#backgrounds... the bane of all character artists

[nixotinix]

the nixverse locations part two: The Iceberg Lounge

The talk of the town in Gotham's colloqually-called "party district", the Iceberg Lounge is the place to see and be seen. It's a luxurious two-story lounge and casino decked out with three bars, private rooms, and a view of the Bay of Gotham. The basement is home to a VIP lounge that can only be accessed with a black membership card, which the manager and owner Oswald Cobblepot only gives out to his fellow rogues.

[chocodile]

Are there ghosts in your amaranthine world..? Or ancient sailor’s curses?

I may be interested in inventing a character… is that allowed? I’m not much of an artist but I could write something for you!

"Ghosts? How absurd! An educated wizard like myself would never entertain such superstitious nonsense!"

(...Now, if you'll excuse him, he's gotta go research ancient eldritch powers hidden beneath the earth's surface and finish working on a potion made out of his unicorn buddy's magical blood. You know, reasonable, scientifically grounded stuff like that!)

So, to answer your question: Real ghosts = not canon, curses = yes canon, and could resemble a haunting. More explanation of how that would work under the cut:

You can attach enchantments to objects, so there would be nothing stopping you from attaching a baneful curse to something instead. A lasting enchantment generally requires a power source or some kind of upkeep to keep it "charged"... ones worn by a living creature can draw upon the body's own magical energy field... but can also be powered by the "background radiation" present in unusually magically charged environments. There are absolutely "cursed" forests where travelers suddenly find all the food in their rucksack spoiling overnight, areas of ocean where compasses stop working and the wind won't blow, that sort of thing.

So, you could also have a magically charged area that was "haunted" and caused visitors' minds to start playing tricks on them, perceiving illusions, hearing murmurs and clips of nonsense speech, experiencing objects falling over/moving on their own, etc. Any naturally generated "haunted" location would be pretty basic in its illusions, though. Something with more structure (recognizable figures, coherent speech) would have to be an enchantment engineered by a wizard on purpose, and would take quite a lot of skill.

Non-wizards often refer to locations with unsettling or dangerous enchantments as cursed or haunted, though wizards who understand the underlying magical mechanics behind those phenomenons might roll their eyes at that framing, insisting it's no different than when the town healer enchants a necklace to ward off sickness--just undirected and on a larger scale.

ALSO to answer your other question: You are absolutely welcome and encouraged to invent a character if you are so inclined! I would love to see what you come up with!

[questionable-tomfoolery]

I would like to hear more of your criticisms of the webtoon please 🙏

!!!

Okay. Okay. So. In no particular order:

1. The Art Style

Aside from the fact that, quite frankly, half the cast barely looks like themselves, a lot of the art just… Looks cheap to me.

First of all, it’s pretty obvious that they’re using a lot of assets in their background. While this isn’t inherently a bad thing… The execution here leaves quite a bit to be desired.

This mirror(???) is truly the bane of my existence. I think I may be getting closer to experiencing what it is like to go into a rage every single time I see it. Why is it LIKE THAT.

On top of that, a lot of the time characters look a lot more like they’re on top of the environment rather than in them.

(Additional, why are everyone’s feet… so pointy. I understand that it’s probably meant to be perspective but it just ends up looking silly)

And on the topic of The Backgrounds, what’s going on with the background characters?

Aside from the fact that I personally do not think Elmville is not this diverse… What are these?

While the Dog People could maybe be passed off as werewolves if we ignored everything behind Jawbone and Tracker… What’s with the large population of Singularly Eyed, Oddly Colorful, (one) Horned, (and) Tentacled creatures?

These are… Not even generic fantasy creatures? They look like the artists took a random trait generator and just ran with it. Not to mention, even if you tried to pass them off as some really out there cyclopses, those are Huge creatures. Truly, a logistics nightmare.

2. The Writing:

While, of course, I understand changing up the story to better fit the Webtoon Format, I feel like we’ve lost so much characterization from the way everyone was introduced. Considering we’ve only gotten four chapters so far, I’ll give them some time to play catch-up but I really do not think they could weave in those crucial characters points in as smoothly as their original introductions did.

While I feel like they might be able to course correct to some degree with most of the bad kids, I especially dislike how they’ve introduced Gorgug.

Gorgugs rage is an important part of him but he’s so much more than that. The fact that we’re introduced to this awkward, nervous kid who doesn’t fit in his house before we’re introduced to his raging is so important to his character. The fact his rage often comes from a place of fear and protectiveness is so important to his character.

We don’t get to see that. We’re introduced to a half-orc who rages after being attacked, who turns out to be awkward afterwards. Which, while sure, it could work, does not feel like Gorgug to me.

Similarly, in the way we’re introduced to Sklonda, the only parent we’ve met so far, we miss so much of who she is as a person. The cornflakes scene and her helping Riz only to question why she’s encouraging him are so important to her as a person and I’m so sad we did not get that. Sklonda Gukgak is an amazing woman and mother. The lady we were introduced to does not feel like Sklonda.

I’m really worried about the entire story being sanitized and scrubbed of what made Fantasy High the piece of media that I fell in love with.

I’m worried about how they’re going to handle everyone’s variously queer identities. I’m worried they’ll make Kristen less of an unapologetically horny lesbian. I’m worried that they’re going to obliterate any hint of Riz being ace in favor of making him an awkward nerd who keeps coming off as some sort of sex pervert.

I’m worried that they’ll water down all the serious moments because Fantasy High is just a Comedy now.

I’m worried peoples mental illnesses and neurodiversity will either be ignored or played for jokes. I’m worried about how Adaine seems nervous maybe, but not like someone with anxiety. I’m so worried about how they’ll handle Ayda’s autism.

I’m worried for a lot of things.

But I’m also trying to be hopeful.

There have been brief moments that I did like. I like how they’ve shown as using her illusions to trick people. I like some of the little details that have been added in to add more character, usually in brief, one panel glimpses.

I would have hoped that we would have gotten more from Fantasy High being put in Comic Form. Unfortunately, this is a Webtoon, so we’ll most likely end up with something less.

[defira85]

Today, we experience HAIR

Should've played the musical in the background, that would've made it easier

Anyway. I'm sorry to @decertatio @darkfeanix @bloodlinemagick and my DM Jen, although given the number of times Jen has tried to kill my characters who are all adorable and have never antagonised villains needlessly, she clearly had it coming

And I'm sorry to myself for picking a hairstyle for Carmela that I thought looked really cool in the CC and only now do I realise is actually a bane upon all artists

[fishandships]

I FOUND THE HIGH-RES VERSION

he IS licking his lips but not at the kitty! only gentle and nice to kitty UwU (he's looking at the cake Jeffery is holding)

Bane looks a little miffed to be standing next to he-whose-name-will-never-again-be-mentioned-on-this-blog but i love that his drink has a fucking straw so he can Sipp through his cowl that's incredible

Norton's still going to do Crime against the elderly while being fluffy and beautiful UwU

AND THE MYSTERY BLOB IS.......

TINY FAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

in full seriousness tho this artist is amazing, #artgoals i'm literally studying this and taking notes like

obviously Alva has the most detail work bc he's front and center but this is incredible. the really subtle cool tones blended into his skin, the warmth highlighting the underside of his cheekbone, the really subtle subsurface scattering in his ear, the bounce lighting on the underside of his hair, the blue reflection in his eye........

all my homies hate nightmare but the texture brushwork is really effective in his hair, and i love the bounce light from his mask on the underside of his hat. the attention to detail with this many characters is absolutely incredible.

also the brushwork on all the plants is beautiful, i REALLY need to get into using more brushes i think, maybe that will help me not to shy away from backgrounds so much

[space-blue]

1, 5, 20 for the fandom of your choice

Hi anon… if you want a different fandom… please specify. But without indication, I'm going to go for BG3.

1 > OTP?

Actually forget it, my BG3 OTP would get me banned in some places haha… Across fandoms, I rarely ship people. It's usually more of a character focus. But OTPs that have haunted me through the years and never lose their polish would be Hannibal Lecter/Will Graham, Silco/Vander, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Cad Bane, Kim Kitsuragi/Harry du Bois…

So yeah… big fan of toxic/dysfunctional/old man yaoi.

5 > Out of all your fanworks that include [character], which is your favourite?

Let's go for Zevlor! And since i didn't know the name of the artist I spent THIRTY MINUTES scrolling my bloody twitter to find this art again! It's stunning. It's my phone and computer background, has been since the day I saw it.

Please click on the link and see the art in its entire glory!! I don't think I'll ever be good enough to do Zevlor justive like this, and I'm a touch sad this artist has not revisited him since. But hey, counting my blessing. Incidentally my discord background and phone lock screen are Gale arts of the same artist hahaha!

20 > When did you first join Tumblr? How long was it between that and finding [fandom]?

29th of November 2020! I opened a blog solely to host ALL of my short stories, like them or not, which I'd written and published on a forum. I'm very glad I did, because it has seen gone offline, and not everything is on wayback machine. Prescient… And I've since gone and rescued everything offline too. If you want a blast from the past of me as a baby writer, you can go explore these posts! Like this one, which is the first "love story" I ever wrote (it's like 1.4k words)

And I got into BG3 around November 2023 IIRC so here you go, I'm relatively new to tumblr as a place. Quite ingrained and addicted now though lol

Thanks for the ask! You can find them here.

[evilspiritweek]

Hi! First of all, wanted to say that you are wonderful for still doing some little fun stuff for RC9GN fandom! I can't say how much I appreciate seeing the activity in the tag from you! Thank you.

Now, the reason I'm sending an ask, is I have a few suggestions/ideas that I wondered you might be interested to hear? If not, feel free to ignore this! ;D its totally cool.

You mentioned in the DTIYS post that you might be getting busy since the break is ending, and it got me thinking, maybe DTIYS could be extended for other artists? Like, if you are busy that week, or do not have an idea for DTIYS (or just dont feel like it, we all have those days lol), you can do a sort of 'feature artist for the week' to do a DTIYS drawing? I understand there might be a contacting/scheduling problem with that idea, but you can always just make a post/notice and see if anyone wanted to do this/next week DTIYS.

If you are worried about the complexity of the featured art, you can also make a list of requirement for DTIYS (like, only a single character, no/little background, props, themed and etc), so it would be relatively similar for everyone?

It also will give you an opportunity to participate in DTIYS too rather than just make it, if you wanted to! I kinda feel bad that you seem to do all the work, even if I know that you are doing it from love to this fandom haha.

Another idea I wanted to offer/discuss is the polls! I actually thought poll/episode bracket idea was a fun one, but i know its not the most favorite one. However, maybe it could be sorta implemented in DTIYS? Maybe a poll for a character/theme/episode-related idea for DTIYS people would want to see next week? It doesn't have to be constant polls every week, maybe just occasional if you do not feel particularly inspired that week, it could give you an idea?

I know that you started these new smaller events, because they were less stressful and urgent than prompt week/month, but still fun enough to engage with! If these ideas seems like too much worry/work, I totally get it.

Anyway, I wish you a good day! Thanks for reading.

(also ur art is ridiculously adorable ok bye)

Sorry for the delayed response!! You wrote a lot of good points and I wanted to make sure I addressed them all <3

The post was getting a bit long, so it's under cut. TL;DR I think I'm going to treat this year as a test run and then create a more formal one for next year! That will involve a Google Forum probably(?), but do note that one of the questions will be on a specific date. One problem I've found with events is the time they take place. Not planning on moving Ninjavember's month, but that for example is sandwiched between October/Inktober and December/Holidays/Finals, so it can get busy. Considering this is a new event, I want to give people in the fandom currently the freedom to kinda pick and choose when this might be done.

I think extending the DTIYS event idea to other artists is a great idea! I know that I started this rather suddenly without warning, so people weren't given a sooner notice, but if I do this again, I can perhaps create a forum for people to submit things to or have people submit things here. Nothing super formal (because organizing that might get messy), but that way it can feel a bit more like a community event :D

For this event, I'm kinda sort of just drawing by the week, so if anyone wants to submit stuff now, that's totally fine too! Worst case is we have more than 5 by the end of April, and that's definitely not a bad thing lol

As for complexity of DTIYS prompts, I wanted to keep it varied for fun, but I also think focusing on simple doodles is fine. At least then, it gives people more of chance to focus on their style first rather than figuring out how to draw a car or something (bane of my existence)

I also like your idea for polls, and perhaps if we do a more formal one for this next year, we can implement that.

[reikiajakoiranruohoja]

WtA rant: The Deformity that is not a deformity

To step away from W5 critique for a second, I want to focus on a garou-born deformity found in Changing Ways that to this day baffles me.

To those not in the WtA community, a garou-born is a werewolf born to two werewolf parents. They are always sterile and always have some sort of deformity. Whether physical, mental or supernatural. As an artist, this makes designing a garou-born garou fun, as you can go as wild as you want on how they look.

One thing that is important about deformities, is that they are neutral. While some tribes see them as proof of spiritual corruption, that is not matched by the game mechanics. They do not denote morality.

Enter Changing Ways' Spiritual Deformity.

Spiritual Deformity (Changing Ways p.73) Spirits loyal to the Garou cause can sense that you are the result of a breach of the Litany and the spirit world itself rejects you. You suffer a +1 difficulty to step sideways anywhere except a Blight or Wyrm caern, and a similar penalty when interacting with any spirit that respects Garou. Finally, Totem is a discouraged Background for you (see p. 135 of W20). On the other hand, you gain a -1 difficulty on all social interaction with Banes, who find you very interesting. Black Spiral Dancer garou-born never have this deformity.

Let's unpack this one section at a time.

First of all, garou-born have their very own gift list. The spirit world does not reject them outright. They are as respected by spirits as any other garou.

Second, we start to see the moralistic nature of this deformity in full. The Wyrm in WtA is a force of corruption and entropy and is one of the game's 'bad guys.' So the garou-born having a harder time accessing the spirit wilds other than the corrupted ones is saying that the garou-born is a creature of corruption.

This theme continues in how this deformity makes Banes (corruption spirits) easier to communicate with and spirits not of corruption harder to communicate with. To the point where this garou-born cannot even join a pack.

But the grand slam of this trainwreck is the last line. The Black Spiral Dancers, werewolves who serve corruption ITSELF, cannot have this deformity. Because then they wouldn't even have this deformity, since all of the listed penalties are already part of being a Black Spiral Dancer.

This deformity is beyond unfair, not only does it apply morality where there should be none, it also limits the character severly to the point they are essentially unplayable. The amount of punishment this deformity has makes it even worse than the actual wyrm taint flaw.

Taint of Corruption (7-pt Flaw) (Player's Guide to Garou p.168) Somehow, the Wyrm has touched you and left its taint upon your spirit. When other Garou invoke the Gift: Sense Wyrm, you register as strongly Wyrmtainted. The taint is innate, and cannot be removed by a Rite of Cleansing (which serves only to make you ill and sore). Minions of the Wyrm trouble your sleep, attempting to lure you fully into the service of the Destroyer. You are at +2 difficulty on any rolls made to resist the powers of“fellow”Wyrmspawn—fomori powers, Black Spiral Dancer Gifts, Bane Charms, vampiric Disciplines, or the like. Only your pack can keep you from succumbing to the Wyrm, provided they give you their support and assistance. Ridding yourself of this Flaw requires a major quest and can provide the heart of a character-driven chronicle

That flaw is 7 points, the most points a flaw in the game can be. Yet, even this horrid flaw doesn't deny you membership to a pack, it doesn't make crossing into spirit lands harder nor does it make your dealings with the spirits mechanically harder.

Spiritual Deformity reads like it was originally supposed to be a new Wyrm Corruption flaw, but was instead made into a deformity. Or the Storyteller who created this was extremely sadistic.

The deformity also raises some uncomfortable questions regarding any garou-born who does not have this deformity. How are THEY without such restrictions?

This is a badly written deformity and I hope it never gets used.

[hugintheraven]

First off, the current pushback against powered Batman villains in movies is dumb and also stupid, but it does serve as a strike against Skitter, Imp, Regent, and Parian specifically. Can't be a top villain if the people in charge refuse to use you in the largest venue. Tattletale and Foil can be played as almost unpowered, while Grue and Bitch can be using tech to duplicate their abilities fairly easily, which gives those 4 the best shot of a cinematic debut.

Tattletale: A-tier. She has the taunting down pat. Useless in a fight, meaning she gets lost in the sea of "mob bosses with a gimmick", but absolutely she can showboat with the best of them, work with or against other villains, and pull off daring escapes by forcing Batman to prioritize. The others will have to work hard to meet this standard.

Skitter: Excellent supervillain, as a general rule. Strategist v Batman is always fun. But when she's not the protag, the various limitations that antagonism imposes keep her from being as interesting. Bugs vs bats is a fun theme, but I think we don't get her conflicted morality, we don't get her winning against impossible odds, and her backstory becomes far less sympathetic when she's not the protag. Not nearly as strong as she'd first appear.

Grue: Solid muscle/support for a larger villain(which I think would make him happy), but he's not carrying a storyline on his own; he prefers fading into the background. You can get a few good stories with him, some interesting setpiece fights, but he's not #1.

Regent: Ehhh? Regent has the flair and the outfit, to be sure, and his "kidnap and brainwash" people ability is 100% the sort of horror Batman wants(Mad Hatter etc). But being in it for either money or trying to make himself a bigger fish than his father doesn't have great staying power. There's a good storyline there, but this may be a Bane situation where you get one GREAT story and everyone after is chasing that high and not reaching it.

Imp: S-Tier. She can taunt nearly as well as Tattletale, fighting her is basically like being in a haunted house, we can scale her effectiveness up and down to let her menace Robin+Batgirl, Batman, or the entire Justice League as needed, and, crucially, there's all sorts of interesting ways you can show her power that will let artists go hog-wild. Toss in an unreliable morality that lets her play either side as needed and she's going to be excellent.

Bitch: She'd be a great villain for someone other than Batman. He's too urban to interest her, and we need to nerf her dogs hard(make them weak, give him infinite flashbangs) to keep things workable. Her "You suck and need to die" style of taunting also doesn't work great against someone who doesn't talk. Put her against a Green Lantern or Hawkgirl and we're golden.

Foil: So, does Gotham have a magnet designed to attract martial artist lesbians? She fits the city, no question, but she's not really showy enough to stand out. Probably fine keeping her as a supporting character dating various heroes and villains(changing sides as needed), but she's not going to be front-and-center of DCs advertising strategy anytime soon.

Parian: Really just not a great fit. You can use her as a villain, to be sure, but you'd have to change way too much to make her an Arkham regular. Even in the Bay, she's only a villain because the heroes suck too much, which isn't a common problem for DC.

TL:DR, get Imp a 6 issue mini where she torments Batman and follow it up with a Suicide Squad(or equivalent) role for a year. By the time we're done, people will forget completely that she wasn't introduced in 1972.

So by 'best villain' that encompasses both being interesting to fight but also having good storyline potential. It is not a WhoWouldWin situation.

I have a strong feeling I already know what people will answer with, but I'm interested to see arguments for/against each character.

[malec-ao3feed]

Begin Again

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/1Qeq9B2 by SanktaAthena “Do I know you from somewhere?” Clary questioned the girl as she looked at her more closely, noticing the tattoos covering the girl’s body in familiar symbols. She can see the girl freeze in place, at this point she is afraid she said something wrong. She really wanted to know more about her and maybe be friends. There was something about her that entranced her like she was always meant to be with her, like they had spent many lifelines together. “No I don't think so.” She answers quickly, going to move away and walk away, Clary steps in front of her, blocking her from moving. “No, I definitely do.” She could feel it, this girl was important and special. then why can’t she remember her. Then it hit her, the dream she had in class today. She was the same girl that was in that dream. “You're Isabelle.” I start slowly looking at the girl more closely, noticing her familiar warm brown eyes as they widen--. The girl nods and I can see her eyes slightly water up as she smiles fondly at me. “Im Clary It's uh nice to meet you” I stammer out. She laughs and Clary would do anything to hear that laugh again. (Was Original Based and Made After Listening to Begin Again by Taylor Swift) Words: 1634, Chapters: 1/18, Language: English Fandoms: Shadowhunters (TV), The Shadowhunter Chronicles - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Categories: F/F Characters: Clary Fray, Isabelle Lightwood, Alec Lightwood, Magnus Bane, Jace Wayland, Simon Lewis, Luke Garroway Relationships: Clary Fray/Isabelle Lightwood, Alec Lightwood & Isabelle Lightwood, Alec Lightwood & Isabelle Lightwood & Jace Wayland, Magnus Bane & Isabelle Lightwood, Clary Fray & Alec Lightwood, Clary Fray & Simon Lewis, Clary Fray & Jace Wayland, Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Simon Lewis/Jace Wayland Additional Tags: Memory Magic, Memory Loss, Post-Episode: s03e22 All Good Things..., One Year Later, Mutual Pining, POV Multiple, Getting Together, Bisexual Clary Fray, Pansexual Isabelle Lightwood, Bisexual Jace Wayland, Pansexual Simon Lewis, Background Magnus Bane/Alec Lightwood, Background Simon Lewis/Jace Wayland, Nightmares, Dreams, Dreams vs. Reality, Panic Attacks, Artist Clary Fray, Supportive Alec Lightwood, Supportive Magnus Bane, Supportive Jace Wayland, Supportive Simon Lewis, Protective Isabelle Lightwood, Protective Clary Fray, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Recovered Memories, Coffee Shops read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/1Qeq9B2

[astronite13]

check it out >:D multidimensional big bang piece by yours truly

you may or may not already know, but i participated in the mdbb event, and was teamed with the wonderful writer @elevenvolcanoes and amazing beta reader @memryse! you can check out ro's awesome fic here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41524974

go on, i know you wanna read it, dont be shy

as promised, ill be uploading some wips of this below the cut because oh man. this took forever

here are the character design sketches, i am not a very tidy artist

so the original plan was like this adhsjbcbs

i was just braindumping ideas onto a canvas (- -;)

THEN came the clean-ish sketch, where i had 'fun' with having to finalise where things went

(sausage and lizzie were added in later ajdhajfhs)

after that came what i dreaded most. lineart. BANE OF MY EXISTENCE I AJJDKSNC

at this point i was a solid week into this and it was barely halfway done T-T

i then worked on backgrounds and flats- funny thing, i barely ever complete pieces because i have the attention span of a goldfish, so i literally had no idea how to colour things in ┌(。Д。)┐

THIS TOOK SO FUCKING LONG

I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH HOW PAINSTAKING THIS WAS

i was literally going insane over this ahdnsndn

FINALLY i was able to move onto shading/rendering(?)/details, and via the power of bullshitting my way through things, voila

at this point i had spent every day doing nothing but drawing for two weeks, but i was SO CLOSE to being done

then suddenly, the fire nation attacked something happened dun dun dun

because i was working with around 80 layers (i needed them all trust me <-lying), ibispaintx was running abysmally slow, and at this moment, it just CRASHED

i rushed back on and got this (0_0 )

i had to wait. FOURTY FIVE MINUTES. FOR THE WHOLE THING TO REPLAY AND TRY TO RESTORE MY FILE. at this point it was 3 am a day after the deadline and panic mode was activated

BUT i think the watchers may have been, well, watching over me at that point because miraculously, i got my file back, and i added a few finishing touches before collapsing on my bed in a heap

this whole thing overall was a fantastic experience, all the mods and participants in the discord server were super entertaining and friendly, and i want to thank each and every one of you for making this event so exciting >:D especially my teammates, and of course luna for creating it <3

funny thing this was literally my version of 100 hours hardcore since my canvas tells me ive been on it for around 150 hours ajdnjahd

anyway bonus aha:

[callibee]

ᴅʀᴀᴡɪɴɢ ʀᴇQꜱ ᴏᴘᴇɴ ?!

msg from calli: hello!! so recently, I reached 5k followers and I wanted to give back to all of you by opening drawing reqs<3

there will only be 10 slots available and it is on a first come, first serve basis. rules are basically just common sense ^-^ pls keep in mind that my skills r limited btw huhu i make up for the lacking skills with pretty people<3 FKHFL also very sorry for the scuff, this is my first time doing this kind of thing and idk wtf to do™️ bare with me www if u hav any questions feel free 2 ask<3

ɪ ᴄᴀɴɴᴏᴛ ᴅᴏ

sexual content.

mecha's and basially any kind of mechanical thing pls i suck so badly i will die and dig my grave if u req that heuhwlkjdbl

furries. i can do humans with animal characteristics but i cant draw the ones that are like 90% animal huhu

intricate backgrounds. backgrounds r the bane of my existence . every time i draw intricate backgrounds i die inside

ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ᴅᴏ

pretty people and pretty characters <3

complicated outfits ;0 it will be a pain but hey im a genshin artist who hyperfixates on the details so

ocs, characters both from the fandoms im in and the ones im not in! i will do research first for the ones that im not in just in case ^-^

idk what else to say huhu check out my stuff to get a gist of what i do ty <3

xtra notes: if your req is u wanting a specific outfit, pose, etc. pls include a reference, that will be appreciated! and if you want me 2 draw a character from a fandom im not familiar with, pls include the name of their show/anime/game/whatever ^-^ and if its an OC of urs, include references ok thats all THANK U FOR READING

[juiceboxman]

NEW D&D SOURCE BOOK OUT

Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft came out a few days ago. I bought it an read through it. The book expands stuff in the classic module the Curse of Strahd, a Gothic Horror centred campaign in which a party are pitted against a very powerful Vampire and other types of horrors in a cursed land.

Most of the book’s content details these things:

How to make a horror centred campaign

How to make scary encounters

How to scare your players while also not crossing personal boundaries

I have to commend the book on how informative it is on how to maintain a healthy playing environment. Such as having a thorough discussion with the players before you begin about what players are comfortable with and what they aren’t, so you have topics and themes in the story that you know not to touch upon as it may upset players and ruin the fun. The book also recommends that you avoid using players irl phobias in the game as it ruins gameplay experience as well. For more advice on how to run a healthy fun playing experience, I recommend checking out Dimension 20′s Adventuring Academy podcast. Its a great advice podcast on all things table top.

All the stuff in the Source Book is horror specific, so if you’re not into horror or any scary stuff in D&D, the book is not for you and that’s fine. For those that like horror, the book does a great job of helping set the tone for a horror game and how to build and maintain tension.

It also sets out a guide for how to adapt elements of Curse of Strahd into homebrew games. So say you love the vibe and mechanics in Curse of Strahd, but you don’t really care with the BBEG being a Vampire. The source book lists at least 16 adventures with varying genres of Horror with different creatures and encounters. 

So in one adventure, you can play in this accursed desert where the BBEG is a powerful Mummy Lord. Or in another you can play in a strange carnival in which the BBEG is a Fey creature. There’s zombie outbreaks, mindflayers- everything you can imagine, you can create and play and the book will help you to do so.

The book polishes up some Unearthed Arcana stuff, namely three new playable races. Dhampir (a watered down vampire that you can play as a PC), Hexblood (a humanoid mutated by Hag magic) and Reborn (an undead or construct reincarnation) all of them are pretty interesting.

They also sort out two UA subclasses, namely College of Spirtits Bard and Warlock patron of Undead. he latter of which you can have someone like Strahd be your patron.

There’s also some new backgrounds that are interesting and a new Dark Gift feature that is also pretty cool. A character can choose to receive a Dark Gift from a Dark Lord, an example being Strahd, so that they get some benefits but also some negative impacts as well. It can make some very fun game play for those who are interested.

But, the main thing I buy source books for is the classic DM stuff. NEW MONSTERS! Here are some of my favourites. 

Dullahan, a headless horseman. Very spooky and potentially lethal

Death Head, very interesting monster that can be flavoured to a DMs whims. ou can have a flying medusa head or a flying nothic head, or any type of flying head. The head is your oyster. They go well with the Dullahan and there is a specific adventure in the Source Book that includes both of them in case you wanna play a sleepy hollow esque game

Gallow Speaker. Picture a mix between an Oracle and a Spectre, you have one very creepy monster that can also make a very spooky NPC

Gremishka. A very creepy monstrous cat that is like the opposite of a familiar. In fact, its whole existence is just to be the bane of Spellcasters. Very creepy and has some interesting features, though I think you’d have to juice it up if your Wizard is higher than lvl 3.

Inquisitors. You have three separate Inquisitors whose whole lore mixes with Curse of Strahd but I won’t get into. There are; Inquisitor of the Mind Fire, Inquisitor of the Sword and Inquisitor of the Tome. If you like elements of the Githzarai but don’t know how implement them into your campaign, Inquisitors are a good alternative

Jiangshi. A very interesting undead. Basically a mix between a Ghoul and a Vampire, would make a very interesting monster for low level PCs

Loup Garou. An alpha werewolf. For werewolf fans like me, I imagine you’re disappointed that werewolves are only a CR 3. With Loup Garou though, you now have a werewolf with legendary actions. Very interesting monster and there is a very cool adventure in the source book that features the monster. It also has some very cool werefwolf mechanics if a PC gets infected with lycanthropy and also has a magic item linked to it thats pretty cool

Nechricor. Imagine if a Lich failed at Lichdom and accidentally turned themselves into an ooze; that’s Nechricor. I always love the tope of very powerful villains trapped in like a bottle or a knife or a statue, so a Nechricor is right up my alley

Nosferatu. Very much like a Vampire Spawn but a hell of a lot grosser. They have a feature where they can hurt people by projectile vomiting blood on them. Very nasty. If you wanna remove the romanticism from vampirism, Nosferatu are the way to go. Also if you wanna use vampires with lower level PCs, Nosferatu can be very good alternative

Vampire Mind Flayer. Enough said

And that’s most of my favourites. There’s plenty more, such as the Relentless Slasher- which is great if you wanna play a murder mystery campaign or a Friday the 13th one shot- very interesting monster.

There’s a lot of other monsters that are also really cool but I don’t really want to share them cause they’re so gross or creepy. There’s a monster called the Boneless which is literally just a bunch of skin that chokes people. There’s a bog star spawn monster that is just super gross and horrifying. There’s also a monster called a Carrionette, which is just a doll that can steal your soul- super creepy! The artists definitely outdid themselves on this source book.

If you wanna check the, out or get a hold of the stat block of these monsters above, check out Van Richtens Guide to Ravenloft

[nite-puff]

ooo 1, 3, 8, and 9 for the artist ask game !! :D 🌻

1. Show your most recent WIP

Good ol’ mondo wondo

I just realized that tumblr has yet to see how messy my sketch process can be. It’s honestly a miracle that I can discern what image my brain had when I scribbled onto a blank canvas.

But yeah, I’m very much experiencing some mondo mania right now so what better than to draw him some more.

3. What’s your least favorite thing to draw?

There’s a reason why 98.9% of all my art consists of a character or two standing in front of a simple background. That reason is that drawing backgrounds can be the bane of my existence.

I really do want to step out of my comfort zone when it comes to that. Most examples of me doing so are very simple but I still commend myself for at least trying.

8. What do you like most about your own work?

Color was always something I wanted to crack and get good at, and I feel like I’m getting to the point where I really like the color palettes I use for my art.

I also really like how I draw facial expressions, my character design, my use of shapes, and the way I do line art. GOD, it’s so satisfying to do and look at!!!

9. What are you currently trying to improve?

Like I said earlier, I really want to step out of my comfort zone when it comes to backgrounds. I also want to work on making my poses more fluid and less stiff.

There’s also anatomy which can really kick my ass sometimes. And there’s something about my art that just makes it feel flat to me, so I want to identify and fix that.

There’s a lot, but I’m slowly working on bettering myself.

Thanks for the ask!!!

[homemoviess]

Post #11 - A Step Towards Background Design

♫ - What I’m currently listening to.

✔ - Vote in the poll.

After a much-needed break, I am happy to return and try to crack down on one important element of comic creation; backgrounds. Being a lazy artist, (everything must be created within a short time frame, or oops, there goes my attention span) sitting down to render a well-thought-out scene is the bane of my existence. At least with writing, it is easier to say what I envision. With visual art, there requires a bit more skill and time to bring an idea to life. So naturally, I am no expert at setting a compelling scene, but I plan to take the next 7 days to change that.

We're heading to art school at YouTube University. We'll have a lot to learn. Everything from the composition, to the perspective, to the layout of a background. I will try to pick up the basics, and hopefully improve as the comic gradually progresses. By the time the last page is drawn, and before the project comes to an end, I hope to have a product that is alluring to gaze upon.

I hope to have something that invokes a strong emotion within the viewer.

The images in this post are the three base categories of study; interior, exterior, and wider landscape/cityscape shots.

I wanted to track my progress, as well as see how much I currently know, (spoiler alert, not much) so the above was drawn without references. They are the barebone sketches that currently plague my portfolio. Something quick, something easy. I can't say for sure that this will change all that drastically, but my main goal is to find the happy medium between my lazy art and a compelling scene to stare at.

I will be releasing a post sometime next week that will detail the aesthetic direction I want to take the world. There's going to be a little more thought put into the details to create something that fits with the themes of the fanfic while still keeping true to the Undertale elements. There will be a mood board accompanying the post, (with a few images from my trip) so you'll get a bit more insight into exactly what I mean.

One last thing to touch on, I recently re-read a comment on The Salt Circle regarding the look of the Frisks/Charas, and though this story has nothing to do with that one, it did leave me thinking about the designs of the characters. The poll is still active, and currently, we have two options that are neck and neck; starting from scratch with a brand new AU, or going with Swapfell Gold. I think I will leave the poll up until my big post next week to see which one will win, but I am liking the idea of something new and of our own. Something made just for Fawn. Of course, as a project, I want to share and build along with readers. Therefore, the majority rules, but I suppose we'll have to see which answer wins before really cementing any ideas.

In the meantime; I will be starting the first day of background building tomorrow. We'll start things off easy by referencing the official map of the Underground as well as Clipstudio's guide on How to draw iconic cityscapes.

[aerequets]

ok you have. a Way. of drawing faces. a very Dia™️ way. (which is Very Good.) it's like, kinda anime-style eyes(??) like very cute and shiny. and the face SHAPE is so perf it's like very found with a pointy lil chin. all the characters look so BABIE but also so PRETTY 😌 u do such a good pretty-boy adrien aljksdsfdakljf and an especially perfect “I’m so in love” Adrien face waaaa <3

AND ALSO you do the best derp faces haha. and also, like, intense angst face?? that thing u do in ur comics where there is an Oh Boy moment where the character is like O_O and you put a little extra detail and shading and shade the background AAA that’s good stuff there.

And just overall I love how things just look clean and simple. You’re good at conveying what’s necessary without going to over the top with it haha.

ALSO yes your tan backgrounds are part of your signature haha and you don’t color too often but when you do I am always like !!!!!!! because your coloring is so pretty!! It feels both soft and bold at the same time somehow?? And I love how you incorporate texture with it, I’m not sure you how you do it but it reminded me of inkling with a sponge or something? It’s really neat

AHHH MARYSSA I 😭😭 thank u so much. im so happy to hear that I pull off a proper Pretty Boy Adrien because boys were the bane of my existence for a long time (drawing-wise, not... well...)

angst is so fun so when I do it I love to add details for emphasis! the good thing about being a lazy artist is that when you DO put more effort into a panel, it stands out JDHAJA

i love u so much THANK U 🥺🥺