#thebirdspeaks

Because of my shoulder getting even worse, I am going to try and take a pause on drawing for the forseeable future so my remaining backlog will post once a week until it runs out [2 posts, so 2 weeks unless i draw anyway or find some older unposted art]

Portrait comms opening again is still indefinitely delayed and figuring out proposed fullbody comms is completely off the table till those are open again

I'm hoping I'll be able to do art fight but it's more likely that I'll start later in the month and not do much, I've got a note about my health but if it starts and I can't i'll note that down on my profile as well

Its been really nice to take a break from drawing actually. I've tried and failed before to chill out and slow down because I want to not just because I'm struggling and I'm so glad to finally get the space to figure out what healthier relationship to my art is. The thought of never finishing a drawing again has floated through my mine few times this past week and surprisingly it doesn't distress me the way it used to. Ironically that's whats made me feel like I'm ready to start drawing again, especially when it doesn't all flow into place with minimal effort [which tbh rarely happens] Art always has and always will be something important to me but it's so reliving to have a sense of self that can survive not drawing, not finishing pieces, not getting positive feedback, and finally escape having my sense of time and success dominated by my drawings. There's no way I'm doing two drawings a week ever again but I will finish something eventually, whether I end up with one drawing a month ever few month or even year.

I've had similar thoughts about my ocs. I've spent years creating and fleshing them out and have learned a fucking lot as i went. The best way to describe the situation with Muro & Co is that there's a lot of technical debt, two and a half years of details that don't line up anymore and things that i would do differently now but are so lead bearing it's intimidating to figure out even how to change them without everything falling apart. I've contemplated stopping doing things with them, I've considered sitting down and fully redoing everything but I don't think I'll do either. Certainly I'll consider what i have and make necessary changes [and for things I don't, try to flesh out the in universe whys of decisions I initially made in ignorance] but these charecters are such a part of my head and art and life and I'd miss the fuckers tremendously. Even in my art break & while I've done fuck all writing or posting about them I still spend so much of my day rotating them in my head, so you all can't escape them forever either- though I might continue to be pretty quiet about them for a while as I continue to contemplate them.

tyyy for the tags @2velvets and @bewitchingbloom ! this was hard lol i tend to sink hundreds of hours into one game rather than a load and while there are some ive just started or am gonna play soon im sure would take over this list i stuck to ones ive played enough to know them. explanations of each row under the readmore

no pressure tagging @ariaofsorrows @yuriwarrior @shiawasekai and anyone who hasnt done it yet but wants too!

taking a free tag from @bewitchingbloom 💕

coffee shop or flower girl | au or fix-it | enemies to lovers or childhood friends | angst or fluff | love at first sight or pining | modern au or historical au | break up & make up or proposal & wedding | get together or established relationship | soulmates or unrequited | fake dating or secret dating | obvious pining or domestic fluff | hurt/comfort or crack | meet the parents or meet cute

Coffee shop purely because I thought of Muro n co running a Coffee shop and I need that done office style ASAP. Someone will die!

I get unreasonable attached to media that sucks so I'm a sucker for a fix it... shout out to @buds-and-baubles authority transfer fix it it's canon to meeee. I do love a good AU but it's gotta be done well with how the characters were translated and changed by the new universe so I get pickyyy

Again I like both but childhood friends has an aspect of someone knowing a lot of stuff charecters hide, it makes reuniting after reinventing yourselves so delicious... Elena and Muro my beloveds, that lengthy history is so fun to play with

Im loving fluff much more recently but look I can't say anything other than angst. Ballance is key, a good ratio elevates both but I love me some angst

pining all the way... see prev two answers lol.

Historical AUs! I feel it's much more likely to be interesting to me and seeing how different times and cultures shape characters is a lot of fun. I'm biased bc I like the kind of high stakes that come more easily in restricted historical environments that are harder to translate to modern aus- but also muro n co is a modern au of ffxiv that got put of hands so the preference is more me being picky

I'm not big on either but break up and make up is something I'm more likely to do myself and it's intresting to see how characters deal with a breakup, even if it can often feel cheap.

Both are fun, seeing a relationship developing and then how they react when it's really settled are both great and it's more of what am I in the mood for

Unrequited can be really interesting to see how a character reacts, where as I only like deconstructions of soul mates.

both are good but the amount of ocs of mine who carefully fake relationships means I gotta pick it. Not even fake dating to lovers just fucking with people. It's so fun

pining is fun but I am a sucker for domestic fluff now...

Hurt comfort is my lifeblood... I got plenty of crack snippets I keep meaning to draw but hurt comfort my darling...

Seeing who raised a character is always fascinating whether the kid follows in their footsteps or does everything to pose them to everything in between!

Tagging @dujour13 @buds-and-baubles @shiawasekai @yunessa @thedosianexplorer @the-raging-tempest @amatres @thecuntynug