Sparks Just Like Hibana

No new Akusaimonth fill, no. Instead something else that kept bothering me for days. Philipp Brammer, the german voice actor of Axel has died a few days ago. And you know, I didn’t know him, I didn’t know anything about him except for his voice, but still it makes me sad every time I think about it. It’s probably weird, but I can’t change it. I don’t even like the german dubbed versions of Kingdom Hearts (I was actually preparing a few posts about it before hearing that news), but Axel’s voice was among those few that I liked. Very much so as well. I mean I kept quoting „Kannst du dir das merken?“ at every fitting and unfitting occasion for years. Sometimes I do still do that today. And to know that this voice is just gone … really makes me sad. Thank you, Philipp, you did a great job. I know that I’ve got it memorized.

(referring to this post)

So, I decided to do it like this from now on. Writing all the background info on my pictures in an extra post, rather than stuffing it into the caption. I just don’t feel very well when people reblog pictures with my sometimes very personal thoughts in the captions. It’s strange to see that on other people’s blogs. Also, this way I can write to my heart’s content. All of the unnecessary stuff noone wants to know anyway! <3 Yay.

(I’ll tag this as “dias art blabber”, by the way.)

So, let’s do this. Background infos, thoughts and close ups below the cut.

Starting Point // Summary? There were three reasons for this picture: a) another onset of winter in the midst of May gave me the right inspiration to finally get that spring flower thing out of my head; b) the nice tags by some people added drastically to that + someone wrote that they “miss miss miss” my art and apparently they only ever see my akusais, so here you go ;) ; and c) it’s my 78th post. It called for some AkuSai. -like stuff.

Finding the motif // flowers The basic idea behind this picture was Roxas with this flower. We call them Sky’s/Heaven’s Keys. (sky and heaven are the same word in German ... I guess it means heaven, but I always understood it as sky. When I was a child I’d always imagine flying and unlocking the sky with one of those flowers …) They are my absolute favourite spring flowers and I found them fitting for Roxas. Not just because of the name, but also on an emotional base.

I figured quiet fast that I should get Xion and Axel onto the pic as well. Xion would of course get Forget-Me-Nots. Which is not very creative, I guess. xD Yet so undeniably fitting. For Axel it was Cuckoo’s Flowers. One of the few pink things I liked as a child. Probably because it wasn’t some “girlish baby colour”, but a really hot pink that really sticked out. Aaaalso, cuckoos are brood parasites, not so sure how you think about that, but in my opinion that connotation suits Axel.

// the rest Still I didn’t know how to get that onto a picture. Until it snowed some day in the middle of May. This was exactly the input I needed. I just thought, that if the Sea Salt Trio was spring flowers, then Saix would be the snow. The last picture followed to bring the picture to an end. It seemed so unfinished, almost like a lie, with the three of them happy.

Upload // Or: Tumblr hates me I did really have a hard time uploading this thing. I literally tried everything. Even with the supposingly working size of 540 x 810 px the pictures were still blurry ... I even tried to reduce the height by cutting the pictures into parts. Still blurry. At some point I just decided that I didn’t care anymore. They are clear on my blog or when they are clicked. That’s enough.

Close Ups // I promised them and here they are! That’s about the size I worked on when I was colouring, the original sketches are waaay smaller, they are drawn on DIN A4 paper (see comparison in the end). 

I like to set these two into some sort of ... contrasting parallels? Like, creating opposites, yet showing the similarities at the same time. Wow, does this even make any sense? xD I used more colour on the bottom of the last picture, because I really wanted the red to be strong there. That image is supposed to have a sad at first and then almost hateful atmosphere. I wanted it to have an unsettling effect  when scrolling down (and letting it sink in, of course).

Axel looks like a flower himself. x’D Especially in those colours …

When my youngest sister saw the picture with the three of them she asked me, if they were marrying. x’D

Size comparison with the actual drawing; the flowers in their hands are like super mini tiny.

So, in case you did read this, thanks a lot! Would you mind letting me know what you think about it, please? Like, does it make sense to do this? What are the interesting parts? What is not? Anything else that you would like to know/see? Did you like the close ups?

Anyway, thank you very very much for showing interest! :D That’s basically the reason for me to finish pictures and put them up on here. You, that is.

So, anyone continuing AkuSaiMonth with me?

That's the place where I live. Looks cute from up there, doesn't it? When I look out of my room's window, I can see up to the exact place I stood when I was taking this photo.

It's nice to see things from a different angle from time to time.

Just some proof that I’m still alive. 

I’m sorry for just letting akusaimonth pass, but I just didn’t feel like it.

I want to finish this year’s asm later on … and I actually also want to finish the 2015 one before KH3 comes out. Until then, thank you for sticking around.

Me and my sisters finally finished our DMMD cosplays at least far enough to wear them. :D Still unfinished, still a lot to change, but NyanCon was A LOT of fun anyway.

Photos by @kittendough ... and me

AKUSAIMONTH: BERSERK Day 3: SET C - “Friends”

“Why are you doing this?“ “Because we’re friends, why else?“ “… We are?“ “What?! Sure we are! Pft, so mean! Now you have to pay for the ice cream next time!“ “What?“ “Naaah, just joking, really, don’t take everything so serious. Come on, let’s get-” “I will.“ “Huh?“ “I will buy ice cream next time. Then I’ll show you my favourite.“ “You have a favourite ice cream?“ “Just what do you take me for? An alien?“ “Naaaa~ahaha. So, which one?“ “…Sea Salt.“ “Eww, sounds gross. Maybe you are an alien after all.“ “Oh, shut up.“ “…“ “Why are you grinning all of a sudden?“ “Nothing~ Come on, Isa, let’s get moving!“

It felt great. Having a friend.

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YESSSSS!! THIS!!!

Things that make me feel like posting on Tumblr is actually still worth the effort:

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your tags, they make my day!! <3

(ID in alt text)

@soulcomposer

Thanks!! Honestly, it still feels like a fever dream. I clearly remember every step involved in creating this drawing, but it feels more like I watched someone else do it?

Sometimes I look at the original and think in wonder: "Huh, I actually made this."

Sparks just like Hibana

[ID: Traditional waist-up drawing of Shionne and Alphen from Tales of Arise.Their eyes are obscured, faces very close together. Their fingers are touching ever so slightly and a coil of Shionne’s Thorns wraps around their forearms, lighting up their hands and faces. Sparks of white and orange like fire are rising from their forms. The second picture is a close-ups of their hands.]

Darkness shall prevail and light expire.

(finally took the time to colour it.)