Surendra Rajawat  -   Https://www.patreon.com/rajawats  -  Https://twitter.com/SpsRajawat  -  

Hey, guys! Just wanted to share this amazing site with y'all.

It's absolutely brilliant for use in artworks. All photos there are free to use (please check their license page for a better idea). But yeah. This is a life saver for trying out new poses and compositions. I highly recommend this. Have fun, guys.

5 Very Short Manga That Will Fuck You Up for Very Long

Manga is a medium of opposites where black and white is colourful, and less is more. The shortest manga tend to stick with me the longest, their lack of specific details and explanations make the FEELING left behind that much stronger. I rarely have much to say about this kind of manga. If it’s only 5 or so chapters just read it for God’s sake, and get that FEELING. Reading a synopsis for a short manga basically gives half of it away, so instead I’m gonna go through each of these and try to convey what specific FEELING they make you FEEL.

#5: The Gods Lie

5 Chapters / 1 Volume Paperback MangaDex MyAnimeList 

When I was eleven I skipped school in the middle of the winter and went to the store instead. I bought a sleeve of oreos and sat on a park bench, just eating them there alone. No reason for it that I can remember. That’s the feeling that “The Gods Lie” will leave you with. Oh yeah, if you were hoping these feelings were gonna be like “catharsis” or “bittersweet melancholy” I’m sorry to disappoint. When I said specific feelings I meant specific.

#4: Downfall

8 Chapters / 1 Volume Paperback MangaDex MyAnimeList

Think of your wildest dream. The thing that will most likely never come true, but if it did you would be the happiest person in the world. Thought of it? Okay now imagine that it sucks and is terrible… stupid even. Downfall or “Reiraku” is actually just Asano Inio’s life after finishing Oyasumi Punpun. It’s about how much he hates being a Mangaka, and I relate to it heavily because I really hate writing this blog. Downfall is like the feeling of when you get something you really wanted but then turns out you’re still you, the same prisoner in the same old flesh. Eventually you will find a new goal to delude yourself with but that transition SUCKS boy.

#3: My Broken Mariko

4 Chapters / 1 Volume Hard Copy MangaDex MyAnimeList

It is rare to find a true example of sigma male literature, it is even more rare to find sigma female literature. While I’m not gay and/or a woman, “My Broken Mariko” really left an impression on me; I imagine it’s an even stronger impression for a sigma female reader. Some people say this manga romantisicizes suicide, but it didn’t make me want to kill myself at all. This manga will make you want to go out on your balcony on a cold night and smoke a whole pack of cigarettes in one go, not in a gross old man way, but like a cool doomer girlboss way.

#2: The Man Without Talent

6 Chapters / 1 Volume MangaDex MyAnimeList

If only I could find rocks like these… Yeah. What feeling is this? I don’t actually know. Dude I don’t think I want to know. What the hell. It’s like when you drop a glass in the kitchen and just watch it shatter to pieces as it hits the floor. Then just staring at it for a while before taking a deep breath and lethargically cleaning it up. Why didn’t you catch it? Why didn’t you at least try to catch it? Man if only I could find rocks like these…

#1: I Sold My Life For Ten Thousand Yen Per Year

18 Chapters / 3 Volumes Novel MangaDex MyAnimeList

If you ever feel like maybe you’re enjoying life a little too much, you can always turn to “I Sold My Life For Ten Thousand Yen Per Year” aka “Three Days of Happiness” aka “Stare at the Ceiling and Wonder Where It All Went Wrong Tutorial”. I can guarantee after reading this nothing will be funny for like 3 days at least. Peak fiction.

Top Ten: Coming of Age/Teen Movies

Booksmart (2019) Directed by Olivia Wilde

Empire Records (1995) Directed by Allan Moyle

Love Simon (2018) Directed by Greg Berlanti

Clueless (1995) Directed By Amy Heckerling

10 Things I Hate About You (1999) Directed by Gil Junger

Edge of Seventeen (2018) Directed By Kelly Fremon Craig

The DUFF (2014) Directed by Ari Sandel

To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) Directed by Susan Johnson

Easy A (2010) Directed by Will Gluck

Flipped (2010) Directed by Rob Reiner

Guess who binged watched all of BNA in one sitting😌

wait this is so cool

Dark Academia for Brown People

 Most people, when they think of dark academia is books (that’s the whole point) and ancient languages such as Latin or Ancient Greek. I’m here to tell you that you all are SLEEPING on brown culture. Love that is conveyed in the languages of Persian and Urdu (my native language) crosses borders. Sure, Shakespeare and Sappho wrote great pieces of literature but the stories and poems of Rumi, Manto, Hafez and Iqbal have a special place in my heart. 

Some of my favourites are:- (all are translated)

Sit at my grave with wine and a minstrel in a trance, so your smell will raise me from the dead.

HAFEZ

My lover’s sadness lit a fire in my heart that burned my chest, there was a fire in his house that burned the nest.

HAFEZ

O the day turned night, what a shame, a gazelle of kindness a lion became, my partner and lover grew tired of my words and prayers too.

RUMI

These are my personal favourites. I can always make a longer post if you all want.

Female poets deserve a whole other post.

As someone who goes to an English-Medium school, we are always taught to converse in English, see the language as a part of yourself but deny a place to Urdu. As I grow older, I have come to appreciate my identity and so should all my fellow brown people. Take pride in your mother tongue.

ok i'm sure you get this asked a lot but i haven't seen it - just how did you get/develop your art style? i love it so much!! it's so pleasing to look at.

why thank you! honestly “finding my art style” was a huge thing for me back when I was starting out. I went from style to style pretty wildly, and it was really only when I realized that art style is more about technique & how the art is made - rather than just how the faces look or whatever - that I actually fell into the current style I now have. I made a little “art journey” chart under the cut so you can kind of see what I mean! This really only covers about /half/ the different styles I tried out, especially in the early days.

Here's a digital painting I made! Constructive criticism is appreciated😊

From Valentine's Day to White Day: Romance Anime to Celebrate a Month of Love

Here it is, my top picks for romance anime series to watch during the season of love.

Say "I Love You" (2012) 13 episodes subbed/dubbed

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku (2018) 11 episodes + 3 ova subbed

Lovely Complex (2007) 24 episodes subbed

Romeo x Juliet (2007) 24 episodes subbed/dubbed

My Love Story (2015) 24 episodes subbed/dubbed

Kimi Ni Todoke: From Me To You (2009-2011) 2 seasons 38 episodes subbed

Toradora (2008) 25 episodes subbed/dubbed

Fruits Basket (2019-2021) 3 seasons 63 episodes subbed/dubbed

HoriMiya (2021) 13 episodes subbed/dubbed

Yuri On Ice (2016) 12 episodes subbed/dubbed

the word lover but in urdu/hindi:

chitchor (heart stealer)

deewana (initially means mad)

majnu (a popular trope)

dilruba (usually referred to a woman, means the pleaser of my heart)

mehbub/mehbuba

aashiq (referred to a man)

saajan/sajni

preyasi (i think it's from bangla but it deserves to be on here)

sanam (gender neutral? ig?)