Writin' away.

Laura | she/her | 42 | writer | artist | fangirl

[thegreatobsesso]

The Insuppressible Electra Ray: A duology.

📖 Cozy magic school vibes interrupted by protagonist from hell. 📖 

A good villain sees themselves as the hero of their own story. THE INSUPPRESSIBLE ELECTRA RAY, a 240K upmarket duology told from four points of view, features a hero dead convinced that she’s the villain.

Electra enjoys a life of infamy from inside a prison cell, where every day of her silence brings a fresh new hot take.

Like, she’s what happens when power is left unchecked. Having magic turns normal people into maniacs; look how she ripped that poor boy’s magic right out, left him cold and dead on the forest floor. People shouldn’t be allowed to have that kind of power and she’s the perfect example. A cautionary tale.

Wait. Maybe it’s the opposite.

Surely she knows the war against magic is coming and Peter was too lily-livered to use his power against their enemies, but she isn’t. She’s a soldier. A strategist.

Or maybe she’s nothing but an apex predator. The monster under the bed. Pure, simple evil.

It’s all a bunch of bullshit, and when a fellow prisoner whispers of an arcane artifact lying deep in the caves below Delaney School for Magicians, it sounds like it just might be the perfect time to start making some noise.

Breaking out won’t be easy; they’ve stuffed her full of enough magic suppressants to kill an ox. But she also happens to be the only magician alive who can burn that garbage off like carbs. Plus, Delaney was Electra’s childhood home, so she knows every inch of the castle; every flickering enclave, nautilus staircase, and ivory-carved constellation in its soaring ceilings.

And before you go mistaking that for nostalgia or anything so saccharine and unproductive, know that she’d raze it to the ground to get that artifact and the power it holds into her unrepentant hands – the power to reshape reality in her own viciously exquisite image.

Because if Electra Ray is anything, she’s the fucking end.

The Insuppressible Electra Ray mixes parallel redemption and corruption arcs, enemies-to-friends slow burns, twisted queer feelings, cinematic magic fights, and unapologetically bombastic dialogue into a steaming cauldron that’s been stirred long enough to form a thick, spicy two-book series, not for the faint of heart. 

Peter Silver’s best friend, Simon Bell: A magician who grew up with Peter, just as strong, but a telepath. A genuinely decent guy who never thinks he’s trying hard enough. Cinnamon roll. 🗝

Peter Silver’s sister, Riley Silver: A medium. Can speak to the dead but does everything she can to avoid it. Cares deeply for Peter but if you’re not Peter you wouldn’t know it. Geneticist. Stoic as a marble statue but simmering under the surface. 🔬

Peter Silver’s .. ?? .., Electra Ray. Your worst nightmare. The best night of your life. Fireworks on legs; nice legs. Dumpster queen. 👠

magic // castlecore // women with deep, deep issues // queerness // diverse cast // found family // WHY don’t you hate me? // the chaotic one and the stoic one // roaring fires // snow // genetics // deep interpersonal drama without a sniff of romance // begrudging fondness // telepathy // angst and fluff in damn near equal measure // spirituality // childhood trauma can take many forms // I hate you but I’ll work with you for this very specific purpose and I won’t like it // empathy // dialogue out the wazoo // what the fuck does being a good person look like? // enemies-to-besties // slow-burn everything

Finished; querying!

💋 the insuppressible electra ray tag list

@avrablake​ @adie-dee​ @dontjudgemeimawriter​

@ryorine​ @thelaughingstag​ @winterandwords​ 

@afoolandathief​​ @asomeoneperson​ @cedar-west 

@diphthongsfordays​ @lowslore​ @poetinprose​ 

@cilly-the-writer​​​​​​​​ @harps-for-days @space-writes​

@cosmic-writes-novels​​

Comment to be added or removed :)

[oh-no-another-idea]

Find the word tag

Thank you so much for the tag, @diphthongsfordays!! Let's check in on Quintus the Necromancer again...I'm sure he's doing juuuust fine ;)

Fresh:

“Good grief,” Quintus manages, his voice hoarse in his throat. “Does it need stitching?” “I don’t know.” “Then show me how big it is.” Nikolaos’s right hand comes around, two of the fingers glistening with fresh blood. His thumb and first finger spread, describing a space the size of a large apple. “Good grief,” Quintus repeats. “Yes, it needs stitching.” “Wonderful,” Nikolaos says, in the most un-wonderful tone Quintus has ever heard.

Dull:

All her training is suddenly gone when faced with this mountain of a man. Miriam looks down the flat of his blade – Nikolaos’s blade – and quails in her stockings. How can she hope to survive with only this dull, diminutive, dagger? Breathe, Daniel says in her mind. Shoulders loose. If you have the smaller weapon, rob him of his reach. Miriam charges, ducking under the pirate’s arm and slashing with her blade. He has to twist to avoid her strike, and in the moment before he can turn, she slips past him and sinks her knife into his back.

Peace:

They’re shown the water pump outside, handed a stack of blankets and a lantern, and left alone for the night. The inky dark settles around Quintus like a lover’s arms, and he looks more at peace than he has in many days when he looks over at Nikolaos.

Free:

“Is something wrong?” comes Miriam’s voice, thick with sleep. “No, nothing,” Nikolaos calls back immediately, sitting up and taking ahold of Quintus’s face with his free hand. “Go back to sleep.” To Quintus, he adds quietly, “Breathe, you blockhead.” Quintus does, buoyed by the hand against his heart, the hand warm under his chin, around the side of his face. It is grounding, to be held like this, forced to be still. His tripping heart finally starts to take notice.

Tags: @the-inkwell-variable @sleepyowlwrites @pluttskutt @cheerfulmelancholies @reneesbooks @chauceryfairytales @writingrosesonneptune @thegreatobsesso and anyone else who'd like to play with the words wince, wonder, want, and weather 🌥️

[thegreatobsesso]

I wrote today!

It's just a little but I did it and it feels good. It's also a direct result of starting to get this into the first draft and deciding when little moments like the one below are going to fit into the scenes I have mostly already written. So, I offer this to you guys and to the gods, may I continue to have the emotional wherewithal to get a little done at a time. 🙏

✨💖✨ WIP intro

🔖 tag list: @winterandwords // @foxboyclit //@revenantlore

@space-writes // @indecentpause // @words-after-midnight

@asher-writes

comment to be added or removed!

📝 all posts from WIP: gay crime bdsm story

--

Later, as Milo’s just finished putting his clothes back on, he notices Octavius out of the corner of his eye typing away on his mobile. He’s slung a thick, velvety-looking robe over himself without even bothering to close it in the front. He pockets the phone and comes to wrap his arms around Milo and kiss him once more before he leaves. His skin is still damp and he’s running hot as ever, seemingly lit from within by the fire of his own confidence.

Milo would find himself jealous if he didn’t stand to benefit so directly. He's sighing into Octavius’s mouth when he breaks their kiss.

“I’ve just texted you,” he announces, arms around Milo’s waist, naked body pressed against his clothes. “Now you have my personal number. No need to schedule through my assistant anymore.”

This makes him a bit dizzy. “Really?”

“Indeed. It’s lovely to have Jules set these things up for me and establish the precedent that he simply won’t follow up if I don’t enjoy someone, but I do enjoy you, and I’m quite sure I’d like to see you regularly. So, I’ll text you about next time.” He reaches up and pushes a damp curl off Milo’s forehead. “And you can text me anytime you’d like.”

He’d love to say the thrill down his spine has anything to do with the absurd success he’s having as an informant, but it doesn’t, of course. No doubt Shaelynn will be pleased about this. He’s well and truly in now, he’ll be able to contact Octavius directly whenever he wants and he’s no longer waiting to find out if he’ll be asked back again, it’s turning into a regular thing, just like she had hoped it would. 

It's sickening. It's downright terrifying.

And yet.

His possessions await in their designated locker in Eighth Sin and after retrieving them, he makes his usual walk to the tube station. He doesn’t look at his mobile until he’s sat in the relatively empty car. There is, indeed, a text from an unknown number, and it reads: Add me to your contact list. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how.

Milo grins. He can’t help it. He saves the number and names it Sir. 

[thegreatobsesso]

Specific line tag

Thank you so much for the tag, @willtheweaver! I'll jump into The Insuppressible Electra Ray, for these, this will be fun :D

A line about sleep

A few days ago this would’ve been too strange to comprehend but all he wanted as they climbed up the stairs again was for Electra to sleep so he could sleep. She let go of his arm and flopped down with her back to him, pulling the blankets over her shoulder. “I never did this before,” she muttered, her mouth smashed into the pillow. “Sleep with somebody when I didn’t sleep with ‘em first.”

A line said in secret

“Let me,” Bell said suddenly. “I’ll read her. I’ll find out where they are and get them for you, and then we can be done with this.” fuck are you doing ?? Play along. He thinks I’m soft but he’s interested in the bridge. Bell was right; she caught a glimmer of fascination in those creepy eyes. “Alright, Mister Bell,” he agreed, gesturing at her like she was the fucking dessert table. “Be my guest.”

A line with a strong emotion

“My name is Electra and I’m a fucking wreck. So is he.” She pointed backward at her father, who was standing so stock-still she thought he might just stick that way forever. “So is everyone. We’re all fucked, every last one of us, and God knows that.” It grabbed her by the throat — the way she just said that, as if she believed. “He made us,” she managed, struggling to give the barely-born thought away so soon. “He knows what we’re like, and I think he sees us trying and he’s proud.”

A line about time

Some of these kids, Delaney’s youngest, hadn’t even been born yet when it happened, a simple fact sent a pang through his heart for Peter, so far in the past. “I knew her,” he confirmed, sipping his coffee. His throat had gone a bit dry.  “What was she like?”

Tagging @foxboyclit, @oh-no-another-idea, @pertinax--loculos and @revenantlore if they'd like to play! My prompts are:

A line about temperature

A line with a lie

A line where someone's angry

A line that establishes a *mood*

[thegreatobsesso]

Heads up 7 up

thank you for the tag, @oh-no-another-idea!!!

Like you, I have also not been able to focus much on actual prose lately, but here's a thing:

“You’re wasting precious energy holding it in,” Octavius says gently, rubbing his back while his nerves scream. “Lean into it. Make any sounds you need to make.” Fuck, how can the person inflicting the pain make him feel so utterly reassured? His body is terribly confused but he’s starting to understand why people like this much pain in their play. “Four.” This time, he takes the advice.

Context because I love you guys: Any sub Octavius plays with has to start by submitting references from the BDSM club he owns and a detailed questionnaire of yes/no/maybes for all the standard stuff. Milo has a veritable portfolio of experience in the scene and has never really gotten into intense pain play - it's a hard maybe for him. But after he's done a solid set of scenes with Octavius, he's more than willing to give it a go with an open mind.

This is all so important to me because I desperately want to subvert the trope where the sub is being introduced to BDSM for the first time. Milo's been doing this a long time and is completely clear-headed about what he likes, and Octavius would accept nothing less in a playmate, unwilling to teach some novice the ropes (as it were 😏).

Tagging @andthebubbles, @winterandwords, @space-writes and @revenantlore if they would like to share some lines!

[thegreatobsesso]

Now, if somebody would write a story where an experienced SUB is teaching a novice DOM how to do BDSM for the first time... now, that's something I would like to read PRONTO.

Anybody know of a story like this??? Has it been done??? I just feel like it would be SO juicy.

[thegreatobsesso]

Happy Storyteller Saturday 💜 What themes, motifs, objects, or character traits ALWAYS make their way into your writing (whether intentionally or not)?

I think I would say there's always a Normal Nice One and a Flamboyant Chaos Demon. Simon and Electra's enemies-to-friends arc is like that and so are Milo and Octavius. It's just so fucking top tier. 👌

[thegreatobsesso]

Happy Storyteller Saturday!

How do you answer the question "What kind of thing do you write?"

And a bonus ask: Have you ever given a sanitised or otherwise 'creative' answer because you knew the person asking wouldn't vibe with an accurate description?

Ooooooohhhhhh, such a great question, thank you friend!

I would say I write about juicy characters who have juicy dynamics with each other. Plot exists purely as justification to get them into juicy situations. 😍

And for the bonus ask: Totally, but only in situations where I'm talking to someone I'm hoping will want to publish the book. In those cases I just "character-driven" :P

Maybe I'm just saying slow burn character development?

[thegreatobsesso]

Heads up 7 up

thank you for the tag, @oh-no-another-idea!!!

Like you, I have also not been able to focus much on actual prose lately, but here's a thing:

“You’re wasting precious energy holding it in,” Octavius says gently, rubbing his back while his nerves scream. “Lean into it. Make any sounds you need to make.” Fuck, how can the person inflicting the pain make him feel so utterly reassured? His body is terribly confused but he’s starting to understand why people like this much pain in their play. “Four.” This time, he takes the advice.

Context because I love you guys: Any sub Octavius plays with has to start by submitting references from the BDSM club he owns and a detailed questionnaire of yes/no/maybes for all the standard stuff. Milo has a veritable portfolio of experience in the scene and has never really gotten into intense pain play - it's a hard maybe for him. But after he's done a solid set of scenes with Octavius, he's more than willing to give it a go with an open mind.

This is all so important to me because I desperately want to subvert the trope where the sub is being introduced to BDSM for the first time. Milo's been doing this a long time and is completely clear-headed about what he likes, and Octavius would accept nothing less in a playmate, unwilling to teach some novice the ropes (as it were 😏).

Tagging @andthebubbles, @winterandwords, @space-writes and @revenantlore if they would like to share some lines!

[willtheweaver]

Specific line tag

Thanks for the tag @sunset-a-story

A line where someone lies (from The Glass Cage): “There’s nothing more! You extracted it all!”

A line you find funny (from Snow on the Pines): “So this is Hallis.” Ivy’s voice was full of awe.

“I wonder what they do with all the rubbish.” Rail remarked.

A line about loss (from Snow on the Pines): It’s not that I grieve less…it’s just that I’ve supped on sorrow for so long I’ve just gotten better at masking it

A line with an insult (from A Feather in the Forest) “It’s because that head of yours has more fluff than feathers about it,”

Tagging @thegreatobsesso @winterandwords @theeccentricraven @starwright @writingingraves

@sleepyowlwrites @somethingclevermahogony @memento-morri-writes @writingamongther0ses @darkandstormydolls and open tag

Your lines are:

A line about sleep

A line said in secret

A line with a strong emotion

A line about time

[thereweredragonshere]

How can anyone genuinely enjoy hot weather. How do you enjoy having every waking moment being horrible and awful and sticky. How do you go to bed with air so thick and humid that even laying there with bare bedsheets and splayed out in a starfish, you are still generating too much heat to be anywhere near even the concept of comfort and still smile about it. How do you have every species of flying insect invading your house through desperately opened windows and buzzing all up in your shit like the little fucking spacially unaware invertebrate asshole pricks they are and still claim summer is your favourite season. How. How do you do it. How do you find any semblance of a positive emotion when it's anything above 25⁰C at a push. I am miserable. I am planning a trip to the Arctic Circle.

[thegreatobsesso]

this is why I'm on tumblr, you guys understand

[oh-no-another-idea]

Heads up 7 up

Thanks for the tags, @winterandwords and @memento-morri-writes! I won't lie, I've been doing very little writing recently, so I haven't much to show, but I hope you'll accept this new Necromancer WIP snippet with love...

Miriam leaves them to it. She pushes away from the table and walks along the row of still celebrating townspeople. A man raises his mug of ale and cheers, two young women embrace over empty plates. Away from the string of lights, shadows pool, dripping off leaning thatched rooftops, pouring over rain barrels and window boxes. Quintus, when she finds him, is lying half in a garden box like a corpse. “Good heavens,” Miriam says, unsure at first, if she’s hallucinating. Quintus lifts his head just barely, and that’s how Miriam knows he’s alive, just as drunk as a bumblebee on a spring day.

Quintus? Going through it? Again? It's likelier than you might think! ;) I'll tag @reneesbooks @eccaiia @zmwrites @sunset-a-story @writingrosesonneptune @chauceryfairytales @thegreatobsesso and anyone else who sees this -- come share!

[revenantlore]

OC in Fifteen

📝 Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC.

tagged by @thegreatobsesso and doing this for Rem

tagging @winterandwords [because rem], @indecentpause , @reininginthefirewriting , @touloser-lautrec , and @firesidefantasy + anyone else who may wish to participate

★ 1. “No—fucker.” Rem shoves his hand away. “Two fucking [cigarette] packs for one blowjob.” 

★ 2. “No,” Rem says, hands falling to his sides, “that’s my input. Fuck this.” 

★ 3. “I’m nothing if not predictable,” Rem says through a smirk.

★ 4. “Fuck’s the problem? You with someone else?” Not that he’s with Rem. Not that Rem wants to be with him. Not in anything more meaningful than sex. 

★ 5. “Told you, I’m only here because Oli asked me to be.” 

“You do everything Oli asks you to?” 

Rem scoffs and kicks Jonah under the table. “If I did, I would’t be an alcoholic, would I?” 

★ 6. “I did. Miss you. Or whatever.” 

★ 7. “We’ve always had an expiration date,” he says after a too-long silence.

★ 8. “Hate to break it to you, but I’ve probably fucked every gay man in Warren Creek and a few of ‘em who wanna pretend they’re straight and happy but actually love a stranger’s dick up the—”

★ 9. “What, no ‘good morning’ or ‘hey, you need a drink, some food, maybe an aspirin after I bashed you in the goddamn face with my gun?’” 

★ 10. “Eat shit,” Rem grumbles and shuts his eyes, “and fuck off.” 

★ 11. Inhaling deep, laughter igniting his lungs alongside the nicotine, he says, “You’re just gonna awaken a new kink in me if you’re not careful,” on a breath of smoke and ducks away from Ross’s swinging arm. 

★ 12. There’s a flush to [Oliver’s] cheeks and he ducks his head. Reaches under the table, hand moving out of sight. 

Rem arches a brow. Leans forward. “You jerking yourself off down there or what?” 

★ 13. “Mm.” Rem taps his fingernails on the bartop. Nods to the exit and says, “You wanna go out back and blow me?” 

★ 14. “One thing you’ll learn if you stick around, is that Rem has a penchant for starting fights.” 

“Didn’t fucking start it,” Rem snaps. 

★ 15. “Sure,” Rem says, the cigarette pinched between his lips scattering ashes down his bare chest, “I won’t tell you and you can fucking figure it out on your own.” 

[thegreatobsesso]

cRiMe STufF i fiGuRed oUt so FaR 💀

I am posting this here because, while dry, I am very proud of it. I took a ton of research I've done and condensed it down to the bits I (1) will need for the story and (2) I can actually understand. This is JUST the info to kick the book off, I have so much more I need to work out, but I HAVE THIS!!!

(( and no I'm not going to call it that, I'm just enjoying it as a placeholder 😂 ))

What Octavius is already doing at the start of the story:

Laundering money via crypto and luxury real estate sales. The mafia buys crypto with cash obtained from illegal operations. Octavius funnels these crypto transactions through a network of offshore wallets and mixing services to obscure the origin.

Privacy coins are sometimes used sparingly. The legitimate reason to use privacy coins is to protect spending habits from public tracking or enable confidential B2B transactions and payroll. But due to their untraceable nature, privacy coins face severe regulatory pressures. Many centralized cryptocurrency exchanges have delisted certain privacy coins to comply with strict global Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations.

Running a bunch of shell companies with regular old fiat money transactions. But at this point he has enough data to convince Eddie and Leo that laundering via crypto is easier and more profitable.

What Octavius is about to do, mixing fiat and crypto, is:

Launching the Octavius Sinclair Center For Kids Who Can’t Read Good and Want To Learn How To Do Other Stuff Good Too. Money laundering will be even easier through a charity because:

Non-profits are tax-exempt, have big international networks, and create public trust and a shiny clean image for Octavius and therefore the organization (“reputation laundering”, what a sexy phrase)

Octavius’s own construction company will build it. No laundering needs to be involved here at all. This is done legitimately. 

They can amass massive donor-advised fund accounts that will mix thousands of unique public contributions, making it nearly impossible to identify the source of all the money within.

Their own people can make anonymous micro-donations. These would use automated internet platforms and prepaid cards, and break up large volumes of dirty money into hundreds of untraceable low-value donations. Individual micro-donations rarely trigger manual bank or regulatory audits so long as they bypass traditional threshold alerts.

Large donations can also traded for honorary community titles or board positions, providing a veneer of prestige that aids in securing legitimate business capital.

PHEW! WE GOT THERE!

[rylandsgrace]

First look at The Vampire Lestat (2026)

[thegreatobsesso]

my bits are toast. i'm done for

[touloser-lautrec]

As someone who has to rely more heavily on references than she wishes, and with full appreciation for how much practice it takes to get good at art, any advice (/resources?) on figure drawing? Bodies, facial expressions, clothing, hair, poses, etc. etc. You are so good at it. I want to get better. 😍

First of all, you have no idea what a gift this ask is-- thank you!! I have been in such an art slump lately and this really helps <3 You have no idea how much it made my day!

Sticking my answer under the cut because it kinda got away from me and I don't want to color-of-the-sky anyone's dash lol

As far as advice or resources go... To start, I'll say I use a lot of references when I draw-- honestly, it's good practice to use references, especially from life or at least from photographs. It's the best way to learn anatomy and figure drawing, and there really shouldn't be any shame in that. In fact, the best piece of advice I have is to keep seeking references and drawing them exactly as you see them. Training your eyes is key.

It can be a little frustrating when you're excited to experiment with style, but life drawing and the basics gives you something to build on-- a solid foundation and understanding of the rules so you can break them better later. It's good to train your eye to break down the things you see into line, shape, color, depth, etc, rather than the expectation of the thing itself.

So for example, you could draw a clock how you think a clock looks and it'll almost assuredly be a little wonky and oversimplified, or you could draw the lines and shapes you see when you look at a clock without judgment or expectation, and you'll render a much better clock, if that makes sense. The same goes for faces and bodies. And once you've done that enough you'll be able to start pulling it from your memory a little more often because you've learned to see instead of expect. Contour drawing and especially blind contour drawing is great for this!

If you spend enough time learning to look, facial expressions get easier because a wrinkled nose looks weirder than you think. Or hair falls along the curve of the skull in a specific way that might not be intuitive at first. Shadows play on surfaces in particular gradients and textures, or colors turn out to be more varied than you realize (especially skin tones! Introducing greens and blues may feel counterintuitive, but they're in there!)

Once you have that foundation down, you can start experimenting with stylization. I've found it really helpful to do style studies-- picking some artists that I love and trying to draw in their style. That way you can get a sense of what you enjoy doing, an understanding of what elements you like from their work and why, and you get more tools to play with. Honestly even copying their work for practice can teach you a lot (not plagiarizing, but just studying in your own practice sketchbook or ipad or whatever). I've also found it helpful not to try to force my style to Be A Given Thing, but instead just do what's fun, what I like to look at, and let it evolve on its own.

Also, it has to be FUN or you won't stick with it. As annoying as it is, it really is true that drawing more frequently means improving faster (and more joyfully, in my experience). I say, draw a lot, be silly and loose, right up to the line where it crosses over into "this feels like work" and then take a break. That's what I've found works best for me. Sometimes taking a break is literally not drawing, and sometimes taking a break is letting your OCs rest and drawing some fanart, or taking a break from people to draw a landscape or something.

And I know it's almost a cliche at this point, but if you don't draw bad art, you'll never draw at all. If art is all pressure to Make a Good Thing, you stop before you start, it gets stressful and yucky and you avoid it. But when you make bad art, it becomes good art (not necessarily even over time-- sometimes a piece just has an ugly stage and you just have to push through til it comes together).

There's a quote from Christoph Niemann that resonated with me in a life changing way: "Be a more ruthless editor and a more careless artist." When you're first creating, just be careless-- do whatever. Once you have the structure down, you can go back and stylize, change, refine, etc. But don't let that part stop you. Don't edit yourself until you have something fun to edit.

ANYWAY that was kinda long and rambling, but I hope it's helpful! Here are a few resources or sources of inspiration that have helped me a lot:

Watch Drawfee on Youtube. It's SO inspiring and you get to see some fantastic artists' processes -- I've learned a ton and also it's hilarious and entertaining as hell

Loish on Patreon has some amazing tutorials

Kingcholera on Patreon creates great 3D reference pose models (including nsfw!)

I honestly look at Pinterest a lot for ideas and poses (but watch out for AI slop) -- a lot of times it's just finding a few photos to cobble together to make the pose I want (like, if I need someone sitting but their arms have to be up instead of down, I might have to find a sitting pose and an arms up pose and a pic of a face at a different angle, and smoosh em together with some stuff from my head) but Pinterest just has a seemingly infinite amount of *stuff* to look at.

There are some amazing stock artists out there, like @adorkastock for example

If I can't find a reference for a thing I need, I take photos of either myself or a friend or my partner, which can be a hassle but also gives you exactly what you need

Anatomy books, photos, and illustrations are your friend-- learning how musculature works helps craft things from your head when you don't have a reference because you have a framework for the body you're building upon.

Do some timed gestural figure drawing, focusing on lines of movement and markmaking rather than getting caught up in details. Setting an alarm to give you only 5 mins, 1 min, 10 mins, some short amount of time, will force you to see what's important in order to express the thing you're trying to show.

Look at a lot of art. Like, not just for a moment to enjoy the final product, but look at what choices the artist made-- how thick are their lines? how simple or complex is their rendering? What did they simplify and why do you find it effective? What part is bugging you that it doesn't look quite right? What part is blowing your mind that you can't stop staring at? That's a great part to break down in the same way you did with the clock...)

Anyway, that was a lot! Wow, I hope that got to what you were asking! Thank you again for the kind words <3

[thegreatobsesso]

THIS! OMG, thank you soooooooo much. I can't wait to check out the resources and I appreciate all the new things to think about more than I can even begin to say!

I know what an art slump feels like, and trust me when I say, I am extremely impressed with your work. I know when you're the one making it and assessing your own stuff, it's different. I wish I could remember where I read it, but there's that graph that shows your skill and your... vision? I can't remember what the second piece was called. I'm doing a great job at explaining this, lol. But basically, sometimes your skills surpass your vision and that's where you feel great, but then your vision surpasses your skills (which is has to do so you can improve), but in that lag time where your skills haven't caught up, you feel the slumpiness of it all. But, you're really just getting ready to power up. :)

Anyways, I love your work. And what I think I need to do is, instead of coming at it like "now that I feel like drawing I'll draw my OCs in this incredibly specific scenario that I am super invested in emotionally because I have it here in prose", I need to just... draw other things. Draw all the things. Practice practice practice on things that are low stakes, not like, meant to be the climactic book scenes that I can see in detail in my head.

Thank you again - I will be referring to this post again and again, I know it!

[touloser-lautrec]

Artblr and Writeblr Intro

Hi, there! I go by Desi or Jasper (they/he, 30s). I'm a queer artist and writer who draws too many OCs, but that's what keeps my ship upright, so that's pretty okay I guess. Art as self-care with a nice side effect of pretty things to look at. I'm hoping you'll enjoy looking at 'em too!

Most of my art is of original characters and content related to Sunset, a serial I co-write and illustrate with my partner, @sunset-a-story. Check out their blog for more information about the serial, and here are some links to where you can read it!

Sunset follows an ensemble cast of (largely queer) superhuman people through a modern-setting, slow-burn adventure arc that encompasses themes of cloak-and-dagger action, romance, and even some monster hunting.

My art medium of choice is digital (procreate and clip studio), and I have also been dabbling in teaching myself to animate. Occasionally, I'll break out my sketch book and ink pens for some traditional work, too. Sometimes I take breaks from Sunset OCs to draw my ttrpg characters, silly little birds, or witchy things, and the veeeery occasional fan art.

I'm always happy for tags and asks! :)

(If you want to filter through, you can find my art using the #my art hashtag on my blog.)

[thegreatobsesso]

✍🏼 OC in fifteen

Thank you @winterandwords for the tag, this is gonna be a fun one!!!

📝 Share 15 or fewer lines of dialogue from an OC, ideally lines that capture the character/personality/vibe of the OC.

I'm doing Octavius. Of course I am. :) My favorite bastard!!!

1. "That’s quite unnecessary, but I do appreciate the offer. The officer you spoke to is mine, you silly goose. The information you gave him went straight to me and no one else, but I find it adorable that you thought you could take me down that easily."

2. "You are a Botticelli cherub given blood and breath and if you continue to slander yourself so unjustly, I’ll be forced to ruin a very pretty painting."

3. "Hmm? Oh, goodness, you poor thing! I’m not going to kill you. You’re quite irrelevant."

4. "Told them there was no need for this. I didn’t get shot in the bloody carotid. They could’ve spared a moment for Alexander McQueen, don’t you think?"

5. "Poor dear. Having to go about your day, tending to everyone else and making decisions and being responsible, when all you really want is to be strung up and toyed with. Don’t worry, darling. I’m going to take good care of you."

6. "You had, as they say, one job."

7. "Beg prettier than that."

8. "Oh, you are playing with fire. Show me your tongue, you insolent brat."

9. "Labels, labels. Be quiet and let me lull you to sleep with whispered promises and gentle ministrations too fragile to survive the light of day."

10. "There’s a certain debauched aesthetic to having fluids everywhere that I can theoretically appreciate, but I prefer to keep things tidy as a general rule."

11. "Debt, really? Doctorate degrees are expensive?"

12. "That’s why you’re here, you half-wit. I don’t fall over myself for every doe-eyed, sentimental fool that rolls up to my doorstep. I gave you something precious and you spit it back out."

13. "You absolutely would have died. The two of you have the combined survival instincts of a suicidal sloth."

14. "You also made me love you, and what’s worse, I love you still. I want to send you away with that. I hope it rots your tender little heart from the inside out."

15. "I know I’m a terrible person by any objective measurement, and being with me has already upended your entire life and the difficulties will only escalate from here, but I’m a damnable self-centered bastard and I don’t care. I don’t care that you’d be better off without me, I love you too much to want what’s best for you."

🥰🥰🥰

Tagging @revenantlore, @foxboyclit, @space-writes and @words-after-midnight!