Junelezen 12- Sun

Junelezen 12- Sun

To see the world, and it's endless splendors. To catalogue in word and tongue, mind and heart, its myriad cultures and phenomenon. To champion and guide those most in need of that light. To give a voice to the voiceless. That is the vow of Azem.

(credit to @venusbeautyshock for the incredible work here!)

Junelezen 7- Friends

To be surrounded by a rag-tag group of companions was the norm rather than the exception in the adventuring circles of Eorzea, but getting a truly good one was a true exercise in luck. A discipline, thankfully, Aelaeis seemed booked and blessed with in ample quantity.

(In this photo are the many friends who convinced me onto FFXIV to begin my journey, not least of all @venusbeautyshock who has all but carried me every step of the way. One day I'll pay you back for this life changing journey! Don't...ask how yet. Im working on it.)

Junelezen 6 - Mount

"Whose been a good and patient boy? Who has? Is it Grapejuice? Is it my grapey boy? Oh yes it is! It is! ❤️"

credit to @venusbeautyshock!

fat bodies tutorial!

ALRIGHT SO my pal @kalreyno wanted help with drawing fat characters and as a fat artist i felt like i could give a bit of helpful insight on that. there’s also been a lot of complaining about “boo hoo fat characters are hard to draw so i can’t include them in my work Ever” goin on lately so if that’s your case then this is for you too!! and also just for anyone who would like help with fat bodies in general, ofc. anyway, let’s get this show on the road!!

let’s start with some common misconceptions. these are the two main attempts at chubby bodies i run into, so i’ll focus on them. 

the Anime Chubby i see everywhere, and it’s just……so wrong in many ways. first of all, there is almost no additional body fat compared to your average thin character - except for where it’s added in “attractive” places (breasts, hips, thighs). the breasts are way too perky, and don’t have the realistic shape fat would give them (though how to draw accurate breasts is another tutorial all on its own lmao). there is still a thigh gap, which usually only happens in very thin people, and bones are still visible on the surface of the skin, which also rarely happens in fat people.

the Michelin Man is better in some ways, but still not that great. it’s a slightly better attempt, but basically all that’s done there is taking a thin character and blowing them up, while giving no thought to fat distribution. the thigh gap is usually still present, and they look a lot more hard than soft - and fat is very soft and pliable.

here’s a chart on how fat usually distributes (if you can’t read my messy writing, “1. next to no fat, 2. moderate amount, 3. most of the fat distribution”). basically, the more muscle an area has, the more prone it is to develop fat, such as the abdomen, thighs, and upper arms. it’s important to note that fat sits on top of muscle, and that it does distribute in different levels, and not evenly across the body as shown in the Michelin Man. 

now, here’s an accurate fat body with all of that kept in mind!! notice how the fat isn’t only kept to aesthetically pleasing areas, and how it sits realistically on the character’s body. their breasts sag a lot more, which happens even in thin people with larger breasts, and the nipples are pointing more downwards than straight out. there is no thigh gap in sight, there are no bones in sight, and most importantly, they have fat rolls, which are very important in drawing a convincing fat character!! as far as i know i’ve never met a single person with no rolls at all, and everyone has them, whether thin or fat - they’re just more prominent and more consistently present in fat people. pay close attention to where they are and how they’re shaped.

here are a couple of drawings showing how fat is affected when sitting vs stretching. as seen in the first, the fat specifically on the stomach is distributed a lot more evenly and stretched out, so it becomes “flatter”. the love handles are still pretty visible, though, as well as the fat on the thighs and arms. the breasts are raised with the shoulders, and the fat on the shoulders and near the neck forms rolls as it’s being pushed together. 

in the second, there is a lot less room for distribution, so the fat is all pushed together. the breasts sag and the stomach forms rolls and spills into the lap. a good analogy for the way fat works is to liken it to a water balloon, and thinking of how its shape would change when resting flat on a surface, hanging off of a ledge, held upright, etc.

here are a few extra tips i find a lot of people miss!

first on the top is the hip/pubic region. the first circle is showing the way the bellybutton is folded in fat people, as opposed to stretched out in thinner people. the second is the stomach fat spilling over onto the pubic region and creating a separation in the two areas, which is something that’s missing in a lot of art. in addition, the pubic mound also gains fat, making it round as seen in the profile drawing i did up there (i’ve heard people refer to it as fupa?). the last in the hip region is the lack of a thigh gap. i can’t stress this enough!!!! if you’re trying to draw a convincing fat character, make sure their thighs are pretty much always touching!! for reference, mine literally don’t separate until my feet are about 2ft from each other.

the bottom right is showing the double chin, which a lot of people are afraid to draw!! fat does distribute itself here too, and there’s nothing wrong with it, so don’t feel like you shouldn’t give fat characters a double chin in your work for fear of it looking like a caricature.

in the bottom middle, it’s showing how fat affects different types of breasts with the presence of more or less breast tissue. 

lastly, at the very right are stretch marks with their usual locations and directions, which i also can’t stress enough!!!!! i sometimes forget to add them honestly, but they’re so important in accurately portraying fat characters, as they literally come from the skin being stretched from fat being gained (and they’re also just rlly neat lookin like why wouldn’t you lmao). some people have less and some people have more, feel free to experiment with them!

the last thing is body types!! there isn’t one single way for a person to be fat, so feel free to experiment with shapes once you’ve learned the basics!! 

so there you have it, a tutorial on how to draw chubs!! now go forth and make some accurate fanart or some rad fat characters, because the world could always use more of both. hmu if you have any questions or concerns, and thanks for reading!!

EDIT: someone pointed out the bad wording in the tutorial. thank you for bringing it to my attention and sorry for offending anybody. i’ve updated the tut, so please reblog this one!

Junelezen 1- Portrait

Ok so I'm late. I'm very late. But to be fair! I didn't know this was going on. And also I didn't get Mermay done.

TOO BAD. It's my son's month. And here he is! Aelaeis Kelleran, my Duskwight FF14 character, and his....numerous different lives.

Individual stills and intros below the cut! Credit to @venusbeautyshock for her incredible hard working posing, editing and putting together this piece!

Aelaeis Kelleran. A young man who woke up with amnesia (and permanent brain and nerve damage) among the Viera deep in Othard’s forests, coming to Eorzea based on a single curl of Kelleran Fern found attached to his clothes; a native species to Cortheas. Meeting with the Scions, he becomes their mailboy and errand lad—which starts becoming sillier and sillier the more storied he becomes. Archer who graduates to Astrologian.

Zardyn Bismark. An Ishgardian-Duskwight mix, born into a life after his parents extremely messy fall from grace after both the mixing of blood and their grandfather's scandalous involvement with a Cult surrounding the Vanu Vanu primal, Bismark (the only name they were given to keep once their extended family disowned them).

Growing up in the Brume with parents who did not know how to manage shame nor poverty made him a bitter and suspicious young man, and a series of hope-shattering events in the wake of the Calamity send him spiraling off the deep end and straight into the arms of Garlemald.

Becoming a traitor-spy for Garlemald in exchange for the life he'd always felt owed to him, things turn south and he has to flee to the East, vanishing with only his tattered name as his legacy...

Eionne wir Galvus, Empress of Garlemald and wife to Solus zos Galvus. The first empress of Garlemald was known as frail, gentle and simple-minded to her public. What a man of such glorious cleverness saw in her was anyone's guess, but never had Garlemald known such peace as the years when Solus had both her and their son Lucius at their side.

The death of the crowned prince was a tragedy, and the soon after fatal fall of Empress Eionne was attributed to her simple mind being simply too full of grief to notice her library tower's open window. Solus took another wife shortly thereafter and re-secured his bloodline, but none after would know that warmth from their Emperor again. If anything, it seemed almost as if the nose dive of the Empire began the moment Prince Lucius drew his last breath...

Janus was born with a strange anomaly, an unusual degree of aetheric gravity that proved no great issue until his mother's Returning Ritual, where when she tried to return to the star, he instead clung to her spirit so tightly that he trapped her spirit with him in a horrific and soul-scarring amalgam that kept her from the release of death until they could be extricated. From then on he was treated as a 'special care' case, a ward of the state that was disallowed performing most daily tasks without a handler on hand and slated for simple jobs and unassuming futures.

To be chosen by Azem as their protegee felt like a cruel prank at first--but it was a choice that changed the course of the star forever.

Phew! This was long, but I wanted to introduce the main character(s) of this story properly. I can't wait to get on the bus for this big adventure! Time to catch up!

(Also heads up. This is. Completely self indulgent. Cringe is dead and we live for living.)

Junelezen 4-New Adventure

When they found the stranger on their patrols, it was almost too late for him. Shaking and cold, foaming at the mouth, it took their most dedicated healers an age to halt the damage and begin the healing. His first hours awake were incoherent and worrying--how could the Viera rule on whether this Outsider meant any harm if he could not even string words together to speak?

Only the vigil of one dedicated healer kept the Viera from ruling for a mercy killing, and day by day their odd stranger found the strength to make it to the next sunrise. Waking longer, upright easier, spending more and more time looking instead of just staring.

And asking. 'Who am I?'