#I probably will draw sonics again someday but my heart just has not been in it for a while now

[missholoska]

new year's a good time for a fresh start and I have something I need to post across all sites I use. I said I'd be upfront about this when asked about it a couple years ago, so I’ll try and keep this to the point:

if you are following me exclusively for my Sonic art, I would highly recommend not continuing to do so from 2020 onwards.

I'm not officially ~leaving the fandom~ and I don't hate Sonic or anything, but I've become severely burnt out on the series and my desire to be involved with or create content about it is near nonexistent right now. I still love the things I love about Sonic, it's just now on the level of my other non-main interests that I don't constantly draw or think about.

but I'm saying this because I'm aware that having started this blog for the Sonic fanart I've been drawing for over 10 years, there's definitely some amount of people only following me for that and I don't want to keep stringing along those who've been kind enough to show an interest in my silly doodles and projects. I really do appreciate the support over the years, but please cater your following list to your own interests! I won't take it personally :>

(as for my many Sonic fan characters: I've been quietly developing an original story and converting most of my Sonics into original characters since 2017, so they won't all be abandoned! though my fankids are too heavily tied to Sonic to turn them into OCs, so that puts the Werehog Puppies AU on indefinite hiatus. but I still love them forever I promise)

on the other hand if you're here for my Undertale art then good news, there's only going to be more of that than ever :'D like I said in my art summary I'm more excited than ever to keep sharing my ideas and dumb comics for Underswap MH!!

[pushesbuttons-blog]

Creedy Rambles-

So this is just gonna be a new thing I do on occasion when I can’t focus on drafts or messages, where I’m going to talk about stuff related to TSP, fandoms, tumblr and roleplaying in general. I’ll be tagging these specifically, and they’ll all be under a read more. So if you don’t want to see them, just blacklist the tag.

REGARDING OC’s:

THIS IS NOT MEANT TO OFFEND ANYONE OR THEIR CHARACTER, SIMPLY IT IS TO HELP PEOPLE WHO WANT TO IMPROVE AND EDUCATE PEOPLE ON WHAT IS ORIGINAL IN A CHARACTER AND WHAT ISN’T- BASED OFF OF HOW MANY OTHER PEOPLE DO IT.

Before I start in I’ll quickly identify what an OC is-

OC or Original Character, is a person or entity developed entirely with the creative mind of one person and does not stem from an existing copyright/franchise.

Essentially- it is a being that you made up. You made up their personality, backstory, appearance- all of it. Yes, you probably got inspiration from other places or characters, but it is still your own character. They can be set in a specific game/movie/book or any franchise, or you can make up your own world for them.

Now unfortunately on Tumblr, Oc’s face A LOT of criticism and backlash. Not necessarily because Oc’s are bad.. but because of the stereotype that they’re bad.

And even worse, this stereotype is often very true, in the sense that- people do NOT understand how to make a character.

People make a character, but its not really original. Because it conforms to ALL the stereotypes that other people’s OC’s have. Thus negating its originality in the first-place. Making it ironically an UNoriginal character.

And it kills me, because those Oc’s ruin it for the GOOD Oc’s out there.

I’ve been on Tumblr for only around 2-ish years and I’ve seen HUNDREDS of Oc’s. Some AMAZING and others horrid.

And It hurts me that the good Oc’s aren’t given a chance because of the negative association with stereotypical ‘bad’ oc’s.

Now I bet you’re asking- ‘Creedy, what are some of the things people do that make BAD Oc’s? Surely it can’t be that bad, that people on tumblr sometimes won’t even consider writing with them, right?’

Sadly, that is completely correct.

Disclaimer: Sometimes people won’t write with your OC simply because they don’t like them, and thats THEIR problem. Not yours.

So let me give a quick rundown and reasoning as to what people do that give Oc’s (GENERALLY) a bad name-

1. Mary Sue / Gary Stu

Okay, we’ve all heard these ones. But if you haven’t- A Mary Sue is basically a stereotypical OC with NO FLAWS. She’s often described as ‘smart, pretty, honest, kind, and amazing at everything she does’.. okay. 

That is already a HUGE red flag.

And even moreso- the only ‘flaw’ these characters will sometimes have is ‘clumsiness’ or some other attribute that doesn’t directly negatively effect the character’s personality, and is usually used as a trope to get that character closer to what they want... which is NOT what a flaw is supposed to do.

And if you think that your character is somehow unique in spite of all this- the FIRST instance of a Mary Sue goes as far back as 1973. In a Star Trek Fanfiction

Mary Sue stories—the adventures of the youngest and smartest ever person to graduate from the academy and ever get a commission at such a tender age. Usually characterized by unprecedented skill in everything from art to zoology, including karate and arm-wrestling. This character can also be found burrowing her way into the good graces/heart/mind of one of the Big Three [Kirk, Spock, and McCoy], if not all three at once. She saves the day by her wit and ability, and, if we are lucky, has the good grace to die at the end, being grieved by the entire ship.[7]

If your character matches this description, I’m sorry but- they are NOT original. If they’re good at basically everything with no flaws (especially at a younger than normal age) that character is by all means considered a Mary Sue. A Gary Stu just being the male counterpart.

How to fix this:

Now there IS a line in the sand. Your character can be young and good at things, nothing wrong with that. But make sure you add in some flaws such as- ‘unintelligent, rude, brash, liar, insecure, boring, cruel’. And make it so that there are things they hate in the world, and people that hate them. Mary Sues are also often depicted with everyone liking them, but as we all know that is simply not realistic. Create enemies or rivals for your character- or Hell, even someone they just plain dislike.

2. DO NOT COME UP WITH EVERYTHING ON THE SPOT

This^^^ Is important

Do not force your ideas. Do not try and just pull a character out of your ass, because then that character will be shit.

Take your time, no pressure.

You do not have to come up with their favorite color immediately- or even finish their backstory.

Somedays you may like an idea but later on you might realize it was stupid or unfitting, and vice versa.

Be patient and pace yourself

But lets say you’ve already kinda rushed it with your character, no biggie.

How to fix it:

Again, take your time. Don’t immediately go deleting everything you dislike about your character. Put it on the backburner and give it time to boil, slowly but surely- it will come to you.

3. Do not LIST things.

Unfortunately I’m also guilty of this one, as is most Tumblr rpers.

When you make an about page for your character- listing the name, age, birth. Thats okay. But why do it that way when you can show off your writing skills a bit?

And don’t make giant random pointless lists of likes and dislikes. Place them in relevant categories.

How to fix it:

Instead of doing the following:

Likes: Swords, rock, fighting, snow.

Do this:

Aya lives outcast in the snowy tundra nearly 20 miles from the nearest city, but it suits her just fine. The harsh snow is actually quite comforting and she can’t imagine living anywhere else. Additionally she has a fiery passion for sword-play, and practices as often as she can in her own private training room. The adrenaline of fighting keeps her fit and on her toes, and it drives her to do the best she possibly can each day. Aya also has a great taste in music, hard rock to be specific. She enjoys rocking out to AC/DC while battling her training dummy.

Is it a bit long and drawn out? Maybe, but it’ll give that person a better idea on how you write and how descriptive you are. Its not a cookie-cutter sort of process anymore.

4. No Eye-bleeding color schemes.

Dear sweet baby Jesus.

Look, sometimes it works. But a good 99.9% of the time- using every color of the rainbow WILL NOT WORK.

When you do that, it looks like someone crushed the color out of every sharpie that exists and dumped it on your character.

Its not pretty or cute or creative, because everyone has done it and it hurts to look at. Especially if you choose NEON OVER BLACK. You will burn someone’s eyes out, don’t do that.

Here is a basic read-up on Color Theory and some beautiful Color Palettes, to give you an idea.

How to fix it:

Now look, rainbow coloring in itself isn’t bad. But instead of just choosing the brightest colors you can find. Go to google and search for a color palette and use that. A good chunk of canon characters generally have a set of 5-6 colors in the same moodset that they stick to.

Also tacking on this: generally make your character’s clothing simple. Don’t add too many crazy patterns or random hats and glasses and wings and tails just.. unless you can justify it in their backstory properly- stick to a standard set of clothing and then maybe tack on a maximum of 3 accessories. A bracelet, a fancy hairtie and glasses.. okay done! Simple but cute!

5. Do not base that character entirely on a character that already exists (especially if you intend them to be in the same fandom)

It does not take skill or originality to take Elmo and turn him blue and then call him ‘Omle’

That is not an ‘original’ character and its not ‘inspired’ off of Elmo- yet I see people do this all the time.

Now look, this one is hit or miss. Sometimes it works and its cool, but most of the time it doesn’t. Especially if they’re in the same franchise.

Inspiration =/= Copying

How to fix it:

Unfortunately if you’ve done this you may need to make drastic changes with your character. But that doesn’t mean you HAVE to take away everything, you can just add new stuff. A change of clothes, skin color, eye color, maybe body shape, swap out some personality traits and boom- you’ve already got something more original than what you’ve started with!

6. Simple, my God.. simple

Meet Simplicity, no- they’re not an OC. But they’re gonna be your new best friend.

Simplicity is what you need. No over amount of accessories, powers, positive OR negative personality traits. Just a nice SIMPLE amount.

How to fix this:

Again if you’re not comfortable putting your character through drastic changes. Then this won’t be for you. Try and limit yourself with a set number of general stuff about your character. Like top five positive traits, and top five negative traits. Okay-

Compassionate, Goofy, Hilarious, Bubbly, Kind

Airheaded, nervous, panicky, oblivious, naive.

Notice how all of these traits generally have something in common or similar to the ones next to them? That is what a character is supposed to be like. Different enough to be their own thing, but similar enough to still ‘blend’ with that character. They OVERLAP each other.

7. I...I’m not sure what to call this one?

But basically- if your character is lets say.. ‘the sonic oc’. Make sure they look as though they’re from the sonic universe, but also doesn’t look too similar to a character already in that universe.

ALSO DO NOT USE BASES.

Any art you do will be SO MUCH BETTER and IMPROVE YOU SO MUCH MORE than ANY base you use.

Bases are actually proven to make your art skills WORSE.

Here is a POSE sight used to help artists draw, this is better to use.

Disclaimer: Using bases as references is fine. Do not copy it pose-per-pose. But maybe you just want to get a general idea of that character so you look at a base- thats fine. But do not copy it.

How to fix it:

Again you may need to redesign your character if this is the case.

Can’t draw? Thats alright, a detailed description can generally be enough for an OC. And even if you feel like your art sucks, practice makes perfect. I promise you.

8. Fit the personality with the appearance.

A character in a dark hood with circles under his eyes that look soul-crushing probably won’t have the personality of a six year old girl.

When you make a character who has a sad or depressive general mood or personality, match that with colors and clothing articles. Like blue or fluffy sweaters.

Think of the emotions in Pixar’s Inside Out. Their appearance directly correlates to their personality and the emotion they give off. That is what makes them good characters.

How to fix it:

Again, a redesign might be in order.

9. Long V.s Short Backstories

Alright so theres a huge doublestandard on Tumblr that I CANNOT STAND.

On one hand- people reprimand you if your backstory is too short. Alright, fair enough. Its their life story, I’m supposed to make it long and specific right?

WRONG!!!!!!

Because then people will get lazy and not even bother to read your character’s backstory because apparently 7 pages is ‘too much’.

How to fix this:

So, what do?

You make both.

You make a small summary of your character with something like ‘Very brief history’ and then you expand upon it under the summary with a title like ‘detailed/specific history.’ At least that way people can’t piss on you for your story being too short or too long.

10. The stereotypical ‘Tragic backstory’

Okay. I’m guilt of this. I’m SEVERELY guilty of this.

However, a tragic backstory isn’t bad.. as long as there is reason behind it.

When you have a character- having sad or horrible things happen in their life is good. Otherwise they’d just be another Mary Sue. But you don’t want to completely make your character miserable unless they call for it.

Lets say your character is blind- it makes sense that they could’ve had a tragic accident that blinded them.

But if your character was bruised or beaten for...seemingly no reason and it had no effect on them personality wise.. why is it there? What was the point in throwing it into their story?

A smiley, bubbly character who is constantly happy and has nothing wrong with them is not going to have ‘Macbeth’ as their backstory. And vice versa.

How to fix this:

Add happier or brighter moments in their life, intervals where things weren’t so bad. Role models, hobbies and when they learned them. Things like that.

On the other end (if they’re too happy) Add some sad parts. Struggles they’ve had, confrontations they won’t forget etc. etc.

11. Research.

I’m not saying you have to write a book report, but looking up on google about real-world locations, how certain jobs and processes (such as being arrested, giving birth, whatever is relevant to the character/your thread) will do you some good in an rp. And you might learn something!

And this is not meant to offend anyone.

Alright. Now I want to say that yeah- you can get away with some of this stuff. I list things, sometimes my characters are over the top, or their color scheme isn’t great. And people still think the character is good.

But it IS highlighting the things literally EVERYONE ELSE HAS DONE, therefore making these tropes unoriginal and making your character unoriginal. This is meant to give tips on how to make your character more original.

Do you have to change it if you don’t want to? No.

Is your character so awful it’ll make me vomit if you don’t follow these rules? No.

But if you want to improve upon your creativity, these steps will do nothing but HELP you in the long run. I promise!

[irenereru]

Tagged again I suppose~

Tagged by @lisa-franck :D

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 92 truths about you.

LAST Last drink: Chocolate milk :D

Last phone call: I think my aunt called me some days ago asking for me to disconnect her phone...

Last text message: Probably someone in a group chat.

Last song you listened to: Genie, by Busy P :D

Last time I cried: Yesterday morning I think...

HAVE YOU EVER

Dated someone twice: I haven’t even dated someone once...

Been cheated on: Nope.

Kissed someone and regretted it: Nope.

Lost someone special: I dunno... I don’t think so.

Been depressed: Since I was 12 years old :’/ (I’m 22 now)

Been drunk and thrown up: Nope, I don’t like alcoholic drinks...

IN THE PAST YEAR HAVE YOU

Made a new friend: I don’t think I’ve met anyone new... But my perception of time is a little weird so I dunno...

Fallen out of love: Nope.

Laughed until you cried: A lot of times.

Met someone who changed you: Sadly no.

Found out who your true friends were: I don’t have true friends. I have friends, each with their own good and not so good things, and that’s alright :D I don’t like that thing of having friends that are more friends than others...

Found out someone was talking about you: Not this past year, but the one before, yeah.

GENERAL

How many people on tumblr do you know in real life?: That I’ve met through Tumblr, I think that only 1.

Do you have any pets?: Yes, a very cute dog :D (He’s getting old now tho... He’s still the cutest)

Do you want to change your name?: I thought about it, but I just can’t come up with anything better, so I’m sticking to Irene for now.

What time did you wake up this morning?: 11am

What were you doing last night?: Talking to friends, watching Youtube videos and drawing :D

Name something you cannot wait for: I really want to recieve my Sonic Mania vinyl already... >__<

Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Nope. There aren’t many Toms in Spain, I believe... You can find people named Tomas, but Tom, not that many.

What’s getting on your nerves right now?: Nothing much, really. I’m a little stressed with Inktober, but I think I’m doing pretty good for now.

Blood type: 0 I think

Nickname: irenereru (All my online accounts have that name, I think that if you search it on Google you’ll find all of my pages)

Relationship status: Alone but I don’t really mind cause even if I wanted I would not be able to mantain a proper relationship with anyone.

Zodiac sign: Cancer

Pronouns: They/Them

Favorite tv show: I dunno... I don’t really watch TV... Steven Universe?

College: Nope, I stopped studying some years ago, in superior studies. Tho I’ve never had the intention to go to college, so...

Hair color: Dark brown

Do you have a crush on someone: Nope. I’ve never had a crush on anyone...

What do you like about yourself: I dunno... I know a lot of random stupid trivia about Daft Punk and Sonic The Hedgehog. That’s not useful at all but might come handy someday.

FIRSTS

First surgery: I’ve only had 1 surgery, when I was like 8 months old. A weird tumor appeared in my neck. It wasn’t anything important or dangerous, so it’s ok.

First piercing: I don’t have any.

First sport you joined: Karate, but only because my friends back then all did it and I wanted to join them.

First vacation: Probably at the beach somewhere in the coast of Catalonia.

RIGHT NOW

Eating: Nothing.

Drinking: Chocolate milk.

I’m about to: Finish writing this and then go draw for a while more.

Listening to: The TV in the background.

Want kids: NOPE.

Get married: Maybe? I dunno. I don’t really care...

Career: I just want to work on something that has to do with drawing and that gives me enough money to live properly.

WHICH IS BETTER

Lips or eyes: Eyes?

Hugs or kisses: HUGS

Shorter or taller: I don’t mind, both are good.

Older or younger: Uhh... Simmilar to my age? I dunno?

Romantic or spontaneous: It depends? I suppose? 

Sensitive or loud: Sensitive tbh

Hook up or relationship: Relationship

Troublemaker or hesitant: Hesitant, I don’t want to get in trouble because of someone else! >__<

 HAVE YOU EVER 

Kissed a stranger: Nope.

Drank hard liquor: Nope.

Lost glasses/contacts:  Nope, I haven’t even broken any of my glasses...

Sex on first date: I haven’t even been on a date!

Broken someone’s heart: Probably. Or maybe not, I dunno.

Been arrested: Nope.

Turned someone down: Yep.

Fallen for a friend:  Nope.

DO YOU BELIEVE 

In yourself: I wish...

Miracles: Kinda? But not much...

Love at first sight: Nope.

Heaven: Nah.

Santa Claus: He was the one I believed in less when I was a kid (I trusted more the three whise man as a child... They brought me better presents. Also they’re 3 guys, it’s more possible to give all the presents in one night.)