bluestarproduction

Hey y'all, so I kinda dropped off the face of the earth for a bit there again huh? This Eclipse stuff is p bad on my ADHD brain, and work was a major thing for me these last two months. As per usual, I'll probably drop off the face of the earth at the beginning of January for my normal fasting, but after that, I'm going to really try to start posting on here again. So I figured I'd tell you what mildly interesting things I've been up too other than normal.

I've been rewriting The Golden Chronicles. So far we're about 3 and a half chapters through with the first draft of the rewrite at 14427 words currently ( minus a few for brackets of {rexpand upon this later}) One of my Resolutions for this next year is to get the first draft of the first book done by this time next year along with the first draft of Fireflies and the Light Within, which I'm still debating the media of whether webcomic or actual novel, so thoughts are appreciated on that one.

Next, I've been building quite a bit in the sims, but that's not necessarily an interesting nor productive thing to share.

The main thing I've been working on art-wise is Dragons for my students, but I'm hoping to get back into more genuine art for posting in the new year. I'm hoping to finish a piece a week to post on here, be it fan art, original work or writing, just so that I get back in the swing of things.

That said, I'm thinking of doing some redraws again soon as well as a few backgrounds, so please keep an eye out. And if you've got any suggestions for art I should work on let me know, I might just do it, maybe.

I love you all so much!

Beth

Should I attempt to continue finishing the Inktober prompts but intermix them with some of the other art I have planned til the end of the year?

Also, what should I focus on first?

1. Finishing Shipping art

2. Finishing Inktober prompts

3. Finish the Golden Chronicles Pics

4. Fall/Christmas pics of the OCs

Y'all school and work and late birthday gifts for my students have got me swamped lately. Hopefully, I'll be posting some INKtober this year ( maybe for once I'll finish it please lord) 

So please keep an eye out for that. Some of them will be more complex than others ( on days when I have a full work schedule can't do the same time commitment as a day off) and while I will try to do each daily prompt for this year I might throw in one of the line art for pieces that I've yet to ink if y'all are okay with it. Sound like a plan?  

Guess who's not actually dead? I mean honestly, I wouldn't blame y'all much if you thought I was. Jeez, I've not like really done anything on here besides like fave in months. I wish I had like a good excuse like, " surprise I had a kid!" or " surprise I spent months soul searching!" or even, " surprise i got trapped in a cup and thrown into the yard and just made my way back inside." but really IRL has just been super busy for me. I've been working on trying with a healthy work-life-other obligations balance, attempting to follow a schedule and starting to exercise so I don't die at 40 due to my general lack of genuinely helpful self-care. And I may or may not be back into the Sims and Minecraft cough cough. I also may or may not have lost my tablet pen for a few weeks. So I figured I'd give you all a bit of an update in causing any of you were worried.

Art wise I'll hopefully be posting more in October as I really wanna finish an Inktober for once. Writing-wise I'm working on a few big projects and a few smaller ones so you might see bits and pieces here and there ( and maybe a return of some really old friends).  And me wise; I'm good I think. I'm tired and sometimes achy, and I think I might have lost some weight again, but I feel like I'm in a mostly pretty good place? I think I have a bit more purpose nowadays. I still love you all.

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The Night of Painted Sky and Skin: The rehearsal dinner in Bath is rather unlike anywhere else, normally happening two nights before the wedding is to occur. It is most commonly part of a ceremony in its own right referred to as the Night of Painted Sky and Skin. For most, it entails the last time the bride and groom-to-be will see each other before the morning of their wedding and is a night filled with dancing, familial bonding, and the painting of arms of the bridal party.

 

 The Night begins with the two halves of the bridal party gathering together. For some families it's on a rooftop garden, for others it's down along the shore and still, for others, it's in public parks for that more willing to make the party open to the public. Traditionally the groom and his party gather the pigments, colored powders and dyes that will be mixed in with the secret recipe of oils and wax that the bride's party bring. Together both sides combine the ingredients to make paints that are highly pigmented, waterproof and will stay vibrant for up to two weeks after their application. The mixture must be slowly warmed, most often through small fires, although some companies have started producing special candles meant to replace this process.

 

While the paints are heating, traditionally the wedding party will sit down for a meal at which time music will begin being played. Any time after this, members of the wedding party are released to go dance. After the meal, the paints are then taken from the fire. Most commonly, the first line or dot of paint is placed by the Mother and Father in Law-to-be, most traditionally it will be placed on the back of the ring finger of the bride and groom.

 

After that, the bride and groom proceed to paint a series of lines, curves, dots, and dashes along each other's arms, either for aesthetics or for things that are important to their stories. Flowers, waves, and bubbles are common painted themes, however, some couples have been known to even write in script on the arms of their love if said love is willing to sit still for it. Part of the game of it is to make the paint tasteful, but easily identifiable as a way of making the retrieval to come more fun.

 

Once satisfied with their work, the bride and groom join the wedding party in the dancing. The Night ends when the paints have cooled down and have been divided into two bottled sets; the Grooms and the Brides. These sets will be used by the Bridesmaids and Groomsmen to prepare for the Retrieval on the morning of the wedding.

    Subsection a Royal Night of Painted Sky and Skin: For a royal ceremony it is very similar to the above-stated festivities, except that said festivities take place on the Royal Twins Mountains. The Grooms party spends the day making their way up one slope and the bride's party travels up the other, carrying their ingredients and occasionally making flower crowns for the wedding party. As both groups reach the mountaintop at sunset the party begins with an opening dance and traditionally the last lip kiss of the engaged couple before their wedding. From there they proceed like a non-royal festival, with one other big difference; every royal couple ends up with at least one Bath Lotus between them as well as any other royal crests or signifiers of the other kingdom.  At a royal festival, it is also considered very traditional for the couple to paint a band of color around the wrists of their fathers as a sign of respect for the throne.