i love akechi goro

There are no ontologically evil people

People generally want to believe they are doing good

Under enough stress, anyone will act irrationally

Remember when Lil Nas X beautifully explored his sexuality, seduced and killed the devil to the banger of all time, and instead of cheering on this openly gay and proud Black artist for his artistry and fighting back against respectability politics, suddenly said respectability politics was all the Queerest Place on the Internet cared about? Hm. Wonder what happened there.

hi!!! ok so! ive been trying to think abt how to answer this for a billion years because like i dont really know how to .......teach........... or explain.... but i think at least i can tell you how i learned to draw backgrounds! and how i still do background studies to this day! !

i recorded a little video of me doing a bg study live in case my explanation isnt clear, but it ended up being 15minutes long so i put it up on youtube ToTTTT heres the link v

while i dont specifically have tips on drawing backgrounds, i do have tips for background studies so u can learn on ur own c:

i kinda just grab whatever image on pinterest catches my eye and a big texture brush (can be any, the CSP ID for the one im using is 2232706 ). i would say my personal rules for these types of studies are 1. no sketch 2. no colourpicking 3. no tracing/overlaying the img to get proportions right . also 4. NO ZOOMING IN!!!!! i think rly important aspect is training urself to be able to at least mostly eyeball colours n composition itll make drawing stuff from imagination easierrrr later down the line .....

once im pretty confident that i have the most important crucial parts of the reference down, ill hide it and draw the rest from memory/imagination . when im nearly done i will look at it again just in case there's any last minute corrections that need doing but i find that this helps with like.........making a DRAWING instead of just replicating a photo you know what i mean ? this might be personal preference if ur a realism artist maybe this isnt ur vibe but i like to get maybe a little wacky with it.... and i find it easier to do that when im not worried about staying true to my reference smile

hi!!! thank u for this it reminded me my current posts r out of date LOL here’s a big master list of what i’m using right now and a link to all the downloads ^^

hope this helps!! i’ll try to keep my current brushes under their own tag as well now :D

Seri Tainaka is a manga artist with a one-hit-wonder. Her title, "To Hell and Back" was widely loved…but her successes end there. When Seri meets her quirky new editor, Sumire Futami, she is both shocked and captivated by this fascinating woman… Shrouded in mystery, Futami seems to be hiding some truths about herself. With the ladies teamed up, their Fatale Game begins here!

I am making this EMERGENCY TOXIC YURI REC POST because I actually had no idea it got licensed and apparently the artist said that sales weren't going well but the editor-in-chief has been allowing the series to continue and I need everyone to gather your powers and Save Yuri because if this series gets cancelled. I will be on the news.

ANYWAY, this is burnt out insecure manga artist/ambitious manipulative manga editor (although, rather than artist/editor it's more artist?editor). the art is BEAUTIFUL and the women are UNHINGED.

something that I really like about it is that the manipulative editor is pretty off-putting. the artist is resistant for the first few pages (lol) because the editor's extremely pushy, effusively over-affectionate, and excruciatingly blunt with what doesn't meet her standards (she calls the artist's storyboard "boring" Several Times)

but even though the editor seems to make a pretty universally terrible first impression on, quite possibly, every artist she's worked with, her intensity is the source of the charisma she uses to bewitch those artists

the Gripping Someone By The Anatomically Accurate Heart visual comes back several times and it's always a banger, my favorite version of it so far is in chapter 7.

something that I find compelling is that the editor is definitely manipulative and only interested in artists that she thinks has the potential to be Ranked #1, and actively pits her artists against each other like she's running fight club, but there's something about her that makes you want to believe that some degree of her feelings are pure... that she truly and sincerely has a deep connection with the art that she gravitates to...

all of this is from the first chapter btw, it's kinda crazy. battan is a genius. anyway if you use K-manga's ticket system you can read Fatale Game for free, Please Please Please Please read it on the app and also vote for Every Chapter, NOW IS THE TIME

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE like even the chapter titles have impeccable vibes

Above: the larval form of Fulgoraecia exigua

Caterpillars of the family Epipyropidae, commonly known as planthopper parasite moths, are ectoparasites that feed on the haemolymph (i.e. "blood") of planthoppers and cicadas. This family contains at least 40 described species, all of which are parasites or parasitoids.

Above: planthopper parasite caterpillars tucked beneath the wings of their hosts

This is one of the few known examples of a caterpillar that actually engages in parasitic, carnivorous and/or predatory behavior.

Above: Fulgoraecia exigua

The caterpillar has hooked claws that allow it to cling to the host's body; it uses its mandibles to penetrate the cuticle around the abdomen, then inserts a proboscis-like structure into the planthopper's body and begins to feed on the fluids within.

Each caterpillar spends about 4-6 weeks feeding on its host, with its body often tucked beneath the larger insect's wings.

Above: a Fulgoraecia exigua caterpillar can be seen feeding beneath the wings of this planthopper

Young planthopper nymphs that are parasitized by these caterpillars rarely survive the process. The survival rate for older nymphs and adult hemipterans is also quite low.

Above: the photo at the top shows an Epipomponia nawai caterpillar feeding on a cicada, while the photo on the bottom shows Fulgoraecia exigua feeding on a leafhopper

Planthopper parasite caterpillars are often tiny, with their bodies measuring just 3-7mm long, and they're covered in waxy white filaments that make them look like little cottonballs. These features seem to mimic the "fluffy" appearance of many fulgoroid planthopper nymphs, which may enable the caterpillar to sneak up on its host.

Above: planthopper parasite caterpillars

When the caterpillar reaches maturity, it finally detaches from its host and then uses a thin strand of silk to abseil down to a leaf or a branch, where it can spin a cocoon around its body and enter pupation.

Above: the cocoons of Fulgoraecia exigua

The caterpillars of this family create very distinctive cocoons. As delicate layers of silk are folded together around the pupal case, they often form ridges, cone-like structures, or wider, flatter folds that look almost like rose petals.

Above: a cocoon made by an unidentified moth from family Epipyropidae

The fully-developed moth may emerge weeks or even months later, depending on the species. The adults of this family typically have a blackish-gray appearance.

Above: the adult form of Epipomponia nawai

Other examples of predatory, carnivorous and/or parasitic moths can be found in my earlier post about meat-eating caterpillars.

Sources & More Info:

Journal of the Lepidopterist's Society: Predatory and Parasitic Lepidoptera

The Lepidoptera: Form, Function, and Diversity: Epipyropidae

Moths of North Carolina: Fulgoraecia exigua

Bug Guide: Family Epipyropidae

Bombay Natural History Society: The Biology and Morphology of Epipyrops eurybrachydis

Egyptian Journal of Biological Pest Control: Parasitism by Fulgoraecia melanoleuca

Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology: Behavioural and Phylogeographic Observations on Epipomponia nawai