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LonesomeBookworm — nothing grows when it is dark
#ofmonstersandmen #of_monsters_and_men #crystals #music #musicinspired #omam
Published: 2017-07-22 13:42:03 +0000 UTC; Views: 571; Favourites: 75; Downloads: 0
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Description
cover your crystal eyesand feel the tones that tremble down your spine
cover your crystal eyes
and let your colours bleed and blend with mine
Remember that gritty WIP I submitted about a year ago? Well, I dug it up. And finished it. FINALLY
This is largely inspired by Of Monsters and Men's song ''Crystals''. They're one of my favorite bands, and I've wanted to pay a small tribute to them for some time now.
You can find the video here, for the sake of context
: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-PgPZ… The entire album the song is from is flawless, but for some reason this one in particular stuck strongly with me.
The first time I heard the song, I was absolutely entranced, and the lead singer Nanna, on whom this piece is heavily based on, just looked so ethereal.
While I am aware of the imperfections in this, I'm still pleasantly surprised by how inspired and productive I can become through music.
This was the first time I experimented with metallic pens, and I can't say I'm not satisfied with the results.
I'll definitely be trying something like this again in the future
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Comments: 36
Thank you! I can only hope I can do similar or better things in the future
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Aw, thank you! I'm so glad you think so!
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It's hard to finish WIPs, especially those that you started a YEAR AGO. But good job on it, it appears strangely magical
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Thank you! I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I had left it unfinished. I had a very strong vision for it when I first started it
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I see now! We differ in that, I don't have many WIPs that I left unifinished but there are a handful, I usually find them when I browse my folders to check out my old stuff.
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Not really. You won't believe how many unfinished sketches I find in my drawers XD
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Haha well, in that case, we're the same people XD
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I enjoy the use of mixed styles and techniques here
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Thank you! That's a great compliment, especially coming from you
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you are flattering me sweetie ;D you are so skilled it makes me happy to reqd ;D
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I am just saying the truth
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Since we're talking... guess who finally sat down to watch Iron Fist
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aaah what did you think of it?
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Well, four episodes in and so far so good, I guess. A solid start to the series, and the writing is pretty good, if not as impactful
as the other shows (but I suppose it's the villains that made them so impactful. I've yet to see if Harold will reach that spectrum).
So far, I think Joy is the most grounded character, and something tells me that the eventual discovery that Harold is alive is going
to be a turning point when it comes to which side she'll chose. She's tied as my favorite with Colleen (MY QUEEN COLLEEN) and I can't
wait to see what role both of them will really play
Ward, well... I have mixed feelings about him. On one hand, Harold obviously has and still puts him through a lot, but on the other
hand I'd say he's questionable as far as morality goes. One thing I'm sure of is that he's not coming out of this unscathed.
As for Danny... I've yet to fully form my opinion of this version of him just yet. I think the actor is pretty okay, but I need to see more
character development in the script. I understand where Danny's coming from, but I don't think he really knows what he's doing.
Both him and Ward need to pull their heads out of their asses and figure something out together like grown men.
Generally speaking, I'm pretty satisfied with the direction the show is taking (so far). I wasn't sure how exactly they'd cement the Iron Fist origins in given that they're so magic driven, but the moment Danny mentioned Shou Lao and cities in other dimensions so casually I KNEW they're going full throttle. I'm glad they kept so many mystic elements about Danny's origins while still going with a slow buildup.
More on that when I watch a few more episodes
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I am glad the show is giving you a positive vibe because it really didn't give me that. of all the characters I actually liked Ward the most because he is very conflicted and complex. You can clearly see that both him and his sisters have been raised by an abusive father and both are capable of going to some extreme or rationalize the horrors they are committing (Joy is rationalizing all the crap she's pulling on Danny from DAY 1, and even though at the beginning she seemed conflicted, she truly is her father's daughter: she is manipulative, greedy, power-hungry just like Danny. YET she had a few short windows of redemptions opened to her she never fully took. cue in when she asked Danny to take the money that is not worth all he lost and get lost. it was more to reassure herself and her *morals* than to actually help Danny or because she cared about him that much (she did, to some extent). Ward has not been as protected as Joy was. He was the heir to his father (although his father never thought he could actually be. he abused his son, despised him, manipulated him and forced him into a life that wasn't what Ward wanted.) Of course, he wanted to please his dad, I know something about that...... He is the most genuine between Joy and him and even his dad and one who truly evolved (I liked his story arc) when he finally broke free from his father's mental lock down on him.
However with that said, I have a lot of grieves with the show. IF has always been corny. It has always been some power fantasy with the blatant stereotype of "the white guy can do it better". I thought they would subdue this (and in a way they did) but the WHOLE interaction with Colleen was cringy. She has some potential and I like her too but:
- Tired ass trope of "I don't tell you the truth about me, turns out I should have because now you're hurt, please forgive me it wasn't who I was, I was a victim- and the short version is: I lied to you and now I am heartbroken please take me back.
-they mix their Asian culture (she's supposedly Japanese but has been studying in China martial arts, knowing how complicated the relations between these two countries are ESPECIALLY regarding martial arts? Although you could say it could be less tensed these days than in the past but STILL.....)
-He stalked her, disrespected her in front of her students, TAUGHT HER HOW TO MARTIAL ART. I lost my freaking mind because it really came off as that first "white guys do martial arts better" trope that irks me to a T. I can understand that he knows something she doesn't (he studied in K'un L'un) but they could have written this much better (for example, she would have witnessed him put his skills on display and would have come to him and ask about learning a thing or two.) It wouldn't undermine her the way it did in the show.
-They don't have chemistry XD I'm sorry but....they don't and you can clearly see it in Defenders. (I am so glad he's not going to be with Misty. She doesn't deserve that loser)
-I HATED that they chose to play the naive angle of that character. sure! he is a fish out of the water, but did they have to make him painfully naive like they did? to reinforce that he is an innocent and you have to root for him? I didn't picture IF to be this naive, especially for someone who was taught some high-level kind of wisdom. He came off as arrogant, clueless, stupid and useless. Jesus, it hurt.
- my biggest gripe: he is supposed to be a weapon, a fighter and I SAW NONE of that at all. fights were lame except for Asian dude and the drunken martial art I think the actor was greatly miscast or they should have given him a suit t hide his face so they could hire a stunt man to do his stunts. that was lame.... (a lot like Luke Cage fighting style. he's supposed to be a boxer but all he does is lifting things :/ also with a bit of a look back, I think they rendered Luke very dull :/ I didn't want him to be a loud mouth, he didn't need that but he needed to force respect and a little fear to his enemies. (not us viewers but the bad guys right?) but he came across as a teddy bear XD ahahah he should be more badass!! Daredevil IS badass and Jessica has this kind of badassery she carries with her I wish the other two had)
There is room for improvement and I would watch IF because I want to know the plot but they need to do better
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Having finished the show just yesterday, I understand what you mean, even if I don't feel it as strongly
(then again, you probably watch a lot more movies/series than I do, so you probably know better).
The fights did feel a little half-assed, though in all honesty I would have been fine with more fighting and less corporate bullcrap.
Still, if there's one thing I like is that they went FULL throttle (Shou Lao and everything, even if he was just teased)
and how they borrowed a lot of elements form the Immortal Iron Fist series (ngl, I HOLLERED when Bride of the Nine Spiders showed up).
Plus, I feel like that Danny actually abandoning the people of K'un Lun could be considered
a turn away from usual ''white savior'' trope (or I might just be playing Devil's advocate here 
Yeah, I'm also kinda disappointed with the way Danny was portrayed here.
Is it fruitless to place my hopes on his relationship with Luke and wish that he'll set Danny on the right path?
I mean, looking at the Danny I know and love from the comics (mind you, the man Luke and Jess love so much
they named their DAUGHTER after) is it just hopeless to want something like that from the shows?
PLEASE tell me I'm not grasping at straws and that SOMETHING happens between my favorite superhero duo in Defenders
All that aside, I'm actually pretty satisfied with the end. A large portion of that satisfaction falls heavily on how they set up Davos
and his connection to Madame Gao, whom I've been 99% convinced she's Crane Mother since DD S1, and especially how Ward
ended up alive and (fairly) well in the end. I think we both agree he ended up being the best character
Thinking back, another thing I liked was that they managed to present the duality and contrast of the two different worlds from
which both Danny Rand and Iron Fist hail and how they clash and connect (an example being how Danny sleeps on the floor still,
showing that he's better suited in a simpler way of life), even if I wish they showed more of the former and did better with the latter.
I do love having these conversations with you 
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They nailed some elements of the mythos really well. I was happy that they mentioned it but I really felt they dragged too much the whole "Danny is crazy!" WHILE we are in a world POST AVENGERS!!!! they have been assaulted by aliens and monsters and refuse to believe that someone can come back from a pocket dimension? sincerely?
However, I join you in your frustration with Danny. while I was slightly less frustrated in Defenders, it still annoyed me because they doubled down on what I didn't like about him. I was almost every other characters in terms of reaction ahahah I am glad for how they did Jessica Jones and Daredevil as well and Claire (although she mostly placed herself as the listener of the group or the girl who gives advice.)
I believe you are grasping at straws for these two because unfortunately, I didn't feel that connection. (seeing him and Danny.. or him and Misty -ugh Misty was portrayed as a nuisance (while she was just doing her job) which annoyed me a lot) I still can't feel the connection between Colleen and him (she deserves so much better) and Bakuto annoyed the hell out of me.
I believe that they devalued the HAND and made them feel ridiculous. the whole threat they posed in DD season 2 was gone like a snap of a finger. I had so many hopes for Madame Gao (and she had a huge potential) and the Japanese branch of the HAND but it fell flat :/
I had fun watching it however. I think that as a group they work pretty well together and seeing the other cast members interact with one another was interesting to see and I wanted to see it some more. I hope that their own series would improve (especially the Luke Cage one and the Iron Fist one. they are the weak links so far)
I like talking with you too
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Yeah, I get what you're saying. That dragged on for WAY too long. However, after giving it some thought, there's another
thing I liked about the show; how hey managed to establish parallels between the characters through a theme of relationships
between the young and the old (you'll have to excuse me here, this is literature student Vera speaking).
Danny, Ward, Colleen, and even Joy to an extend, are all in one way or another maltreated and indoctrinated by their respective parental
and teaching figures. The beliefs that Lei Kung literally beat into Danny, Bakuto's brainwashing of Colleen and her students, and finally Harold
being the perfect example of an emotionally manipulative and abusive parent, constantly torturing Ward with the usual ''I'm doing this to
prepare you for the outside world'' bull that literally every abuser spits, and lying to his own daughter till the very end. Still, this would have been
more impactful if we had seen Danny (the goddamn PROTAGONIST) begin to grow out of this influence by the end of the series, like Colleen and Ward.
A seriously wasted opportunity for development :/ Which brings me to Defenders.
It was extremely refreshing to see everyone else again, especially Foggy, Karen, Trish and Malcolm, even though they didn't play much of a role.
They did a good job of blending the vibes of each Defender together, especially in the first episodes (excellent use of color palettes), and a good
job overall, since it was a lot more enjoyable than IF. However, Elektra and the villains in general felt extremely underdeveloped. Alexandra in
particular had potential to be so interesting (a waste of Sigourney Weaver, if you ask me). I was hoping the Hand as a whole would pose more
of a challenge considering they've been setting them up for YEARS. Hopefully, we haven't seen the last of them (as an organization, not just
under Elektra).
As for Luke and Danny... yeah, they had quite a rough start. I'm not exactly sure where and how their relationship started in the comics,
but I willing to bet it was a little, if not equally rough. But here... Luke was already done with Danny being five seconds in his presence,
which is realistic, given how Danny is written in the show. Still, I think Danny showed some signs of maturity in the last couple of episodes.
Matt's sacrifice clearly hit him hard (another in-comic bromance I would love to see developed) and I think he might be a bit more serious
from now on. Ugh, if all else, I just pray they develop the Luke/Danny dynamic properly in the seasons to come. If not, I'll be watching
them extremely half-heartedly
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I agree with you about outgrowing father's ego. It's not something you see very often and addressed this subtlety. (also I encourage you to listen to Linsdey Ellis analysis of Ego and toxic masculinity (which explains why Gamora and Starlord have not hooked up yet) on guardians 2. it's brilliant! (Usually, it's always so obvious that the father is evil and bad like in Ward's case. you don't really see how different and subtle abuse can be. What happened to Danny is a form of abuse as well. Sure their reality was different and they had no other choice but to fight hard against their enemies but Danny was still indoctrinated and still was denied a childhood. Oh, I agree with you about Danny. (even though the whole naive angle of the character bothered me more than anything else. Even about his martial art and his approach to it felt like a kid discovering karate kid for the first time. he was more a spectator than a participant if you know what I mean? He didn't feel like he embodied it, spiritually and physically. he felt like a pretender which annoyed me. when you see Daredevil, you can EASILY see he was trained by Stick and carries himself with these teachings (alongside with his religiosity.)
I agree with you about the HAND. they disappointed me to be very honest. Madame Gao was a waste, the other guys weren't interesting (Bakuto resembled those homeopaths scammers like David Avocado) and yes the villains were underdeveloped, even Elektra. Black Sky was very vague, to be honest, and she seemed a bit inconsistent (especially towards the end) but I was glad to find her back at the very end of it. Alexandra was so good at the beginning and then you realize that she was desperate and scared to die BUT she still seems like she had so many things to say, stories to tell and skills to show. I am disappointed she died so easily and we won't know anything about her (same with Stick) and the other members of the hand.
Danny and Luke.... it didn't work for me. the first minutes were relatable but then... I didn't feel the connection between those characters (and yes Claire and Colleen got along very well but that is about it) I hope season 2 would be better for both of them. I wish they worked well but maybe I'll have to wait some more. I hope the other characters (Karen, Misty, Foggy, Colleen, Trish, and Malcolm would have more role to play in those seasons) I want to see daughters of dragons, Heroes for hire and a better defender tv show, please!
but it was fun to watch
Also, please Danny, stop with the "I'm the immortal IRON Fist!" SHOW US instead of telling us! it comes off as insecure for me and I don't like it when it's dragging like that! the ending nearly killed me, I was hoping to see Matt and was disappointed to see it wasn't XD
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Ditto to everything you said, my dear. Ugh, just give me Daughters of the Dragon and I'll die happy, man
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tell me about it 
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YES, HOW COULD I FORGET FRANK IS COMING
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You can't ehehehehe :3 we'll talk about it!
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I really like all the details and dedication this oozes with. Nice nice drawing
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Thank you so much for this lovely comment... And for all the faves
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I love this band and I thought of them when seeing the picture !
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And this comment tells me that I have been successful
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Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like it
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nice work
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Thanks! I wasn't exactly sure where I was going with this. Part of me wanted to try and replicate the feeling the music video gave me, but I suppose it can be hard to translate the techniques of that medium into traditional art. So I settled for geometry, which is sort of a central theme in the album art and representing of each song s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/o… (I believe they had a graphic designer listen to each song and draw their interpration of it into shapes) and basically tried to make this as shiny as possible
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