isopod

I have been so excited for it.. your expressions and shading looks so good. you're able to show so much depth even in a monochromatic scheme it's genuinely incredible !!

very happy to see your posts.. I actually cannot access any social media for some reason (terrible service) (I'm currently in a very small city in france) (my international service is terrible) (it won't let me log in for some reason) so ive been checking your profile daily at minimum HAHA

as always.. so lovely. I love your and hope to see/learn more about them soon.

If you can disclose.. how did iyo (I hope that's the right name I'm TERRIBLE with names) get into the assassin business? I find her quite interesting.. obviously both of them LOL

hope to see more art of them soon!! maybe a character analysis.. a psychoanalysis.. #characterstudy..

and perhaps even attack them on artfight.. let's see my motivation LMAO

Isopod!!! It’s so nice to hear from you as always <33!! Thats amazing, it sounds like ur living it up in France rn (minus the connection issues)! I’m doing good too. Lately I’ve been adjusting to my first real job after graduation which is super exciting, but at the same time GOD is it hard to muster up the energy to draw now </3… (An hour commute is no joke). But alas, I’ve always been slow to post so I guess it doesn’t really make that much of a difference in the end.

To be 100% honest with u, one of the biggest reasons why I haven’t really attempted to make a long-term comic for Sumi & Iyo (besides the obvious time and skill issues) is that I’ve been avoiding the difficulties of ironing out their backstories. I think the fact that I initially made these 2 as a joke concept on a spin-the-wheel coupling of common character tropes has caught up to me haha;; I never expected them to be popular enough for it to really matter. I have a pretty fuzzy idea of how they met (which I think I actually included a little of here) but nothing too concrete. Same with their backstories but anyways,

Iyo’s backstory is that she was abandoned at an extremely young age, and was mute from years of severe neglect. Although she has no real memories of her parents or early childhood, she was convinced that she was thrown away for being worthless. She roamed the streets for quite a while, living off scraps and pity. But she then had an encounter with someone who was working for the organization, and ended up being taken in. They fed her, taught her how to speak, and integrated her into the org as an assassin.

ohh congratulations on your job!!! an hour commute would kill me.. stay strong.. but I am glad you are doing well!!

and I understand that.. character backstories are so difficult.. but don't be embarrassed!! tragic backstories are the most fun to play with. as long as the character actually has consequences from it I think it great!! iyo's backstory is really impactful, I love that they took her in only because she was already broken down, not because she truly had anything special about her. I wonder if she ever realized this.. it'd probably fuck her up. ohh ill be thinking about this..

really do love characters who are misguided and do everything for false beliefs. whether it be a lie they created or one fed to them.. either way my FAVORITE!!! honestly making back stories is my favorite thing ever I absolutely love making characters.. I recommend watching movies and if something reminds you if the character STEAL IT!!! so many of my ocs are inspired by movies (kill bill, cruel intentions..)

and as for af.. don't fret!! I am terrible with wishy washy motivation.. if I make art for your ocs (which I plan on!) DONT FEEL OBLIGATED! i do it out of my own volition and because I enjoy your work :-]

apologies for being so absent.. schooling unfortunately took over my life for months I’ve had an essay due every single week followed by an oral presentation an absolutely TERRIBLE cycle!!

this year has been a whirlwind.. most of all I cannot believe 2016 was ten years ago I am still so shocked!! it’s crazy!

i am very sparingly on tumblr but everytime I log in to see your posts it is an absolute delight, I loved the asurei dump and I thought the animation wip you did was sooo cool!!! I think it’s such an interesting concept I’ve watched it a few times now and I still enjoy it so much

i hope this year is very conducive to creativity !! i know I’ve worked on my art a lot and finally learned how to shade (incredible feat for someone who draws once every 3 months) and have begun to travel!! i hope 2025 was good for you and that 2026 will be even better !! i look forward to your art whenever I come on and it’s insane to see your storytelling ability grow I love the assassin yuri

wishing an incredible 2026 for you!! never stop creating!! :]

HAPPY NEW YEAR ISOPOD!!!!!!!!! I feel like it's become a custom to get new years asks from you now lol! I'm always so grateful you find time to write to me, your asks always make my year <33

Gah we were fr in the same boat, I just finished my last semester of uni (yippe) and god was it hell..... I had to work myself to the bone to finish my capstone project in time for graduation, I think I only drew one art piece in that entire semester.

BUT!! 'Tis finally over and since I've got some downtime right now while job searching, I'm gonna try to catch up on some of the ideas I jotted down in my notes app between classes. I really hope this is a year of creativity for both of us, and that's AMAZING you're learning to shade!!!! To be completely honest I've barely gotten the hang of it myself.. I think it was only around mid- 2024 that I became comfortable shading my art 😭 (literally, if you scroll and look at my posts pre- Julyish of that year you'll see me avoiding it like the plague). It is not for the faint of heart!!

But alas, I hope you have an amazing 2026 too! Hopefully it'll be filled with recreation, relaxation, and growth!!

i understand.. I have heard capstone horror stories..

YES YES definitely! I draw with my friends often and most of them have said they’ve seen an insane jump in quality in my art from one month to another so I can only hope.. i do very elementary shading but I’ve learned to not be very critical of my art or hard on myself because it is just a fun hobby and I only draw about four times a month.. very excited for what you make in your down time.

and yes yes! I went to berlin last summer for a week and a half and this coming summer I’m heading to france (lourdes) and spain (seville).. hopefully I don’t commit the same mistakes (in berlin I fell down the metro stairs as I was walking barefoot (my shoes were wooden and I was scared to run in the rain in them) and the steps over there are made of rock and slippery when wet 💔 both my shoes and phone flew into the bike ramp things and two old german people stared at me. heartbreaking.) berlin is great though I highly recommend. I personally went to their natural history museum (Naturkundemuseum), an art gallery for 18th century european art (Gemäldegalerie), an opera (I cannot remember the name..), the Museum Barberini, and the castles of Potsdam. I also did a lot of historical sightseeing in general like the Reichstag, Berlin Wall, etc.

i am actually very unsure where the “mean”/“blank” german stereotype came from. everyone was very nice but that may also be because I was there with my uncle (speaks fluent german and lives there, his husband is swiss-german and I myself pretended to not be american in any way and spoke exclusively spanish). you can definitely get around with just english, though!

also sorry for disappearing </3 school suddenly decided to get 5x harder and I have 0 time for anything but sleep

+ you are making me debate whether or not to watch jojo truly the best promoter of everything by just making it yuri-fied

omg isopod!!!! dw abt school stuff, im really busy myself for the same reason!

I’m glad you’re doing better after everything, hopefully life calms down a little for us both lol (classes closed for 2 days because of the hurricane [it didn’t even hit me] and I’ll be having about a weeks’ worth of work in 2 days)

i probably should have gotten ahead but alas! binge watching all 8 episodes of the blue eye samurai was far more important!

please take care of your wrists.. very fickle and weak part of the body just like the ankles sadly.. unsure if this would help but when I twisted my ankles (once on each foot because I am a klutz) I had to do ankle strengthening exercises, they’ve gotten better over the years so maybe doing that with your wrists would help some! depending on the injury of course, if it’d make it worse it’s best to hold off on that.

anywho once I find a pirating site with it I will watch jojo! I’m only about halfway through madoka magica and WHEW… there’s a lot!

do you know if the wrist issue is carpal tunnel or something other? not meant to pry! medical family and going into medicine, just curious to see if I could offer any advice of sorts!! :]

Hey Isopod!! <3 I have some form of RSI, tho I've never had it diagnosed ^^ I actually thought it was carpal tunnel too when I first developed it a few years ago lol but thank god its not! I don't feel any numbness, it's more like an tight-sore feeling on the back of my hand & base of wrist that starts off as an itch (best way I can describe it). And if I neglect it too much like I did recently I start losing a lot of strength in my hand to where holding up something like a phone becomes a struggle.

I've had it for some time, but its usually absent unless I really use my wrist a lot! I can usually head it off early by sleeping with a wrist brace when I start to feel that distinct 'itch' on the back of my hand, but it'll still develop unless I make sure to take a few days off afterwards.

the only other piece of advice I could offer other than RICE (seems silly to do for a wrist injury but trust it does help plenty) and wrist braces is to make sure you keep good posture and exercise your wrists!!

i would also recommend not drawing for about 2 weeks with proper measures to let heal but I understand that's probably not possible or desirable.. but I'll leave the advice here.

'Congratulations on the degree! Your word is "bassoon".' the one handing the diploma says to the other.

'Oh nice! Not as cool as my "jackalope" but still not bad.' the first one on the ground says.

'You all are lucky. I'm stuck with "slurp".' the other one of the ground says.

I’m stuck with “slurp”.’ the other

one of the ground says.

I absolutely adore your artstyle and your ocs. their personalities and stories are always so interesting, and I look forward to seeing any type of art you post.

If you take a break from drawing asurei, that's completely okay!! doing things with joy is more important than just doing them. I will enjoy whatever you draw regardless— in fact, I regularly go back to that drawing of the unnamed pink haired girlfailure OC and her "friend" daily. i am mayhaps their number one fan.

please continue sharing your stories and ideas!! I adore your characters and designs so much. I am very excited for your toxic yuri freeloader/assassin story.. they are very interesting!!

also saw you did some dialogue in japanese.. do you speak it ? im quite interested in any language so.. apologies if this is off topic ><!

In any case, thank you for continuing to create. I love your art and hope you continue to draw what makes you happy and what you feel motivated to do. I love all your art regardless of subject matter!! in fact it convinced me to to start watching madoka magica :}

best wishes !! hope you're well!!

wahhh isopod !! u always send me the nicest asks when i need them most!! i hope ur doing well ~ although my last post sounded pretty depressing im actually doing pretty well too! im going to the aquarium next week w some friends so im looking forward to that more than anything >:D

and that's so cool.. I tried to learn japanese but the sentence structure+3 alphabets confused me so bad I went to go learn korean.. (it's easier because it's only one alphabet that's easy to write/memorize!!)

and you're so right!! to learn languages I try to speak it last. I think people try to learn a language and make the mistake of immediately just trying to speak it— no!! the most important first part is learning words and sentence structure (if you're an english speaker, and it doesn't have a latin alphabet then learn the alphabet first!)

I usually buy english to (target language) dictionaries to learn words and how they're used in sentences and children's books!!

I grew up with two languages so I totally understand what you mean.. I'd forget a word in english and say it in spanish and vice versa. (although spanish has completely messed up me learning any language because if it's not pronounced in an "english" accent I'll immediately pronounce it like it's spanish.. would accidentally roll my r's trying to learn japanese and had to go sit down.)

if you’re looking for spanish telenovelas.. the most basic of all is “la rosa de Guadalupe”.. It was truly wild. but make sure you never watch any telenovela dubbed it actually ruins the entire show (mouths don’t line up with words).

I absolutely adore your artstyle and your ocs. their personalities and stories are always so interesting, and I look forward to seeing any type of art you post.

If you take a break from drawing asurei, that's completely okay!! doing things with joy is more important than just doing them. I will enjoy whatever you draw regardless— in fact, I regularly go back to that drawing of the unnamed pink haired girlfailure OC and her "friend" daily. i am mayhaps their number one fan.

please continue sharing your stories and ideas!! I adore your characters and designs so much. I am very excited for your toxic yuri freeloader/assassin story.. they are very interesting!!

also saw you did some dialogue in japanese.. do you speak it ? im quite interested in any language so.. apologies if this is off topic ><!

In any case, thank you for continuing to create. I love your art and hope you continue to draw what makes you happy and what you feel motivated to do. I love all your art regardless of subject matter!! in fact it convinced me to to start watching madoka magica :}

best wishes !! hope you're well!!

wahhh isopod !! u always send me the nicest asks when i need them most!! i hope ur doing well ~ although my last post sounded pretty depressing im actually doing pretty well too! im going to the aquarium next week w some friends so im looking forward to that more than anything >:D

and that's so cool.. I tried to learn japanese but the sentence structure+3 alphabets confused me so bad I went to go learn korean.. (it's easier because it's only one alphabet that's easy to write/memorize!!)

and you're so right!! to learn languages I try to speak it last. I think people try to learn a language and make the mistake of immediately just trying to speak it— no!! the most important first part is learning words and sentence structure (if you're an english speaker, and it doesn't have a latin alphabet then learn the alphabet first!)

I usually buy english to (target language) dictionaries to learn words and how they're used in sentences and children's books!!

I grew up with two languages so I totally understand what you mean.. I'd forget a word in english and say it in spanish and vice versa. (although spanish has completely messed up me learning any language because if it's not pronounced in an "english" accent I'll immediately pronounce it like it's spanish.. would accidentally roll my r's trying to learn japanese and had to go sit down.)

there’s always more to yourself than you’ll know, I think, but the world is kinder than people think. If anything, everyone is still very new at this. we’ve never lived before. do the things you like, branch out, don’t become less of yourself for other people. everything has a place, and my best advice is to treat life as you would a vacation. do all the things you can while you’re here. build a life that makes it worth it. (sorry for the long ask and my rambling, or if this is overstepping in any way. i just read what you wrote and kind of related to it in a way. thank you for continuing to create art, it brings me a lot of joy! :] )

hey isopod!!! thanks for the ask & I wish u good luck with ur school work!

Thank u so much for the compliments, im really glad the vibe of my room was conveyed in those doodles. i absolutely looove drawing my room! It’s extremely small (a renovated utility closet) and just barely fits a bed + my desk but its packed full of the things i love. It’s very lived in and I feel like it reflects my character well.

when i drew that page I was in my senior year of high school and pressures to decide my future were overwhelming. I never thought much about it until then and I didn’t have any idea of what I was going to do. The only thing I felt I had going for me was art but I didn’t want to turn my only hobby into a job I hated. I remember going through a master list of majors on random college websites and one-by-one asking myself if I’d be okay doing it. In the end I had nothing. I was really crushed about it and felt stuck. This was right after the covid quarantine too so focusing in school was difficult & I couldn’t bring myself to apply for scholarships. I started skipping classes, smoking weed, and pushing off my assignments. All of this only made me feel more miserable, of course, so everything seemed pretty bleak at the time.

But luckily I had the support of my family and especially my mother. She would always remind me that “we have option”, “we always have options”. Because I did! This was a fresh start to try my hand at a totally different experience than what I’ve done so far. I ended up choosing my major on a complete whim after hearing my aunt had a job in an adjacent field. I was pretty sure I’d drop out after a semester, yet here I am about to graduate soon & I’m having a ton of fun!! (Hell, I’m 10 hours out in the middle of nowhere right now for my Field Methods class!) It’s not that I had a knack for Geology that I just never tapped into, or that i secretly had a passion for rocks this entire time; I just found something that seemed like an okay fit and grew interest from there. I think that a small level of commitment like that is more than enough to get you going. I had a ton of ideas in my head about how I needed to have a perfect fit major that would connect every dot I’ve laid out in my life thus far, but that’s not true at all. Life is much more messy and unpredictable than that.

But enough of my rambling!! That time of my life may have been stressful but I’m very grateful that I went through it! It changed how I viewed problems and it taught me to always look for other options when everything seems helpless.

i don’t know what “field” you’re in but i hope you find clay or quartz (they’re so pretty)

My favorite rocks are all mafic, so I was glad to see some sills while I was there ~ it crumbled in my hand like air clay

there’s always more to yourself than you’ll know, I think, but the world is kinder than people think. If anything, everyone is still very new at this. we’ve never lived before. do the things you like, branch out, don’t become less of yourself for other people. everything has a place, and my best advice is to treat life as you would a vacation. do all the things you can while you’re here. build a life that makes it worth it. (sorry for the long ask and my rambling, or if this is overstepping in any way. i just read what you wrote and kind of related to it in a way. thank you for continuing to create art, it brings me a lot of joy! :] )

hey isopod!!! thanks for the ask & I wish u good luck with ur school work!

Thank u so much for the compliments, im really glad the vibe of my room was conveyed in those doodles. i absolutely looove drawing my room! It’s extremely small (a renovated utility closet) and just barely fits a bed + my desk but its packed full of the things i love. It’s very lived in and I feel like it reflects my character well.

when i drew that page I was in my senior year of high school and pressures to decide my future were overwhelming. I never thought much about it until then and I didn’t have any idea of what I was going to do. The only thing I felt I had going for me was art but I didn’t want to turn my only hobby into a job I hated. I remember going through a master list of majors on random college websites and one-by-one asking myself if I’d be okay doing it. In the end I had nothing. I was really crushed about it and felt stuck. This was right after the covid quarantine too so focusing in school was difficult & I couldn’t bring myself to apply for scholarships. I started skipping classes, smoking weed, and pushing off my assignments. All of this only made me feel more miserable, of course, so everything seemed pretty bleak at the time.

But luckily I had the support of my family and especially my mother. She would always remind me that “we have option”, “we always have options”. Because I did! This was a fresh start to try my hand at a totally different experience than what I’ve done so far. I ended up choosing my major on a complete whim after hearing my aunt had a job in an adjacent field. I was pretty sure I’d drop out after a semester, yet here I am about to graduate soon & I’m having a ton of fun!! (Hell, I’m 10 hours out in the middle of nowhere right now for my Field Methods class!) It’s not that I had a knack for Geology that I just never tapped into, or that i secretly had a passion for rocks this entire time; I just found something that seemed like an okay fit and grew interest from there. I think that a small level of commitment like that is more than enough to get you going. I had a ton of ideas in my head about how I needed to have a perfect fit major that would connect every dot I’ve laid out in my life thus far, but that’s not true at all. Life is much more messy and unpredictable than that.

But enough of my rambling!! That time of my life may have been stressful but I’m very grateful that I went through it! It changed how I viewed problems and it taught me to always look for other options when everything seems helpless.

i don’t know what “field” you’re in but i hope you find clay or quartz (they’re so pretty)

studio 252MYA (paleontology)

ray troll's webstore (surrealist fish designs)

liberty graphics t-shirts (biology/dinosaurs)

present indicative (science-themed clothing + home items)

donbea tees - something fishy collection (silly fish puns about substance use)

camp mustelid (nature themes)

crime pays but botany doesn't (botany/biology)

umvvelt (marine biology patterns)

morningwitch (nature patterns)

svaha USA (science patterns)

CM MENTION!!!!!! thanks so much :-)

here's a few more great nature themed small biz shops for you to check out!

MOTEL777 nature goodies with a cryptic twist

Curlworks cute critters with a hint of silly

Fossilforager especially good if you're a bug or amphibian fan

Quailtea Goods wide range of animal art including mythical ones!

Loonpflug specialty on plants and insects!

Solstice Handmade fungi, arthropods, and various other animals

The Vet Med Artist mostly stickers/prints but they have a hoodie. Ink art exploring veterinary medicine

Laura Wolf Lots of silly bird art (prints through RB)

The Lincoln Forest national park apparel

Fernecreative more prints than apparel but Ferne illustrates (mostly British) wildlife

Coywolf Collections neat zoology art with some furries mixed in

Kelly Ballantyne not sure how much she makes in terms of clothing because her shop is on vacation at the moment, but this artist makes lots of bird illustrations

Moodymoon.co birds, fungi, plants, and other outdoor inspired art!

Mustardbeetle BUGS N BIRDS

Sipseywilder nature apparel of all kinds, bugs, cryptids, birds, plants, etc

Alex Tomlinson cute bird art, lots of art to do with birds and the postal service

Freehand Goods Florian wildlife

Avairia Art cute sea critters

Glitter and Toadstools all sorts of critters

Mothsprout lots of different kinds of critters, some furry stuff mixed in

Pikaloe cute cartoon nature critters, public shop is through rb but if you are a patron you get access to a secret shop

Chentomology bug art

Acorvi art mostly sea critters, cartoony style

Saxony Charlot Hawaiian wildlife I don’t see any apparel yet (though there are some buttons) but I figured I’d share anyway because a portion of profits goes to conservation in Hawaii

Lochnessie the “Birbie” dove design creator, they make lots of cartoony bird art. There aren’t any clothes listed at the moment but they do produce shirts occasionally