two more inventions helped drive this comical beast into extinction and bring back a more balanced, and safer, bicycle.

The first was the pneumatic tire, which contains a cushion of air, and makes for a much softer ride compared to a solid tire or a metal one. The cushion effect eliminates the need for a big wheel to smooth out the bumps in the road.

The second invention was the sprocket and chain drive. This lets you put the pedals anywhere you want on the bike, and with a big gear at the pedals and a small one at the wheel, you can get more speed out of a small wheel.

The first modern bicycle to combine a sprocket and pneumatic tires was built in 1879. It was an instant hit, not just because it was much less dangerous, but because the low drag profile and the smooth pneumatic tires made for a faster ride, and the trendsetters in cycling, then as now, were the racing community. There have been plenty of innovations and modifications in the years since, from ten-speed gears to carbon fiber frames, but these are all variations on a theme. The basic form of the bicycle has not changed.

Happy riding.

[jellogram]

Okay full disclosure I was high as a kite when I made this post, otherwise I might have fact-checked my joke before posting, but this is awesome. Thank you for the bicycle lore.