The Edgelord is Still Trying...

Being the way I am, I decided to give my customization project a little last-minute touch along with everything I'd already had planned:

Meet Lotte, my second-ever customized Labubu! Yeah, the colors over her actual eyes are harsh and juvenile, but isn't that a huge part of TADC's entire aesthetic?

The eyes on the stomach and back were all part of my original plan, and I'm honestly really happy with how they turned out! (Even so, Lotte's face still looked a bit plain compared to her new traits, so I decided to take a chance and bring the felt back out.) The arrangement might look a bit wobbly/irregular, but hey, Abstraction canonically leaves your mind wobbly/irregular, doesn't it?

On top of this, I've got one more finished product to share:

Okay, not all that different from my first progress-pic, but whatever!

Funny story: right after I placed my order for the eye-charms, I immediately started looking for a tooth-charm to go with them (because you can't honor Caine without teeth), but none of the options I found would've flowed very well with this design. So, imagine my surprise when I found the perfect pendant sent as an extra little gift in the package with the eyes! Like the actual chain, the ring around the tooth and the little bar behind it were recycled from other stuff in my jewelry box.

Despite what I said in my last post, I won't be able to post my theater outfit until a while later (long story not worth telling). I'll still try to share before the night is done, if anyone is still interested, lol.

Yeah, I know, I said I'd update with progress pics a couple weeks ago. But I got sidetracked by both irl family business and writing stuff.

I initially tried to draw eyes on the labubu, but it didn't work out nearly as well as the veins on Fabian (my Iron Lung-custom bubu). Good thing the abstraction aesthetic is primarily black, so the main body has been dyed just fine.

Thankfully, I found an alternative to add on those vivid eyes:

(This might be the first time I've even looked at felt since third grade, lol.)

They've all been attached to the body by now, and the glue is still setting, but so far, it's got the look I was hoping for

I'll be posting about the final result (as well as my premier outfit) sometime tomorrow before I head to the theater...

So.

TADC's The Last Act, huh?

I'm really excited for it! I believe that this, along with Iron Lung, is gonna usher in a new era of movies. And that era is EXTREMELY overdue. If indie projects didn't deserve more respect before, then they sure as hell deserve it in times like this!

I've already booked some tickets; plus, unlike my last theater trip, some of my more horror-averse irl friends will be tagging along! (Although in my opinion, TADC is pretty damn horror-adjacent. But hey, that's just me.)

And yet, I feel like something is missing. I mean, this is legitimately the first time that indie animation has been given such treatment in my life. So, I feel like I need to do a bit more to honor this...

(Sorry if the camera quality is shit. I swear I tried, my phone just hates me.)

Yeah, I'm doing THIS again. (Hey, it's not entirely my fault. Someone on here made a post about how labubus look like an uncannily accurate fusion of Jax and Pomni.)

Just like all my projects, I'm not sure how long this will take to complete. Even with all my color-testing, I'm still very indecisive and anxious about this. I probably won't use the exact examples on the end-product, but we shall see. I'll post my progress in time, and I'll make sure to be finished before June 4th (the June 3rd showing was already fully booked in my local theater, so PLEASE DON'T TRY ANY SPOILER SHIT WITH ME).

And similarly to Iron Lung, I'm also gonna put a specific outfit together for the premier! I'll only post the full thing before I head to the theater, but here's a sample:

Each eyeball is a resin charm that was crafted in a custom order from SpecterBazaar on Etsy! They were separate upon arrival, but that was part of the plan; I've taken connecting rings from my older jewelry that I don't wear anymore and recycled them for this with miniature pliers! It's not finished, but again, I'll be showing the results in due time...e

My Interpretation of Ted

Started: March 31st, 2026

Finished: April 14th, 2026

(The sculpting itself was actually complete by Friday the 3rd. But, long story short, my grandfather needed to repair some stuff around the house. We only have one unfinished room to use as a workshop, so I had to clear my art supplies out of it for a while. I only just got the painting done yesterday.)

Now, if you saw my last post, you might be wondering, "You said you were gonna work on revamping those amateur dragon sculptures. Why aren't you posting progress on that? What's the deal?"

Well, first of all: read the title of this post. As I've said before, I'm free of my old toxic job and am very happy with my current one. Now that I have more emotional energy, I've been getting more consistent inspiration like I used to...but last year's hiatus really left a mark. So, my brain has still kinda been feeling like a great soft jelly-thing.

Second of all: I'm still working on the revamped dragons, and I do plan to post about them sooner or later. I literally did this because of TADC. Episode 9 was awesome, but it also really fucked me up and made me relapse with I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (yes, both the original story and the game. Seriously, I just kinda hyperfixated on a compilation of AM's dialogue for a few days).

At first, I was just going to try to mimic the design of the jelly-thing from the video game. But that didn't really work out, and for once, I just let myself do whatever. (It really helps that plenty of other fans have made their own interpretations. A lot of variety in the ideas for a devolved lump of human-slug.)

I usually don't post actual progress photos, partially because I just forget to, and partially because of self-induced pressure that makes me worry about something ruining said progress right after. But in this case, I really wish I had, because I honestly surprised myself. After I abandoned the video game's design, I started out with sculpting a basic humanoid torso and head. And then...I just kinda set it down and kept adding partially-flattened pieces to its back and chest until I felt satisfied. I swear I'm not trying to brag, I'm legitimately not sure how this came together.

Once the initial form was done, I tried to add rippling layers across the back to simulate melting. But that didn't look quite right; so, given that this character is still technically human, I just went with distorted veins. At first, they were just around the neck area, but then they spread all the way through. The eyes took a few tries, but I eventually got the shape I wanted, and I used the edge of one of my carving tools to give them a texture like clouds of fog.

As for the paint, I originally wanted to go with more grayish/bruise-like colors to reference decay. But then I remembered how Ted is the poster-child for the Curse of Living trope...

So, there we have it: my official first sculpture of 2026. I'm proud of it, more so than I thought I'd be, considering how long I've been out of practice, and I hope you all think it looks okay.

My home state is usually infamous for having long, heavy, drawn-out winters (as in, snow is still falling in March and just barely melts in time for Easter. Hell, while I was growing up we had the odd snow-day IN THE MIDDLE OF MAY). However, the end of last year was very unusual: we did get a decent amount of snow, but nowhere near the tons that we're used to. So, that means a bit of a faster melt coming into this new year. Temperatures are already warming up so much faster than I've personally seen in the past.

So, since we're actually getting spring-style weather this month, that means an early start on spring-cleaning. I mainly focused on my bedroom and art studio...and while I was tidying up the former, I found an old box that I didn't remember stashing under my bed. And what was in that box?

These guys!

(The background is just my art studio; please don't mind how messy the table is, I used it specifically because nobody else in the house cared about it getting stained with paint.)

I can't remember the exact dates I made them, but I couldn't have been older than nine.

My dad didn't live in my home state for the majority of my childhood, but he always made sure to visit whenever he could afford to each year. (He officially moved over here a few years ago, but that's a different story.) I explain this because sculpting is something that he and I really bonded over during that time. (He's primarily a musician and tried to teach me to play the drums, but I was undiagnosed/unmedicated at the time, so I had the attention span of a pillow, lmao.) Thankfully, he wasn't averse to clay, so he brought some over to my grandparents' house one day, and I really took to it.

I was also in my prime dragon-obsessed phase around then, so of course I became obsessed with making little dragons. (Yes, I was and still am very frustrated with how hard wings are to sculpt.)

I mentioned in my Plans/Announcement post that I'll be focusing on some smaller projects to get back into practice before I take on a piece specifically to honor the Iron Lung movie.

So, what if I re-made these older, rougher pieces that I just found? Bigger with more details and polish to show how much my sculpting style has changed and matured/improved over the years?

Not sure how long each new/remodeled piece will take, but I'll update in time with each one! (Or maybe I'll just get really immersed and update with all the new ones together. Who knows with my brain.) Wish me luck!

So far this year, the few updates I've made to this particular blog have been about either Iron Lung or baking.

However, as much as I'm going to continue with baking/cake-decorating projects, I started this secondary account primarily for sculpting, since that's my primary hobby alongside writing.

...At least until I got trapped in a very toxic retail job last year, which left me so stressed and mentally fatigued so often that I literally just couldn't muster up the emotional energy to focus on most art, if any at all.

But I'm happy to say that this year, I've finally managed to get a new job with a much better environment! (Without going into too much detail, because I know nobody really cares, it's not the most glamorous work, but I care more about getting paid an amount that actually matters over glamor. It gives me the relative peace and quiet that I legitimately need to function, and I don't have to deal with snotty overgrown toddlers getting in my face every single minute.)

My recovery is definitely not as fast-moving as I would've liked, but motivation and inspiration are definitely coming back to me. Sooner or later, I'll be focusing on writing and sculpting in (hopefully) equal measure, just like I used to.

Now, remember how I mentioned Iron Lung at the beginning of all this? Well, trust me, I'm absolutely gonna do more stuff to honor the movie because of how special it truly is. (Plus, I don't have to worry about being incredibly late to the party for once, because this is something that will be relevant for a VERY long time.)

I plan to write at least one story for Iron Lung...as well as make a special commemorative sculpture for it. No spoilers on either, but I know they'll both take me a long time to truly build up and polish. And while I've never had a good track-record when it comes to timely writing, but I can tell you right now that the sculpture will take much, much, MUCH longer. I wouldn't be surprised if I end up spending entire MONTHS on it.

But like I said before, I literally just haven't sculpted anything since early last year. And while I can tell that I haven't completely lost my touch (I've been sculpting since elementary school), I know when I'm rusty. You really think I can just start something like what I have in my for the Iron Lung piece when I'm still rusty?! Not a chance in hell! I truly need to get back into the swing of things before I'm ready to start such a big project.

Lucky for me, I've actually found some random inspiration for smaller pieces to help with practicing, which I'll be posting about very soon!

(Kinda funny how I'm coming back to writing in the same way: focusing on smaller tidbits before tackling the Iron Lung story. But hey, if I want it to be impressive, then I've gotta be on my A-game.)

(Admittedly, I finished decorating a couple hours ago and then got caught up in some friend-stuff, but oh well.)

Like my last cake, I really just couldn't seem to get the frosting to be nice and smooth/flat. Then again, this type of pattern is very difficult to navigate certain tools along. Plus, I have to remember that I'm still practicing.

Roses aren't my official favorite flower, but they're still so lovely to look at. Yeah, I could've gone for a solid-colored rose, but I've always loved multi-colored ones; especially those with white around the base and a darker shade on the tips of their petals. (I've also loved this specific shade of purple/burgundy ever since I saw the painting scene in Arisocats when I was little, lol.)

(As usual, sorry if the camera quality is shit, I'm just in a bit of a rush at the moment.)

Hehehehehehehe...

(I've been holding onto this mold since last summer, I would've used it for earlier projects, but those called for much smaller cakes. The cake just came out of the oven, and it'll need a lot of time to cool. I usually use sheets of parchment paper on the bottoms of my pans to guarantee a smooth, clean removal. But, with the pattern in this mold, that's kind of impossible, so I was just a bit liberal with non-stick spray and some sprinkled cocoa powder. Hopefully it'll come out clean after cooling. I'll update for Decoration Time!)

It took a while, but I managed to get back in the kitchen...

The ganache was actually pretty easy to make; it's a matter of melting candy wafers (white chocolate with black food dye, in this case, though brown chocolate would be a problem if you wanted to use any other colors) and combining them with boiling-hot water. I used this recipe on Pinterest.

I had to put the cake in the fridge while I worked on this, since a cold surface will help the ganache set up faster without looking too soupy/runny.

And...

The drips definitely came out sloppier than I would've liked, but it's still not too bad for my very first time! Kinda reminds me of Molten Chocolate Lava cakes.

(Important note: make sure to let the side-drips fully set before you fill in the top of the cake. As you can see, I didn't do that, and so I have a few extra drips melding into the first ones and making the design a bit awkward.)

But other than that, the cake is ready for tomorrow!

Thanks for putting up with all my updates throughout the process, lol

I'm finally done with the second decorating phase: frosting.

It doesn't look as smooth/flat as I wanted, but oh well. I am still practicing with this stuff, after all. And to quote my grandfather, "Don't let perfect be the enemy of good enough."

(This is usually why I gravitate toward darker colors. Not only because I'm an emo at heart. but because it's a bit easier to hide mistakes. But hey, Mom's favorite color and purple, and that's one of very few things we can agree on, even if my favorites fluctuate from time to time.)

(Also, in case anyone is curious: the recipe I used is Rich Chocolate Cake from Rosanna Pansino's The Nerdy Nummies Cook Book. I mean, I've been following her since I was twelve, so of course this is my go-to for baking. Bonus points since a lot of the recipes work great with both all-purpose and gluten-free flour.)

I wanted a very light, lilac-esque shade from the start, and I did kinda have that with the first picture. But somewhere along the way, I decided I wanted a bit more of a bluish tint, so I mixed some into the frosting. Obviously it didn't completely cover up the pink-leaning hues, but I kinda like how they mesh. Almost a bit like an overcast sunset.

I'm set for the next phase, which will be to try and make a ganache icing to have that cool drip-design so many cakes have lately.

However, my grandmother is currently using the stove for her own stuff, and I don't want to get in her way. So, I'll just pack up the cake and wait until the kitchen is free again, which will probably take a few hours.

Let's hope the final phase doesn't make too much of a mess!

The berries are officially ready! The ones on the plate will be part of the cake's design, and the rest are just extras for the family since I didn't want the chocolate to go to waste.

They set up a lot faster than I thought, but I guess it's been a long time since I made chocolate-covered anything, lol. (Never thought I would ever use the simple circle-hole icing tips, since I always have to be so elaborate with decorating. Well, I was wrong.)

Focused on these because I wanted to give the cake a little extra time to cool. Just in case; I've had way too many mishaps with melty/soupy frosting in the past.

Gonna start the next phase of decorating soon!

Melt some chocolate wafers

Mess up the first couple batches of the chocolate because you can’t settle on how much time to warm it up between stirring

Finally get a good batch; wash some strawberries, dip them, and put them in the freezer to set up

Realize you made too much chocolate for the four strawberries you plan to put on the cake because you’re using a smaller pan than usual to bake it

Frantically wash more strawberries to dip before the chocolate sets up too much and you have to risk burning it when re-melting

Just barely have enough chocolate for these extra strawberries anyway

Remember you have an art blog with baking stuff and should probably post a bit more often

(Yes, I'll be adding some white chocolate stripes, but I have to let the berries cool before that, or else the chocolates will just meld together and make a mess.)

That's right, I'm making another cake! My mom's birthday is tomorrow, so this will be for her! (Don't worry, I have the equipment to keep said cake form getting too dry/stale overnight.)

The cake actually just barely came out of the oven; I whipped up the strawberries while waiting for the pans to cool. Of course, this is just one very small part of the entire decoration process; dying and applying the frosting will take a lot more time.

Will update sometime later this afternoon; wish me luck!

The first day the Iron Lung movie was announced, I told myself that I'd have an excuse to splurge. (And that excuse is valid, thank you very much, because this movie is extremely special for Mark's fandom.)

I did aforementioned splurging in a few different ways (gathering supplies to customize Fabian, making Iron-Lung-themed trinkets for friends, etc.), but the biggest example is the outfit I'll be wearing to the theater for tonight's showing.

Anyone who knows me know that I'm extremely self-conscious, so naturally I was quite hesitant to post any pictures online. However, like I said: this is a special time, and special times typically require you to step outside your comfort zone. Encouragement from friends, both irl and online, has also helped a lot. (Especially from one @sammys-magical-au . You'd better stick to your word and post your own damn pictures, lol)

(Also sorry if the camera quality is shit. I tried really hard, but maybe some elements just didn't process correctly.)

(The little dog at my feet is named Bocephus. He's not my pet; he belongs to an irl friend of mine who will one day be made a saint because he was patient enough to help me with the photos. Also he's here on the hellsite as @darkedeusvult48-blog so please be nice to him. And along the way, Bo wanted to be involved, and I just couldn't say no to that face. BASK IN HIS GLORY!)

Pretty much everything pictured (aside from my boots; those are a birthday gift from my dad a few years ago) came from a shop on Etsy:

The dress is from French Meadows.

The scarf/shawl is from OceanAvenueSilks.

The velvet choker ribbon is from ImagizeYourWorld

The eldritch abomination pendant is from abysswares (fair warning, I bought it a few years ago, and nowadays the shop doesn't have much of an eldritch theme. It could also go back to that for a bit, but who knows?)

The leggings are from DerangedDesigns916.

And the clasp connecting the ribbon and pendant is from PrimitiveOriginals.

The showing isn't until later tonight, but I didn't want to leave this until he very last minute. Especially since I haven't been there in years, so I'm not sure how the lighting is in there. Hopefully I'll survive with this on. Not because the theater is dangerous or anything, but because THEY ALWAYS GO INSANE WITH THE AIR CONDITIONING.

And because I am the way I am...

I do have a more conventional go-bag, but this thing is a bit more on-theme. Especially with how Fabian is looking at the logo. (Apologies if his face seems grungier than it did in other photos. But hey, the grunge also works with Iron Lung, and I stand by that.)

Wish me luck for tonight! I know it's gonna be awesome!

Literally the day after my last post, I came down with a surprise headcold, and I’ve only just recovered from it. (Yeah, I could’ve kept working on this while I was sick. But for one thing, I was dealing with Sick-Brain, and Sick-Brain never wants to cooperate with anything outside of sleeping and showering. And for another thing, I didn’t want too many germs to attach to my little guy. Sure, he’ll get exposed to some germs no matter what, but still.) 

Anyway, remember what I said about posting throughout the whole vein-drawing process? Well, turns out I decided to be a bit more gung-ho with the details than I thought I’d be...

Although I was still pretty damn nervous about it, I’d made a point to practice drawing vein patterns on paper with other Ohuhu markers (basically every color outside of gray and red, since I really needed those markers to stay viable for this project). And despite my doubts about my drawing, I’m actually pretty pleased with how they turned out so far. 

My personal artistic skills are focused on writing, sculpture, and painting the clay used for said sculptures. (Yeah, decorating cakes and cookies is kinda there too, but I’m still an amateur at that.) When it comes to drawing, I typically say, “I can’t draw a straight line with a ruler.” But veins are actually kinda easy. It’s just a matter of making streaks weave together. The uncanny resemblance to tree roots/branches helps. (Even if that was one of the things I questioned about how I was drawing them.)

A big part of this success is the fact that the fur hasn’t put up too much of a fight. I’ve noticed that the three Labubu lines seem to have different types of fur in their designs. The BIE line specifically has very thick, fluffy fur. The EM line has dense, curly fur. The HAS, meanwhile, has fur that seems much thinner, and a bit more prone to matting. Not that that’s a bad thing, it just needs to be handled with more care. It seems to create a bit of a smoother palette; you still have to be cautious with your marker-strokes, but it’s probably easier to customize than, say, a BIE’s fur. (You could still color it, but complex patterns would certainly be a challenge) 

Yes, I know, the fur and veins of the head looks different than everywhere else; I'm really not sure how that happened. I wasn't happy about it at first, but by now I've embraced it as a happy accident. For one thing, the slight color-spread could reference burst veins. For another thing, this could be chalked up to how the brain actually requires a different type of bloodflow than most other organs of the body.

As you can see, the ears are now fully colored-in. I tried to outline the inside and the the outer-edges with red, but I found myself having to try and clear up more smudges with more rubbing alcohol on the parts that were SUPPOSED to remain untouched. And that made the ears just...kinda resemble strawberry shortcake. And while I usually don't mind strawberry shortcake, this project is about blood, so changes had to be made. It was a last-minute decision, but I don't think it takes away from the rest of the look.

I didn’t originally plan to outline the entire face with red; the first idea was to just have veins branching off one or two corners of it. But hey, if you look up diagrams of the circulatory system, then you’ll see how veins are fucking EVERYWHERE, so that gave me more confidence. Plus, I kinda like the way the face is just poking out of the red like that. 

(Also, yes, there are some smudges of certain parts of the vinyl. I guess there were some weak points in the tape, just like what happened with the ears. Luckily for me, the worst of it cleaned off. Plus, those smudges leaked onto much less visible areas, save for directly around the nose. The hands and feet are a bit of a different story. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense for the Labubu to look grungy as well as bloody. The titular submarine isn’t up to code with its mechanics, so it probably wasn’t too clean on the inside even before it was sent into the blood ocean.)

Aaaaaaannnnnd he's pretty much done! I considered taking the customization all the way to his eyes with red and black metallic paints, but I ultimately decided not to. The irises are behind plastic, after all; you can't really touch them or have any paints properly set on top of them. Besides, look at their original design! Makes my buddy look like he’s happily contemplating some arson. And who the hell says hearts are too cutesy/girly? Just because they’re pink doesn’t mean they can’t spiritually relate to the blood ocean.

Notice how I said "pretty much done." Despite everything I've done for the modification, there's still something missing. And the movie literally comes out tomorrow (even though I could only manage to get tickets for a showing on the 31st, because the one for the 30th sold out a few hours after my local theater accepted the movie), so I don't have time for anything too extravagant...

That's where this comes in!

Literally just a spare pendant from Etsy on a chain that was originally human-sized until I cut it down a bit. I made a special necklace to wear to the showing, so I figured it was only right for Fabian to one as well. (That's my buddy' official name, by the way. Fabian. There's a reason for that, because of course I have to be extra about everything, but I won't get into that right now.)

NOW he's ready to come to the theater with me!

I really didn't think this would turn out so decent, since it's my first time trying out plushie modification. I think I'm gonna keep trying it in the future, since I actually had a lot of fun and learned quite a few things in the process.

But that'll be a post for another day...

(Although I might post something else for Iron Lung in the next couple days, depending on how I feel. We'll just have to see.)

As promised, I did go through with applying another coat of gray ink. And then another…and another…and another…capping off each time with another dose of rubbing alcohol. (THANK GOD THE SMELL ACTUALLY WORE OFF. PART OF ME WAS SO WORRIED IT’D JUST LINGER ON THE DOLL FOREVER.) 

It took way more tries than I expected, but this latest shade is about where I hoped to get. The fur probably still looks patchy/uneven in some places, but hey, this is my first time customizing a plushie.

Besides, our own moon looks kinda uneven due to its craters, so why would AT-5 be any different? Plus, I can always try to cover up said patches with red. Can’t have a reference to Iron Lung without red, now can we? 

As you can see, I’ve also already dyed the pendant-tag (Ohuhu marker Geranium/R8). While I’d covered it with tape like the vinyl parts to shield it from the first inking, being wedged between the ears, it ended up right in the splash-zone, so those specific pieces of tape were rendered useless.

That left the tag with a lot of gray spots, which can probably still be seen through the red. However, I’m not too upset about this; it kinda makes the red look a bit cloudy, like an entire ocean of blood probably would be, right? Or simply grungy, like the interior of a rusty burner-submarine would be.

(That same thing happened to the ears themselves, and of course they got severely stained, but I did what I could to salvage them. Had to take a gamble with a white POSCA marker to avoid the risk of making an even bigger mess. After that, I gave them a little bit of rubbing alcohol to restore the fabric’s texture, this time applying with a Q-tip. Hopefully it doesn’t look too weird. The Ohuhu marker Salmon Pink/YR4 is as close as I could get to the fabric’s original shade after adding the alcohol. The gray stains on the sides were particularly stubborn, so I decided to just cover them up with more red. Both ears still look kinda smudged, but maybe the eye will be drawn away by more features soon.)

But that’s not nearly enough red...

When planning this whole idea out, I honestly had trouble settling on how exactly to add the “blood” into the reference. My head went from drip-streaks, to veins, to simple abstract splotches (possibly to symbolize pools, which themselves could kinda be seen as smaller versions of the ocean?). 

There’s a good chance I’ll make a mistake and then just have to compromise and go with all three. But for now, I think I’m gonna try to aim for a vein pattern weaving through the fur. I’ll use a different color to practice on paper first, since I have no idea how to arrange the pattern in a way that will flow nicely. Not only that, but the pattern will take a very long time to apply, since I can’t afford to use the rubbing alcohol method on them without smudging them and turning the fur into a grayish-pink mess, which, while nice in theory, wouldn’t fit very well with Iron Lung’s aesthetic. 

...I also went out on a limb and used that red shade on the formerly pink pendant-ring itself. Just because I was curious.

Obviously, the effect looks very uneven, because that's what happens literally any time you use any type of marker on plastic or metal surfaces. But for now, I actually kinda like how it looks. Maybe I'm giving myself too much credit, but it really does seem reminiscent of bloodstains/streaks. (Besides, I do have an alternative ring to use in case I change my mind.)

I'll be making more updates as I make progress with the veins. Given how long it'll take to get them just right, it might come off as tedious. And I won't blame anyone for thinking that, but I really do want to show the time and effort I'm putting into this.

Wish me luck!