sankseas

Winter Collection - Rec List

2023-12-24T04:06:08Z

With this being such a stressful month, here's a quick & simple list to kick off this blogs' resurrection (￣▽￣*)ゞ
*I'm only linking if there's a specific place to find the thing, otherwise I figure searching the title/creator yourself will net you the way you'd prefer to get it.

[ Wintery Recs ]

♡ Lost Constellation (Video game, 1 hr) [ $ itch.io | Lets Plays ]
Part of the “Night in the Woods” collection. Travel into the frozen woods to play out a haunting folktale in this point & click side-scroller.

[ Atmosphere! Vibes! A go-to game for me! Mildly spooky story, cute characters, balances irreverence & sincerity, with simple-yet-gorgeous graphics, game-play, & soundtrack. ]

Vassalissa. Kadi Fedoruk (Comic, 15 pgs) [ Free Online | $ Anthology Ebook, Paperback ]
Part of the “Valor: Swords” anthology. Retelling of Russian fairy-tale “Vassalissa the Beautiful.” Vassalissa diligently follows her dead mothers' advice about her doll to survive her wicked Stepmother and the witch Baba Yaga.

[ Pretty art, quick read! A fairly straight forward retelling, but the twist this one puts on the doll is so neat! ]

♡ The Raven and the Reindeer. T. Kingfisher (Book, 224 pgs) [ $ Ebook, Print ]
Retelling of Russian fairy-tale “The Snow Queen.” When her friend is taken by the Snow Queen, Gerta braves frozen and enchanted dangers, accompanied by a bandit and a talking raven. She means to save her friend, but finds her heart swaying in unexpected directions through her journey.

[ One of my favorite authors, and my first read of hers'. I sympathized with Gerta so much it hurt at times. Plus, the cherry on top: wlw + bi MC. Of course, for the “winter” rec list, I gotta mention the descriptions of this winter-scape - very evocative of its cold-hearted Queen. ]

♡ Hogfather. Terry Pratchett (Book, 400+ pgs, 9+ hrs) [ $ Ebook, Print, Audio ]
Part of Discworlds' Death series. Susan must figure out where the Hogfather is, why Death is impersonating him, why new spirits are popping up everywhere, and sort it all out before morning... Or there may not be a morning ever again.

[ Death is my favorite Discworld character - this book is probably my favorite of his arc, and the particular Big Idea it tackles. Cozy, inspiring, funny, and strange, tense, mysterious! I've got the audio-book narrated by Nigel Planer. ]

♡ The Soldier Prince. Leigh Bardugo, Sara Kipin (Short Story, 44 pgs) [ $ Ebook, Print ]
In “The Language of Thorns” book. Retelling of “The Nutcracker” and “The Velveteen Rabbit.” The mysterious clock-maker Droessen gifts Clara the nutcracker to learn what she yearns for, but the nutcracker starts to have wishes of his own...

[ Absolutely love the twists and combinations of stories all throughout this collection - plus the beautiful illustrations! - ideal retellings to me, tbh! This story in particular has triumphed over every version of “The Nutcracker” in my brain lol. ]

The Winternight Trilogy. Katherine Arden (3 Books, all 360+ pgs, all 12+ hrs) [ $ Ebook, Print, Audio ]
The Bear and the Nightingale – The Girl in the Tower – The Winter of the Witch. Retellings of various Russian fairy-tales, combined into one “epic.” Vassalissa struggles through a war of the old spirits, the encroaching religions, and the armies of men. From the edge of the wilderness, to the crowded city, and the hidden realms between, Vasya grows from girl to witch.

[ Warning that the official descriptions make these seem more of a Romance story than they are – they're actually Adventure story with some romance moments. However, they are still very well written, interesting, and poignant books – that's why I'm rec'ing them, even still! Winter is a big thing in this, too, and it captures the feelings of it so well – from spooky to warm, isolated to crowded, fantastical to realistic! ]

[ Honorable Mentions ]

*Not exactly winter, but the vibes are there!

♡ Princess Tutu (TV Show, 2 Seasons *sometimes listed as 1 Season, 26 eps) [ $ Watch Sub, Dub ]
In a town where fantasy and reality intermingle, a mysterious man grants Duck her wish to help return the Princes' shattered heart. As she follows the beats of an unfinished story, the main players question their roles and whether they are truly doomed to tragedy.

[ It's probably all the Tchaikovsky that makes me rewatch this every winter, but! Fairy-tales! Ballet! Thinning veils between life, death, reality, and fantasy! Both cozy and emotional... ]

♡ Rise of the Guardians (Movie, 1+ hr) [ $ Watch ]
With an old foe on the rise, the Guardian spirits of Childhood follow the Man in the Moon's suggestion to recruit Jack Frost to their cause... except Jack has a few hang-ups about all that.

[ This isn't a Christmas movie, or much of a “winter” one but... there is such beautiful winter-scapes, such amazing magic, and North's workshop, and his speech about Wonder... It lifted me out of a depression slump, so RotG has a special place in my heart! ]

♡ Beauty and the Beast. Max Eilenberg, Angela Barrett (Picture Book, 64 pgs) [ $ Print ]
The daughter of a ruined merchant prepares to sacrifice herself to a beastly lord of a strange mansion, but softens upon finding her captor to be a sad kind of monster with an eager, aching heart.

[ BatB is my favorite fairy-tale, so I read a lot of versions of it & this is one of my favorites! The illustrations have a Gothic flare – sweeping landscape, huge mansion, strange decor, looming beast, moody shadows – and the prose shows such charming characters! I usually only care about the Beauty and the Beast, but this one also made me really love the Father. ]

Looking at this list, I guess "winter" is "fairy-tale" and "spooky" to me lol.
Got any "wintery" recs? Liked anything I listed here?

comments

RE-START

2023-12-01T21:29:53Z

[TL;DR: I'm Back & Cleaning Up This Blog So I Stay This Time]

|ʘ‿ʘ)╯ After figuring out that I'm very very very bad at keeping up with multiple blogs, what I actually use blogs for, and near every site only getting worse... I'm re-starting my blog here for real this time I swear!!

Will Mostly Post: Rec Lists & Fanart!

The ability to reblog art & meta has truly spoiled me. Since I can't do that here, the next best thing is compiling Rec Lists of Stuff I Like / Want to Save (have so many bookmarks, I could post lists for years tbh why didn't I realize this before??) & I'd still love to discuss interests, ofc.
I've been hesitant to post my fan art here because I need a good image hosting site to do that. (Squidge Images? File Garden? Hoping Tumblr stays up to host images there?) Please, recommendations if you got any?

Gonna do some “house-keeping” here so I can actually use this place more (￣▽￣*)ゞ

How've you been? Are you split between blogging platforms, too, or mainly on DW?

comments

ScApEgOaT

2020-07-08T18:16:10Z

[ Fandom ] Homestuck
[ Character ] Gamzee Makara
[ Rating ] PG-13
[ Warnings ] Mild blood, Eye strain
[ Preview ]

venting & projecting & back on my bullshit yes i am ;o)

( one 600x image under cut )

comments

HOPE WEEK: DAY SEVEN: FREE DAY

2020-04-18T19:00:16Z

[ Fandom ] Rise of the Guardians
[ Character ] The Guardians
[ Rating ] PG
[ Preview ]

jackrabbitweek on tumblr is bringing back the Guardians for a gen event, celebrating their centers even in trying times.
I made the other pieces as phone wallpapers, so here's a desktop wallpaper!

( one 10240x image under cut )

comments

HOPE WEEK: DAY SIX: LIGHT

2020-04-17T18:47:21Z

[ Fandom ] Rise of the Guardians
[ Character ] The Guardians
[ Rating ] PG
[ Preview ]

jackrabbitweek on tumblr is bringing back the Guardians for a gen event, celebrating their centers even in trying times.
Art brightens my own dark days, drawing it or viewing it, so I hope this art brightens someone else's day!

( one 540x image under cut )

comments

HOPE WEEK: DAY FIVE: WONDER

2020-04-16T15:18:28Z

[ Fandom ] Rise of the Guardians
[ Character ] Nicholas St. North
[ Rating ] PG
[ Preview ]

jackrabbitweek on tumblr is bringing back the Guardians for a gen event, celebrating their centers even in trying times.
Art brightens my own dark days, drawing it or viewing it, so I hope this art brightens someone else's day!

( one 540x image under cut )

comments

HOPE WEEK: DAY FOUR: DREAMS

2020-04-15T16:22:26Z

[ Fandom ] Rise of the Guardians
[ Character ] Sandman
[ Rating ] PG
[ Preview ]

jackrabbitweek on tumblr is bringing back the Guardians for a gen event, celebrating their centers even in trying times.
Art brightens my own dark days, drawing it or viewing it, so I hope this art brightens someone else's day!

( one 540x image under cut )

comments

HOPE WEEK: DAY THREE: JOY

2020-04-14T21:11:31Z

[ Fandom ] Rise of the Guardians
[ Character ] Jack Frost
[ Rating ] PG
[ Preview ]

jackrabbitweek on tumblr is bringing back the Guardians for a gen event, celebrating their centers even in trying times.
Art brightens my own dark days, drawing it or viewing it, so I hope this art brightens someone else's day!

( one 540x image under cut )

comments

HOPE WEEK: DAY TWO: MEMORY

2020-04-13T20:28:53Z

[ Fandom ] Rise of the Guardians
[ Character ] Queen Toothiana
[ Rating ] PG
[ Preview ]

jackrabbitweek on tumblr is bringing back the Guardians for a gen event, celebrating their centers even in trying times.
Art brightens my own dark days, drawing it or viewing it, so I hope this art brightens someone else's day!

( one 540x image under cut )

comments

HOPE WEEK: DAY ONE: HOPE

2020-04-12T20:23:18Z

[ Fandom ] Rise of the Guardians
[ Character ] E. Aster Bunnymund
[ Rating ] PG
[ Preview ]

jackrabbitweek on tumblr is bringing back the Guardians for a gen event, celebrating their centers even in trying times.
Art brightens my own dark days, drawing it or viewing it, so I hope this art brightens someone else's day!

( one 540x image under cut )

comments

NaNoWriMo START!

2019-11-01T17:27:43Z

Last year, I kinda unofficially?? did NaNoWriMo to get back in the habit of writing ( It worked!! ) This year, I'm doing it again - not joined the site since it's weirdly stressful for me, but! I'll be writing the whole month :')

[ Goal ] Write at least one scene in one project, every day!

[ Projects ] PROJECT BB ... REWRITE IV ... WELL-MET

Starting out strong, feeling So Pumped to Write!!!

Are you doing NaNoWriMo or have any projects you're working on?

comments

Hyper Fandom Drifter

2019-06-13T17:16:54Z

Most times, my ""fandom moods"" fit together like "im in Big Spooky Mood now" & it's great because it has a consistent feel, you know? But ... sometimes ... they're just all over the place & I'm confused and weird because they all strike a different chord?????

rn it's Legend of Zelda, Magical Girls, and Good Omens and I just don't know what to do with that

Do you you swing back and forth through fandoms? What're your current ones?

comments

WIP & World-building

2019-06-06T21:38:56Z

Trying not to feel too bad about how little I've written in my WIPs, lately, because I have cleared some big (for me) hurdles in one of them! It's all world-building stuff, which I always found grossly intimidating. Will put the tips I figured out in a proper advice post, later. For now, I'm want to gush about that one WIP:

PROJECT BB – original, fairy tale, comic – 2nd draft, refining structure, polishing details!

[ Magic System ] Love to read 'em, hate to write to 'em :') mostly because I always feared I was ""too stupid"" to be able to write a good one. Turns out, I just needed to think of at a different angle. What I came up with was sweet and simple enough.

BB's magic is wielded through a person's (or creature's) personal focus - Mind, Body, Heart. That influences the what / how / why of their magic. It's nothing fancy, but whether a person (or creature) is more Thinking, Acting, or Feeling impacts their magic and reveals character so I'm pretty dang proud of that :'D Something simple that still lends a lot of potential to the story!!

[ History & Culture ] Again, big intimidation factor. But!! Read a few meta posts about stories with big in-universe histories (mostly LotR lol) and that helped me brake down how to think about writing up a fictional history & culture. Again, sweet and simple wins the race.

BB's world is a post-post-apocalyptic fairy tale setting. The apocalypse still influences the "now" of the story, but it's not the "now" - that's the trick of it. The past has impacted, lingered, and distorted through the years. The past was full of huge things, not just the "now." The past informs superstitions, traditions, settlements, traveling, etc. From the apocalypse, BB's world has certain fears, certain cautions, certain terms with certain context. It can all be shared through set dressing, shared phrases, little everyday rituals that only some start to question.

So, yeah, not feeling too bad about my other WIPs. Now that I've cracked the code, I expect writing (on each project) will go much more smoothly! Getting hype again!!!!

How do you handle world-building? Anything you're particularly excited to have thought up?

comments

* Howdy!

2019-05-11T18:33:52Z

[ Fandom ] Undertale
[ Character ] Flowey
[ Rating ] PG
[ Preview ]

Just some old drawings of your best friend, Flowey =)
( one 600x image beind the cut )

comments

oh, buoy!

2019-05-09T17:05:17Z

Slipped into that lurking habit, for a while ... but I'm definitely set on DW, now. It'll be back to my usual posts, soon :')

( The more I see of tumblr, the more I'm glad I jumped ship. Very yikes rn!! No joke, everything I've seen the past month is 80% drama wank, even with my carefully curated dash. It's exhausting! )

comments

A Small Post :O

2019-01-20T17:34:39Z

This last week was super busy & super productive ... so I could really use a free day :')

No plans, no check list! At the mo, I'm reading East ( it's finally picked up pace!! ) Maybe I'll write, maybe I'll watch a show, maybe I'll just make some tea, lol.

Haven't started MP100's second season, yet, but I kind of want to rewatch season one as a refresher. Still can't believe Kingdom Hearts III is actually releasing!! This next week!! It's been so long, it doesn't even feel real.

What's up? Got any fun planned, or things you're looking forward to?

( Writing this on mobile, so if there's any weird formatting ... uh, you know? )

comments

Ramble Meme

2019-01-04T17:17:24Z

Want to keep up the de-lurking habit, but sometimes the social battery is at 2%. Let's have a low-effort comment game :'D

" new ask game send me a 🌻 and ill just tell you whatever i want "

(copied from tumblr)

Feel free to copy this to your own blog, or tell me in your comment if you're cool with us doing a 🌻 chain here.

comments

Free-Time Follies

2018-12-22T20:16:46Z

Don't get real free-time often - there's usually commissions to work on, or chores to do - and when I do, I waste time figuring out how to spend it. The vicious cycle!!

Today, I have free time! And a long weekend! Gonna list all of my fun to-dos so I can just pick & go.

& some holiday plans (surprising my dad with movie tickets, finishing some presents, spending Christmas day painting with the family!) Semi-related note ... got myself a present. Utena's Black Rose boxset. It arrived early. It's sitting under the tree, mocking me. I'm not good with waiting lol.

What are you saving for free time? How are you spending the holidays? Hope you have a lovely time!!

comments

Cold & Dark

2018-12-21T02:43:16Z

[ Fandom ] Rise of the Guardians
[ Pairing ] Pitch Black / Jack Frost
[ Rating ] PG
[ Preview ]

Polished up some blackice sketches ;V

( one icon & two 800x images behind cut )

comments

Personal Project Progress

2018-12-18T17:36:53Z

Between the monthly challenges, fanzines, and new jobs I got these past few months ... I'd forgotten about my personal projects.

[Art]

Did some big commissions towards the end here, joined a few fanzines (Steven Universe, RPG Horror, and Undertale ... still waiting on the She-ra one,) but I haven't actually drawn anything since October. It's killing me :'D

Got two illustration series, two comics, and all the little drawings I really want to knock out!! The problem isn't motivation - I'm plenty excited to work on them - it's time. Thinking of trying a new way of inking, seeing if it speeds up the process ...

[Writing]

After that unofficial NaNo, my writing habits are doing much better than my drawing habits! Nothing awe-inspiring, but I am back in the groove of writing every day or so. Forgot how much I loved it ...

I'm gonna try a few tips on how to type that first draft faster!! All but one of my projects is outlined & started on drafting :)

[Fun]

I'm ... bad at scheduling breaks. It's something I've been working on for years now. Workaholic :') I enjoy my new job & commissions are always nice, but I really need to rework my new schedule for some fun stuff.

Working on my reading list, watching list, playing list ... it's a lot!! Currently reading East by Edith Pattou, want to finish watching She-ra, and there's some indie rpgs I've got bookmarked for later. Doesn't help that I want to re-read Cucumber Quest all of a sudden ...

Do you have any personal projects you're working on? I love hearing about other's projects - I get so much more done when I've got friends to bounce excitement off of. What works for you? I'm a list-maker! I've got lists of my lists to keep me on track lol. Any fun plans for the end of this year? I'm gonna try to knock out those currently-doing things!

(Keep forgetting to mention, if you ever want to check out my pro art blog for all these projects I vague about, message me!)

comments

Horror Games Community?

2018-12-14T21:10:21Z

Tentatively considering making a multifandom community for horror game fans.

Haven’t found anything like that in my searching here, but let me know if I’ve missed it!

Otherwise, here’s what I’m thinking:

For fans of all types of horror video games – big name ones, indie ones, rpg ones, up-and-coming ones.

A general fandom space that focuses on horror games - discussions, meta, fic, art, recs, let's plays.

My only hesitations on it are:

Is there enough interest? Making a community for 1 or 2 people seems a waste.

I've never been a mod, and I'd have to be a very casual one because of little free time.

If you’re interested in a community like that (or have suggestions) please comment below!

comments

Pomegranate & Mint

2018-12-11T21:46:29Z

[ Fandom ] Tokyo Mew Mew
[ Pairing ] Zakuro / Mint
[ Rating ] PG
[ Preview ]

When I remembered my first otp, I had to draw something :'D
(x-posted from my tumblr of the same username)

( two 600x images behind the cut )

comments

Weigh-hey there!

2018-12-10T04:24:17Z

From the Great LiveJournal Migration, to the Great Tumblr Migration, to the General Every SocMed Site is Getting Worse Migration :') Here's hoping!!!

◇ Casual fandom drifter
♡ Sucker for romance & the power of friendship
☆ Keeping this separate from my professional social medias*, please & thank you!

-

This is a cozy space for me to discuss, draw, and work on having fun without guilt-tripping or overthinking.

[ Post Activity ] Infrequent, but hoping to post monthly

[ Post Types ] Rec Lists | Fan Art | Comment Memes