#SHE’S SO CARTOONY IN YOUR STYLE LOOK AT HER-

[whereismyhat5678]

I JUST WANTED TO SAY i REALLY LIKE YOUR ART AND IT'S SUPER AWSOME AND I THINK YOU ARE COOLY!!!!!!

*EATING THIS LIKE A RABID DOG*

I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT THANK YOOOOOU‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

[telekinetic-electronica]

Indigo Park: Salem is Important

I've already done a post on why I think Lloyd is important. I go over how I think he's the first mascot and the OG face for the Indigo brand. Not to mention, drawing a parallel to Mickey and Oswald. You can read it here.

There is also this picture at the beginning of Rambley's Railroad can suggest that Lloyd is giving the deed to the park to Rambley. I.e. transferring ownership to him, as seen here.

We also see Lloyd as a statue that's very similar to the style of the Rambley and Isaac statue we see when entering the park. I haven't seen this mention with people, but I think the biggest case for the other important mascot is Salem.

(Lloyd's statue in his maze)

Anything regarding to Salem is a mystery. Salem's part in Rambley's Railroad is completely destroyed. There's splats of blood, Rambley glitches out, Salem's cutout is ripped in half, and hints that Rambley's Railroad used to be Lloyd's Limos, in the backrooms.

(Salem's section destroyed in Rambley's Railroad)

(Lloyd's Limos in the backrooms)

Any important lore drop for Indigo Park, Salem is somehow connected. In the video game portion, where it's revealed Salem was the one who was corrupting the squirrels, then goes ahead and corrupts Mollie.

This is hinting to something big, something that possibly happened to the mascots at the park. Rambley did say, in a way, the mascots are like their cartoony selves. Via when he tells Ed the truth and in the credits song. Something either corrupted them or it could be symbolic to how trauma changes you. Within the same game, if you drop near the first half off of it, we see Mollie's sprite in a cage.

I mention trauma is because I think it's obvious that Mollie and the other living mascots were physically and emotionally abused by the staff and the on-goers at the park. Mollie can repeat things that were said back to her.

"I wanna play with the birdie!" "Don't touch that thing, son." "It barely hurts at all..." "Get up, you stupid freak." "Get back in your cage, bird." "The customer is always right." Mollie and Lloyd are conscious beings who were tossed around and mistreated from the employees to the people visiting the park. They treated them like they were just props, things. The parent calls Mollie a THING. The employees called Mollie a "stupid freak" and for her to get back in her cage. As shown in the video game. They were treated like rag dolls and if they didn't do want the employees wanted, they would get beat or screamed at, or left to rot in cages. It just makes the line "It barely hurts at all!" more dark.

It barely hurts at all.

She's convincing herself that the abuse she is going through is fine or that she's used to it. Or an employee saying the abuse she is going through isn't hurting her. It barely hurts at all. I wouldn't be surprised if Indigo Park's underlying horror is mistreating people as just tensions of the park to sell a fantasy towards parent for a quick buck, instead of, y'know, treating them like people.

Not to mention, Salem uses potions. Magic. A possible hint to how the mascots were brought to life. They aren't robots or anything, but they're conscious, living beings. Now, let's take a look at Salem's intro card. It was censored before chapter 1 was released, but I believe it is important.

Note of some important things here. They are a major trouble maker, super quick, and cunning. Interesting. Personally, in a speculation of mine is that Salem was the first one to act out and think what the employees and on-goers at the park treating them and the other mascots were wrong. Anytime something of lore is dropped or something of importance, Salem is involved. Salem is important.

Either or not they're an ally or enemy to Rambley and Ed, we'll see. Heck, Salem doesn't have any merch minus a keychain. So, whenever Salem is on the screen pay attention. Isn't it odd that Rambley NEVER mentions Salem? Like, the dude mentions Lloyd and he hates his guts. Interesting.

[concord-and-cliches]

the "c" in lgbt stands for cryptid

(id in alt text and under the cut, sketches also under the cut!)

[image ID: A Disco Elysium fan-comic drawn in a cartoony style. Panel One: Harry Du Bois has a thoughtful expression on his face and his arms are crossed. There is a thought orb circling his head, in the red Physique colour. He has five thought bubbles, each a different colour. In a red thought bubble, there is a drawing of Klaasje Amandou. She is smirking and breathing out a plume of smoke, and she is also holding a cigarette. In a purple thought bubble, there is a drawing of the Smoker On The Balcony. He has a neutral expression and is holding a cigarette. In a blue thought bubble, there is a drawing of Kim Kitsuragi with a stoic expression. In a yellow thought bubble, there is a drawing of Lilienne Carter, who has a slight smile on her face. In a black thought bubble, there is a vague outline of Dolores Dei. Panel Two: An all-black panel with a purple outline close-up of Harry undergoing an epiphany. Panel Three: Harry, with wide eyes and a determined expression, says to Kim: "Kim, I think I'm a cryptid!" Kim, with a stoic expression, has a small speech bubble with a question mark in it. Panel Four: Harry, still wide-eyed and determined, says: "I'm the first human to ever be attracted to women AND men!" The background is in the colours of the bi flag. Panel Five: Kim is trembling, looking away, and is stifling laughter. Text in the panel reads: "EMPATHY - He is trying so hard not to laugh."

A Disco Elysium fan-comic drawn in a cartoony style. Panel One: Harry Du Bois is lifting his blazer, suit, and tie up. With his other hand, he is pulling his pants out. He's looking down towards his crotch. Text in the panel reads: "THOUGHT GAINED: MANDATORY PENIS INSPECTION". Panel Two: Harry, still looking down, has a horrified expression. Text in the panel reads: "PERCEPTION - Um." "HALF LIGHT - YOUR PENIS WAS STOLEN." "ELECTROCHEMISTRY - How are you supposed to jack off now!?" Panel Three: Harry is sweating nervously and still looking down at his crotch. Text in the panel reads: "INLAND EMPIRE - Go ask Lena about penis-stealing cryptids, maybe she can help!" "ESPRIT DE CORPS - No, go check on your partner! Maybe his penis was stolen, too." "LOGIC - The lieutenant is probably still awake…" Panel Four: Kim Kitsuragi is inside his room, looking extremely tired and holding a cup of water. He is not wearing his orange jacket or his glasses. In the back, "BANG"'s emanate from the door, and a speech bubble reads: "Kim! Kim! Kim!" Panel Five: Kim, still tired, begins to take a sip of his water. He is holding his glasses in his other hand. From off-panel, Harry says: "Kim, this is important!" Panel Six: Still from off-panel, Harry continues: "I have to inspect your penis as soon as possible!" Kim spits out his water with a baffled expression. /end ID]

[the-s1lly-corner]

Can you do TADC x skeleton reader?

TADC cast x skeleton! Reader!

Skeleton characters my beloved

Love skeletons sm I wish there were more appealing characters in that category for me to add to my collection

Fr though imma work on art after this

Short since it's so sso cold in my room, I cannot warm up for the life of me and I'm in mobile

CAINE:

Teeth?

Teeth!

You guys click your teeth together and it makes everyone cringe thanks to the sound and what they imagine it feels like

Rmemeber we have nerves in our teeth, it's not just the roots! Imagine how it would feel if you clacked your teeth against someone else's!

He makes tons of skeleton puns

POMNI:

Is a little put off by seeing the bare bones of the brains mech suit/j

No but cartoony or not I think it would put her off because she would be all too aware of the "this is a person, this is a real breathing person" thing

Like sure she also understands it's your digital body, but seeing a skeleton next to a chesspiece and ribbon feels weird. It feels oddly familiar... does offer to help put you back together

RAGATHA:

HATES when you lose one of your limbs and leave it skittering about, trying to find the rest of you. Centipedes and skittering rouge limbs, that's what would do it for ragatha... bonus if you have a centipede crawling in your bones, be it as just your default or because one crawled into you at some point.. makes her weary to hug you when when gets that information..

But assuming you're bug free, shes more than willing to hang around you! Also offers to help put you together! Has probably guided your body back to your head after it got knocked off, saying it from having to blindly wander

JAX:

Similar to caine he makes a ton of jokes and puns. Has probably hit you with the bowling ball . You made the rolling pin sound effect

Has probably snagged your arm to scratch his back. Like he did to zooble.... maybe that's part of tje reason why zooble is sour all the time...

KINGER:

In an event where he needed to grab you and run, he may or may not have just

Popped your arm or hand off and bolted with it... probably makes a fair amount of distance before realizing the rest of you arent there

Despite what many may think, I dont think he would be bothered by a skeleton person, unless you're like. Hyper realistic for some reason, but considering the digital worlds style and kid friendliness I doubt you dont look cartoony! Actually kinda finds it cute, like those old cartoons he used to watch.. at least he thinks he used to watch.. you feel nostalgic somehow

ZOOBLE:

You guys exchange limbs/j

No but I feel like you guys would bond over not being fully "stable", ie you guys can be disassembled and broken apart with relative ease. You guys have each others backs when something threatens to break your bodies up. Be it Jax, or an IHA, you guys will try to protect each other in that regard... usually ends in you both falling apart

It sounds like clicking n clacking when you guys kiss

GANGLE:

Very similar to zooble, you guys are fragile. Gangle is ribbon, and you're just bone. You two are both prone to falling apart! You guys fuse together with gangle holding your bones together with her ribbon/j

But actually... I can see that as a funny side gag for "teamwork" for a IHA...

Sometimes her ribbons get stuck between the joints of your hands

[demilypyro]

i actually really like your model, the style and rigging are distinct and sort of cartoony i guess you could call it? and it blends the more casual side with the demon character very nicely. it suits you well. (i also never really noticed a squint, i assumed the eye shapes was intentional and tailored to your natural facial movements)

While the character is obviously meant to look cute, both times I've gotten a model made, I chose for an artist with a more western style, as opposed to the typical anime style most vtubers tend to go with. This was intentional.

I think Demily is a character defined by a sort of mundane imperfection. She's not glamorous or especially beautiful like your typical anime waifu would be. Her hair, mole and fang make her asymetrical. She's got big ole eyebrows and makes silly exaggerated faces. But she's comfortable with herself, because she recognizes these are charm points. Her outfit is simple but colourful and comfortable, and her hairstyle is set apart more by its volume and texture rather than how an anime character's hair would sooner have an unorthodox colour or distinctive shape. She's meant to look cute, but not so perfect or special that she becomes artificial.

Her backstory also sets her up as being quite average. While being a demon, she's not royalty or especially powerful. She's a grunt, a drop-out, a level 5 rpg enemy. At most she might be a mid-dungeon boss. The things she's good at are not applicable to what demons are supposed to be like, setting her up for failure, and leading her to streaming. She's average, and therefore relatable.

... Sorry I started dumping, lol, I had this all written out in a design document somewhere and I wanted to articulate my thoughts.

[jesncin]

I appreciate most of your takes but don't understand how you look at a character like livewire, a character created in the middle of a 90's feminist movement and come to the conclusion she's supposed to a be a caricature of classical racist conservatism

?? huh is this an elaborate joke I'm missing out on?? Like you're roleplaying as a Shockateer? There's no tone indicators so I'm left to my own perception that you're being serious so I'll have to respond in seriousness. I'm gonna be so embarrassed if this is a joke :(((

So...just because a character is made "in the middle of the 90's" or "feminist movement" doesn't...mean they're a feminist character? Like with that logic, Tana Moon is a feminist icon I guess. Also "caricature of classical racist conservatism"? man, I kinda envy how people think the way I write her is Cartoony Evil Racism and not a toned down depiction of how personalities like Posie Parker, Matt Walsh, and Blaire White talk. I suppose I'm glad you haven't encountered anyone that awful. Good for you! 👍

Livewire meta under the cut fellas

I feel like you don't have a very holistic view of Livewire's character. Because while yes, she has been used for feminist critique in the show and comics, that's not all there is to her character. My take on Livewire is a commentary on how white womanhood intersects with parasocial internet grifts and the larger way identity gets filtered online. It's a take influenced by how she literally started out as a controversial provocative shock jock in STAS.

There's so much potential to re-imagine her hatred of Superman as a commentary on how white women feel justified in harassing marginalized men because it looks like a punch-up to misogyny. The way she uses the accident Superman caused as a way to white-woman-victimize herself and prime her audience to hate him more. You can take the spinoff comic where she only lets women speak on the air as her presenting a black and white, non-intersectional view of social progress. Kind of like how TERFs keep fantasizing about a world without men as a utopia? In CW Supergirl, Livewire plays into internalized misogyny and homophobia to jab at Supergirl. Not showing up for her fellow women if you ask me.

Because while yes, Leslie has been shown to be a character who had to deal with sexism, she's also a really compelling narrative for an imperfect victim. Just because a character deals with sexist hardship, doesn't mean it makes her a feminist ideal y'know? Leslie lashes out and weaponizes her victimhood, she uses her audience to bully others.

I think one of the flaws to the longevity of her character as a villain is because her narrow hatred of Supes makes her themes short lived. So I really want to expand it through Satoshi Kon-style deconstruction of how people juggle having multiple identities in the modern era. In the (bleh) Batgirl Burnside comic Livewire shows up in, she returns as a being of energy who doesn't remember who she was before. In STAS, it's left ambiguous whether she actually believes what she says about Superman or if it's all part of an act that "pays the bills!".

Imagine the opportunity to make it so she pieced together a sense of self from the fractured way her audience viewed her! What a great way to talk about how parasocial relationships make us think we know a person from the bombastic way they present themselves (Casually Comics thought of this brilliant take). DCSHG has been the most competent reimagining of Livewire. A perfect update of her shock jock origins into the internet era that revitalizes her attention-seeking traits into the clout-chasing grind of social media personality.

All this to say, Livewire's way more that just "sassy woman on the radio fighting against The Man!" I think making her a punk appropriating, rebellious, internet personality who uses her privilege to marginalize others for clout and money is a natural, more political progression of what DCSHG built with her character.

I don't really understand how you can look at a character whose most prominent iterations involve her bullying and targeting people (including other women) and tell me she's "feminist" unless you actually believe in Leslie's version of White Woman Girl Power. Any kind of "feminism" that touts Hating Men as a major point should be something to be critical of.

[stevieharringtonwifeguy]

after my post about steve being just as obsessed with eddie as he is with him, i had to write something for it. with a little extra transfem!stevie flavour bc i have a serious problem

also on ao3 here

Robin has had enough. She’s spent all this time telling Stevie she’d always be there for her, but this is where she draws the line.

Stevie’s staring at Eddie Munson again.

Robin looked up from her shitty cafeteria food when she heard a dreamy sigh come from her best friend. Stevie had that look on her face again, the hopelessly besotted one that made Robin sure cartoony little love hearts would start popping up next to her head. Robin followed her eyeline and, yep, there was Eddie Munson, super-senior leader of the dungeons and dragons club, sticking carrot sticks up his nose to the uproarious laughter of his group of nerd friends. Robin shook her head in appalled fascination.

“Stevie. Babes. Why.”

Stevie turned towards her, tilting her head in confusion. “Huh? Why what?”

Robin waved a hand towards Eddie’s table. “Your obsession with Eddie Munson. It baffles me.”

“Wh- I mean-” Stevie flushed, looking back across the cafeteria with a shy little smile. “Just look at him, Robs.”

“Yeah, I’m looking. He’s trying to sneeze out a carrot stick he got stuck in his nose.”

Stevie giggled. “I know, he’s so funny!”

Shaking her head, Robin placed a delicate hand on her friend’s arm. “You don’t have to do this, y’know. I know pickings have been slim since you came out, but like. You’re still a catch! You have options!”

Stevie frowns. Robin hadn’t wanted to say it, but she knew Stevie had taken her ‘fall from grace’ after she transitioned pretty hard. She’d gone from King of Hawkins High to near social untouchable, and the whiplash had her privately confessing to Robin that sometimes she felt unlovable, like no one would ever want her again. It was ridiculous, but Robin understood that insecurity. She combatted it by complimenting Stevie whenever she could. And now by trying to dissuade her best friend from falling ass over tits in love with the first weirdo to be nice to her post-transition.

“It’s not that. He’s just so…” Stevie waved her hands around vaguely, searching for a word to accurately describe the apparent wonder that was Eddie Munson. Across the cafeteria, Eddie finally got the carrot stick out of his nose. He threw it towards the bin a foot away and missed, spectacularly. “He’s himself. It’s nice.”

“He’s himself.”

“Yeah! Like, he’s passionate about everything he does, and he’s not afraid of being judged for anything. It’s nice! Most people aren’t like that.”

“Most people are definitely not like Eddie Munson.”

Stevie rolled her eyes at her friend’s flat tone. “Plus, he’s super hot. And you can’t say anything about that one- you’re too gay to be an accurate judge.”

Robin groaned. “Steph, he dresses like an 80s vampire.”

“He has a distinct style!”

“It’s distinct alright- hey!”

Stevie had apparently had enough of Robin’s bitching, reaching over and trapping her in a loving sisterly headlock. They scrapped for a couple minutes, nearly knocking both their lunches off the cafeteria table, before being interrupted with a light cough.

Both girls looked up, Stevie immediately blushing a gentle pink as Eddie Munson appeared before them. He seemed nervous, fiddling with his rings and chewing on his lip. Robin watched the two stare at each other, and oh god. Eddie was down just as bad as Stevie was. He giggled a little manically at Stevie’s attention, pulling a lock of hair in front of his face and hiding behind it.

“Hi, Eddie,” Stevie said in a little breathless tone that had Robin about five seconds away from face-palming. She considered pulling out her phone and recording this conversation, just so that next time Dustin implied Stevie was some kind of goddess of romance Robin could show him the dumb little face she made as she stared at Eddie Munson’s chapped lips. “What’s up?”

Eddie smiled, shuffling his feet a little. “Um, so, my band is playing this Thursday- oh! Wait, I got you something-” He rummaged around in his bag for a second, cursing under his breath, before he finally pulled out a slightly crumpled looking sunflower and presented it to Stevie with a flourish. “A sunflower! Just reminded me of you- because you’re so sunny. Also it kind of matches that sweater you like.”

Stevie’s grin was blinding. She took the flower like she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “Oh my god! This is- Eddie this is beautiful!”

Eddie grinned and bounced on the balls of his feet a little bit, as if Stevie’s acceptance of his gift had filled him with so much happiness he was in danger of floating away. It was, unfortunately, the cutest thing Robin had ever seen. 

“A beautiful flower for a beautiful girl,” he said, and the cringiness of the line had Robin taking back every positive thing she’d ever thought about him. Stevie seemed to enjoy it though, if the pleased blush that spread over her face was any indication. “But I wanted to ask you- totally cool if not, I know it’s not really your style- but I’ve been practising some new songs for y- I’ve been practising some new songs. So, yeah, if you wanted-”

“Eddie,” Stevie interrupted, smiling up at him and placing a gentle hand on his arm. Eddie turned bright red. “Thursday, right? It sounds fun, I’d love to come watch you play.”

“Really? Great! I can pick you up at seven?”

Stevie nodded happily, bringing the sunflower to her face and turning back to Eddie with another besotted grin. “Seven sounds perfect! I’ll see you then! Just let me- I’m gonna go put this in my locker so it doesn’t get squished, but- yeah, I’m really looking forward to it!”

Stevie stood up, grabbing her bag, and hurrying out of the cafeteria. When she reached the door, she turned back and gave Eddie a happy little wave, which he returned with a sort of dazed look on his face. As soon as she was out of the door, he did a weird little jump/fist-bump combination with a loud whoop that had everyone in the immediate vicinity looking over at him.

Robin cleared her throat pointedly.

Eddie looked at her with a sort of deer-in-headlights expression that honestly she appreciated. Let him be scared of her. “So,” she said. “You’re taking my best friend out.”

Eddie blushed a bit, smiling despite his apparent survival instinct. “Yeah,” he said, dreamily. “God, she’s so out of my league.”

“She is.”

“She’s just so… wow.”

“Eloquent.”

“One time I saw her bodily lift that curly-haired kid she babysits out of the way of a car. Like fully carry him a foot off the ground for five steps. And then yell at him for like ten minutes for being a dumbass. What a woman.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Oh, shit,” he said, looking down at Robin with a panicked look on his face. “You’re like, her sister basically, right? Was I supposed to get your permission to ask her out? Wait, no, that’s marriage. Later, then.”

“Okay, that’s enough of this,” Robin said, throwing her hands up and stalking out of the cafeteria, leaving a befuddled looking Eddie behind her.

They were just as bad as each other. Robin had a feeling she’d be cringing at those two at their wedding.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

sorry im coping with aus again oopsie daisy. anyway here's my take on a fantasy au

it all started with me rewatching the D&D movie and thinking "hm. what (broad) classes would the neighbors have?"

and after much thinking i came to the conclusion: Barnaby = Bard / Eddie = Paladin / Sally = Sorcerer / Julie = fighter / Frank = monk / Howdy = Artificer / Poppy = Healer / Wally = 'Wizard'

those seem fitting! BUT i don't like restrictions or rules so in this very light worldbuilding for a casual (strongly glaring at myself here) CASUAL au, it's only dnd-esque. not actually dnd yk yk

in my head, they're not technically puppets for this au. they're flesh and blood, they've got bones, etc. they're actual Creatures, though they still look like Them! Julie's still pink w/ candy-corn-horns! Frank is still a gray tube! Barnaby is a big blue dog! they're just... not puppets. it's the same for the other beings in this fantasy world - they all keep the style, but they're all flesh n' blood if that makes sense. a cartoony fantasy world

so they have their little found family adventuring group titled, of course, The Neighborhood. because when they were first forming, Wally went "oh! are we a neighborhood? i've always wanted neighbors!" and it Stuck. so they all lovingly refer to each other as neighbors, even though the closest they get to being actual neighbors is pitching their tents next to each other & staying at an Inn in neighboring rooms

like your classic group of adventurers, they're almost constantly on the move. the longest they stay in one place is a couple of months - the rest of the time they're wandering! they take quests, get roped into general Shenanigans, etc. they adventure! and get into a lot of battles of varying severity

so Barnaby is still kiiiiind of a bard? best i can describe him is jack-of-all-trades moral support! he provides battle music, keeps the mood light, and stands off to the side to offer quips and tips. he prefers not to fight, and only Gets Involved when the others need Backup. even then, he usually takes the role of defending his neighbors. he has a good eye for whether or not physical support is needed - he never needs to be asked when there's a legitimate need for him! unless he's thoroughly distracted from the goings-on. he does have magic, but it's more for show / defense-based

Eddie's still pretty classically a paladin. healing powers, armor, there to be on the front lines and Protect! the group's sword and shield! he technically serves a god but he forgot who <3 he just makes the occasional general offering and mumbles some vague prayer. he's super friendly! super helpful! super willing to dive into the line of fire! Will disregard his own safety without a second thought! his magic is pretty much restricted to healing, and it's weak healing at that (maybe because he can't properly serve his god...), so it's mostly good for quick mid-battle heals and little wounds. temporary fixes!

Sally has innate fire/light magic, and she's very showy with it! she puts Flair and Pizazz into all of her casts and is very dramatic on the battlefield - she manages to turn her fights into a performance. She tag-teams keeping the Neighborhood entertained with Barnaby. he handles the humor/lightheartedness, she handles the escapism/encouragement. she writes scripts & stories in her off-time, and often reads them (or spins a new one) after dinner. when they have weeks / month breaks in one spot, sometimes she'll recruit local thespians to create a play

Frank is all about that hand-to-hand combat babey! he wants to feel bones break under his fists! he wants those split knuckles! he very often starts fights, and even more often finishes them - what he lacks in raw power he makes up for in vicious tenacity. he just Keeps On Going! he seconds as the group's Knowledge Guy. while his hobby is studying insects, he also catalogues/studies monsters and enemies and terrain so that the Neighborhood can always be prepared. the only time he stays out of fights is when he's researching or note-taking. he tries to micromanage the battle from afar anyway

Julie is like... put a druid, a fighter, and a barbarian in a blender. she's got a big sword! she's got seemingly endless energy in battle! she can talk to plants, especially flowers! her flora magic is very minor, so it's not like she's making giant roots burst out of the ground and strangle people. but plants can give her information, and if she asks nicely and they feel like it, sometimes they'll help her out. in battle she's a force to be reckoned with! nothing will stop her and her sword! she's usually the second (closely following Frank, with Eddie hot on her heels) Neighbor charging into battle - but she's the one with the stellar war cry! & where Sally and Barnaby tend to the Neighborhood's emotional wellbeing & entertainment, Julie keeps things fresh with Physical Activities during their downtime!

Poppy is a powerful healer! she draws on an individual's energy (often taps into her own as well) to convert it into healing power. it's draining but it's damn good healing! she also takes the role of the Neighborhood's cook (the others still like to help, especially Frank who is essentially her sous-chef) and makes sure they're all healthy. she hangs back during battles, waiting to (and hoping that she doesn't have to) heal a wounded Neighbor. if one of them is badly hit, she forces herself to run into battle and drag them to safety before working on their injury. she has a tiny bit of illusion magic, which she'll cast from afar to assist her Neighbors. she tries not to use it outside of emergencies - it takes a lot of energy, which she tries to conserve just in case.

Howdy has Zero Magic! none! four hands and none of them are magical! however, he's a damn good inventor & a whiz at potion making. he can Use magical items like there's no tomorrow - he just can't wield it himself. he supplies the group with potions, helpful items, all sorts of goodies - given that they can trade for it with anything he'd accept in-canon. the only exception is when they're mid-battle - he hands stuff out when needed without haggle. he supplies the group with their cash when they're not getting it from looting/quests - he has a magic backpack that can unfold into a fully-stocked merchant stall! he sells at towns, on the road, anywhere he can! In battle he hangs back with Poppy and, yes, supplies items, but he also uses ranged attacks - magical weapons that cast for him, magic 'bombs', that sort of thing! but there's a little secret - he's the Neighborhood's secret weapon. he invented fantasy guns! four magic revolvers that, when the 'second safety' is turned off, multiply into a giant clusterfuck of guns (with ammo ranging from magic 'bullets' to essentially rocket launchers). unfortunately he can only use this setting once & for a limited time before the guns overload & have to be manually repaired. so he either uses them off of the first safety (i.e, they're 'normal'), or not at all. you know shit is Really hitting the fan when he joins a fight

and Wally! Wally Wally Wally... you may have noticed that i put his class 'wizard' in quotes. that's because he says he's a wizard, but he's not! he just says he's one due to the automatic stigma and fear of what he really is - a Warlock! his patron is Home, an eldritch horror that many would classify as a demon. they have a very special, codependent pact that neither of them can live without - Wally wears their 'seal' as a house-shaped pendant on a choker (necklace) hidden under his clothes. Home is extraordinarily powerful, but Wally barely taps into that power. he has a grimoire that Home inscribed with a bunch of sigils that convert into spells when drawn & then cast in the air. the only other powers he uses are seeing-in-the-dark, seeing-magic, and opening teleportation doors! Wally can't sleep, but he can doze - though he's never fully unaware of his surroundings (its kind of like how dolphins only sleep with one half of their brain). he still eats with his eyes, which both feeds him & acts as a form of providing daily energy to Home, since Home can't exactly consume souls every day. If Wally uses too much magic, he has to rest inside of Home's house-form, which is the only time he actually fully sleeps. no one knows about Home, or that Wally is lying about his wizard status.

Home is a lovecraftian being with three forms. the first is the lowest power level - a cute one-room house with Eyes! i.e: Home Classic! Wally's pendant unfolds into it, and it's the main way Wally and Home physically interact & communicate. the second is possession - if Wally explicitly allows it, Home can completely take over his body and kind of 'tuck him away' to have a nice deep nap while Home takes the reins (Home can technically force this, but it's very difficult and would not go over well w/ Wally - it would also be an unstable possession). the third is Home's true form - a massive shadowy eldritch monster made of writhing darkness and nightmares that no one in their right mind would look at, let alone fight. Home has very complicated feelings about Wally & the Neighborhood. they are also, quite literally, Wally's heart - which is part of their pact.

i have some scene ideas & little Plot Concepts (most notably the times the Neighborhood learns two Very Big Secrets about Wally, one of which being the warlock/Home reveal).

but yeah that's moooostly it. basic stuff yk, not very in depth! just fun things to feed my maladaptive daydreaming & escapism

[that-ari-blogger]

LavenderTowne and Hazbin Hotel, Part 2

A while back, a youtuber by the name of Lavendertowne released a video on Hazbin Hotel and the fan reception was… mixed. Lavendertowne discussed her perspective on the series and presented her own ideas of how it could have been done differently, and some people liked what she said, others didn’t.

I made a post discussing her discussion soon after, and I am rather proud of it. So, check that out if it interests you. As the title suggests, this is going to be a follow up.

But recently as of writing this (I’m prewriting this a few weeks before it will go out), a second video was released, and I have thoughts.

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD: (Hazbin Hotel)

The framing device of this video is that it is an alternate universe in which Lavendertowne has been given full creative control, as such, her design sensibilities supersede everything else, and I want to point out that this means your relationship as an audience is different.

I will not be judging the quality of the artwork and skill, and I will instead be pointing out what the different designs imply through what elements they incorporate, and discussing the criticisms levelled at the series.

This AU doesn’t have to deal with any of that, this is one person putting out her thoughts.

The original series had to go through Amazon Prime’s standardisation and animation and budget. It had to deal with execs who don’t understand television as a medium making decisions based on metrics that don’t hold up to any inspection whatsoever. The series had to mingle with shareholders and individual animators and writers with contradictory artistic visions.

Speaking of which, lets start with Angel, and I actually agree with some of what Lavendertowne said in the section about him. Hazbin Hotel, for all its successes, is definitely not a perfect show, and a ton of the pacing issues are evident through the characterisation.

Most notably, episode four is one of the show’s best episodes, finally slows down and tells a story about an abusive relationship. It’s horrifying to watch, but you can’t look away. Angel is vulnerable and desperate, his constant flirtatiousness is shown as a façade that he keeps dropping accidentally. Its harrowing and really well written, and Valentino is f*cking terrifying.

For the rest of the series, Angel doesn’t have this depth. It’s established he’s wearing a mask, but because the show doesn’t have time to show you the real him, the mask is all you get.

Yes, this can feel like dodgy characterisation. Media is subjective, that’s kinda the whole point, so while I am more than happy to take what we learn in episode four and use it to imply depth beyond what we see in the rest of the series, not everyone is, and that’s ok.

Moving on to the actual design, I love Lavendertowne’s Angel Dust, although this is mostly because I prefer the more monstrous character designs. I like to draw on horror in my writing, so the uncanny valley is something I am at home in.

I want to draw attention to the difference in shape language. Hazbin Hotel is very cartoony, so it can get away with some truly wild proportions to get the character’s vibe across. For example, Angel is wild and jagged, his asymmetry implies an off balanced nature and his thin limbs imply speed. This guy’s design communicates movement.

Lavendertowne’s style isn’t really equipped to do that, her proportions are more… I hesitate to say “realistic”, so “grounded” will have to do. Instead, she relies on a messy hairstyle to hint at that mental unrest and makes him as thin as she can possibly get without breaking with her style. Then she adds those upwards stripes to emphasise his height and make him look even thinner than he actually is.

This makes Angel look fragile rather than flighty.

Lavendertowne designed Angel twice, once in his performance attire, and once in his informal dress, and we see what she has focused in on.

A series featuring these character designs would prioritise angel’s duality and insecurity. The posing of the first design is closed in, and combined with the oversized coat that he wears like a shield, gives him a defensive stance. This angel would still be flirtatious, you can’t take that away from him, but he would be more guarded as a person.

Meanwhile the performing character design is more open, he wears less and is posed as open and inviting. This angel looks more acrobatic and nimble, but also more vulnerable. There is a correlation implied between the lack of physical defences and a more excessive personality, as if one is compensating for the other.

There is a trade off here. Angel’s original design played into his mafia past with the suit and tie, but Lavendertowne instead positions him as more of the femme fatale, who lounges back and gets the secrets. It’s a different archetype.

Niffty's design I don’t really have many thoughts on. I like the beetle mandibles in the hair and the little caterpillar is cute.

One of Lavendertowne’s criticisms of the series as a whole was that the overall colour was very monotonous. She highlighted the fact that the series is mostly bathed in red, and to show off what she meant, she presents Niffty with some splashes of green and yellow to balance out the hues a bit.

Lavendertowne’s Lucifer design is complicated in my eyes, because its my favourite of the designs, but also the reading of the character that I disagree with the most.

For example, the video states that Lucifer is a neglectful father and that there is a dissonance between his care and his selfishness that doesn’t make sense as a character beat.

So, allow me to argue a different understanding of the character. In my eyes, Lucifer does care deeply about his daughter, but he is truly awful at showing it. He decides to protect her from the hardships that he suffered by not letting her even attempt anything risky. He doesn’t want her to fall, so he won’t risk raising her up and letting her see the sun.

This became neglect, or absence, which Charlie is hurt by, and Alastor uses as a weapon.

Lucifer’s dawning realisation that his behaviours is one of those things that got messed up by the shortened pacing. I would have preferred another episode of getting to know the crew at the hotel and growing to like them, and so having an entire arc in one song wasn’t my favourite part of the series, as beautiful as that song was.

“You didn’t know that when

I tried this all before,

My dreams were too hard to defend.

And in the end

I won’t lose it all again.

Now you’re the only thing worth fighting for.”

Lavendertowne’s design prioritises the trauma of Lucifer, and as a side note, this version of the character would also be voiced by Jeremy Jordan, because that man has range.

But to that point, this is a fundamentally different version of the character. Where the series version has put on a brave face to hide his deep insecurities, the version Lavendertowne presents looks utterly defeated as a person.

This looks like the type of person who wallows in self-pity and who’s redemption arc would take two or three episodes. Lucifer here looks like he spends all of his time sitting on a roof top waxing philosophical and too caught up in his own mourning to notice the distance growing between him and his kids.

Case and point, the makeshift halo that he wears is such a phenomenal design decision. It’s an active character beat that he has tried to replicate his dignity before his fall, showing how he can’t move past it, but it also shows his lack of care. It’s made of string, its for him and him only, it doesn’t have to look right to anyone else.

Lavendertowne’s Lucifer seems like he would be overjoyed to join his daughter at the hotel, and desperately try to reconnect, like in the series, but it would take Husk or even Sir Pentious explaining to him that he was the reason the two fell apart, and breaking down the idea of hope and getting better as a person. It would show off how Charlie’s message has impacted others, and would lean into the slower burn story that these designs seem intended to display.

The cloak is also a cool detail, first up because of the crown on the shoulders which impact the silhouette and the shape language. It makes him look spikier and standoffish, but the broken crown motif is also a personal weakness of mine, so I won’t dwell too much on that for fear of gushing about the history and iconography and two separate fanfics I have written which feature that in their titles alone.

However, the cloak’s main feature is to get across the tone shift between this story and the original. It occurred to me halfway through this that the designs presented in Hazbin Hotel feel like they were designed as costumes first. They are symbolic and referential, with the rule of cool being paramount.

I respect this a lot, but Lavendertowne’s ideas present a grittier story, with outfits seemingly designed with practicality in mind above all else. Here, a character going flying across the city would have majour consequences. Gore and death would be rarer, but more impactful, and as a key part of that, this story would more heavily focus on consequences.

In this case, neither Lucifer or Vaggie will get their wings back in this version of the story. Lavendertowne specified this in her video, explaining that this was because the original undercut the trauma that these two received, and that’s a valid take.

Part of what I respect about Lavendertowne’s design process and formatting of the video was the fact that she presented a reason for her own unenjoyment of the series, and engaged with that criticism to present something that she would prefer. Again, art is subjective, and the video really takes apart preferences and the logic behind them.

Here, Lucifer doesn’t have wings, and instead uses his cloak to mimic the shape, linking back into that conceptual space of being stuck in the past, like his halo.

What this means for the story presented is that the final fight would have to take place within the hotel itself, where the angels cannot fly away and can be engaged with on even ground. I’m envisioning set pieces in the main halls, and staircases, and a moment when Husk turns off the light in a corridor, then cut to Angel’s perspective as he tries to find his friend, only to flick the light back on to see Husk, wounded but still standing, surrounded by half a dozen dead exorcists. I think that would be cool.

Also, the pomegranate sceptre is a neat design, and the open chest is the type of overly dramatic outfit choice that an overly emotional, self-sabotaging mess of a person would make. The type of design that pulls on an edgy, fallen angel, paradise lost style pf nonsense that I whole heartedly approve of.

Lute’s design I like, but it took me some time to get used to.

Part of this is that I genuinely despise the design of the exorcists in the series. I think in concept they are really interesting, especially with the mask, but in practice they just don’t work. I think it’s the colour scheme, they don’t scream “heaven” to me. They appear designed as “righteous crusaders questing for the greater good” and all that hypocritical, I would have preferred if they had their home turf emblazoned on them, like crusaders.

Lavendertowne’s design emphasises the idea of juxtaposition. Lute doesn’t look like a combatant; she doesn’t look dangerous. She looks like a saint. Until you see what she is doing. You notice the sword and the bloodstains on her hands and the combat boots which imply something beneath the façade.

The wings are also an interesting detail that Lavendertowne implements in her designs. One of her criticisms was that the designs of the angels and demons weren’t identifiable as pertaining to one side or the other. While I think that was an important theme in the series, the idea that when push comes to shove, the morality of hell and heaven were almost indifferentiable, I like that Lavendertowne took a different direction with her design.

In the AU, there is a hypocrisy evident in the exorcist designs, and Lavendertowne focused in on how they appear different and present a mask of superiority that is completely undercut by their actions. Hence the wings allow the angels to fly and literally rise above those they deem unworthy, while acting as a visual signifier of alignment.

I picture Lute’s white outfit getting absolutely stained with mud and rubble and blood, and I picture this version of the character as more cordial in conversation, the type of person who thinks being polite makes you correct, only to devolve into wordless screams of rage when she starts losing.

That hypocrisy is exemplified by my favourite part of the design, the headdress. Because first up, iron halos are cool, and the fact that they are the only metal on the design works with the fact that the angels don’t know they can get hurt, but second, this mask doesn’t have eyes.

We could say that there is some magical or technological way of seeing through the mask, maybe there is a screen in there and she’s like iron man with a ton of gizmos and gadgets, or maybe there are little holes or a mesh like an old gladiator helmet that lets her see through.

But visually, this communicates that Lute doesn’t see the world beyond herself. She is blind to change or anything that would challenge her mindset, and has intentionally closed off herself from learning anything new.

It also limits her expression. Sure, her mouth is visible, so she can smile or grimace, but the eyes imply emotion. She’s hiding from you just as much as she is hiding you from herself.

Final Thoughts

In any case, I really like the designs presented here, and I think that exploring how they communicate different ideas from the original based on different design and story preferences and sensibilities was interesting to do. If Lavendertowne releases another video, I might do another follow up.

I want to stress that me liking LavenderTowne's redesigns does not invalidate the show, neither do any criticisms. I mentioned that the series has flaws, but I love it regardless, and it's ok if others didn't.

Once again, I will write fanfiction for this universe if Lavendertowne approves, because I think that it would be an interesting thought experiment. I think the scenes in this version of the story would be longer and more drawn out, instead of the rapid pacing of the original series.

Other than that, if you liked this and want to see more, I wrote up a discussion about the first video, but I am also making my way through the source material. I have a series about musicals and storytelling in those, and right now, I am discussing Hazbin Hotel’s songs and what they do for their story. So, stick around if that interests you.

Part 1

[starrysharks]

could you show a little bit of your art progression over the years? your style is absolutely magnificent btwbtw!!

sure ! i've done a similar post, but that was focused on shape language and didn't go over all of my art progression. i'll link it at the end of this post!

anyway, i started digital art around 7 years ago, but all of the art from that period is essentially lost. at that time, it was just deviantart bases and various furry/warrior cats fanart made in MS paint. while i'm not a fan of vivziepop anymore, she was a big inspiration at that time, as well as a handful of popular animation meme artists at the time. around 2019, i started making art in krita using a mouse. and later that year, i started making art in ibispaint (mostly skullgirls fanart). unfortunately, practically everything from before 2020 is lost because it was on reddit accounts that i had deleted out of cringe. don't delete your old art ever!!! i do have this piece though, made in 2020 on krita with a mouse. my main inspirations were invader zim and other cartoons.

my artstyle took a lot of dips and turns around this time. i got back into anime, and it influenced my style in a way that i think made it really ugly and bad looking. i also refused to ever flip my canvas. i think this era actually held me back. here's an example.

anyway, by 2021, i had gotten into more anime that influenced my style in a different way. i forget the exact ones, but i did watch a lot of stuff from trigger (like BNA and LWA) at the time, and also got into enstars which influenced my compositions a lot. it's also around the time that nova in her current "space astronaut bunny" concept was born. i started experimenting with backgrounds, color palletes, and colored lines, which was crucial. i look back at this era pretty fondly. though i still refused to flip my canvas :D

by 2022, my artstyle looked like this -

(this is actually from dec 2021 but like. it's still what my artstyle looked like)

i had played world's end club and rewatched panty and stocking, and it changed my brain chemistry. i decided that my artstyle would be "60% anime, 40% western cartoon", and despite some shortlived phases where i'd go for a slightly different style, i still kept it up. looking at least year's art summary, though, you can see that i broke away from that style for something more anime. and also, i hardly ever experimented with colors anymore because i was focused on character design. i'm gonna be real i think everything after july looks like absolute bootycheeks. i hate this weird single tiny dot reflection style i had going on it looks like dogwater.

after 2022, my art was in a miserable transitional period where i had zero clue what direction i wanted to go in. but despite all that, this piece in particular is crucial. because i used halftones in the background. it's foreshadowing!!!

i continued like this for a while, until the time where i decided to play around with shapes with those vocaloid big 8 drawings. people really liked the shapes that i used in that one, and i found them fun to draw. so i started exaggerating more, and after i rewatched panty and stocking for the 307492020506th time, as well as invader zim for the 2nd time, my cartoony roots came back.

and then, when my art was already steadily improving, across the spiderverse dropped, and i watched it. funnily enough afterwards i had a big art block because i was just thinking, "you need to draw if you want to work on something as big as that! improve!!!!" which kind of held me back. but after all that, i decided to take a note out of ATSV (and comic books in general)'s book and start using halftones in my work. as well as that, i started focusing on lineart way more, and tried to play around with lineweight. which brings us to present day, where my latest art pieces look like this :

i still think that my artstyle needs a lot of work. even these pieces have issues when it comes to symmetry, values, and the like. but nowadays, though my art takes far longer now (as i've abandoned special pens and just do lineart with the hard dip pen in a kind of tedious way), i'm having more fun with it than i have in years. i think halftones fit my artstyle really well, and they're a unique way to "fill up" areas. now that i pay attention to lineart, i think it makes my art feel 'fuller', at least with more depth. did i mention my inspirations for this current 'phase' of my art? :0 i've been playing a lot of muse dash lately, and my pinterest boards are always full of stuff from TWEWY and megaman. there's far more than that, but in short, i want a sharp and striking style with bright colors. i know that you said a little bit of my progression and i basically dropped a whole essay 😭 ,,, but i really like talking about art in general even if i'm not very good at it. i hope this was interesting at the very least! here's the other post also:

[tothepointofinsanity]

Hello ! I am a big fan of your art and was wondering if you could give me some tricks.

How did you come up with your current style ? Was it something you searched to developp or did it come naturaly ? If it's the first option, what made you stylize it like this ? Do you have any idea what I could do to stylize my own art ?

I am a somewhat semi-realistic artist (still learning a lot though) and was searching to also developp a more cartoony style like yours alongside it, so I would appreciate some help to understand what to do.

No need to answer this if you don't want to, for any reasons though ! Just wanted to ask you if you are willing to help me, even just a little bit :)

Thank you !

Hello. ^^ Thank you for the detailed ask and taking your time out to write it 🙇‍♂️.

I developed my current art style through a combination of both exploration (“naturally”) and it being something I searched to develop. In my head, I always wanted to adopt a sharper, blockier art style with bright colours. I was inspired by a lot of different styles, but most importantly I was pursuing an aesthetic I liked.

[1] Trying to introduce new elements in your art takes time, but it was mostly me staring/spending a lot of time looking at people’s art works that I enjoyed. The more you look at the things you like, the clearer the image you have of it is in your mind, so it would be easier to replicate it. The idea is to study what elements you like exactly in a style and then slowly try to transfer them into your own works. Your current style will eventually merge with it to form something that is unique. 🤔

If you are having trouble keeping the image that you want to recreate in your mental space, you can always put your canvas side by side to the thing you want to replicate, if that makes sense. Observing things you like and then devoting time to it was what helped me a lot, but patience tends to get you far in general.

[2] Stylising your own art requires a lot of trial and error. In addition to observing other people’s works, you need to have somewhat of an idea of how things can look like in your own works. If you like something with bright colours, the bright colours you choose for your own work may feel inappropriate or out of place simply because they haven’t been adjusted to your liking yet. A lot about art style is really adjusting things to your own tastes while keeping the courage to experiment. Since you have a semi-realistic style and want a more cartoony one, the idea is to squash/reduce elements of realism and increase the use of shapes that stand out.

^ For example, you can see from this style that the characters have larger, round and doll-like heads, and the colours used to fill them aren’t at all that realistic or “balanced”, more so abstract and played around with (observe how Homura’s leggings are a mixture of blue that bleed to red). If Homura was drawn “realistically”, she would instead have normal colours and her usual palette scheme that don’t seem to jump everywhere. The characters’ anatomy are also simplified, smaller and easier to shape.

The style I have is mainly reducing details on the character and exaggerating their appearance with shapes or certain features. You can choose to make their eyes look more dramatic and detailed, for example, compared to the rest of their bodies. In fact, one way of making things look detailed in a cartoon style is by grouping large shapes together for them to resemble something. You could draw rectangles for fingers and that would still be understood as long as they’re arranged in a way that gives off that impression, not necessarily being a 1:1 real life replica of it.

[3] Overall, experimenting with colours and shapes are important to the style, but it’s not something you have to simply focus on. You can make something look cartoon even just by making the composition look dramatic, which isn’t limited to colours nor shape, but more on your sense of “space” in a drawing.

In summary: you have to first know what you’re inspired by, and then work towards it at your own pace. Attempt to replicate those elements in things you like by observing them and then transferring them onto your own works. Playing with shapes and colours, exaggerating or minimising proportions and anatomy can give you different results, although it may not seem satisfactory at first. The most important thing to developing your style, ultimately, is still giving yourself time and spending time with the things you like o(^-^)o. You can’t exactly rush out a style, so please enjoy the process of drawing!!

I hope this was helpful, if even a little bit, since I’m not good at explaining things, and I’m not a professional 😭🙏🙏. Thank you for the ask!!

[creatingblackcharacters]

Hello!!

First, I wanted to say thanks for all the work you do, you can tell you put a lot of effort and care into it!

Second, I wanted to ask if you had any possible advice for creating black zombie characters?

I really love zombies and enjoy making zombie characters and drawing zombies. Though, I draw quite cartoonishly and when I draw them I tend to make them that cartoony shade of zombie green as well, y'know? I was wondering if you knew how I would go about this- like if I ought to maybe make the skin more on the grey-ish side(since you mentioned that grey-ish skintone bases make the characters look ashen/less-alive recently) Or perhaps sticking with a similar shade of green, but making sure to include more defining black features? I'm mostly looking for tips about appearance, but I'm happy to get any advice you're able to give!

I hardly ever see black zombies in art(I see them in movies/shows and games occasionally, but never really in art!) and I wanna help change that, if I can. Im sorry if this is a bit clumsily worded- I hope you know I do not mean this ask in a rude or disrespectful way(due to the subject matter of (un)dead characters)! I just really love zombies!!

(also I thought the mini-mini lesson about clowns was very interesting and helpful, thanks for writing it!)

ngl, getting this ask at 10 something pm last night was WILD bc I swore I turned anons off lmao.

Thank you!

Um, this really is in the same zone as the sickness question. We'd still look like Black people, but dead lmao. In varying stages of decay too, if you're discussing zombies. My partner suggested watching some clips from The Walking Dead and try to spot Black zombies amongst the extras, so there's an idea!

If you're going with the cartoony idea of making them green skinned, as long as I can tell they were Black when they were alive (unless they're damn near a skeleton) I don't see the issue. If you make everyone that's a zombie green, it'll just match the style. So that's easy enough.

But if you're going for an actual decaying look, I think it would be worth looking into stages of decay on bodies as a whole. What types of injuries do they have and how did that affect them as zombies? (For example, if a Black person got a deep cut prezombie, that cut would be healed either brown or pink depending on depth, versus a post zombie cut would just be... Bloody. Probably not bruising either bc there's no healing going on. But I'm not a doctor, so don't quote me on that. The book I tagged would likely help you, too!)

In my grad program I once saw the recently dead body of a Black lady, and what disturbed me wasn't that she "looked" dead, but that she didn't. Other than her eyes being far gone... She looked the same.

Now, this (and the sickness one too!) also ties into undertones. When we die, the blood leaves our bodies and pools wherever the gravity is. So if we're in a burial position, or we've been drained of blood, the blood will leave your face. Now, on black people, that means our undertone will be pallid. It's the way Black people "blanch"; like we as a WHOLE don't turn pale, but our undertone will change bc it's physiological. (Now, based on our complexion, it's easier to see that on some more than on others!)

Hm....that's all I can think of for right now. If anyone else has any ideas, feel free to chime in!

[selenadrawsstuff]

Twyla Boogeyman in my style! I love her color scheme, it’s so gorgeous! She was literally the hardest to get done and took me the longest because of one thing, her hair! All the colorful streaks were just hard to get the right placement, “design”, color shades, etc. I’m glad I finally got it though! The thing is, for my unique art style, you don’t do realism, like, at all! You have to do flat hair because that’s what I like. I like a very cartoony style. It might seem easy but it took so many tries to get it to look right. Just goes to show, you can get things done your way when you don’t give up!

[ilovescaredysquirrel2]

Last movie review of 2023, Migration!

Okay I think this might be one of the best animated movies of 2023! "Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken" and "Under the Boardwalk" were the two best, and "Migration" and is the third best. These movies were so incredible and well done. I fell in love with the visuals and scenery, and the animation for Migration overall. The characters were definitely a 10/10 though! I mostly loved how Gwen was more than just the cute sidekick, but she was the cute sidekick who was also sassy and a little bit daring too. Her brother (i think his name was Dax?) was an optimistic and daring character too! He was fearless and also a good character too. I really loved how they focused on Pam and Mac as well, and made them good parents but also showed their struggles on protecting the family. Pam was so optimistic, she kind of reminded me Ginger from Chicken Run. She was such an icon! My favorites had to be Pam and Gwen! I also loved Delroy and Uncle Dan! They were so funny! Awkwafina also played a unique character too (she voiced a tough greaser pigeon).

I also would like to talk about the villain's design and personality. He didn't speak, they just had an evil chef who just growled and tried to get the ducks. They didn't show much human interactions in the movie but the only bad human was the chef character. He looked like the a super rich chef guy, with gold on him and stuff (He had white hair with gold bands). I liked his funny face too! Also, the other humans didn't seem to be that bad either, it was one person who wanted to eat the ducks. They weren't portraying all the humans as animal-eating monsters.

Another thing is that the art style and everything looked a little different from Illumination's usual movies, seeing really big eyed cartoony birds that were the main focus. Dreamworks, Illumination, and Aardman are dethroning Disney and I'm all here for it! I hope Ghibli does too when the "Boy and the Heron" dub comes out. I'm just happy that Illumination is going to be known for something other than annoying minions. Also, before you say anything, the short film that was before Migration WAS a Despicable Me one but it focused more on that Vector guy and him getting off the moon, as well as showing the minions as comic relief which was fine (tbh Vector himself is funnier). Seeing that animated short made me think of when Disney used to do stuff like that, and I'm happy that Illumination did that. I mostly just enjoyed Migration and I think it was beautiful!

Last of all, the thing I loved most was probably that salsa dance scene when they played that Beyonce song that goes like, "I'm a survivor" but it was a jazzy version of it and it just blended with the movie so well! Whoever chose that song deserves a raise! Also, that was such a cute scene between Mac and Pam. I love how they showed that adults have flaws once in a while, and focus on the adult ducks as much as the kids. This movie was so so cute!

Into 2024, I'm hoping that I would get to see the movie "Butterfly Tale", which according to my best friend who's in Canada and got to see it (I'm an unfortunate American who missed out). If you have any info about Butterfly Tale, please tell me! The best movies this year I'd say are Butterfly Tale, Ruby Gillman, Migration, and Under the Boardwalk. Tell me YOUR favorite animated movies of 2023! Go on! Don't be afraid to express your opinion in my comments, even if it's different from mine!

[amphibimations]

Some thoughts about how I’ve been using color in my WH drawings

So I’ve actually been using color pretty intentionally when I design the outfits for the characters, I’d like to talk about my thought process behind some of it!! A note that these are ideas that i’ve been building on as i’ve read the book, so I haven’t always used them consistently and i’m still building on them as i keep reading more of the book.

1) Cathy and Heathcliff always wear blue

In my first comic, I happened to choose blue for Heathcliff’s outfit. Not for any reason, I just thought it looked nice. Once I started drawing cathy, I decided to put her in blue too because having 2 characters in the same color works as a visual metaphor connecting them. After reading the ‘we share the same soul’ part I realized them wearing the same color constantly works even better, and started making a conscious decision that no other character I draw for WH will ever wear blue, to emphasize that the color represents their connection specifically. I also think this color works really well for them because of the color’s association with weather, sadness, nighttime, and ghosts.

2) Edgar and Isabella wearing green and red

This is a thing that doesn’t have that deep of a meaning behind it but i think its really funny. I chose those colors because i had drawn cathy and heathcliff throwing a red and green book that they hate and so i was like ‘haha. They also hate Isabella and edgar. i should do those colors.’ Also i think it worked out because i will sometimes give cathy more of a cyan-blue which is closer to edgar’s green, and heathcliff more of a indigo-blue which is closer to isabella’s red. I do think the colors I decided to use also speaks to how well the characterization of the siblings was written in their introduction, because just based on their first scene I decided red for isabella because she seemed more passionate and intense, and green for edgar because he seemed more meek.

3) Saturation of colors

This one i havent been consistent on, but i’d like to be more so in the future. And its less of a metaphor and more just because of how dyeing clothes works, but I tend to use more saturated colors for connoting wealth. Which is why, when cathy gets back with her new outfit from the lintons, it is such a deep blue, and why i added more brown to heathcliffs outfit and made the blue a bit faded once hindley started making him work. I mean im using pretty saturated colors for all of the characters right now because this is a cartoony style, but if I do make that graphic novel some day I think i’ll be more consistent with this idea.

4) A Mistake

When i was reading the first few chapters I knew going in that there was a ghost in the book, so when Cathy 2 showed up I thought she might have been the ghost at first. So in my head i pictured her wearing white even after i realized she wasnt the ghost. Even though the book SAYS she’s wearing BLACK…. Cathy 2 im so so sorry i robbed you of your goth girl colors i wont do it again. (i know her dress is probably black because she’s in ‘Official 1800s Husband Mourning’ over linton but come on u cant tell me she wouldn’t be goth if she was living in the modern day.)

5) other colors

I don’t really have a reason for the colors of lockwood, nelly, hindley, or hareton. I just thought they looked nice. Joseph wears blacks and greys because hes boring and mean. Idk i do think blue and orange being opposite colors sort of could work to highlight the difference between Heathcliff and Hareton (being put in a similar situation but having different endings). Like i said im still updating these ideas, haha.

edit: another thought i just had is that it would be so so funny to make the color of edgar’s clothes scheele’s green specifically. Get arsenic poisoned, idiot.

[being-of-rain]

Time to write down my initial thoughts on Space Babies and The Devil's Chord! I'm currently busy staying with my girlfriend in America, so I've only watched the episodes once. And there's a lot of episode to talk about! I guess this is the most TV Doctor Who to come out on a single day, both by episode count and I assume by runtime. (I sure hope it doesn't get overtaken any time soon. Weekly episode schedule my beloved, whole-series-at-once events my despised.)

I've said before that I've used the word 'fun' too often as a way to sum-up new episodes, but it looks like that's going to be harder and harder to avoid. This season so far has a very wacky zany silly cartoonish style (especially apparent in the lead duo's energy together) and I think that's the season's greatest strength. My opinion on both of these first two episodes are similar: they're just okay, with the pros and the cons kinda balancing each other out, but the cartoony style makes them much more enjoyable to watch.

Under the cut I'll go into more details. Probably more complaining than not, because nitpicking is always easier to spend time on, but here's your regular reminder that these are opinions and anyone reading is encouraged to disagree.

And if you thought my ramblings about new episodes were long before, this time there's two at once!

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Grossout stuff like bodily functions never really appealed to me, and neither does talking babies, so Space Babies had those things against it. But it also had things that I loved; on top of the infectious energy of the leads, there were some fun sci-fi concepts, playing with storybook narrative, and the design of the Bogeyman. And the Doctor saying that "nobody grows up wrong" was alone worth the episode. I adore that sentiment and it fits so well into Doctor Who with its constant cast of scary aliens, artificially altered or created beings, and characters with generally convoluted backstories. It's just a shame the episode faltered at its climax when applying that idea to the Bogeyman, because the sympathising and acceptance of it felt very rushed.

It's fun when new companions get an introduction scene or two where the show tries to teach as many of the important rules and backstory as possible. And Butterfly Ruby certainly was a hilarious addition to that. But as much as the show is allowed to mess around with time travel rules, it can still feel contrived when it says things like 'taking Ruby to meet her mum is too dangerous.' I can't think of a reason why they couldn't just park a bit further down Ruby Road and talk to her after she seemingly doesn't have any more effect on Ruby or the Doctor's lives. I'll talk more about the ongoing story arc stuff in a bit, but right now I still haven't strongly connected with Ruby. This is very much a personal thing, but she still feels kinda Generic Companion to me.

Oh, and I think every time the Doctor talks about how the Time Lords are gone and he's the Last One, I'm going to groan and roll my eyes. Honestly I think the best thing to do with that is just show that a lot of Time Lord society survived (very easy, since there's no reason at all that most of them couldn't have just run away from whatever the Master did to the Capitol) and then just move on. I'd love to explore post-War Time Lord society more, but at this point I'd rather just leave them alone and be done with retreading old ground that the show is not going to actually do anything with other than the odd angsty line.

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The Devil's Chord had a lot of fantastic moments and elements, but that made it more frustrating to me when it didn't put the effort into fitting everything just a little better. It reminds me of my thoughts on The Giggle; I love love love whimsy and emotionally-driven stories, and stories don't have to be a slave to logic all the time, but moments of silliness or entire plots that revolve around whimsy are so much more satisfying if they have a narrative logic behind them. I think a prime example is the song at the end of The Devil's Chord: even if it's not particularly good (most songs that are just repeating one line for 90% of its runtime aren't going to interest me), it's whimsical and joyous and makes me want to see Tardis teams sing and dance more often. But it doesn't have an in-story reason to happen, it doesn't quite fit the episode's tone, and (as much fun as fans have been having fitting it into the season arc) the episode doesn't even really have a twist at the end. If any of those things weren't true, the song would've had so much more impact than it did, and I find it annoying that the episode couldn't shuffle things just a bit to make it work.

Somewhat similarly, the Maestro themself was spectacularly entertaining, but also felt rather shallow and full of missed opportunities. I was already a bit over RTD writing flamboyant and random queer-coded villains after he reinvented the Toymaker the same way he reinvented the Master (although a drag queen certainly adds a welcome layer to that) but it was sad that Maestro had the same surface-level connection to music as RTD's Toymaker had to games. Yeah they climb out of pianos and use sheet-music-themed whips and dress in a conductor's outfit, but that sounds more like a Batman villain than a Concept Made Flesh. Sure they can magically-somehow stop the world making music, but their motivation for it is... kill everyone in the universe? I really hope RTD can write better Old Gods than his last two if he plans to make them recurring villains. (By the way I assume that the world losing the ability to make music for two decades was magically unwritten at the end, but then again I assumed the same thing about the Flux destroying the universe and that was only half undone.)

Also, I know not every historical episode has to be a 2005-10 style celebrity historical (even though that might be one of my favourite ways of doing it), but if they didn't want to do that then it felt a bit out of place to have two of the Beatles turn up at the very end, with no idea what was going on, and save the day. (And the other two Beatles vanished completely. ...I know the other two were a bit less famous, but after learning that RTD ships the Supernatural brothers, I really wouldn't be surprised to learn he ships McCartney and Lennon.)

Anyway, some other fun or great moments that I wish were in a slightly more coherent episode are: Ruby playing her lovesick lesbian song, the Doctor and Ruby doing their piano battle together, the sonic silence scene, and the destroyed London scene which Maestro abruptly turned into a black background. Oh, and the Doctor saying "I thought that was non-diagetic" was hilarious, I think fans are going to get a lot of mileage out of the idea that the Doctor can hear the background music in older episodes.

Other random things about the episode: it did make me think of Scherzo's fairytale about the king who banished music from his realm. As a batfamily fan, the music teacher at the start being named Timothy Drake for no reason is confusing and funny. It's a niche pet peeve but I think its silly when fiction ties itself to when it's coming out for no reason or in contradiction to its own continuity, so Ruby saying her present day is mid-2024 baffled and irritated me. Since the last episode she's either been travelling with the Doctor for several months, staying at home for several months, or has decided to skip several months ahead, none of which seem very likely.

One last thing I'll say about The Devil's Chord is that the zany cartoonish energy, the visiting of recent history, and the magical menace all remind me of Legends of Tomorrow. It's one of my comfort shows that puts a lot of plot importance and stress on whimsy, jokes, and feel-good moments, but actually does tie them into the narrative. Compared to the last half dozen episodes of Doctor Who, Legends is more of an outright comedy, but its more satisfying and the emotional beats hit harder. If its trying for a more similar tone, I hope Doctor Who can reach the same highs as Legends (which, to be fair, took a few seasons to figure things out).

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Finally I'll talk about the story arc! Or story arcs, because there's a lot going on. And looking back at his first time on the show, I realise RTD is a big fan of arcs that are basically just repeating things in the background that don't have any impact until the last few episodes. Personally I prefer arcs with a bit more relevance and development, but unfortunately that's probably harder to do on Doctor Who with less episodes.

That said, I was very surprised that Ruby's arc is one of the most interesting things to me in these episodes. The Doctor's memory of her mother changing and then breaking through into the real world is cool as hell, and then Ruby having something about her that trips up a god is really compelling 👀 Is that girl a cosmic horror??

On the other hand, another mention of 'the One Who Waits' is really boring lol. Just another ominous name that everyone can look concerned about without any substance. But I have seen fans connect it to the billboard for Chris Waites and the Carollers, which is hilarious. And speaking of, the mention of Susan was really cool, and so in-depth that it has me wondering if she'll actually come back, which I don't think New Who has made me do seriously before. Then again, it's so on the nose that surely it must be a red herring...

I can't wait to find out what it all means. And I can't wait for the next episode!