#SORRY FOR THE RAMBLE

[moonjxsung]

Han Jisung constantly being reduced to some lesser version of himself for struggles with anxiety/mental health, being rampantly feminized because he’s become 1/2 of the face of a popular ship within the fandom and consequently not fairly recognized for the sheer individual GENIUS he is; finally making a personal instagram and casually posting all the song covers he wants to, getting 3 tattoos in one session just because he can. Trusting us enough to share what the tattoos are on a fancall- sharing little tidbits of his personal life when he’s ready, and keeping things sacred to him when he’s still able to. Seeing him have this autonomy over himself and embrace the creative person he is and always has been is so, so refreshing. Maybe we’ll never know him beyond a killer instagram song cover, we’ll never see his baby photos or perhaps even bear witness to his first few tattoos. But we do know he cried 3 times watching the movie “Up”. And the little glimpses we get into his personality and his artistic vision as he walks this fine line between privacy and rawness as an idol are nothing short of endearing. I don’t know what was in those contract renegotiations, but he’s never seemed more like himself.

Han Jisung my multi-faceted muse. Do whatever you want if it means you’ll always be this fulfilled

[jonnywaistcoat]

When writing, did you ever suffer from a fear or underdelivering or misrepresenting a topic? If you did, how did you overcome it? I enjoy writing but rarely bring it to the public out of fear that I am either not doing good enough or badly portraying the themes or aspects of what I write.

Absolutely, and on the one hand it's a very healthy fear - it prompts you to do your research and be thoughtful in how you write. On the other hand you've just got to accept that occasionally it will happen. Inculturation is a hell of a thing, and leaves us all with a thousand kneejerk preconceptions and perceptions of the world, some benign and some downright awful. And sometimes they crop up no matter how thoughtful you try to be. And you gotta understand that when it happens and people call you on it, you just have to take your lumps and learn what you can from it.

It doesn't help, of course, that the words you write are only ever half of what your audience reads: five people reading the same book are reading five different books, each filtering the text through a lifetime of psychology and experience. And they will find themes and problems in there you never even considered, and they will also find resonances and beauty in your work that you could never have foreseen.

At the end of the day, writing stuff thats meaningful to you (hell, writing anything at all) is a messy, bruising business, and anybody who tells you there are simple solutions or clear rules to follow is either lying to you or to themselves.

But you can't let it paralyse you. Its like if you're playing football and you're worried about falling over. It's a reasonable fear and you should do your best to avoid it, but occasionally it's gonna happen, and unless you want to spend the whole game just standing still in a field, you've kinda just got to get on with it. Just try not to be one of those writers who's always taking dives and... screaming for the ref to get a free kick? Hm. That analogy may have gotten away from me. I don't actually know much about football.

Point is, I'm aware that this isn't the most reassuring writing advice I've ever given, but yeah, its a messy, scary business. Just do your best. Be thoughtful. Be kind. And always do your research.

[pigeonkill-pile]

Squirrelflight Squirrelstar

[sparrowlucero]

just curious, why oviraptorids for your silurians?

oh I definitely tossed around a few different ideas before the oviraptors, they just ended up feeling the most right to me. here's something that could almost pass for a design process:

The first shot at a silurian I did was this tuatara redesign of the original fish guys; i didn't really like it as it doesn't feel very evocative of the original to me (the fact that they're going for "black lagoon fish man" does not jell with how subsequent designs are lizard people, and I just couldn't marry those two things well here) (also, wow, I hadn't even rewatched surface (2005) at this point, goes to show how much of a throttle that's had on my design sensibilities for the past 20 years)

I think the second was this (sort of) prosauropod, after a friend informed me that the species is canonically meant to be prosauropods (sure jan). This wasn't a super serious design, I drew it in like 5 minutes for my friends (I did consider prosauropods seriously later on, but never drew any concepts past this)

When I was looking through my folders I found this drawing next to the last, where its just the humanoid silurians but with feathers. pretty sure this was just meant to be exactly what you'd expect a feathered design would have been on the bbc in 2011. I don't remember drawing this, but here it is for posterity.

the next (actually somewhat serious) attempt made them weird raptors; at this point I was actively trying to give them a flat, owl-like face so they were evocative of the humanoid designs in the show. I really wanted them to feel like generic spec bio dinosaur people of the 2020s (a tongue in cheek update to them being generic spec bio dinosaur people for the 1970s) and this kind of has that vibe, but I didn't think it looks great; something about it feels very non expressive and kind of forced to me. (The kea-inspired colors stuck around though.)

later I revamped that sketch and added a cassowary-esque crest (you can see the one in the frilly clothes here is just that first design with a crest tacked on).

I also doodled an oviraptorid version in the corner while I had dinosaurs with crests in mind; I ended up really liking how much that looked almost human in profile, so I ended up fleshing that out more:

This looked way more expressive and bespoke to me, and felt the most evocative of the original humanoid designs (somehow), while still looking like a real dinosaur species instead of a totally made up one

so yeah the oviraptors ended up sticking around at that point - they just clicked way more than any of the other attempts!

[fangswbenefits]

Occasionally, I'll remember I've read masterpieces written by fanfic authors that I will forever carry with me and that have shaped me into the writer I am today.

Not enough love is given to fanfic writers.

We do it all for free, and we get to touch so many hearts and make someone's day better with words.

So when people complain when we ask for engagement and feedback, try to remember that the written word carries a power that is seldom matched.

Ask yourself why you're reading fanfiction in the first place.

To feel.

To love a character through the words of someone else who is able to bring them to life in a way that allows them to take root in your heart and feel an immense sense of gratification and passion.

They live through you because someone out there decided to sit down, click their pen and put into words how much that character means to them.

And they will mean so much more to you because of that.

And that is fucking powerful and priceless.

[church-mousee]

made this collage for a zine my best friend and I are making together. it’s called Garden Fairies because we’re both not straight and I’ll def post more about it

all photos are from the Digital Transgender Archive except the hand that’s just me holding my very own bottle of testosterone 

[creativesplat]

A doodle of Link and Mipha defeating a Lynel from @only-by-the-stars wonderful fic Song of a Champion!

So this battle was beautifully fluid and the description of the two working perfectly in sync was just breathtaking. I decided to try and illustrate the scene, and I really enjoyed it, (it gave me an awesome excuse to read the scene very carefully and with an eye to the visual which I only really do if I'm going to draw it, and its always so fun to do)!

I couldn't get this image of Link parrying to open a space for Mipha to attack out of my brain because of the fluidity with which they both fought together just felt like that probably happened. I don't know about you, but I just saw them fighting as though they were in a dance, even though Mipha is so firm on her lack of ability and Link's superior skill, I bet he was entranced by her too!

Link's outfit is the stripped back version of the Soldier's Armour Set from BoTW, as though he took off the particularly intense or cumbersome pieces before coming to meet with Mipha, which I thought might be a good nod both his desire for familiarity with Mipha and to Mipha's concern for his safety and frustration with perceived arrogance. He's not even properly equipped and yet he says he can and will fight this Lynel alone.

on Mipha's end, I decided to go for a yellow glow, to not only pin her as the most key character in this scene - she is the central protagonist after all - but also to show that she is actually 100 years in the future, and this is her sinking back into the past, in her memory.

In the beautiful way only-by-the-stars creates a story, I fell into this memory description as well, and I love the conflict and emotion in this, so yeah, just a little note on the writing, but honest to goodness, give this a read!

Other composition ideas:

the original idea was to have something a little more like this:

with a more fluid attack from Mipha and I think overall this would have served the scene better now that I've finished 😅, but I also wanted the impression that it was Mipha's memory, you're seeing this through her eyes, so having her facing away from you connects you more I think, it feels more like she's witnessing it if its from her perspective.

so this, from Mipha's perspective, whilst a little less easy to understand visually, would have given the whole thing the fluidity I wanted the piece to have originally.

Anyway that's my two pence, and I hope you go and read Star's fic!

[frojdh-art]

”Then again, he was a pirate, and not only that, but a captain. And he was a lot older than her. This was probably all par for the course for him—a new port, and a new girl smitten out of her wits. It wasn't like he was oblivious to the effect he had on people.”

Inspired by @missmungoe’s story Heed the Siren's Call

[cynicalmusings]

i feel like heizou’s the kind of person whom, before you get to know him personally, you would hear a lot of negative gossip, comments, etc. about — he’s arrogant, cocky, weird, turns his nose up at the rules when he feels like it, bunks classes when they don’t suit him… you try not to judge him too much solely based on hearsay, but neither does he strike you as the kind of guy you’d be that interested in getting to know.

and then you run into this guy one day. you haven’t seen him before, but he’s kind, funny, and terribly clever, so you ask him his name. and he tells you, and you’re like… oh. this person is really lovely and nothing like what people say? but, you suppose, there could be more to him than meets the eye, and it’s possible these negative traits become apparent the more you get to know him.

you start to hang out more, finding more out about each other, and still none of those infamous traits jump out at you. sure, he’s a little chaotic sometimes, somewhat sly at others, not too concerned with social norms, and talks his ‘intuition’ up a lot, but there’s nothing inherently harmful about any of these things. he’s just a… really nice guy who’s not totally conventional, and for that reason he’s getting shit-talked behind his back.

as you grow closer (whether that be as friends or something else), the rumours start to get on your nerves. he doesn’t seem bothered whatsoever by the negative reputation he’s built up, yet you can’t help but feel this frustration that he’s the victim of these inaccurate judgements, even if he himself doesn’t care. he can tell it’s bothering you, and reassures you he really doesn’t mind it—as long as the people he truly cares about see him positively, he doesn’t mind about how good or bad he is to the rest—but it’s still hard to simply sit by and let these things be said, some by people you know/ are acquainted with.

(this isn’t exactly an x reader drabble as much as it is how i imagine heizou’s reputation in-game translating into a modern setting. i find this unfortunate rumour-spreading happens quite a lot in real life to people who… seem totally normal and decent? there are some people i know—not necessarily ones i’m close to, but friends of friends and that kind of thing—who have these kinds of things said about them, and it’s honestly quite tiring overhearing it sometimes and feeling like you’re one of the only ones who hasn’t jumped on the bandwagon and is aware that the object of the gossip isn’t as bad as they’re made out to be.

(the nature of gossip is quite interesting to me in that regard — how people can be so interested in talking bad about someone they barely know. but that same fact is also very irritating to me, and i feel like something similar to these feelings would arise if heizou received similar treatment, which, judging by what even some of the other playable characters say about him, i believe would be the case.)

[campbell-rose]

Hazbin Trailer + Rewrite Spitballing

The Hazbin Trailer omg

I finally watched it and like... it's so bad guys. Honestly, the only people I pity are the animators and the pilot voice actors, and the new actors too. Blake Roman especially, the man is super talented, but trying to fill the massive shoes of Michael is weighing his performance down so bad. Honestly, if Viv wasn't a petty brat, she could've kept Michael and gotten Blake as the singing voice.

Apparently there's a war on Heaven plot? I hope to god not, like that's NOT THE PREMISE. God Viv just cannot stick to her premises, can she? This happened with Zoophobia, initially it seemed like it was going to follow Cameron but slowly lost focus on her. Then Helluva Boss losing the hired assassin plot for the sake of shitty Stolitz drama. Seems redeeming sinners is going to be a side plot which is unfortunate because that was one of the biggest things i wanted from this show. I remember when i used to love Vivziepop and i got so excited for the pilot of Hazbin. Redeeming sinneers, that sounded so cool. It's what got me into demonology and was a big part of my life. Sad to see this happen.

I genuinely hate the stupid trope of heaven, the place that is literally paradise for good people, being bad. Like, i cannot feasibly imagine a universe in which Viv manages to write that in any compelling way. And why is it just ‘heaven bad’??? This could be an interesting story that discusses the nature of good and bad, talks about what makes someone a good person, should people be given redemption if they already blew their chance, is the definition of 'good' wrong? Like, in the hands of competent writers, Hazbin could be an interesting story, like a Walmart Good Place! But no, heaven bad, let's go kill angels that say fuck.

Like, as an example of my above point, let’s look at a familiar face from Helluva Boss, Mrs. Mayberry. 

She killed someone, tried to kill someone, then herself, and is now in hell. But a good question could be raised of if her being in hell is even justified. Yes, she killed a person (and attempted to kill another) which is not a good thing to do. But she killed her husband in a fit of rage after seeing him cheating on her – like actively, red handed, balls deep cheating on her. From what we see of her before her death, she seems like an attentive and caring teacher and wife, she even says herself she was ‘good my entire life’. Her students love her, and literally the reason she kills herself seems to be because she realizes that they saw her literally murder someone. She did choke and throw a child, but that was played for comedy so I'm not counting that against her. She kills herself because she’s so shocked about what she’s done. She’s bitter because she’s in hell.  

Her husband was a cheater and the woman she tried to kill was a murderer and a cannibal, so by that logic, doesn’t her killing a bad person negate the killing? Yes, murder is bad, she should’ve controlled herself, but this was one terrible moment in a lifetime of being good. Like, say someone kills a pedobear, is the person commiting the murder a bad person for killing someone who deserved it? Not that her husband deserved to die for cheating, a good beat down maybe. If a good person kills a bad person, does that make them a bad person too? Or does it come down to intention? Did the good only kill the bad for a selfish reason?

That’s an interesting conundrum (in my opinion). Does she deserve to redeem herself? How would she redeem herself? If I keep thinking on it, i'll ramble, but that's my thinking. Anyway, this made me think about a rewrite that follows this line of thinking.

I’ve come to the conclusion that Charlie being an angel and Vaggie being her Exterminator guard who goes with her to hell to redeem sinners is the best way to make this mess an interesting thing. Like, Charlie is an optimistic angel who thinks the extermination of sinners is inhumane and that the standards of Heaven need changed. Vaggie is literally trained to kill sinners and sees Charlie’s efforts as futile but is assigned to help her anyway. Makes sense why everyone would disrespect Charlie and treat her like an idiot for wanting to redeem sinners, instead of insulting the daughter of FUCKING LUCIFER HIMSELF, they’re laughing at an angel who came down out of nowhere and is acting high and mighty.

Also, Charlie can keep the name Charlie Magne instead of Morningstar because she's no longer Lucifer's daughter. Vaggie is just V. boom, problem solved, i'm a genius.

Have a doodle

[ups3tti]

Morro's original quest to find the tomb of the FSM is something I think about a lot. Because on the surface level all it is is a huge challenge on a quest, and Morro was just a teenager on a quest. I don't know what he did to get sent to the cursed realm, but I'm also dubious of the cursed realms vetting tactics for several reasons lol. He died on a quest as an angry desperate teenager and then got sent to hell for longer than he was even alive. Where was he supposed to put the anger when it was all around him like that. What else was there to do but let it condense. What else was there to do but fight, and then fight his way to the top, being likely the youngest there and coming from his background of course he wanted to prove himself again. He became cruel and malicious and it shows, but how he GOT to that point is such a time.

Imagine being Wu and watching your student full of misplaced drive and arrogance leave that day, and then decades later he comes back and all the hate and malice that turned into knocks you and your current students to the ground. The wild switch from trying to defy destiny to trying to annihilate all of Ninjago. Man

[stars-too-tired]

I've seen people comment on my fic and apologize for commenting on it and I'd like to ease your worries.

As a writer I adore every single comment I received full stop.

It doesn't matter if you're spamming hearts, quoting a line, making a joke, or even just expressing your opinion it makes me smile just knowing you enjoyed it enough to comment <3

Authors love when you interact with their fics. Whether it be a kudos, a comment, fanart or a fanwork we cherish it!!!

I write to share with people with similar interests! What's the point of writing if I'm judging and criticizing the ones who share my interests.

[amberluvsbugs]

My version of Ivan Seal's 'Pittor pickgown in khatheinstersper' (Everywhere At The End Of Time - Stage 2) I had the need to illustrate this out cause I could not unsee it and I want others to see this as well. Please look at the original piece while reading this if you wish to compare my variant with Ivan Seals. (Also listen to the music album for context, it's a representation of the stages of dementia.) All I could see were two lovers, dancing around in a meadow chasing after each other around, and around, and around. Perhaps it was a small cherished memory of the olden days back in the 1950s or 80s, when you had met your first lover in youth. Their faces shrouded in a veil, unsure what the exact faces look like but you know who they are. The silhouetted features and attire are still prevalent in the memory but is slowly diminishing in color vibrancy. The vase holding flowers that are showing the first signs of wilt in death. The top of the bloom starting to be too heavy to support the top of the steam. At the bottom of the vase, between the two lovers, is a crack. Signifying the first stages of the loving memory chipping away into the eventual blur of forgetting. The music that goes along with this piece just makes it that more impactful. Stage 2 being more somber in the last moments before stage 3, where the synapse in the neurons starts becoming more chaotic, tangled, and broken. Drifting the memory into permanent oblivion.

[caelanglang]

Uhh maybe more fem! skk??

You can have the first page of my skk sketch canvas #3! (i don't remember if this was my first attempt of fem skk but,, yes.)

bikini warning (?)

The outfits were inspired by Nawy's fem skk art! I've seen a lot of pretty fem skk art but this one was truly the one that inspired me to draw the girls! idk There's just something so beautiful about the way Nawy draws them that just struck with me. It's so close to the canon designs and just. the way how there's really not much difference between the boys and girls version just slapped me so hard um I don't wanna go introspective with gender here but I just genuinely love the feeling Nawy's girls have. hi Nawy, if you're reading this I hope you know how much I admire you :3 I wanna draw like you someday aaaaaaaa

[mossycakes]

the absolute saddest part of bcs are the amount of opportunities that would have changed jimmy's outcome that were missed. if chuck had believed in him, if howard hired him, if jimmy saw that therapist, if the skaters got a life and didnt jump in front of him, the list is endless.

i think the ending of bcs is absolutely perfect, in the sense that nothing particularly tragic actually happens to him, other than going to prison where he was perfectly happy. despite this missed opportunities, at least he didnt end up extremely dead in a pit with howard and lalo ...

not to be an english lit nerd but of course thats an important feature of tragedy, the missed opportunities and chances where things could have gone better. i just think bcs does this really well, so that when he tries to murder the old lady in s6 and he all of a sudden realises what hes become, it hurts extra good.

[what-nope]

i hate being obsessed with things because i feel like an asshole when someone tells me something. and i'm like- "well, actually-"

like, claire's va explaining how cleon wouldn't work out. the actual va who probably knows better than me says they wouldn't work out because claire is too straightforward for leon, and he likes the mystery.

i would be the asshole who says, "well, leon never really liked mystery. he was clearly frustrated with ada's lack of speaking many times. in re4 og, he was more okay with her not speaking because he was too horny to actually think. in re6, he just accepted that he will never get an answer because then he sounds bitter in vendetta over ada. leon then in the remake is clearly frustrated over ada in re4 remake. the real reason cleon wouldn't work in both remake and original is that claire is just not interested in leon or least doesn't care enough to flirt back. in og, claire and leon barely connect and in darkside, claire is just seeing a guy flirt with ada. why would that be a turn-on? then, in their shared movie, claire is once again seeing implied fucking with angela. why would claire waste her time with a womanizer? especially when he seems emotionally in a relationship with ada?

in the remakes, leon flirts around like a school boy around claire in re2 remake, but he knows her mind is stuck in finding her brother. when sherry asks if claire and leon are dating, leon is terribly awkward about it without properly denying it. claire is the one who doesn't see or care for his advances. because the story even says it. they just met. claire in infinite darkness, probably barely speaks to leon because he is probably busy with missions. and leon FLIRTS with claire. inviting her for a dinner. he doesn't mind claire's attitude (straightforwardness), and doesn't give her information to keep her safe. claire is hopeful that leon will help her get the information and is actually hurt when the man she trusted doesn't help her. in death island, leon clearly does care for claire in the little we see of them, but they don't have the time. the story doesn't do romance. we know and established this since the beginning. claire and leon needs the actual time to settle, and the story won't give it. that's why cleon won't happen."

*sigh*

sorry for being me