Going insane and collecting drawing advice from all the artists I can before I fall asleep. What is your favourite bit of art advice, and what is your easiest piece of drawing advice?
Don't compare yourself to other people. "Comparison is the thief of joy" A friend of mine said to me, back when we were in animation college, that she was speaking to an art director in the industry and he said to her - "There will always be 100 people better than you but you will always be better than 1000 people". Celebrate other peoples work and your own. Be inspired, not jealous.
As for easiest. Draw something every day no matter how small it is and improvement will come with consistency.
Also here's a link to a fantastic resource: Art resources
This is your reminder that not only are you an exceptional artist, both with your chibis and your full figures, but you're a genuinely kind person and always sososososo supportive. You cheer me on and it brings me joy. Not to mention how creative you are and how many of the community projects you take on. You are a powerhouse and you should be so proud of you. I know I am 💖
Mirella💛💛
I feel like this is the thing I should be writing and placing into your ask box, friend! You’re so extremely kind to me. Every time I get a message from you it makes a part of my heart happy. You take the idea of community so seriously and are always uplifting others I think💛 and you make the sweetest art and have the most fun ideas, too!! I am so glad to know you!
Bird friend, can you tell me in a wing fic, what bird wings would you assign to the different DBDA cast?
OOOO yes yes yes okay lets see. forewarning: it may take me some time to properly analyze/decide, so if it takes a while for you to get this response i do apologize --w--" (editing as im about to post: yeah hello like two months later lmao)
BUT anyway. lets go down the lineeee. Everyone is probably gonna get at Least two wing possibilities (possibly with more added on in a reblog due to the image limit), because you sent me a question about birds and thus i have no self-restraint. Nor any regrets <3. This is organized with image-supplemented dissertations on each of the core four to start, with a list of potential wing assignments for the other characters at the end :D (I will probably reblog this with additional pictures for the other characters after I post.)
Putting everything under the cut, because predictably, I went absolutely bonkers about this.
Charles
Charles is the self-proclaimed brawn and the guard dog between he and Edwin, with his self-assigned roll being to take the hits/capture their adversaries' attention so Edwin can magic them down... which, idk how that would translate into bird symbolism. A bird that's maybe not a PREDATOR, but one that's very defensive/protective of their "flock" or family? I'm getting images of a bold little prey birds divebombing hawks to drive them away from the nest... but in this case, it's just one little bird, relentlessly pummeling these stupefied hawks to protect Edwin.
With that in mind, the redwing blackbird could be a cute one, with 1) how they're kind of known for divebombing hawks en masse, and 2) I mean. look at them. REDwinged BLACKbird. They're literally Charles's colors. I looked it up and found multiple photos/accounts of them divebombing hawks ON THEIR OWN, just one solo blackbird against a giant bird of prey, trying to drive it off and usually succeeding-- which is a Very Charles level of dedication and determination. Type of bird that would journey to hell to protect its nest.
If we were to go a route where the wings characters have are something genetic/tied to their heritage (I haven't read a ton of wingfics, idk how they typically work), the red avadavat AKA the strawberry finch would be just. Adorable. Idk much abt their personalities, traits, or symbolism tho, so blackbird feels more fitting.
There is also. frankly. something kind of devastating and tragically ironic, about Charles having the wings of some kind of water bird, something MEANT for the water, but having his protective oils stripped from him in his final moments by his cruel "friends" and almost drowning anyway. The water that should have been a safe harbor turning cold and hostile, not protecting him from the stones thrown his way, his wings not keeping him up like they should have. The ghost of a water bird, always afraid of the water. I don't have a specific bird in mind here, but maybe a black swan (for maximum ostracized/symbolic "black sheep" potential) or a cormorant (not including an image for this because I meed to leave room for Niko's).
Edwin
For some reason he gives me vague albatross vibes? Their wings are very long/thin and elegant, and THEY'RE just elegant birds overall, and I feel like the speckled/kind of fade-y black and white look could match Edwin very well (I'll be inserting pictures for all these birds as well, most likely). Although albatrosses are specifically specialized to fly over long distances without landing, sometimes capable of going months or even years without touching the ground- which is very cool, although I don't know that it's especially fitting to Edwin's character, so I'm gonna go through some other decisions as well.
There is also something mildly enchanting to me about the thought of Edwin having dove wings or, like, passenger pigeon wings... dove because of all the symbolism around purity and innocence and specifically how that was destroyed when he went to hell, and passenger pigeon/pigeon in general because of the whole. "Pigeons once being companions trained and domesticated by humans until humans decided they didn't need them anymore and ostracized them/started to see them as pests" deal. But also, aren't the cool grey rock pigeon wings with the stripes so pretty and Edwin-y?
Mannn I keep going back to the albatross though... albatrosses being build for long distances and hardwired to never rest, and Edwin having the resilience to physically drag himself out of Hell itself... the fact that the wings would be pretty large and unwieldy in his life, and he would probably be encouraged to hide them away most of the time (in a world where the wings are like, something that resides half in another dimension or something and CAN be tucked away-- but probably still with some negative effects after prolonged suppression)... the metaphor of the albatross as something you carry with you, a regret weighing you down... the mental image of charles, huddling his drenched wings around himself in a feeble attempt for warmth as he freezes to death, looking up and seeing Edwin, with his gorgeous wings spread out as far as they can in the cramped space of the attic, glowing like an angel (and also, the mental image of charles, nearly drowned, being rescued by a boy with wings built to never touch water)... yeah. Idk, other ppl are welcome to weigh in
Edwin as a metaphorical or literal albatross hanging around the neck of the lost and found agency... the one (or probably one of many) that slipped through the cracks...
Crystal
For some reason she gives me huge owl vibes, idk why. I'm guessing just, the often supernatural associations with owls as pillars of wisdom, omens, and even supernatural creatures/spirits? It really Fits with her whole psychic thing- and not to mention, the short, broad wings owls often have that allow them to fly near-silently feel like they'd be a really fitting look for her. I don't have any particular owls in mind, but maybe a great grey owl or a great horned?
Alternatively, and on the completely opposite end of the spectrum in terms of size and characteristics: hummingbird. Hummingbirds come in lots of bright jewel-y colors that could be gorgeous for Crystal's wings, not to mention their speed coupled with their feistiness/frequent fearlessness feels super fitting for her. There's the purple-chested hummingbird, but also the violet sabrewing (pictured in order here), both of which are just—gorgeous, and in the sabrewing's case, possessing of an absolutely badass and very Crystal-worthy name. Crystal would absolutely flaunt herself some pretty, speedy iridescent wings.
The more I think about it, the more I lean towards hummingbird, because 1) tiny, 2) shiny and colorful and often magical-looking, and 3) the hummingbird tendency to hover around and divebomb people AND ALSO territorially chase other hummingbirds off while chattering noisily in their tiny little voices. Yeah that's very Crystal.
Oh fuck also. Some stuff I found on this website that fits really REALLY well: "To some, sighting a hummingbird signals that challenging times are over and healing can begin. To others, these tiny fliers are an inspiring sign of hope and good luck. Hummingbirds also can have a spiritual significance and mean the spirit of a loved one is near." The challenging times are over, healing can begin... Closeness of loved ones' spirits... Crystal trying to figure out who she is based on her wings, taking them as a sign of her parents' love/the closeness of their spirits to hers, wishing her back—and it's devastating when she realizes she was wrong, but she also now knows that her ANCESTORS have always been with her, giving her strength within.
Wait editing I have one more thing to say. Something big and flashy and colorful like a peacock or pheasant not JUST because of her heritage and opulent upbringing, but because she's spent most of her life so far acting out and trying to make herself big enough to warrant her parents' attention, then making herself the center of her social circle's attention to compensate. Or hummingbird because she's always been too small for her parents to care about, and no matter how much shes acted out and tried to make herself "big" its never worked.
Niko
I feel like with everything that surrounds her about, kind of, her purity—or not her PURITY per say but just how bright of a presence she is in the other three core four's lives, how unguarded and sweet and HONEST she is, lends itself to some very palpable imagery/symbolism to her being a pure white dove. maybe her wings are some kind of basic grey dove at first, but turn snow-white like her hair after the sprites get exorcised from her... FUCK and her original wings might have been mourning dove wings. idk how wing acquisition Works in wingfics per say as i havent read a ton, i feel like the typical setup is usually just people being born with a set of wings, but in a scenario where maybe they're something that show up only at a certain age/level of maturity? like, say, early adolescence? and they could be shaped by factors in the person's environment at the time? and niko is maybe a late bloomer, and gets her wings right around/slightly after her dad dies. the wings of a bird named for the way its coos sound like its mourning. and then, her with PURE WHITE wings, stabbed by esther and having the pooling blood stain her pretty snowy feathers bright, violent red... idk just. there's thoughts happening.
also, for similar reasons, beautiful potential in her wings being that of a bleeding heart dove.
wait tho i just thought of more sadness regarding white doves specifically. there is something about the fact that the white doves that people release at weddings and such events are, from what ive heard, bred SPECIFICALLY for that purpose and raised domesticated, and most of them don't actually survive for very long after they're released—from lack of experience, inability to find food, predation, etc etc. symbols of purity and love and freedom that are only symbols, because the real world kills them. and that, in relation to niko, just feels. yeah.
potential for niko to then COME BACK FROM THE DEAD with the wings of a bleeding heart dove... idk im spiralling here. i feel like there should be some other non-dove potential wings for her but my brain is just stuck on Dove.
And now, a shorter list of wing types I think would fit other various characters in the show (without pictures, bc I've run out of room - may include some in a reblog after I post this):
Monty: self-explanatory, I'm really just putting him on this list for cohesion's sake. Wouldn't want to exclude the little crow-boy :P
Esther Finch: I feel like the "cruelty" of the shrike would be very fitting for her... a bird that tales its prey and skewers it on sharp sticks to save for later, and has a cross-hooked beak evolved specifically for breaking the spinal chords of said prey prior to skewering in order to paralyze them... yeah. Although it ALSO just occurred to me that her wings could be from a uh. finch. because shes esther Finch. and American goldfinch would really rock with her style :P (but thematically a shrike is just perfect I think)
Jenny: I feel like a vulture is pretty fitting for her- maybe just a classic turkey vulture. There's a lot about how her job working with meat puts her at odds with a lot of people (she finds it cathartic), and how intimidating she is, plus how lots of people see vultures as gross for scavenging from corpses... but also, in a world where Esther Finch is a goldfinch rather than a strike, JENNY could work with shrike wings (since they ARE called "the butcherbird"). Or she could be an actual butcherbird, like a grey butcherbird or something, because I just looked it up and realized that they are something on their own, separate from but distantly related to shrikes, and possessing the same prey-impaling behavior (and shrikes ARE also nicknamed butcherbirds, so, I wasn't totally off).
The Cat King: I'm gonna be really funny and give him the wings of a grey catbird (because its funny mostly, but also there's a sort of fae-like element to catbirds as brood parasites depositing their eggs in the nests of other birds, and I always enjoy interpretations of the Cat King where he's some kind of fae creature). ALTERNATIVELY: he has a different pair of wings each life, with the orange cat life's wings being a carolina wren or a red-shouldered hawk or something, and the black cat wings being something suitably gothic (but not a crow because he deserves his own unique set). Maybe just a plain old blackbird? Or a BLACK catbird, that's a thing. Maybe he gets a new pair of wings each life but they're all just different kinds of catbird. ALTERNATIVE 2: that man is a fucking peacock, or some other kind of fancy metallic pheasant. he is OPULENT.
Tragic Mick: my first instinct is to say some kind of big water bird, of course, but then my SECOND instinct is to say that in a world where he's still a walrus turned into a man, i dont feel like hed HAVE wings (and that would be something that sets him apart from most people/other sentient humanoid beings). However, for the sake of the game I gotta go ahead and assign him some wings anyway... in which case, maybe something like a skua? They're cool, kind of gull-like south polar seabirds with very russetty appearances- although in doing further research, walruses seem to be mostly a NORTHERN arctic animal... OOOO maybe he's got cormorant wings! that would fit, really well actually. or maybe an arctic tern, bc they're super specially-adapted fishing birds, and (result of research) its said that theyre some of the most far-ranging fliers in the world, ambitious enough to sometimes see two summers in a year... feels very "but i yearned for a different life" of mick.
The Night Nurse: hmmm... something not MATERNAL, but orderly, caring... regal, sophisticated, business-like... idk I gotta think on her for a sec. Just to start with, for purely aesthetic reasons I feel like the european gold finch is very her... but also ooo maybe SHE's some kind of vulture, what with their relationship to death and being (in my eyes) very fitting as shepherds of the dead? there is potential there for sure. Or? Fuck it, red-tailed hawk. Oooo or a sparrowhawk... man idk, she's tough for some reason lmao. I feel like a stork could also be cool on the level of symbolism, and storks being birds that bring babies to their parents in stories... the Night Nurse kind of does the OPPOSITE, taking children AWAY (from their parents...) when they die, but theres also like. Storks carrying babies to their destined families = the Night Nurse carrying dead children to their assigned afterlives. Yeah that feels lovely I'm gonna go with that.
I think I'll leave the list there, but if anyone is curious about how I'd birdify other side characters, give me a shout and I'll be happy to ramble more! Again, thank you so so SO much Mirella for asking this, this was really just. THE perfect Magpie question. <333
(Also if anyone happens to have other bird suggestions for anyone I would love to hear them!!)
More dad boy thoughts for you today. Sometime in the future, Charles and Edwin are arguing about something (not serious), Crystal is playing on her phone and doesn't even look up when she jibes "Ooooh. Mom and dad are fightiiiiing."
There is silence after that and she looks up to both of them just looking at her before Charles replies, "Just for that, you can go to your room, young lady." He points her towards the spare room they cleaned up for her.
Charles is having a serious dad moment. Crystal is somewhere between "I deserved that" and "You're not my real dad" and "This is a space they made just for me". Eventually she goes and the debate starts back up but now it's "Was that really necessary?" / "I didn't even take her phone. She's fine."
yesyesyes (i love these asks from you)
Crystal eventually being like.... "I'm going to my room I guess".
CHARLES being the serious dad, and Edwin being soft-dad with his ":( don't be so harsh on her"
Bonus if Crystal is like... 18-19 years old. And at this point have fully moved out of her parents house to live on campus for school, is visibly older than the boys and still just...does it.
Like she often argues with them on things she thinks is shit, but like this?
The whiplash of suddenly being told what to do in a dad voice has her confusedly complying, she hasn't been sent to her room since she was 6. This is a novelty and also strangely endearing.
She ends up sitting there in her room, on her bed and just "bro what just happened actually"
Step one in getting over my fear of talking to cool people. Sending you an ask. So! 1. Who is your fave DBDA character? 2. What is your most insane headcanon about them?
Please send me asks, please please please! ...I'm shite at answering them in a timely fashion but they make me Very Happy! And you 🫵 are extremely cool!
So yesterday my partner was like “You look really fond, what are you thinking about? You thinking about me?” …mumblemumble. “Hmm?” …mumblemumble…. “What was that?” …mumbleEdwinmumble. “…yeah, I should’ve guessed that.”
…which is to say it’s Edwin, we all know it’s Edwin, I am not subtle about this, it's Edwin 😆
That said, one of my favorite things about DBDa is that every single character is so amazing they would be my favorite in a different show.
I adore Charles’s kindness and protectiveness and damage and care and selfishness and selflessness and unashamed open love; I adore Emma’s sass and audacity; I adore Crystal’s dedication to forming a completely new moral compass out of nothing but bone dust and glitter glue; I adore the Sprites’ absolute asshattery; I adore Niko’s earnest charm and unabashed excitement; I adore Esther’s drywall-chewing; I adore Monty’s sweet voice and hopeful face and passive-aggressive bitchery; I adore the Cat King’s casual gender-fuckery; I adore how much complexity we get from Simon even with so little screentime, his guilt and his pain and his final peace; I adore Jenny’s irritation and exhaustion and the bone-deep care and responsibility that she fights every inch of; I adore the Night Nurse’s genuine dedication to her cause and her hysterics, and the clerk’s Specificity, and Kashi’s calm kindness; I adore Teethface and Tragic Mick and Shelby and Maxine and Death and Despair and all of them!!! I love them all so much!!!!
...but yeah, it's Edwin. :P
In terms of insane headcanons... Hmm... I've already told y'all about my steadfast belief that Edwin would love MLP:FiM and base real magic on it, and that he had a queer Uncle Albert who laughed his way to the ceiling with Uncle Bert and, relatedly, he had a nanny named Mary, who blew in and out with the wind.
New things... Looking in my ideas file...... Processing.........
Ah! I'm still hopefully gonna write a fic about this some day, but:
a) I firmly believe Edwin had a pet snake when he was alive (even if it was only a garden snake he secretly kept in a shoebox for a week before letting it go when he realized he was having difficulty feeding it properly, but maybe, like, a Proper Exotic Snake, too)
b) I'm tickled by the idea of Esther's Snake having had a baby and Edwin, shortly post-canon, seeing it and going well. It's a baby. It is a child. I can't just ABANDON it to the COLD. And so now the Agency has a snake mascot, that may or may not be growing rapidly...
spidey series is a continuation of my Charles as Spiderman AU that i posted uh. last october...
there's set to be two more fics. i would really love to finish this series out. lots of fun character dynamics to play around with, writing a charles & edwin who aren't best friends quite yet, i ended up writing edwin and the cat king/thomas as best friends/roommates and that is surprisingly SUCH a fun dynamic to write.
“So, uh, how long have the two of you…” Charles trailed off with his question, and gestured a hand back and forth between him, and Thomas.
It took Edwin a moment to realise what it was exactly that Charles was referring to, then he promptly choked on his drink.
“What he means to say is: no, absolutely not,” explained Thomas, slipping into a (frankly) too accurate impression of his cadence. “But he knows I would, and I have tried.”
Edwin wiped his mouth on a napkin. “Thomas, do shut up.”
Thomas made an exaggerated kissing face and leaned in until Edwin had to push his face away with a laugh.
Across from them, Charles simply stared, shocked. Edwin was used to this sort of reaction when it came to his and Thomas’ interactions. This was not the first time someone had mistaken them for lovers. But in reality, their friendship, though it could come across as antagonistic to the everyday viewer, was filled with a deep platonic love Edwin does not feel for many others.
“Oh,” said Charles. “Sorry.”
Thomas waved him off before Edwin had the chance. “We get it all the time. But you don’t have to worry,” he slapped a friendly hand to Edwin’s chest. “Our friend Edwin here is very single.”
“Thank you, Thomas,” Edwin said, jaw tight.
You reminded me yesterday that you do music as a thing. Is there a specific genre you specialise in or just whatever strikes your fancy? Despite not doing anything musical since high school band class, every time I go to a concert nowadays I dream of creating music, so I think you are very cool for what you do.
Aww, thank you 😊 I guess I specialize in chamber music in a more neo-classical/neo-romantic style, but that's mostly just because that's what I have the skills/resources to do lol. I have ideas/sketches etc for music in lots of different genres, but being that I don't (yet) have a band, know how to play guitar or use a Digital Audio Workstation, the classical stuff is the only thing I can realize right now. But I would really love to record some music someday and/or play in a band. Alas, I do not have band-starting kind of time right now.
Alsooo I am forever on my Start Doing Music propaganda train--the software I use, Musescore, is free and open-source, and there are lots of tutorials etc out there to help you get started... There are some free DAWs out there too--I downloaded Cakewalk a while back, but haven't had a chance to mess around with it yet. Don't let your dreams be dreams! If you ever have questions or wanna talk music, I'm always happy to :D
