#trying to trick myself into understanding shapes and colors

[mushroom-kin]

Lantern rite good.

I feel like I could write so many things about it, but thumbs up. It was very good.

[pixelglam]

hey amelie! i just wanted to ask, how long did it take for you to learn how to build? did you watch youtube tutorials or anything like that? idk, i’ve always wanted to build a house for my own sims but it’s so hard for me to like what i’ve made. did you feel this way too? do you have any tips? sorry i’m such a yapper 😭 have a great day! <3

Hello! Watching simmers like bojanasims, lilsimsie and simlicy on youtube helped me a lot especially when I started building lots myself about one and a half years ago! I listed a few tips for you below!

I also received a similar message from another anon so I'll be answering both here. 🤍

'hiii i recently discovered your yt channel and i love your builds. how did you improve your building skills and how do you make your builds so realistic? 🩵'

Study Real Architecture: Look at real-life houses, apartments, and buildings to understand architectural styles, layouts, and details. This can give you inspiration and ideas for your own builds. My favorites are pinterest and real estate/architect websites.

Plan Your Build: Before starting, come up with a plan and layout for the build. Decide on the overall style (modern, traditional, etc.), number of rooms, color scheme and any special features you want to include.

Get Acquainted with The Basics: Understand the basic tools and controls in Build Mode. Practice using the wall tool, room tool, roof and terrain tools to create a solid foundation for all your builds. There are a lot of really informative tutorials on youtube! (important for beginners)

Pay Attention to Scale and Proportions: Ensure that rooms, windows, doors, and furniture are proportionate to each other. This helps in creating a realistic and cohesive look.

Use Realistic Colors and Textures: Choose colors and textures that are realistic and complement each other well. Consider the overall color scheme of the house and how different materials blend together.

Add Detailing: Pay attention to small details like trim around windows and doors, roof overhangs, and landscaping. These details can make a big difference in the overall appearance of your build.

Experiment with Roofing and Terrain: Roofs and landscaping can significantly impact the realism of your build. Experiment with different roof shapes, angles, and materials. Use terrain tools to create realistic slopes and landscaping features.

Furnish Thoughtfully: When furnishing your builds, think about how real people would use the space. Arrange furniture in a way that makes sense functionally and aesthetically.

Utilize Custom Content (CC): Explore custom content to expand your options for building, furniture and decorative items. This can often help to create a more realistic look as well.

Seek Feedback and Learn from Others: Share your builds in sims discord groups or on Simblr to ask for feedback and look for inspiration. Look at tutorials and speed builds by other players/creators to learn new techniques and tricks. (please don't copy or steal other people's builds to post online though)

Practice Regularly: Like any skill, building in The Sims 4 improves with practice. Experiment with different styles and challenge yourself with more complex builds over time.

Have Fun and Be Creative: Building in The Sims 4 is a creative outlet, so enjoy the process and don't be afraid to try new things in your designs.

[quibble-auk]

Yk what no one asked for? My art process.

At least when it comes to drawing transformers... I don't put a lot of my other stuff up here haha. This guide probably won’t help with drawing TFP stuff tho. I like sticking to my cubes.

Who knows. Maybe this can help someone. Or provide amusement cause I have no idea what I'm doing. Just thought l'd share some stuff lol. And an unpopular art opinion.

So yeah, my secrets. Which like.... my art isn’t incredibly impressive or anything but... you get the point.

If you ever really wanted to try out whatever my style is called, here’s your guide. Along with a tutorial on how I draw Sunstreaker, but it’s like 5 steps lol.

I apologize in advance for the sheer amount of yapping I’m about to do. I’m just trying to makes sense

~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the part where I share my tips and tricks yippee! Small disclaimer, I just kinda do half of this stuff as a go. There is no real order to this. I’m basically just explaining how my style works (despite how much my style varies tbh)

There’s a general build for the body that I’m pretty sure most people have figured out. The head, chest, torso, and weird hip thingy. Then the legs are broken into two main segments, the arms are broken into three, shoulder, upper arm, lower arm.

Here we go, unpopular art opinion rant.

When I make my base I usually work from the head down. Don’t be afraid to use the lasso tool to readjust the sizes of different components. If the head you started with has the right angle but is too small, lasso it and make it bigger. If ur doing traditional, sorry, you’re just gonna have to redraw it.

I’ll usually try and clean up overlapping lines, but I wanted yall to see the shapes before I did that.

Then we can start adding details. I look at other artist’s designs and the source material and pick out reoccurring traits that will help make the character easily identifiable.

I tend to add the most detail to the head simply because that’s what is commonly used to identify characters. Usually when designing my version of a character I allow myself to kinda make up details for this part.

But do feel free to add your own details to make sure people can tell it’s “your” design!

These are still very simple shapes and not detailed whatsoever. We are keeping it basic on purpose.

Very loose shapes, extremely vague idea. Just putting down the most identifiable parts that are important in building it, if that makes sense. I put down the bare minimum for this.

You really don't want to over complicate things. It makes it difficult for the viewer to figure out what's going on. A crowded design is distracting and unappealing. The simpler the better.

So now we have our sketch layer done. Because I'm impatient, it's line art time baby!

I end up just kind of feeling it out with line art. There will be some changes between the sketch and the line art. I’ll also use line weight to just general shading stuff sometimes. In this one it’s not very consistent but I was kinda losing motivation cause… adhd my beloved.

This is pretty self explanatory. Use your sketch to outline what you want, adding details as you go. I'll still leave my lines pretty loose and messy for most of these, just because it adds a bit more... character? Makes it feel more authentic? But feel free to clean it up as much as your little heart desires.

Smth im really passionate about is not overcomplicating the designs and crowding it. I know I already mentioned it once but… yeah.

While adding a bunch of detail can be cool, if not executed right, it can become overwhelming and difficult to understand visually. Keep it simple, you don't need to add every crease or seam. Just the important ones that can help a character stand out or fill in an awkward large space.

Usually after that l'll just put flat color down. Nothing fancy. I like to just do greyscale but you can go crazy. I'm not stopping you.

But adding a flat color under your line art helps pull together the sketch. It makes it easier for people to understand what is and isn't a character and makes it simpler to understand the character’s shape.

If I have several characters in one picture l'll usually make them separate colors to help make sure you can easily identify them as different people. I usually try to keep in mind the characters actual color when doing this. People with darker colors get a darker gray.

I’ll also try and give a different color to an object they are interacting with so it doesn’t get confused with the character themselves.

The entire reason I gave Sunstreaker a gun was to show this. I hate drawing guns.

These are also rarely perfect. As long as it's not extremely obvious that you're out of the lines, no one will notice. At least that’s been my experience.

I usually do this on separate layers

There's a lot of personalization when it comes to drawing and I don't know if I explained all of this very well. Ironically I don't really think much about how I'm doing it, I just... do it.

If you need any further explaining, I'll try my best to help. And if you made it this far ive got mad respect for you. I’m pretty sure I’m just rambling for half of this lol.

Have fun creating!!!!

[itzkatflixs]

Poems you'll never read

a/n: ngl when i read back my post poll i lwk didnt understand what i wrote… so to clarify these poems r like what i think the kats wld write abt their ex-crushes, ex situationship blah blah u get the idea? yeah also half of these were written when i was abt 15 so im sry if its not the best n lwk damn cringe lol dont judge guys anwww now i got the disclaimers outta the way lets roll

manon

im confused, spiraling into my thoughts, dark and ugly, thinking that im unredeemable.

im confused by that blinding smile, twinkle in your eyes, sweet words and the cold stare, unforgiving face, harsh actions.

pick a side. which one isit? or are you just a lie separated from another by someone or somthing?

im totally, undeniably mistified by you, its as if youre an unsolvable magic trick;

sophia

raw and true,

blue blood flows through my DNA,

somewhat downcast frequently,

missing things before they are gone, now i wither as my dreams take a dark turn,

where you reject and abandon me, as i wake covered in sweat and the residue of fear, panic.

at times my mind believes it’s true, although it has never happend.

belief that you still care shimmers down, as days pass by with silence prevailing.

it hurts, traces through my every moment tingeing them blue.

as i lie to myself that i dont care, i wonder if i have ever crossed your mind, a simple reminder that i am real to you.

i want to talk but i dont wanna push your boundaries,

while i need you so desperately, i dont want to scaare you away, it is terrifying, the constant gaping hole in my heart.

a You-shaped hole apparently.

i have given up and yet i havent.

i have lost hope and yet i havent.

i have unlove and yet i havent.

chaos and bewilderment ensures;

daniela

driving recklessly,

emotions going crazy,

its as if im drunk. everything spewing out.

this is crazy. as if im running from me.

these intense feelings, i dont know what to do about them, drown in lies or face the horrible truth?

im missing her even though i shouldnt. not a single idea of what i should do with my feelings of her.

always too scared to admit,

too proud to deny.

always getting into trouble,

daydreaming during classes,

dazed while talking,

dreaming vividly about her when asleep.

all because i let my guard down around her, thinking im immune, invincible, now i know;

lara

here i am at the crossroads once again,

i slowly retreat unto myself knowing that without you by my side,

i have no way of functioning.

i feel torn apart thinking that i have to leave you too soon.

i feel like im ingesting fire,

devastation clearly painted on my scarred face,

contorted in pain as though i was being stabbed.

the day has finally come where we part

of daily routines,

of laughs and soft kisses,

of hugs and tangling of limbs,

of intertwining smiles and fingers,

of coincident meetings.

i will miss you forever. even as you stand by my side now,

i want you closer than we already are.

it hurts to leave my sweetheart, my everything;

megan

as weeks passed i see youve grown so much and im proud of the way you picked yourself up and tried your best to fit your pieces back together.

i still remember the date that i swore upon the sun, moon, stars, my very soul that i would protect you.

cuz my love, you deserve everything and i will try to give you that. u deserve the world, anyone who differs is blind.

my love, i will protect you forever and ever i promise. solemnly swear.

my love, your soul is so beautiful and the love and adorableness of it spills out through your eyes like a never ending spring.

my love, when i say i love you to the moon and back, really im saying i love you with every single heartbeat of my pathetic body.

my love, i love you so much i cant express it in words. ive loved you since the 17th of May even before i fully realized it;

yoonchae

red hair flowing slightly past her shoulder,

wrists decorated by colorful bracelets,

eyes sparkling with mischief and determination.

how could i have ever stood a chance against her?

charisma overflowing, yet at the same time,

shes hopelessly adorable and loveable.

how could i have stood against a chance to fall for her?

her kindness and patience astounding,

her dedication and drive inspiring.

how could i avoid longing for her attention?

truly i have inexplicably fallen for her;

[chloematis]

hey!! i Love the way you draw cats!! i've been trying to get into digital art myself and trying to capture all the colours a cat can have can be so difficult without making it look kinda sloppy and patchworky. Do you have any tips and tricks how you manage to portray to actually look like fur or do you have a good point to start to find info on that so I can practice drawing my little menace without her looking like patches of colour rather than fur?

Hmm, a lot of it is an unconscious collective of my years of digital painting experience, so it's a bit difficult to put into words but if I had to say,

1.) Get a good reference image. I do all of my paintings from photo reference so I don't usually invent light sources, just reinterpret what's already in the photo. I find the most effective ones to be pictures with strong directional lighting with distinct shadow shapes

2.) Learn the underlying anatomy of cats. Understanding the actual shapes that make up a cat allows you to recognize the how and why the shadows and highlights in the reference image work the way they do. 3.) The way I do fur is I get all of my colors and shading down and as final step go over certain areas with a textured blending brush, following the contour of the fur. (I use my own custom brushes in Rebelle 7 but I believe other programs have similar 'mixer brush'-like tools)

I also recommend petting your cat to get a tactile feeling of the planes of her face, what direction the fur goes in where. What kind of movements would disrupt the direction?

As for color-picking I usually go into photoshop and mess with the lighting and color adjustments until I get something similar that I'd like in the final painting. Then I filter > noise > median to get rid of a lot of the details so I'm left with mostly blocks of color and color pick from there. idk if other programs have this specific blur type, but your standard gaussian blur works just as well

In my experience, when you do a lot of painting you eventually are able to see colors in areas of photos that aren't technically captured by the camera but could be perceived by the eye in real life. For starters you can focus on adding more saturated colors in areas of shadow or plane changes.

If you add a color in one part of the fur try and have it, or a similar color, in at least another part of the fur so it looks like more of a cohesive image.

As for other resources I never really did any specific studying for drawing cats in-particular, it was just something I started for fun and honestly haven't really been able to find many resources on it I found super useful.

This video on reflected light did completely rewire my brain when it came to coloring though

If you (or anyone!) has any pieces they'd like me to look over and give direct feedback on I'd be happy to help! Might be a bit more useful then trying to verbalize the specific painting neurons that possess me whenever I'm working on a piece. :)

[ariicandy]

𝐏𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐔𝐩 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐞

𝐀𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 : Putting up and decorating both of your guys’ tree is fun but what if it’s both chaotic and fun with the kazuha, xiao, aether, and scara??

Notes: wooohooo!! I’m so ready to burden myself to write almost everyday cause I can’t do it everyday, hopefully motivation doesn’t run out soon as I have already planned on what days to write for what!!

Credits

★☆﹒KAZUHA

Putting up the Christmas tree with KAZUHA is very calm, helping putting up as the gentlemen he’s known. He will happily help you decide on what theme you want to do on the tree like having red, white and silver ornaments! The best decoration person ever in the world!! Best person to spend time putting up a tree and decorating with too, he remembers how you like things done so it’s very easy to tell him how you picture something and he will get what you mean! It’s a very relaxing time to hang out with him as he gets you and very easy to talk to!

★☆﹒XIAO

Had to make him putt up the tree with you, maybe you feel bad tricking him to spend time with him, but it was fun messing with him. Messing up on spacing out the tree branches, putting the wrong color ornaments etc. seeing ornaments that remind you of XIAO makes him blush a bit and look away from you. He isn’t used to celebrating something with someone in a while so take it easy on him. He might not understand how you want it to look like but will try his best to do how you like it to be, does ask if he should put an ornament or the lights in a certain place incase you don’t like it.

★☆﹒AETHER

AETHER will already have an idea on what he wanted to do with the tree BUUUUT since you asked him to help you put up and decorate the tree, his face will have the heart shape emoji eyes. He always tries to make you not put up the tree, there’s no fighting in that cause he will stop you from helping putting up the tree. AETHER will ask on how you want it and will do it how you want it and possibly put up some other colors that match that you are fine with, BUT, if you ask him on how you should do it he will be so happy saying on how he was gonna do it. Amazing calming time spending with aether tho paimon might have came and tried helping, aether made her go away just to spend time with you alone

★☆﹒SCARAMOUCHE

Had to force him to help you by dragging him, SCARA messed with you in the end. He would mess around putting whatever ornaments and putting away the right color ornaments you want. SCARA also did not help put up the lights on the tree he watched you put it on and blind you by plugging the cord while putting them. Laughing to himself after pulling that stunt but he does pull out the cord, he’s mean but not too mean he does care. He will help you put up the lights from seeing you intensely rubbing your eyes, he feels bad so he is repaying by actually doing the work. He does remember what ornaments you wanted to put and decorates it like how you wanted, he remembers a lot of things you like so if you need help doing something he has possibly already know what you want it to look like

[bantersnatch]

I love your art style! How did you develop it?

hello! this is very kind, thank you <3

i'm someone who gets pretty bad art block if i don't change art styles semi-regularly, so i end up with a new style for every situation -- though i think i still have kind of a 'base style' that bleeds through.

drawing for vip is the first time i've been in deep on a piece of media where the characters have canonical faces; i've been in the podcast/book/oc zone for basically my whole life, and on top of that i've spent the last couple of years not really drawing humans at all (it was all domestic cats all the time in my brain for a hot second). so uhh. yeah. it took some work to get myself in a place where i felt good about making art for this fandom. luckily, i've also been in a realism phase for going on a year, so it was just a question of finding a way to bridge the gap between, like..,.. portraiture and meme comics. easy, right?

for vip, i had two primary objectives for what i wanted the style to accomplish:

i wanted a style that's relatively fast. i'm prone to intense detail work, which means i have a tendency to slip into styles that require a big time commitment, but for this fandom i'm more interested in conveying ideas and jokes than spending hours embellishing one image. (i'm backsliding further on this by the day)

i wanted something that fits the energy of vip, in some way or another. what i settled on is a slightly 'comic book' look -- based in realistic shapes and proportions, but with exaggerated shadows, bright colors, and dark, thick lines. the scratchiness adds to this i think?

it took a lot of playing to get settled in with drawing people, let alone stylizing them; i did some studies of vic's face to get back in the groove (most of these are posted in my art tag), as well as some studies of other peoples' human styles to try and pick up some little tricks and details, and to ease me back into the shapes involved.

the thing that ended up being the key for me was. uhhh. taking away my access to pen pressure. it's just been me and the most basic brush tool on the planet. i'm honestly thriving. something about it makes me feel so uninhibited.

hell yeah baby

. i haven't gone to art school can you tell (everyone can tell)

anyway --

my current process is basically:

get a bunch of reference images, especially for the face

sketch with the goal of vague likeness (though now that i'm getting more comfortable i sometimes like to sketch without references and then only use refs as i'm lining, to force a little more flexibility/stylization while not drifting too far away from the actual faces involved)

make the sketch smaller . we love a tiny canvas. now throw a lining layer at it with an eye for the places of deepest shadow, and, loosely, the directionality of the materials involved. now throw more lines in there. (i've always loved crosshatching, but it's been a while since i've really used it outside my sketchbook/digital sketch layers)

flat colors because i have no time for shading. except the skin. the skin can have some cell shading. i Guess.

run away really fast so the backgrounds can't find us. hide. hide. hide.

in terms of style development, i do think that a decent portion of my vip style does come from the bleed-in of my most "natural" style -- which might be what the question was about? i think as i've gotten more comfortable in this process and i've come to understand better the Look that i'm aiming for, i've started letting more of my old ways come through. which also means . more detail and more timesink. curses. i have once again played myself.

uhhhhh and my natural style i developed through a hell of a lot of ballpoint pen sketches, Drawing Fur, studies of art nouveau shapework, still lifes of plants, human portraiture, gesture drawings, studies of various animals, all that nonsense. i think it comes through most strongly in the way i draw hair. i can and will make everyone more fluffy than they are in real life and that's a Promise.

i'm.. not sure exactly what this question was Looking for, but i hope this addressed it in some way!

[monochromegee]

Any lighting tips? <3

Oh boy, I could swear there are rules to lighting, but I rarely stick to them myself, because I have a terrible memory and rendering is the bane of my existence. There are many different ways to use lighting, and I don't know how helpful the tips I can offer are, but a first good step is to determine the source of your light. What I like to do often is use a color gradient where one side of the figure is already a bit darker and the other a little lighter, like there for example:

I like to use that little trick to get the direction roughly down, save a bit of time and add more volume to things.

Another tip I could give is to not be scared to create contrast in places where light doesn't really reach. It's a bit scary to me as well, still, but pushing contrast can add a lot to the illusion.

If you use that though, you have to make sure to understand mid tones as well. These are basically the values somewhere in between your darkest and lightest spots. Light likes to scatter, especially on softer surfaces that don't have many hard edges, so mid tones are really important to suggest the shape of the thing that's being lit. This could be an example:

Rim light is also an effective way to make something stand out more, and what I learned recently is that it works way more effectively if you try and vary its weight, to kinda make it hug around the shapes it sits on, like here:

There are most likely exceptions, but those are rules that always apply to lighting and maybe they can help you understand it a little bit better! I constantly break those rules myself though, so I wouldn't bet that my art makes a good guideline for learning about lighting. I can only recommend using lots and lots of references. Photographs are the most reliable source there is, you can learn a LOT from those, or study some masters paintings to see how they use lighting.

So yeah, these are probably the best tips I can come up with, I'm not very good at explaining things, so I hope this helps a little bit :')

[kithpendragon]

This post is part of a series in which I help my friend upgrade her copy of the board game "Scythe" by painting some of the game pieces. It's all being tagged #KP2023SCY to make it easy to find!

Base Coat

After playing around with the paint a bit, we decided to work on the yellow faction first. These guys look a bit like tractors, so we found a few reference photos. We settled on this one for its ability to give us most of the colors we wanted in one shot.

Here we have yellow paint in an outdoor setting, and the machine has even been courteous enough to rust up so that we can see where and how that happens.

Now, yellow is the weakest color you can get paint in. I'm not sure why that is, but you usually need to add lots of yellow paint to a mix before you come close to the same coloring power you get from most other colors. "One wierd trick" to get more vibrant yellows is to underpaint - paint a helper layer below the color you want to see - with magenta.

Why magenta? I ask myself that every time. But it works, and I haven't taken the time to sort through all the "I know what underpainting is" posts to look up if anybody's figured it out. If you find a good reason, by all means let me know.

Anyway, with the magenta underpainting and a coat of yellow, we achieved a lovely saturated dark yellow more commonly called "orange", which is a great mid tone for yellow objects.

Next we focused on the legs and wheels, adding a thin coat of gray to unify the existing lighting cues. Finally, we used a reddish buddy brown on the base and added some splotches of green to suggest plant life.

Highlighting and Shading

With the mid tones established, we added a couple highlighting steps to the model - first with another layer of pure yellow, then by adding progressively more of a yellowish off-white to the mix. On the legs, we added the off-white to the gray for the brighter areas. Finally, we added a tiny bit of blue and black to the yellow for the shadowed underside.

The shading does appear somewhat green because bluey yellow does that. This is fine, and it doesn't even register at arms length on the table because shadows really are blue like that. It would also be valid to darken with chromatic gray, or to glaze black over the orange base coat. Leaving the shadows more saturated like this allows the eye to see more details in the final paint job.

The location of highlights and shadows was chosen simply by shining a bright light on the mini and noting the bright and dark spots. That technique doesn't always work, but it's an easy way to begin to learn how shadows and highlights work.

After we had the top bright and the bottom dark, we painted an additional strong highlight on the sharp edges with the off-white. This is called "edge highlighting", and it helps the eye to understand the shapes even from across the table. You can also take your shadow color and run it into any deep recesses for even more definition.

Rimming

Somehow, people have very strong feelings about what color the edge of the base - the rim - should be. Paint that rim whatever color makes sense to you and don't let anybody tell you otherwise!

For display or competition painting, a very dark color or black would look most "professional" (if you want that vibe). For board games, I find it useful to try to match the original color of the plastic, especially if I didn't stick too closely to that color with the rest of the piece.

We rimmed the tractors with a coat of magenta followed by two coats of yellow and got close enough to the original color that there won't be any ambiguity.

We let the paint get good and dry for about two weeks before sealing with a clear coat to make the paint job much more durable. You don't have to wait that long - it was cold and raining, and spray paint is an outdoor activity for me. This is one of those things where you could probably get away with sealing in a couple hours, overnight would be better, and a week is probably overcautious. You just want all the existing paint to be fully dry.

Once the clear coat is fully dry (read: doesn't have a smell anymore) you can add some matte varnish or buff with some 000 steel wool to knock the shine back if you like.

Once again, every step is optional! Do the things you want to do, that you feel are worth your time. And then enjoy playing your game, or put those beautiful upgraded minis on display for everybody in your game room to admire!

[notanalienisswearordoiidunno]

WHY DID YOU KICK ME OUT!!!??

Okay so I JUST ARRIVED here okay, tell me why when my ship ran out of juice and I land on a beautiful looking field. A creature, with flailing arms and a seemingly 'wide'? expression came my way yielding what looking like a long tube with a button, and when he pressed it a loud bang emitted from the gadget and I felt a wet breeze through my body, there was a hole through my torso. Please work on being more welcoming to us, usually when I land here the smallest of you creatures are the nicest. I'm away now, typing this on my gadget as I'm floating to a safe place.

Last day my crappy thing of a spaceship crashed once more (I understand that like 'Get a new ship!' give me time I'm crafting it in my spare time while I'm flying through doing something I won't disclose. Don't want you homosapiens looking for me in the skies.) and a little version of the big humans came up to me, baring her teeth which apparently is a sign of hostility for some on your planet but comforting and disarming for others? Odd bunch you all are. And she handed me a stick, with a colorful flat spherical shape stuck on the top, a lollipop I heard it was called. Not quite understanding I continued looking at her, I'm new to social cues. She wandered off without another word seconds later, no expression on her face. To be quite honest the younglings are a bit more confusing, though less scary. About the size of a ball, easy to kick if need to fret.

I rushed to a nearby gasoline station, and asked for help to the clerk. For a few minute I fought back and forth with the creature, using a higher pitch of voice which I've taught myself to seem less threatening, a much more vulnerable tone apparently as it resembles a prey weeping or a younglings voice. After a few moments, he reached for the phone and a higher authority arrived. Not long after I was taken to another station where they discussed the situation.

They began asking about my appearance, odd thing to talk about. My exoskeleton was wearing off, and I was started oddly beaming light from my skin as my morph gadget began to lose energy. Didn't know what they'd do to me if they found out, so I said it's probably the bright artificial lighting above us playing tricks on their eyes. Bought it for a while until they asked me to take my fingerprints, to get my identity information because apparently you humans have no privacy.

So long story short. They found out I'm not human, horrifying for me more than for them. Like a spider, I was harmless while the armed creature yielded a weapon to me. I insisted I meant no harm, though the sweaty uniformed authorities didn't want anything to do with me. Reaching out to an even higher authority, meanwhile I was kept in a cell as they watched me from afar still fearing their safety.

After 60 minutes of awaiting orders for my release, I see two more simple yet still cleanly uniformed humans walk through the station door. Spotting me from across the room, wasting no time approaching me as the cell is ordered to be opened by one of them. I lift myself to my bottom limbs, and move out of the cage. So, I was taken to ANOTHER station (god how many are there) and as we've met before, they escort me off away from the area with disappointed as if I've done something wrong. If I'm such a nuisance, and I threaten your people. Buy. Me. A. New. Ship. But no.

Anyways, I've been escorted off the planet. Again. Cause of some little stupid skanky clerk and two wobbly legged uniformed authorities.

Moving on. I'm never coming back here, unless I crash again. Please stop trying to eliminate, abduct, imprison me or banish me for here. I respect you, you respect me. Or destruction will come. Just kidding. Or am I? Time will tell.

Zorg, signing out.

[thechildrendontlaugh]

The Unbecoming [This is How the Grief Reshapes You]

Sometimes, I think my Grief will undo me. As though I were caught in a Purgatory, swirling the drain until I descend, once more, into Hell. Into Madness.  The unreality of reality brightens like the lightheaded sensation which strikes when one arises too fast. I am having lots of internal back-and-forth around this idea of Unearned Wisdom. Learning a thing too fast, experiencing too rapidly, and caught in a breathless haze where all pretense of sense has dissolved and evaporated. Disappeared on high into the Heavens, or been sucked down deep into the Earth. And I am left tethered only by my fear…

I know that on the other side of this, there will be a kind of understanding which will be foundational in all the things I will see, experience, and feel, in my life. All the ways in which it will grant my own soul peace, and all the ways in which it will, in turn, offer solace to others. Where this will be a touchstone moment, anchoring me in reality void of illusion, where I see and know the intricate bonds which forevermore connect me, to you. But that moment feels an impossibly long way off. And I do not know if it is quite an offering I wish to be able to keep near me, in the knowing that it is to be served in helping another. It feels impossibly cruel, to shape this grief in such a way, where it is entombed in silver-linings. It will go on living anyway, so why not as a prettied thing?

My writing is more cynical than I actually feel. It is a flimsy barrier I default in erecting. I know the grief will suck me down again. Will barricade me behind empty walls, open rooms, skylight too far out of reach for me to climb up to and feel more closely warming against my skin. It is a room, I know, which should be inviting. I can make it into anything I so choose. I can splash upon its walls any color. Add any décor. Re-form. Re-fashion. So much freedom, is terrifying. It feels like a trick, a trap. I know it will tap my shoulder to get me to turn around, and scream into my opened mouth, again, and I will balloon with its echoes squeezing past every organ, every cell, until I am swollen with it. Until I am lighter than air. If only I could see that it is trying to lift me higher—and not instead, fatten me up to lead me off to slaughter.

I have never quite envisioned Death as I do now. I have never quite been afraid of it, as I find myself now. It has been months, perhaps a year, in the making. The fear is a foreign intrusion, I know this. Something I have picked up from the land, or perhaps in bumping the people here, bumping into their philosophies, and sightless seeing. I have remarked, more than once, that this is a land of hungry ghosts, that it retains all the trappings of what might be my own personal hell. Why am I so reluctant to escape?

There are things I am trying to remember, to recall. There is a tangible terror I have, in forgetting. At times it is hard to discern whose forgetting, and whose remembering, and I realize I have been grieving a long time. That I have carried with me, a lifetime of memories, that I have been too afraid to set down, lest it be forgotten. If not me, then who, will do the recollecting? If not me, then who, will carry these things which are too precious to be dropped, and then forgotten—how will we ensure that we will not repeat the sins that we remain burdened by? I realize that I have never been good at hoping. It requires a kind of trust that is unfamiliar to me. That I can be my most vulnerable that will not, in such a way, be seen as an invitation towards my own exploitation. My own betrayal. I have been conditioned to believe, that there is both an inevitability of suffering, and an all-seeing-father, who will allow such suffering to continue on. That bliss only comes at the end, and its payment is a forever rejection and denial of the self’s pursuit in love, or joy, or adoration not directed at one’s simultaneous saviour-torturer. Grief is shaping me in a real way, to let fall away this impression, and I am struggling against myself, to believe in a kinder hoping that protects just as much as it empowers, just as much as it Loves. There are parts of me, long-buried, forgotten as an act of survival and sanity in this insane-world, which are clawing viciously, to get back to the surface of my Being. They are aching to seize this moment that might pass too soon, and are activating a lifetimes-strategized push where so much feels at stake. And at the center of that all-or-nothing of the world which hangs in the balance…is a little girl, with an intensity about her, that in a moment, might be snuffed out. Who is curious and wild-eyed, and confrontational. Who recognizes the god-like in all things, and is frustrated that no one acts in reverence of the same. Who is a seasoned warrior, trapped in a vulnerable body. An old woman, reduced back to a tiny mouth and tiny hands. A big heart which threatens to explode. An incarnation of Love that is slowly wilting. Petals falling steadily, the seed sucking back its leaves, its stalk. It's Life.

This moment is asking me to grow again. Against a backdrop of a lifetime of world-reality fears. It is begging me to grow, again. Death has always been a birthing process, it says to me. Something must die, in order to be willed back into Life again. This is a place, a time, for you to be shaped by nothing but your own mind, guided by nothing but your own hand. To open your heart, and let the incorruptible nature of your Being, at long awaited time, be allowed to become.

There is nothing easy about this process. I do not know, at many times, if I will make it, if I can hold enough of myself together, to continue on, when so much insists on falling away. I have forgotten why I compel myself to remember. I have remembered why I always choose this forgetting. The fear advances, a sound of wind being sucked somewhere deep and far away, grows louder…and before I slip back down again, I feel a faint press of moist cold against my skin which says to me, without words, “Remember, I love you, and you are a thing of love. Remember me, as I remember you. Come find me…”

[casspurrjoybell-22]

The Art of Sin - Chapter 3 - Part 2

•Noir Laurent (Dark Elf & Sun Elf )

•Bain López (Werewolf)

*Warning Adult Content*

"This is my room?" I whispered in disbelief, to myself as much as Tate.

"Yes," he chuckled at my shocked expression.

"I'm glad you like it. If you want anything added or changed, tell us. We want you to be comfortable."

His mouth made an 'Oh' shape as he caught sight of something.

I scrambled out of his way as he walked towards the dresser and empty vase.

He mumbled a few words, waving his hand over the vase once and turned back to me, grinning as he revealed a vase full of guelder roses.

"These roses mean 'Winter,'" he smiled,

"I love flowers. The ones you saw when you pulled into the driveway, are sustained by my magic."

"You must be very powerful then."

He shrugged, his cheeks pink.

"I guess but I'm not that strong compared to the others. All I can do is magic."

I almost snorted because magic was something that not just anyone could use.

Most can learn a few parlor tricks to keep them alive but you had to be in tune with the universe to do what he did and it came at a price.

I looked at him closely, wondering what price he had to pay.

There was nothing obvious but surely something was wrong with him.

Nothing in life is free especially when it come to magical affairs.

'He must be affected mentally,' I thought to myself.

I felt emotion stab at me, my heart aching to know that someone else hurt where no one can see but then it was gone, replaced with the hard shell I'd grown accustomed to.

He smiled once more, a sad smile that seemed to know the thoughts behind my observation and made his way to the door, telling me to yell if I need anything and that breakfast was at eight.

His steps faltered and he stopped just as he passed through the doorway.

"I know it's hard to believe but Nikoli means what he says. You're not a prisoner or a slave. He brought you here to help you and we do consider you family."

He gave a small, sad smile

"We were all a little broken when we first came here, so we understand or can at least relate."

And then I was alone, my mind pondering what he said. It didn't occur to me that there were others like me, others who've been broken.

A small sliver of hope embedded itself in me... I was too tired to try and destroy it... maybe, just maybe, this time, would be different.

Before I could plant my own seeds of doubt, I moved towards one of the doors in the room.

My hand trembled as I reached out, not knowing what I'd find behind it... the doorknob was cold as I turned it.

A breath that I didn't know I was holding in released as the door swung open to reveal a large walk-in closet.

Rows of shirts, from T-shirts to dress shirts, hung on either side.

The lower half of the walls had drawers.

Most contained various pants and shorts.

Two were full of socks and another two with different styles of underwear.

The back wall was lined shelves, shoes for every occasion on them.

Though it was something out of a dream, I didn't touch any of the clothing.

I looked down at my sarong, remembering the disbelief that filled me when I received it.

Having so many clean, expensive clothes in front of me was overwhelming.

I decided to ignore the closet and left to see what was behind the other door, opening it to see a beautiful bathroom.

Hesitantly, I took a small step into the room.. it was about half the size as the bedroom.

My eyes were wide as I looked around... like the rest of the house, it was spotless.

Large, sand-colored tiles made up the floor, a small step led to a tub that could fit two people.

A wall separated it and a large walk-in shower with a glass door.

Across from it was two porcelain sinks set into a dark counter, a long mirror hung behind it.

I froze at the sight of the creature in the mirror.

Thick, unruly, pitch black hair went down to its pale , almost sickly-colored, shoulders.

Its body was slender, one might say scrawny and the ribs were easily seen.

It was the eyes that held me... piercing blue eyes stared back at me.

There wasn't an ounce of emotion showing in those blue orbs.

'Was this how they see me?'

I look worn... used... I felt dirty... my skin crawled and I wrapped my arms around my body, tightening until my muscles screamed in protest, as if I could just squeeze out the ugly, corrupt parts.

My face contorted and, though tears fell from them, my eyes remained lifeless.

'Why? Why won't they change? You feel something, don't you? Then show it.'

Nails dug into my sides, drawing blood.

'You really are just a dirty, broken whore whose only use is being an easy fuck.'

I wanted to punch the mirror, to shatter it into a million pieces but I knew it wouldn't help.

I'd still feel how tainted I was, how dirty my soul had become and the shame, the hate I felt, would never go away.

It occurred to me that the others could probably sense it.

My arms dropped to my side and I straighten up, the tears stopping as I stared blankly at my reflection.

'Yes, they would know. It's why I was bought, wasn't it?'

I looked down at my body, a cold smile spread across my face.

I would use this disgusting vessel to pleasure my new master and the others.

I was nothing but a whore to be used then tossed away and I knew it.

This thought gave me a scary sense of calm... I was no longer confused... it didn't matter if everyone was lying.

I knew my purpose and wouldn't be distracted with doomed hope and misguided dreams.

I was a 'whore' and will always be one, forever to be used and tossed away.

[chancontrarian]

Musings [for lack of a better title] On — My Unique Voice

I mean, you want Judy Garland, you go to Judy Garland. But if you don't want Judy Garland — maybe I can fit the bill?

They [successful creatives] talk about writing the music or stories that you want to hear or read, and it would be impossible to write for teen girls as a whole, as a singular demographic, so I write for girls like me — like I was. I was a weird kid, just like a lot of kids in a lot of different ways, but you can mad libs the details and come up with a lot of universal emotions, like rejection and loneliness and disillusionment and disenfranchisement. The powerlessness of youth still crushes me; they places the hopes of the future on your shoulders before you can even drive a car. So, maybe there's not a weird kid out there reading Sherlock Holmes and listening to Petrushka. Maybe there's a weird kid out there reading and listening to me. It's not impossible, and while I can use my voice I feel obligated to do so.

I never had a single vision or message that I felt like I needed to share. I'm the projector lightbulb; I illuminate. I don't necessarily think of myself as a vessel for the muse but I also know that my message is intrinsically a part of who I am; my experiences and my stories shape the stories that I tell, and I have been touched by too many various artists and authors and musicians to think that there isn't room for one more authentic voice. That's the other part about writing for youth — about writing for your own inner child. You can't lie to them, and you can't disappoint them. It's like — you can't change the universal truth, you can't paint a picture of false hope. But I think of myself as a translator of the truth, painting a picture in different colors so it becomes clearer. There's a sortof running joke about neurodivergent people taking someone's sad story and making it about ourselves, because that is how we relate to someone, we say "I had similar feelings when—" but surely that is what makes us such excellent creative artists, because we see the patterns in the kaleidoscope of the universe and connect the threads and fit the jigsaw pieces together.

You know, and the pieces are all different and the pipes go in all different directions. My sortof Bing Crosby to Leonard Bernstein to Fiona Apple pipeline is not likely to be replicated, and each piece serves a different purpose. I guess part of the trick of finding your message is finding what role you want that message to play. Am I making someone feel heard in their hurt, or am I making them feel hopeful? Am I with them when they cry, or when they drive with the windows down? I think the role the most important music played for me, and what I try to replicate, is emotional education. I didn't understand Stormy Weather until my own heart was broken, but Judy made me feel it. It's almost like a vaccination, a brush with heartache to immunize you against the real thing. You know, when you're young there's a lot of information being thrown at your brain very fast. The maturation process of the human brain is fascinating, not to mention all of the variables socialization can throw at you. I found explanations and definitions for things I didn't even know I was questioning in my favorite books and songs. That's the illumination. There's more than what you see on the surface. Go deeper into life.

[low-on-memory-storage]

Okay kind of inviting myself to a couple months old post here but as a science nerd willing to research things for absolutely no reason I couldn’t help myself. Anyway obligatory disclaimer that I am so far from being an expert it’s funny and if anyone knows more about this than I do feel free to correct me. I’m basically making my best educated guess on the knowledge I’ve dug up. (I’m gonna try and be polite and stick everything under a read more because upon finishing this it looks really, really long on mobile. Damn my ability to ramble lmao)

I should probably explain how thing work normally before I start on whatever Shadow has going on.

Super basic background information: humans (usually) have three cones that detect light in the visible range. One detects long wave light (the ‘red’ cone or L-cone), one detects medium wave light (the ‘green’ cone or M-cone), and the third detects short wave light (the ‘blue’ or S-cone). This is where the whole RGB things come from. Also, I put the color names of the cones in quotes because while those are the colors each cones is most sensitive to, each cone actually has a range of colors they can feasibly detect. This is why we see our full range of color the way we do and also is probably why color blindness can alter someone’s perception of color vision with varying levels of severity. To get a little more complicated, each cone has a wavelength that it is most sensitive to, or a peak wavelength. Because of varying genetics, the exact peak wavelength of each cone for each individual is slightly different causing a slightly different perception of color. A certain wavelength of a shade of green that matches your peak wavelength for the green M-cones will appear as a very bright, vivid green. Meanwhile, the same shade might not perfectly match the peak wavelength of another person, causing them to perceive it as slightly darker and duller.

Why is this important to computers is because each pixel is made up of three colored lights: red, green, and blue. The varying intensity of each light basically ‘tricks’ the human brain into perceiving a full range of color. Printing colors is done similarly but with a CMYK combination. CMYK stands for cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (which us black), just to be clear. CMY is kind of the inverse of RGB as far as I can tell? In RGB, if you have full saturation of all three colors you get white, while in CMY you get black (black ink is used in printing because it’s cheaper than using all three colored inks). The reverse is also true where the absence of all colors in RGB is black while in CMY it’s white. I could get further into how CMY works as an inverted version of RGB but I think the important part for this conversation is that it’s based in how RGB works and thus the human perception of color (as far as I understand).

So, Shadow. Depending on how different his peak wavelengths are from the average human’s they could experience the colors of recorded images (digital or physical) slightly different to wildly different. Images would still be recognizable by shape, but the colors would look different to how they do in real life. Speaking of real life, Shadow’s cones would naturally effect how he experiences the colors around them. How exactly the colors present themselves is highly variables on how many cones they have, the peak wavelengths of those cones, and the range of feasibly detectable colors. For an irl example, birds generally have four type of cones. They have three that are similar to ours in an RGB-like arrangement and a fourth that rests in the ultraviolet range, meaning they can see a range of light (and therefore probably shades of colors) that humans can’t. However because of their sensitivity ranges, they can’t actually see as many shade of red as humans can. So, hypothetically, if Shadow has a cones that has a peak wavelength in the cyan range of wavelength, he might experience cyan colors brighter and more vividly than humans do. Depending on what the sensitivity ranges of their cones are, Shadow may or may not be able to see what humans would call a full range of colors, or they might be able to see more than a full range of colors. If you assume he has the exact range of wavelengths he can see as a human can (roughly 380nm to 750nm to be exact), I would guess that they could see the world similarly to how a human would even though the underlying mechanics might be different. I’m not exactly sure how having cones that were most sensitive to colors that aren’t RGB would work when looking at a at a computer, other than that the full saturation of red, green, and blue in a pixel would probably not look like white. In Shadow’s case, if he has notably different cone sensitivities than humans, whatever images they had of life or locations planet-side on the ARK would not look like how they should. Which means he was probably in for surprise once he got to see the planet for themself.

As for corrective technology? I have no idea if it would be possible to make something like corrective lenses that would fix Shadow’s perception of recorded colors images (black and white images should be fine, as long as the ink or whatever else is used for coloring is actually black and white; for example, Shadow should be able to see black and white instant film that uses silver halide—basically a black and white polaroid camera—just fine). Something similar in our world would be corrective colorblind lenses, but those function by blocking some wavelengths to make perceived colors more distinguishable from each other, not by making a green object suddenly appear more like green object would to a person with standard vision (which as far as I’m aware is impossible because of the nature of colorblindness). Theoretically, Tails could make a monitor or printer that uses the peak wavelength color’s Shadow’s eyes have to create color images that look like they accurately reflect how the world looks to him? The drawback (or perhaps a benefit in some situations?) is that the images the modified monitor or printer would produce would look just as strange to everyone else as the unmodified versions look to Shadow.

If you read to the bottom of this holy crap thank you. I would say I put a lot of effort into this but honestly I do this kind of stuff for fun, so thank you sharpedgedfool for giving me one hell of an excuse to nerd out for a current hyperfixation.

This turned into a huge amount of words my bad, im on mobile and can't figure out how to do the read more bit sorry yall

But I have a huge hc that shadow can't see screens the same cause his eyes work differently and he doesn't have the rgb colour cone things that most mobians have

He doesn't do well at video games or with computers and it frustrated him cause he blamed himself for not being able to process the visual information fast enough, but eventually Rouge realises he's struggling with basic stuff like reading things on a screen and without the competitivness he admits he can't see things properly but he sees words fine on paper, so he knows its screen related

After a while they get their hands on colour correcting glasses for him that work with his alien eyes and he's absolutely gutted that he'd spent so much time blaming himself

One of the first things he lets himself open up to Rouge and Omega about and it sorta opens the floodgates of 'what else have I been getting angry at myself for something out of my control' and he begins to work through the internalised shit that was put in his head during the ARK where he was supposed to be 'perfect' so he assumed that it was his own fault if he wasn't able to do something and he just 'wasn't trying hard enough'

But he's has so many things that he's repressed or hidden just because they didn't fit this narrative of 'perfection' set up by people who were narrow-minded to begin with and he struggles with letting himself just exist with these 'flaws' cause it was drilled into him so much that he wasn't supposed to be anything less than perfect or otherwise he's a failed experiment.

(projecting hard here lmao) but the concept of the 'ultimate lifeform' being disabled and beyond social norms while still being fully worthy of that title, and reaching full acceptance of themselves and becoming even more powerful after they let themselves exist above what other people want them to be is a very healing thing to explore, and a very specific type of freedom that i think is important to write for a character that narratively has had very little freedom.

Sonics whole thing is fighting for freedom from Eggman in a physical fight, but Shadow's version of freedom is freeing themselves from expectations and self-doubt, its more of a mental fight.

While Sonic advocates for fairness and equality, Shadows already been treated unfairly and is having to undo a lot of the things that were done to him that now other people are trying to prevent, and theres a sense of grief about that that I think Shadow is a great opportunity to explore that narrative.

[jasper-pagan-witch]

Jasper's Five-Color Protection Jar

I'm only ripping off @strixhaven-biblioplex's 5 Color Binding Spell a little bit. (Hi Faust, love you!)

This post requires reading the other stuff in my Magic The Gathering Pop Culture Magic/Paganism masterpost for information on the logic, theories, and tips and tricks used here.

I'm a big fan of spell jars, protection spells, and especially protection spell jars. Much to the aggravation of a particular deity who's trying to help me branch out.

The Components

This spell is quite simple in terms of tools. All you need is a jar of any shape, size, or material with a lid or other covering (though you can replace this with almost any sealing container if you so please, I'm just gonna use a jar for this spell because I love jars and have a hoarding problem), and then a protection component for each color for a total of five different ingredients.

Figuring out what tools match each color will often be the most difficult part, however, there are people like myself, @kaosmage aka @strixhaven-biblioplex aka Faust, and @highpriestness who have figured some stuff out and shared it with you. I'll link a few particularly helpful posts at the end, but you can always come to ask me (and undoubtedly Faust as well) for our thoughts on the color alignments of particular tools.

Here's a quick guide in case you just wanna get this fucker cast and don't need to fall down a research rabbit hole:

White: howlite, selenite, sage, moonstone, table salt

Blue: sodalite, turquentine (a fancy term for howlite dyed blue), blueberry, amethyst, moon water, protective metals broadly

Black: obsidian, onyx, thorns, needles, blackberry, hematite

Red: chili, cactus (especially the needles), cinnamon, protective stones broadly

Green: table salt, thorns, protective stones broadly, protective plants broadly

The Spell

Prepare your tools however you usually do.

Put the ingredients (stones, plant matter, or anything else) in the container one at a time, starting with your White protection object or objects. As you do, say "for protection in White". Then do Blue, Black, Red, and finally Green.

Close up the jar as normal, whether that's just sealing the lid, dripping wax on it (if you're doing that, opt for grey or brown wax for some nice Colorless and Multicolored spins, respectively), or some alternative sealing method that I've never heard of before.

The Resources

My aforementioned MTG masterpost and the MTG section of my online grimoire, @jasper-grimoire

The MTG wiki pages on White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green so you have a better understanding of the personalities of each color

Highpriestness' posts on White, Blue, Black, Red, and Green

Seraphsweetie's post on correspondences, spirits, and spells for all five colors

[piraticoctopus]

Froslass headcanons

Alrighty, here’s a condensed version plus some folklore stuff. (The WIP long version goes into way more detail on certain things because I can't control myself. Hopefully I'll get around to posting it eventually.)

(Sorry about the formatting, but I couldn't get multi-level bullet points to work.)

Solitary-living, mostly nocturnal omnivore with meat as an important part of its diet; Diet shifts to almost fully meat-based during the coldest months; (I like to imagine that “souls”/“life energy” are separate from physical calories; since they can and do also eat actual food)

Tend to inhabit more forested areas, whereas Glalie prefer open habitats; This reduces resource competition between the two

Hunting method: manipulate prey by various means to lure them in, then incapacitate them by draining "life force", body heat, or directly freezing (or some combination)

Employ different tactics based on target, and thus have to be intelligent enough to learn from experience and observation; Some tactics might fall under aggressive mimicry

May alter the terrain to passively direct prey (for example, by making the route of easiest travel lead toward their dens; easiest route is where Froslass wants you to go)

Notable moves learned by level-up: Confuse Ray (since Gen IV), Captivate (from Gen V until its removal from the games in Gen VIII) (note: only works on opposite gender), Draining Kiss (since Gen VI), Will-o-Wisp (since Gen IV) (I just think this one's interesting for an Ice type)

Prey availability varies by proximity to human-inhabited areas; those living closer to humans have more room to be picky (better variety)

Humans (usually) know better than to fall for their tricks, but aren't off the table; Actual documented cases of humans killed by wild Froslass are few, but missing people are often attributed to them anyways

Teeth built for crunching frozen stuff (see wolverines as a real life example); Base Attack and Special Attack are equal, and it has access to Bite, Crunch, and Ice Fang through Snorunt; However, usually rely on Special moves

The way their mouths work means they'd either have to use the middle part of the "mask" like a weird beak, or would have to always bite off to one side or the other

Extra/unfinished food is frozen and kept for later, but will be arranged in an aesthetically pleasing way; They keep durable, non-edible remains to use as decorations

Collect non-food-related items of interest, too, such as rocks or man-made objects

Have an eye for finding beauty in the morbid and grotesque; Understanding of visual balance might make them good at things like flower arranging

Possibly possess some method for detecting thermal energy (heat) (This one is purely speculative and has no basis in canon); Seen in certain snakes and in vampire bats (only mammals to do this!); Physical mechanisms of how it works in animals might align nicely with Ice-type traits (requires heat-sensing organ and surrounding areas to maintain a cooler temperature); The diamond shape on its forehead could function as a heat pit??

Red possibly serves as an attractant of sorts?; Presence of a visually-obvious color is irrelevant if being seen by prey isn’t a bad thing (in fact, if you’re trying to bring prey to you, perhaps it's best if they DO notice you); This possibly conflicts with Snow Cloak? (unless they make themselves completely invisible to hide); Conclusion: 🤷‍♀️

I imagine that they sort of have a “torso”, but that at least the lower half of their body is hollow

Temperament generally calm, level-headed; Introverted but not inherently “shy”

Limited emotional displays and minimal outward expression; Hard to read

Face mostly obscured; Hand over mouth is a common pose, which hides it further

Capable of feeling emotion, just don’t tend to show it (there’s no need to do so if solitary, and doing so may even be detrimental)

Solitary traits impact their social behaviors: Generally bad at communicating, prefer to avoid conflict when possible, likely to stay quiet when upset

Cohabiting with others can be hit-or-miss; Will often simply maintain acquaintance-level relationships with others, apart from select individuals they decide they like; Do best when given time and space for themselves

Value self-sufficiency and tend not to seek help; Relationship with trainer may take some work because of this, especially if not caught as a Snorunt (requires patience)

Froslass would likely consider chilling in the same area as someone else while doing separate activities or just zoning out to be “bonding” (no judgment from me, because same)

Pain in the ass to do field research on, because they’re aware of observers and (like many Ghost-type Pokémon) find amusement in messing with equipment like trail cameras

Wild Froslass do not occur naturally in Hoenn

The not-headcanons-but-other-stuff:

Pokémon as a series is full of chances to explore the dangers of anthropomorphism and I could talk about it for ten years; Pokémon don't have human morals, yet some of them operate at a nearly-human level of intelligence, which is kind of terrifying to think about

Froslass is based on the yuki onna of Japanese folklore (see here for a good overview); It seems to largely be inspired by two varieties that make for an interesting combination: 1) The forest-dwelling, soul-sucking ones from Aomori/Niigata/Miyagi Prefectures, and 2) the version first written by Lafcadio Hearn [x], (this is the yuki onna story, and is the one where the yuki onna marries a human man)

Specific Pokédex entries seem to draw from other varieties, as well

If the Pokédex is taken at face value, Froslass is out here selectively hunting down physically attractive human men to take them home and eat their souls; This is exactly the image the devs have been going for this entire time, and no one can convince me otherwise

If the “Traces of a Lost Village” quest in Legends: Arceus is taken as true (and there’s no reason to believe otherwise), it implies that Froslass (or at least the one in question) is not only capable of physically disguising itself as human, but also imitating human speech and behaviors convincingly enough to pull off said disguise for years; I have seen no one talk about this particular detail despite all of the things it could do with such abilities, and it’s driving me crazy

To make that clear: the game devs of Legends: Arceus looked at Froslass, which has been stated more than once to prey on/victimize human men in some way (including in said game), and gave it the ability to convincingly disguise itself as a human woman; Combine this with the previous point about the Pokédex and Froslass is now an even more dangerous catfisher than it arguably already had the potential to be