#You can be certain that I had a LOT of concept art drawn in that five year timespan... more than enough to fill a slides presentation XD

[stardestroyer81]

This past Saturday marked the five year anniversary of Mega Man Ultimate's conception, and my good friends got to see a slides presentation of my sizeable archive of five years worth of concept art and early sprites dating as far back as late 2017!

One such early sprite was the very first stage select portrait for Zap Man, in which I had drawn him in a front-facing angle rather a 3/4ths angle. My sister @stephysalcido suggested I ought to remaster Zap Man's original stage select portrait, and what I ended up with not only exceeded my expectations but looks wicked cool too! 💙✨

[dduane]

Hello! Do you think your conception of magic in YW is influenced at all by computer code? Between High Wizardry and some of the website admin stuff you discuss here, I'm guessing you've coded at least a little.

I'm an actor-turned-librarian who's cobbled together a little bit of coding competency through goofing off. The other day I tried to explain how I conceptualize a coding project and, well, first you need to figure out something's name -- and make sure you're properly specific for the context, you may need a lot of detail in how you name it -- and then you can start figuring out how to persuade it to do what you want ....

So I guess it's sort of a chicken-and-egg question: have I conceptualized coding in the image of my favorite fictional magic systems, or have I been generally drawn to magic systems with a sort of code-y, process-y inspiration?

I wouldn't like to second-guess your in-brain structure. But I can talk about my historical processes a bit, as they may apply to this.

Let me step back slightly. Before* I was a writer, I was a nurse. Before I was a nurse, I was studying to be an astrophysicist. Both of these arts/sciences require a certain sense of the hard structure of the universe—of the ways it requires you to put bits of it together if you're going to get anything useful done. This general outlook has determined, to a certain extent, how I interact with the nuts and bolts of the online world.

More historically speaking: I'm one of an unusual stratum of computer users who were technologically orphaned by the (bankruptcy) failure of the Osborne computer company in the mid-1980s. Those of us who had these machines, and who were at all techie-oriented, quickly became WAY more so in an attempt to keep our Osbornes running after the company went under. We learned how to keep our babies going without any available support, and when we moved on to other machines, we quickly became expert in fixing them... having learned the bitter lesson that when your computer fails, most of the time you're the only one you're going to be able to rely on to keep it going.

We learned to do things for ourselves, from the bottom up: hardware to programming. That mindset has remained with me from then until now.

After my Osborne, I moved from an early Apple (lent by our old friend Michael Reaves) to various early DOS/TRS machines when I moved over to this side of the Atlantic. I wrote Star Trek: The Kobayashi Alternative on a TRS-80 Model 100, gods bless its gentle hardworking heart. (I can still see in my mind the pale, pine-panelled interior of the ancient creaky London hotel, just south of Notting Hill Gate Tube, where I did most of the Trek work while I was in town on other business. I'd hooked the computer's modem to the hotel's phone system with alligator clips.) While Peter and I were later sorting out where we'd live on this side of things, for a long time—before portable computers, except for the TRS—the big machines lived in the boot of the Volvo while we migrated from place to place. And always the alligator clips were there.

Finally we settled in Ireland, and not too long after us, so did the Internet. (But not before I had to go up to Dublin one time, with the alligator clips again FFS!, and show the adorably clueless national telephone company guys how to hook up/in. ...I never pass that building without thinking of it: once Telecom Eireann, then Eircom, then Eir. Now it's a Starbucks. No matter. I remember where to hook the alligator clips in.)

And then, with the internet, lo, there came the (net-oriented) coding. Our first household web site went online in 1995. I handcoded our site's HTML. (Because what's a girl to do: wait for the techbois to make such work accessible or affordable? Bwahahahaha.) I continued to do that until the early 2000s, at which point I moved our sites to Drupal and learned its obscure ways. These days—having decided that Updating Damn Drupal Core Every Week is not what my mom raised me for—I've migrated all our household sites to WordPress, and I like it. I still pay a lot of attention to them, but at least I don't have to custom-code every whole damn page. I'm happy enough to let Elementor do that, while inserting occasional custom CSS, because (a) I have other writing to do, and (b) Life Is Too Short.

(I also used to hand-build our household computers, because (a) money was short and (b) why not know exactly what all your hardware is? But more recently I've started letting Scan in the UK do that. It's another Life Is Too Short thing... and Scan does good work. Lovely tight builds, and good customer service when needed.)

So: yeah, I code. :) Is the Young Wizards universe’s spell structure influenced by that? Uh, yeah. Inevitable, I’d think. Habit is such a taskmaster.

Meanwhile, summing up: I'm fluent in HTML. I'm nearly as fluent in CSS. I have enough PHP to be dangerous (to myself as well as others). I have memories of C that I can dredge up when necessary. I generated most of the Rihannsu language in MS-BASIC, gods bless it. ...And beyond that (as we say around here), deponent saith not. :)

*Or “while”, as I started writing when I was six or seven.

[prince-kallisto]

“An amusement park full of free games, rides, and food? I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to take a day off from my strenuous duties to goof off- I mean to supervise you all!”

This is my silly design for Crowley’s “Playful Land” event costume haha \(//∇//)\ Since the full story isn’t out yet, I may have jumped the gun a bit…but since all the students look like puppets, I thought it would be fun for Crowley to have a ringmaster theme. However, the outer accessories were meant to disguise him as a clown with a lot of inspiration drawn from carnival/fair attractions like carousels, shooting games, etc. But underneath it all, he’s still wearing a ringmaster’s outfit, if that makes sense

I talk more about my concept sketches and thought process below!

These two photos above are meant to be the final concept art showcasing my mental image of how his outfit works haha.

This design came to me surprisingly quick since I had a strong mental image of what I wanted him to look like. However, I DO wish I kept exploring with his design. I usually spend a lot of time in the exploration phase, especially when it’s for a nicer drawing. This above concept art was pretty much the “final” design I made before I started drawing him. And as you can tell from the finished art, there were quite a few changes…the amount of changed details alone make it an entirely different outfit haha. It caused me a lot of pain while sketching AND inking…I think I got overexcited with this event and I jumped right into inking. In fact, I had a start from scratch after inking my first art- the proportions and design was all wrong haha. A lesson learned.

From the start, I knew I wanted a ringmaster-disguised-as-a-clown theme, but I think the detachable clown pants really put it all together haha. I like outfits that can “shed” themselves to reveal a hidden theme underneath.

In his initial final design, he had a red feathered coat, meant to resemble the feathers in the students hats. This was one of the many things that changed last minute because I didn’t like how the big cost looks in Crowley’s pose haha. But I like this change better actually- it stands out to his usual headmasters coat, and it resembles Malleus’s masquerade cape. His coat lapels are decorated to look like a piano- I think there was a piano scene in Pinocchio? I actually didn’t check at all…

The carousel hat was the first thing I came up with haha, I thought it was funny. I wonder if it’s functional…that would be a funny animation haha. His bird mask is too iconic to drastically change, so it’s just a different color and shape with some beading to look like clown makeup/tears. I love how the novel describes Crowley as flamboyant yet melancholic…

I’ve only gone to a fair once in my life many years ago, so I had to search up common carnival games. I’ve seen festival games in Japanese media, where a rifle with a wooden cork is used to shoot down plushies/other prizes- and I think it would be a really fun and eccentric cane design haha. Perhaps if someone is really misbehaving, he can aim a cork at them? 🤭

The shape of his tie and thigh harness was another sudden design choice made during official drawing, but I like it! It incorporated the ribbons everyone else has without having Crowley being the one “controlled.” The gold points on his shoes are actually removable- it’s part of his “clown” theme. The white spats were made to match him with Fellow Honest- like a hint that he’s not one of the performers since he matches with the owner of Playful Land. Ahhh I’m still learning how to use gouache, and the background was a mess…but it’s inspired off of this Pinocchio concept art! It’s so gorgeous! I’m sorry Ortho…

And finally, the masks on his waist. They’re wrapped around his waist with rope, and are made to resemble the faces of certain characters. Average Kallisto moment of being the most unsubtle person ever with my theories LMAO. Anyway, I thought it would be the perfect event to include various masks on his costume in a similar placement where the mirrors are in his regular outfit. Since he has a lot of carnival game themes in his outfit, perhaps he can pretend he’s a mask vendor haha.

@marrondrawsalot Haha I’m not sure if you remember, but a long while back I made a Glorious Masquerade Crowley design, and we decided that I could tag you if I made a future event design. It’s been a while! ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡

[dwcmarshalarts]

I adore your style and content - I’m considering doing masters studies of some of your pieces just to try it out, but I’m still fairly new to art. I was curious if there’s any part of your process or any particular advice you’d have?

Gave this answer before to someone who asked me the same question, and I think it still counts! 1) Build stamina. You can do this by drawing often- and with intention. Start your drawing with a warm up- something light, not overly serious. Focus more on the literal mechanical feeling of your hand moving to draw. Then focus on the heavier stuff after you’ve both literally and mentally warmed up, setting the stage for more involved drawing. Make this a routine and drawing overall will be less tiring over time.

2) Focus on replicability, not detail. This goes hand in hand with the previous point. A lot of people develop a kind of perfectionism early on, where they get overly attached to a specific sketch and don’t wanna budge from it, and put details until it “looks good,” even when the subject as a whole is wonky. I like to equate this to “too much icing, not enough cake,” or “building on sand foundations.” I’ve been there before, and it can hold you back. Instead of focusing on a specific piece and how you rendered it that one time, focus on how you render it such that you could do something similar, easily replicate the concept. Once you’ve built more stamina, you can open up the gates to tackling the same subject matter in different ways.

3) Mind your mark making. Some folks agonize over the tiniest detail, sometimes for hours. At the end of the day, that itself doesn’t necessarily bring improvement- that’s more of a test of patience. Unless someone specifically asks, you don’t- for example- need to draw every single ridge of every knob on a switchboard in great detail. These things can be implied through mark making. Remember, a lot of drawing isn’t about literally making something for people to see- it’s tricking the eye into believing what’s drawn is actually there. You’ll be amazed at what detail can be like even when you don’t define every part.

4) Drawing is more seeing than “making it up.” * Don’t be afraid to use references and such. It’ll help you render form than imagining it- sometimes the imagination can conjure things incorrectly. *Even seasoned artists who don’t typically use too much references need to do studies from life or books every now and then to reinforce skills.

One point I didn't add before for style things specifically is: 5) Look where the artist got their inspirations from if you want to learn from them. No art exists within a vaccuum, everyone has their influences. Trying to do a study from someone's art will only take you so far- because then it'll feel more like mimicry than actual, learned study. Research or try to see parallels with artists that you might think had a hand in influencing a given artist's style. Notice the patterns there- certain textures are invoked here, this form was defined like this, etc. A lot of folks confuse wanting "more of a thing" as opposed to "what makes that thing desirable/unique." If you'd like to know where some of my influences come from, I'd say look at the works of Squiddy, covers for Hellboy comics, and the Snowpiercer graphic novel.

Addendum: If you're looking to draw anatomy specifically- study from real anatomy, and learn how to do those before you begin to "break the rules" (exaggerate, anthropomorphize, etc). For resources on that, I'd recommend the Morpho books (all of them haha) and Dynamic Human Anatomy by Roberto Osti.

Hope this helps somewhat, feel free to ask if I missed anything.

[earthstellar]

Image Comics has dropped their solicits for December 2023, and it looks like Duke #1 is where the Transformers/GI Joe crossover is gonna start really kicking off for the Energon Universe.

I know the general reception to the crossover at the end of ROTB was pretty rough, so it's interesting that they're getting the ball rolling in a GI Joe mini-series.

Personally, my dad was drafted into two wars against his will and suffered greatly for it, so I never had any interest in GI Joe because my dad vehemently hated that shit, as he felt it glorified war to children and that this is morally unacceptable. (He preferred the depiction of Army life of that era in MASH, which he said was at least more honest and aimed at adults.)

I also had classmates who ended up joining the military who had been big fans of GI Joe, two of whom were killed in Afghanistan. I know GI Joe wasn't the only factor involved in their decisions, but it certainly does not make me inclined to like the franchise.

My mother lost her first husband in Vietnam. He had also been drafted against his will. (I strongly dislike the GI Joe Vietnam era material in particular, for perhaps obvious reasons.)

So, I admit my general dislike of the concept of GI Joe as a franchise is at least partly based in my own trauma (and that of my family) relating to the US Army.

I've never been a GI Joe person and never will be (on moral and trauma based grounds), so I fully admit I am not well versed on the lore of that universe, and as such, it's hard for me to make any guesses at what Duke #1 might bring.

But what interests me is that on certain forums and other social media, I've seen very limited audience hype about this crossover in general, especially from the Transformers crowd.

After the extremely progressive writing and fresh visual style and designs of the IDW Transformers storylines which appealed to a lot of people across several age ranges and generations of fans, it feels weird (to me at least) to suddenly have a more old school style crossover with what is essentially a US military propaganda franchise-- At a time when the sociopolitical zeitgeist is that "going traditional" is often associated with "going backwards".

All art is political, and so on.

But I do wonder if what seems to be a lack of audience hype is partially due to the fact that not a lot of Transformers fans (at least, not many under the age of 40 based on what I'm seeing around the internet at the moment) seem to be all that into GI Joe.

A lot of young people are not exactly in love with US military fantasies, and the last Transformers comic series with IDW was a big hit with younger/teen readers-- A lot of that audience might be lost, here.

(And vice-versa from what I can tell, although I'm not in any GI Joe fan spaces so I'm not sure what the mood might be in that community in regards to the Transformers element of this crossover.)

All that having been said, the Energon Universe is only just getting started, and who knows what the comics will actually contain!

I do like G1, so I like the designs for the Transformers as drawn in this run this far.

And who knows, maybe they'll do something new with GI Joe for this. I'm aware that in at least one of the cartoons, they were essentially on the run from the military instead of working for it, which is an interesting twist. Perhaps something similar might happen here, with some Joes siding with the Autobots instead?

It's not fair to judge before a comic is even released, so I'm just thinking out loud here in regards to the crossover concept in general.

I'd be interested to hear what anyone else thinks:

Will you be checking out Duke #1 as a Transformers fan interested in the crossover?

Have any of you been interested in GI Joe previously?

If you're an IDW Transformers fan, are you interested in the Energon Universe?

Any other thoughts on the crossover, any conjecture or hopes for the direction of this run?

I want to give the Energon Universe a chance, but as I mentioned, I do have some difficulty attempting to get into GI Joe in general.

That having been said, I guess we'll have to wait and see what they do with this crossover.

[carmenbathwater]

Hi, I really like the art of Lucci you've drawn, they seem very interesting. Can you tell me about them?

OH I CERTAINLY CAN LET ME GET MY THINGS

^by Dior

This is my limbus sinner oc Lucci!! Its based off of lucifer from tha bible and revolves heavily around the idea of original sin

It lived in lcorp's nest, now the former lcorp ofc-- Lucci was born to wealthy (but not too wealthy) parents who pushed it to constantly "be better", which is of course a very vague concept. This influenced a lot of Lucci's upbringing, constantly feeling unworthy of the life it lived and as if it always had to Do More. Lucci was also a genetically altered child, its parents picked and chose which traits they wanted it to have. Here are their rough references for your viewing pleasure~

When Lucci was roughly of the age 16, it ventured outside the lcorp nest through a gap in the walls created by a decrepit abandoned factory with ties to prosthetics manufacturing. Lucci, who was never quite known for anything, never quite good enough for anything, made close ties with someone for the first time. They were several years older but encouraging that Lucci had something special in its mind.

This "something special" was the belief that humanity is inherently born sinful, and machinery is not. Lucci at this point, is familiar with mechanics and prosthetics, despite only owning those that are completely aesthetic at this point. Lucci is pushed towards the belief that to absolve the sinful humanity, everyone should implant as many machines as possible into themselves. This belief starts to spread, with Lucci living a double life, one within the walls of the nest, where it is nothing, and another where it is suddenly bolstered to the most important person in the room.

^another by Dior, for your viewing pleasures

After Lobotomy corporation falls in the white nights and dark days, Lucci garners far more traction from suffering nest residents and backstreet residents that flock to the growing cause. Lucci feels powerful for the first time in its life, and falls easily to manic preaching. To imbue machinery to yourself is to dilute the humanity that poisons the soul, by its words. Throughout this time, its very first friend, its now right hand partner, manages it. They dispense calming sleeping pills, encourage fits of mania at the opportune moments, and stoke the flames that Lucci inspires in its new followers.

Enter the library.

Lucci hears of the library, and the machine that resides inside, and sets about procuring one of these 'invitations'. It doesn't take long before one finds it's way to it. Lucci sends its followers outside of the garden, the abandoned factory that they have named Eden, the birthplace of their new movement. Many of its followers fail the library's trial, and Lucci sends more, until finally it sends its right hand to procure a book of machinery. Within such a book, Lucci is certain there must be the secret to curing their sinful bodies.

It's right hand partner fails to return, but Lucci gets a book. Before even part of its plan begins a stranger intervenes. Lucci mistakenly recounts that this stranger is by certainty an enforcer from the head, sent to dispatch it before it's beliefs sprout from their seedlings. Lucci is caught up in the ensuring slaughter, using its followers as shields. The factory that it had made its home in crumbles under the battle, and Lucci becomes caught in one of the machines. To escape, the snake loses its tail. Just the same, Lucci loses an arm and two fingers of its other hand, which is enough to convince the stranger that somewhere within the viscera, Lucci is soundly dead.

Instead of dying, Lucci drags itself from the backstreets to lick its wounds. Only kept alive by its desperation to live, Lucci sells the prosthetics it garnered during its time in the nest and buys cheaper replacements, including its arm. It butchers its memories, selling off muscle memory and skills that it half developed in its years of constant betterment. This is enough to survive until it's approached by Limbus company with the offer of a contract. Finally, that spark is reinvigorated in its eyes, the chance to obtain that very thing it wished for. Lucci is hired to recoup for the lost bough after canto 4 within limbus company timeline<3 Where they promptly become FASCINATED with Dante's prosthetics.

^here's some more commissioned work for your eyes sake

Lucci and Dante pair very well together romantically or not. Lucci encourages them often when they feel unsure, and Dante often, being Dante, encourages Lucci to soften up and allow someone else to see it. Lucci carries the heavy burden of sacrificing its following to survive, and knowingly sending them to the slaughter in the library. Dante reaffirms that it doesn't need to be better to accept warmth, as Lucci has so often shut out due to the fear that it simply will never be good enough.

Lucci is heavily fixated on the concept of absolving humanity completely, and copes with this through the use of multiple prosthetics including spinal augments and its arm, of course. Their canto revolves around the theme of inhumanity, and how Lucci perceives machinery as the only way to release itself of its burdens and finally be good enough to be loved for what it is. It has trouble building connections because of its "lack of proper humanity"(this is a metaphorical used to mean autistic).

During its canto, Lucci reunites with its right hand partner, and is led back to the factory where it all began to find the bough. Its partner has already contained and sealed the bough, but as Lucci steps forward to receive it, they rebuke it. They tell Lucci of every last thought they had, how they were manipulating it, how they were only there to garner a following through it. How Lucci led all of those poor, naive people into the slaughter, be it the library or the awaiting collapse that killed the last of its followers. They tell Lucci with certainty, that no matter how much it has tried, its only doomed to repeat and harm everything it desperately reaches for. Lucci is no more than a poison, the snake that feeds them the apple. Lucci will be a detriment to everything it touches.

The thrashing of a fight ensues, but is interrupted by Lucci finally cracking. Their words finally reach it. The loathing, the despair consumes it completely and it distorts into a giant metal serpent. The serpent spews smog that turns bystanders to metal guards. These guards push back against the sinners desperately trying to reach it as Lucci swallows the bough whole. the choice to prompt a sinner to speak to Lucci fails, and the sinner is turned into a metal soldier while the serpent flails desperately. Lucci believes fully that it must be the origin of all evil, that to save the warmth it so covets, the only way to rid everyone of their sin is to destroy itself, so that no more will innocent people succumb to the cold, consuming metal.

Finally, as the battle grows desperate, Dante steps forward to call out to Lucci, and is promptly swallowed by the distortion. Inside it is dry, but the heat of molten metal and smog is closing in slowly as they descend, looking for the source of its pain.

The bough it swallowed is lodged in its side. And Dante, conversing with the serpent, makes the choice to show it kindness by removing the painful object. Despite Lucci desperately begging to leave the wound, to allow it to feel pain for the suffering it causes to others, even to Dante now.

Just as the molten metal begins to singe and unbearably burn their lower body, Dante is spit out with a harsh spewing of smog, perfectly intact and protected from the distortion's effects.

The sinner can be revived with the turn of a clock, and the battle against the serpent begins in earnest. Instead of fighting, the battle becomes one of endurance as the serpent charges and flails, slowly becoming sluggish and its cries becoming quieter without the bough's power. Through the endurance the serpent finally quiets, and Lucci reverts to itself again, born anew and sobbing. Dante finally gets through to it that the warmth it seeks so fervently is already there, all it has to do is accept it. It never needed to absolve its sins, and it already was a person worthy of that warmth.

Theres other things as well such as how it routinely steals weapons and clothes and items as a practical joke, hiding them. It treats the sinners like a crow pulling a dogs tail and flapping away while it barks. Lucci speaks with a gravely voice from a now missing vocal prosthetic, it is 6'2ft, it cradles people its fond of by wrapping its prosthetic around around them. It's favorite color is black, because it can imagine anything hidden in its darkness. Lucci uses pistols as a weapon, costing the company millions and millions in bullets, it tucks these guns into bed with itself frequently and very seriously. It is overly fond of sweets and crossword puzzles. I can go on for days<3 Here's one last picture of them for the road~

^Artist link

^these two and its parents are my art ^^

[genericpuff]

Hello! As a previous fan of LO (back when there was actual effort in the art and I mistakenly thought certain themes and symbolism would be carried through the story) I’m really excited to see what you do with these characters! I was honestly pretty invested in the whole fertility/death goddess dissonance I initially thought was going on, so you can guess I was mega disappointed with where the story went. And I’m already way happier that you’ve begun to build off their relationship as something tangible and emotional, rather than insta love.

Honestly, when I first started reading I thought a major plot point was gonna be Persephone having to balance these two sides of her self that are in conflict, and come out to be a goddess of spring and new growth from decay and death. I thought it was gonna be clever, since that’s kinda what springs like, right? New life and growth from death and rotting matter of the previous seasons. That and the whole ‘red eyed wrath’ thing she had going seemed like a fun hint that she was suppressing her real emotions, and a lot (but not all) of her overly sweet personality was to cover that and be what she thought she was supposed to be. Kinda sad in retrospect, but that’s part of why I’m excited to see where your reimagining goes!

First off, been loving the asks I've been getting from y'all the last little bit, it's a great way to keep stuff updated here in between new Rekindled uploads and essay dumps LMAO so keep 'em coming!

Moving on-

I was really hoping to see that same kind of dissonance carry through the story as well, and it's proooobably one of the biggest things I'll be tackling in this rewrite because it was the one thing I was most disappointed to see fall through in LO.

Fun fact, a lot of my writing over the past decade has focused on dualities like this, alter egos, buried trauma, light vs. dark, host vs. parasite, etc. many of which were concepts you would find in stuff like Undertale, Omori, etc. but like... before those things even existed (I've been writng and making comics online for... a looong time.) I suppose it's the weeb in me that's drawn to these types of personifications of personal dark sides that are present in elements like Chara, Headspace/Black Space, etc. Needless to say, playing games like Undertale and Omori was like, super validating LMAO (if not a little oof because it also reminds me that my ideas aren't that original but that's not a bad thing, there's no such thing as an original idea anymore and that's what makes writing such a great process!)

So like... I weirdly feel that the plots and character dynamics/tropes I usually write and thought no one was interested in has prepared me for this one specific thing??? And it's for a fucking Lore Olympus rewrite comic jfc-

The universe has a funny way of preparing you for things you never expected to be guided to, I suppose. The only fallout is I'm not really eager to share my normal work on this blog due to how rabid/pervasive Rachel's fanbase is (and, y'know, Rachel herself) and I'd rather just protect my usual projects from that potential mess because my usual projects are the ones that are wholly my own, and I intend to still be working on long after Rekindled is done.

But trust me, it's out there and its heartbeat is in perfect sync with that of Rekindled's.

Maybe that'll be the essay I write at the end of all this.

[spacedinosaur2000]

Projects List

Been meaning to write a post on this but in case anyone is curious what I'm up to, I am up to a lot.

I try to make a big list/write up of a list of projects I wanna do on a given year so with 2023 Here's my progress of what I've worked on or am working on:

1.) Art:

So the big main thing that I consider it's own thing is just whatever art project I do, a sketch etc. for this year the main pieces I did Are these two pieces:

As for were most of my art is atm (I am posting stuff here and on twitter but kit's stuff I already posted on Deviant Art):

Fair warning, janky Anatomy. Still working on getting better.

2.) Videos:

So this mostly comprises my YouTube work, now I have too many uploads to post on here. So I will just post a link to my YouTube:

3.) Website:

This one is iffy at the moment, been trying to make a website for my works or just collecting all my works. I tried using Wix, I need to budget for actually buying a domain and etc but it did allow me to do like a design a base version before you publish it. Problem is it only allowed me to upload a certain amount of media and I tried to clear some things and tried to do some basic here's my portfolio thing. Unfortunately I didn't get far with it so it's on the back burner for now.

4.) Production Company:

This is more of a specific dream, I know you can like pay for some LLC or whatnot but honestly I might do that whenever I have an actual thing for it, like If I have a good enough short animated feature that I can submit for a film festival or something.

I have a couple proof of concept logos:

So We'll see what happens. Basically this isn't something that won't manifest until another project is actually finished, Like a proper project.

5.) Comics-The Buggs:

So Yeah I have a not great but serviceable webcomic (which I kinda have in a bit of a filler arc just cause I already feel sorta drained of ideas for this). Not sure How long I'll continue this, was hoping this be a good weekly webcomic thing to shill out to show I'm still making stuff.

Previously I had with a special comic strips booklet made a 14 strip comic that I posted on webtoons here:

This I posted on 2021 but was something I worked on from like 2018 to then.

6.) Essay-Godzilla and Themes:

So yeah I had some ideas for some essays I thought I would try my hand at. This one I thought would be a good introduction to my views my favourite franchise, Godzilla. Unfortunately this might have been too much of an undertaking. This was inspired by a shitpost I've always been iffy on and was an attempt to set the record straight, talking about individual movies that DO or DO NOT tackle something and the ones that do tackle a theme or message Differs from each other in drastic ways. Tho I might Can it. I dunno. Gonna do a baseline draft going through every era and see if I can produce something out of it or if I should cut my losses and move on to a different essay.

7.) Write Up-Comic Creation:

So I thought with the book I have on various how to do subjects that I would create a resource for myself but I do think I could release what I have to like pastebin or something. Kinda a weird entry in my list of projects.

8.) Books-Godzilla Unmade:

Was inspired by this book here:

Wanted to do a version of this book but with Godzilla films. However I still need to research Legalities. Honestly cause I'm a nobody, this is a book project that won't get to see the light of day until maybe later if i somehow get some book publishing clout. Still I decided to do a private research document that I could string into a first draft and if by some miracle I end up meeting up with some publisher, who knows.

9.) 2D Animation-Foodchain (Cancelled):

So this is another project that's finished but it was apart of this list I'm posting, just to catch everyone here up.

Basically an attempt at traditional animation I wanted to do before moving on to digital 2D animation. Some issues with the scanning process happened so I had to do things a different way and I got kinda sick of this so this project will remain unfinished.

10.) Stop Motion-Transit:

I just finished a script for this but I am still currently working on a stop motion short film based on a really morbid thought I had while in a skytrain that was getting more and more crowded. Gonna be a lot of work and i don't wanna screw up what otherwise could be a neat creepy short film. Hoping to submit this to horror festivals around Canada. Right now I'm just in the process of storyboarding.

This project is also a replacement for last years Stop Motion project I did as a test short:

This is not great however, I should do more editing in this but oh well, used a ton of footage from a camera I inherited with footage of my brother learning to drive various construction vehicles so uh there's that cameo. Part of the reason was I also got sick of this project and didn't wanna get more footage be it B roll or have more stop motion segments. The actual stop motion side of things actually happens like at the end of this vid.

11.) Live Action-Dog Eater (Cancelled):

Another project I ended up scrapping mostly because my hand prop which still remains unfinished was so botched, it's practically an iron maiden in glove form and I had the dumbest idea of making my principal actors being my dogs. So I just did this little video instead:

12.) Mods-Half Life:

Another project up in the air, I might can it just cause it seems like doing half Life 2 maps might be easier or at least i don't need to download separate compilers. This too was a replacement of last couple of years project attempt (that I might return to one day) which was Doom Map making:

For Half Life 1, I toyed with an idea based off a weird dream I had about some space battle happening, and than someone entering one of the damaged ships. It's empty, creepy and there seems to be graffiti everywhere and weird supernatural things seems to be happening throughout its corridors. But again was having a hard time doing anything in Gold Source. Maybe I should give it a second chance, I really just need to download a compiler and watch a video as to where I need to put it folder wise and etc.

13.) Game Engines-????:

This is another odd one. I considered seeing if I can make a simple game engine but that might be another back burner thing especially since I don't code well so uh yeah. Alternatively This entry is just a free space for me to just for a full year grab whatever game engine I bought and downloaded off of steam and actually toy around with it. Not much else to say. Right Now I'm kinda sticking to GameMaker.

14.) Game-Adventure Game-Photo Point And Click Adventure Game:

So yeah kinda a weird idea, inspired by Metropolis Software (The guys who would later break off to make Painkiller and than break off again to make The vanishing of Ethan Carter) which was instead of making original sprites or whatever, construct a point and click adventure game around a bunch of photos I have. More of a test game that I can use to jump off of and do actual Adventure games with.

15.) Multiplayer Game-Fighting Game-Test Demo Fighting Game:

Thought about a stop motion inspired fighting game (which very much is not an original idea, there's a few of those around). Was gonna do a test demo in gamemaker with stick figures before moving on to a second version using toys as stop motion sprites before moving on to an actual game with original models made for it.

And yeah that's a lot of stuff I'm working on. Probably biting of more than I can chew but oh well.

[tuxedaaron]

This was me, drawing a pic of what, at the time, had become a new obsession of mine, a French cartoon called "Zig and Sharko", which I'd drawn in my Danny Phantom style (the show itself, having a bit of a DP art style going on). The basic gist of the series revolves around a mermaid named Marina, who spends a lot of her time just hanging out by this island, where a hyena named Zig lives. Day after day, Zig can think of nothing else but trying to find ways to EAT Marina. Zig's problem...Marina just happens to have a pet shark. I caught this show on Netflix recently. Not being a big fan of French cartoons, my first reaction was naturally to just pass it by. But eventually, my curiosity shouted down my better judgement and I gave it a look. And for some reason, I was HOOKED. And even now, I still don't know why. I mean, on its face, the concept just SHOULDN'T work. But the presentation just hits all the right notes. Essentially, the series takes a lot of cues from classic silent cartoon shorts of the day (even the classic Warner Bros. and Disney shorts). There is no dialogue in this series. Any time someone does speak, it's either through sound effects or nonsensical babbling. Which is probably one of the things that makes this series work as well as it does. Since the point of the show is simply to watch the wacky events as they unfold, trying to accompany it with witty dialogue would only get in the way. It's amazing how this series can keep coming up with ways for Sharko to pummel Zig and still make it seem fresh every time (few things are more amusing that watching Zig smash into something and then just blurt out, "EEK!"). But truly, the glue that holds this series together has GOT to be Marina, who is fascinating as this instantly likable character that can turn the world on with her smile, yet whose brief moments of sadness can just as easily break your heart. She is also infinitely complex, yet gloriously simple. When we're first introduced to her, she really doesn't appear to be all that bright (although, since this is predominantly a silent cartoon, it's not as if we need her quoting Aristotle or Nitsche, here). But over time, you quickly discover that she does, indeed, have a brain in her head. She just doesn't go out of her way to turn it on unless she HAS to. And then we come to Bernie, the Hermit Crab, who is definitely the odd man out of this bunch. On the surface, Bernie is Zig's best friend and often serves as his sidekick in his efforts to put Marina on his dinner table. But behind the big baby eyes and impish squeaks lurks the mind of a genius, who will often be seen indulging in his own little side projects whenever he can manage to tear himself away from Zig. Of course, not all of his projects turn out the way he'd prefer, either. Well, that's the basic gist of the show. If you can, I definitely recommend you check it out. At roughly seven minutes per short, it doesn't take much out of your day. And besides Netflix (as well as certain Nickelodeon and Disney Channel stations), you can also catch several of the shorts on Youtube. Like I say, don't judge this series by its concept. It's the presentation that make this work. In the meantime, though, I hope you enjoy this pic. ^_^

[gingersnappish]

Hi! I just want to say I absolutely adore your art, and I'm so excited to see your new stuff! Particularly anything Kylo Amidala related, it's my favourite au/concept of mine and I love seeing different artists takes on it!

I was just wondering if you had any advice for new artists? I want to be good at drawing but I get so discouraged when things don't come out how I envisioned.

Also, could I ask what you use to draw your art? Is it a digital setup you have? Would you have any recommendations on things to get?

Sorry to ask you so many questions, so please feel free to ignore this! I hope you have a lovely day, and thank you so much for all your wonderful contributions to the kylux fandom ❤

Thank you so much, Anon, for this lovely missive! It was such a warm feeling to find it in my inbox and brought a smile to my face! I love Kylo Amidala more and more the longer I'm in kylux fandom-honestly I wasn't sure if he was my 'thing' or not at first, years back, and then the more I saw takes on him in art and writing and fandom in general, the more he grew on me :) He allows for so much fashion fun and character creativity-like you said, it's really fun to see everyone's 'take' on him! Part of the reason it's taken me this long to respond is that I read what you asked about starting out with art and related hardcore! The thing where you got the vision but it can feel discouraging when stuff doesn't come out finished like it looked in your head? That was me for like- a couple decades. Still me on certain days. Like, MOOD, my friend! The good news is: every artists struggles with the above problem. So you are not alone! I guess in a sense, the bad news is also: 'everyone from beginners to seasoned professionals ' struggle with this....so yeah, it doesn't ever *entirely* go away? BUT! Better news: There have been a lot of 'takes' written and a lot of good advice given about how to mentally manage the 'it doesn't come out how I wanted' phenomenon! It's not so much 'make it go away' as it is 'learn to manage that phenomenon in a healthy, painless, productive way'. And that is a learnable skill that gets *a lot* easier with practice!

Also: I hoard tutorials/drawing resources for all levels/YT channels/'how to think about and approach art meta'/etc like a dragon hoards gems, so I'm putting together a post of resource links that might help or give you some starting points--that is taking a hot minute to craft though, so I figured I should just go ahead and respond here today and then post the resources list as soon as I get it finished (so you don't feel like your ask just went into the void)! Re: What I use to draw....time was, that would have been a whole post to itself on traditional materials and comparing computer programs and such. These days it's real straightforward: Procreate on an iPad :) I'm entirely digital these days but my honest opinion is that everyone is drawn to different materials and media and you should feel free to try out working in whatever interests you, whether that is digital art tools, or traditional media like acrylic or ink or something else! Also: making lots of drawings and practicing with what is cheap and available will get you farther,faster than any expensive supplies when you are starting out. Ballpoint pens and a pad from the Dollar Store (or equivalent where you are) are perfectly serviceable for practicing-plus sometimes I personally find I relax and have more fun experimenting and less angst if things don't come out how I wanted if I'm not working with something 'precious'. Case in point: I have custom-leather-worked sketchbook made by a friend sitting up in the office, being exquisitely beautiful and gathering dust. It is empty but for a single drawing, that I became unsatisfied with the day after I finished it. I got that sketchbook 7 years or more ago and I'm still trying to convince myself to use it properly. In contrast, last summer we went to the beach near our house and while we were there I ended up with access to cheap kiddie art supplies from a summer 'communal stash'-a blank sketchbook of the lowest quality paper and 10 colors of crayola pencils, half sharpened. It was a 'throw away', didn't matter what was done in that book-there were 10 more like it in the pile. I ended up doing a bunch of messy stuff born of people-watching and seagull-antics-observation. Filled 5 pages, both sides, and felt incredible joy in the making of shitty scribbles! And then I just put the book back in the 'communal stash' at the end of the day, since there were still a bunch of blank pages left. It was low-pressure and extremely freeing. (side note: when we went back a week later, the other sketchbooks were gone but that one I'd messed around in had more doodles from artists of all ages and beginning skill levels. And more the week after that. I think it turned out to be pretty freeing for a lot of people.) OK, this turned into a way longer response than I intended-boy, can I 'talk'! I hope you have a good day! Wishing you lots of positive creative vibes!

[razzle-dazzle-dandy]

Alright I’ll give it a shot 1)Asha is not Afro Latina, she’s Afro Hispanic. She does not live in Latin America so she isn’t a Latina. Her father is white spainard or at least vaguely described as from the Iberian peninsula, which would include Portugal. Her mother is Amazigh, which is a group of people that reside in different parts of North Africa. Which leads us to point 2)Box braids are not reflective of typical North African hairstyles. You can see some Amazigh people wear them, but not the way Asha has them. It’s super disappointing hearing how Disney apparently did the research on hair of Amazigh people, and they decided box braids were such a staple to the culture when they aren’t. That’s more of a West and South African hairstyle for groups that usually have the hair texture for box braids in the first place. You made that comment about why white people shouldn’t wear braids? Cultural appropriation aside, simply these hairstyles are made for certain hair textures in mind, hence why white people that wear African based braids find themselves crying over their bald patches. Africa has a wide range of diversed features thus different people have different garments and hairstyles to suit the environment. Asha’s design hardly tells us she’s Amazigh or Spanish which leads to point 3) Those are some ugly poorly designed box braids. I’ve had all sort of box braids styles and when I was told Asha was shocked, like where? Not to mention they didn’t bother giving the poor girl any hair accessories, some that can help reflect her Amazigh heritage, so it’s boring. Poorly animated too, which is weird because Disney can make entirely new programs to animate Rapunzel’s hair or Mirabel’s but not braids? Not something simple like braids? Then again, they did lay off a bunch of people, so that’s probably part of the reason they tried to apply straight hair animation logic onto braids, which is another issue people tend to have with her braids. Like did animators truly give her braids to reflect the culture(it didn’t) or because they thought it was easier to animate than afro hair which is still a frustratingly stupid argument in animation. It comes across as nonblack people did not ask Black people for guidance on how to design Black hair. Yknow how everyone uses the Killmonger haircut and the one ugly afro in games because they don’t want to explore different looks? It’s giving ‘that’.Now I do side eye people that make Asha’s hair just straight, like dang not even the concept art did that. But I would some people are drawn into Asha’s concept art that seems better designed for her character. Because honestly, if the point is Asha is a character that constantly needs to be on the move, and is clumsy, and forgetful, she’s not going to have long flowing braided hair like that. And you can still blame Disney as a corporation for poor animation and poor character design, we are seeing more and more people that worked on Wish come out to say how rushed and underdeveloped made this movie. Sorry for long message but something like a character designed to have braids does need to a lot of thought put into it, and unfortunately Asha with braids tells me nothing about the character vs what I’m shown

Thank you for your reply, genuinely!

I used Afro-Latina because I'd heard someone else use that term, so I appreciate that correction and clarification.

I made the comment about white people and braids because I was frustrated about people's response to Asha's hairstyle, not because I think they should go out and get braids. I do agree that those styles were developed for certain hair types and that they can cause damage when worn improperly, not to mention the cultural aspects which I'm well aware of.

Again, I mean this genuinely, where was it said that Sakina is based on the Amazigh people specifically? I've definitely seen North African, which would include that group among many others. Is it from the art book?

The braids honestly look fine to me (minus the point about decorations, that's definitely a missed opportunity)? That might come down to preference so I won't argue it too much. Braids definitely don't move in the wind that way, but I can understand that at some points they're trying to invoke the look and feel of classic Disney movies. Whether or not that's part of it, that's up to the animation team to answer. It's possible that the newer animation style may not have worked well with their current hair tools, a problem that may have been solved with more time/manpower.

When it comes to wonky animations, lay offs, and crunch, that's what I mean when I say genuine criticism. I can admit that I worded the last part poorly. You can absolutely critique animation and design, especially when they're affected by poor corporate practices. I'm more upset that people seemingly just want to be mad about anything Disney makes right now than anything else. Even if it strays from the initial concept, isn't the idea of a Disney princess or hero with cornrows and box braids kinda cool? We know that people move to Rosas from around the world, wouldn't it be fun to think of it as a melting pot the same way New York or other large cities are? I'm not saying Disney as a corporation is worth defending, it is not, but we can acknowledge the good with the bad. We should make pushes for improvement, and Disney should be better, but I think it's okay if a team just takes inspiration from something and decides to make something new with it.

[storytellering]

Hi :) was coming back to your blog again and again (mostly by accident and bcs I'm following your here). And I had your sad thoughts about your more explicit art stuck in my head and I don't even know why. I love your artstyle and portraits very much. Even the concept of your mpreg art and other stuff is interesting. I don't respond to nsfw/explicit art anymore on any social media bcs the any fandom is super toxic towards those topics. But your last postings made me do

"-I'm sad to hear that you can't find a place to post and enjoy the audience and can only do the "right" for the big community. Even I got put into a hate-list on twitter and I don't even draw nsfw. Bcs of this I unfollowed mostly any dmc artist there (and also you). Saying "don't keep track of numbers" won't work bcs I also do this and get encouraged if people unfollow me for posting personal thoughts there. Sorry for writing so much and we don't know each other at all ^^; It's just that I had your sad thoughts about art keep stuck in my head for days. I hope you don't feel offended or anything. Maybe you'll find the right place soon :) (have you tried twitter circle? apparently you can post personal stuff/explicit art for a few selected people and other art etc for everyone). Hope you're doing well and have a nice day :)" Hey there! Thank you so much for the compliments, and I'm so sorry you had that experience :( though that's not exactly what I was talking about in my post ;; Honestly, for the most part, I've had a great experience in the dmc fandom, especially on twitter - I haven't even gotten that much shit from antis aside from the odd "wtf that's his dad!" comment on some of my VN art (which always makes me chuckle because like. yeah, i know? that's half the fun about the ship lol) (though that might be because I've always been into "problematic" fiction so I was well into the practice of blocking antis on sight, it's very possible they simply can't see my account, lol) - and I do have a nsfw twitter for explicit art that I post to quite often! (or at least used to, I haven't drawn anything worth posting there in a hot minute but that's more because I haven't had the energy and inspiration for it, not because I don't want to) What I was talking about wasn't explicit/nsfw art, as much as art depicting more "controversial" subjectes, that might make people uncomfortable - like, say, mpreg, noncon, shotacon, watersports, period kink... that sort of thing, it's not that I don't feel comfortable posting nsfw, it's just that I'm afraid about certain types of it (and not even just nsfw, because honestly almost all my mpreg art is sfw, I'm more into it for the feels and the angst than it as a kink) are a bit contentious, and I would hate for people to follow that account for "normal" nsfw and then get ambushed by stuff that might make them uncomfortable, or even trigger them - it would be tagged for, obviously, but you never know... so, my issue is less not finding a place for my art, and more knowing that no matter what, some things will make people uncomfortable/hurt them to see, and not wanting to take chances with that ;; So sorry your experience in the fandom was a negative one, from what I've seen it depends a lot on in which time period you got into it, and who exactly you end up engaging with - at one point I almost quit because I had ended up in quite a bad place where everyone around me was negative and only feeding more negativity, but once I cut those people out it was all even more fun than it was before. Hope you manage to find your little corner like that!

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

24, 18, 5, 22

5. What is the most fun to write in -fic-?

You didn't specify a fic, so here is all my dcla multichapter fics since that's the fandom you're familiar with. I won't include the multichapter fics that are just oneshots each chapter, tho.

Violetta rewrite - Honestly, it's the scenes that were not in canon but very well could be and/or tie in with a scene that was in canon. But also, whenever I rewrite a scene that was in canon - I am on fire when that happens. In my latest chapter actually, I rewrote a certain scene in 2x20 that I have been looking forward to rewriting since I started this. It's so fun when you change something and now you get to explore "hey, what happens now when that happened/that didn't happen?"

Sunshine and Moonshine - It's Luna and Ámbar's scenes together ofc, since the fic is about them. I gotta say, the most fun is just to write childhood memories and them just driving Sharon mad (she can control one, but both? That's too powerful).

Surprises and Disguises - This is my franletta fic and thus, I mostly love just writing them being cute and stupid together

That crossover chatfic - Well lmao, the thing is I have been writing chatfics for so many fandoms (my most popular fic is in fact, a chatfic, it has 80 chapters and people went wild for it), so it's a premise I know very well. My favorite things to write is just when something chaotic is happening, but we only get the context of what it is with the text messages. Also, I love Ludmila and Ámbar trauma bonding, if you can't tell lol

18. Any multichapter fic you're planning on writing in the future?

Yep!!!

The SL ASOUE AU, which I have mentioned a lot and have drawn concept art for and everything

The Violetta ST AU, I am very excited about that, though I constantly forget who is supposed to have which powers lmao

Well, we have that dating Amber AU I thought of after watching that movie one time, but it has not left my brain. It's Ramiro and Ámbar pretending to date due to some reasons.

This is less a multichapter fic and just a little oneshot collection, but I once had a dream that Luna had a baby brother and now I wanna write that

Besides that, I sort-of got an idea for an AU yesterday, but due to it being so fresh I wasn't sure if I should mention it, cause it may be that i'll scrap it later. Anyway, it's an AU based on the movie Crush, which is a movie I've seen twice in a row now. It's just, I need to figure out which character could fit for which role and it's a little hard cause one character may fit for one role, but then they have a dynamic with another character that would better fit someone else for the role, etc.

22. Something you wished you included afterwards?

There always is! Always! I can't think of something right now, but I know there's a lot. Often it's when I re-read older chapters and remember there was supposed to be a buildup for a thing that I never did something with.

24. Do you prefer multichapter fics or oneshots?

That is hard, but I would say multichapter since I am more used to writing them. But oneshots are so fun, too!

[themidnightpanda]

So as I might have mentioned I’ve been reading Homestuck for the first time

(Rant under the cut, you know the drill)

So! A lot has happened since I last uploaded art. Including, but not limited to:

- My computer deciding not to open any website that isn’t owned by Google

- I bought myself Clip Studio when they did their December holidays sale

- Taught myself to draw in a chibi/chibi-adjecent art style and now I can’t stop. It’s so simplified compared to how I used to draw look at it. Its so soft and untextured and I can just make blobby hands and feet and it works??

- After an entire week, finally fixed my computer (it just wanted an upgrade to Windows 11)

So, yeah, been a while. I’m actually working on a project for my MCYT sideblog wherein I draw all the Hermits as per my AU, the Sunbringer. I’m currently.. halfway through. It’s been a week.

Hhh.

Well, now onto actual details, starting with the fact that CSP makes it much easier to save transparent PNGs (Krita was fine, too, but it was slightly less intuitive, at least for me- I figured out how to do it on the first try- though maybe that also has to do with the fact I now have actual art experience meanwhile Krita was my second ever program, and while I’m certain the first one was fine it did not have that feature specifically... or at least I wasn’t aware I could look for it. Idk, it’s been like 4-5 years since I last used that program, I can’t even recall its name). What I’m saying is that the version above is transparent, while my new profile picture is the one with a background! And it’s space!

Anyways, figured out I really like giving characters with large, round glasses small, simple eyes, that are just colorful eggs.

So, as I mentioned, this is Homestuck stuff- apparently my last try was the wrong class, but not the wrong aspect; I’m actually a Mage of Mind. The one server I’m on where I talk Homestuck had me accidentally rant for paragraphs upon paragraphs (like I’m doing now... haha) about another person’s classpect and why their explanation for why it won’t fit them is actually the entire reason it should fit, actually.

It was a discussion on why classpects are infuriatingly confusing, so of course that “short” explanation I provided immediately cleared the issue for me, since a Mage of Mind is one who understands choice, consequence, and thoughts. So, understanding the minds of fictional characters to the point where I mimic mannerisms subconsciously, as well as understanding someone I had at most two conversations with prior... Yeah, fair enough.

That’s my invitation to anyone who’s interested to ask me to explain the personalities for various classpects, if you’re willing to read this much text (and, let’s face it, if you’re reading this, you’re probably fine with the length I write in).

Ok, final notes!

I almost gave the boots little wings- sorta like Hermes’ shoes? Because flight is my theme. I literally have never drawn myself without my signature wings- except when I was 3 and my “self portrait” was a bright-crayon drawing of a luna moth (well, it was bright pink, but it was a butterfly with crescent-patterned wings), and even then it was all about the flight. Always. It’s a part of who I am more than pretty much any other part of me.

... Now onto lighter stuff, the title of the book Mini-me is reading is “Mage’s Guide to Reading More Books”. Specifically because I thought a book on reading books is a silly (yet loveable) concept.

[eyeballtank]

Something I always want to make (And hope to do it in the future, when my skills and "career" evolve) is a game that gives you a feeling of going through different worlds, like a journey or rollercoaster.

Maybe include the dream-like "liminal spaces" stuff people like but in a way where I reference actual dreams I've had and don't make it come off as internet pandering.

But also because of the diversity of my characters and the idea of "types" in certain media, but still using more specific influences/preferences and be a bit creative.

Like think of different worlds in games.

Mario usually has green grass fields, desert levels, ice levels etc.

So certain games always have "diverse worlds" but made to fit a certain brand.

Imagine extending that so the worlds feel more different, like almost a crossover.

An ice level/world can be anything:

Something cute with christmas trees and snowmen.

A city covered in snow.

A fantasy realm with a snow castle.

A planet with extremely low temperatures and alien life part of it.

A military base with guards.

I'm also reminded of Golden Souls, a series of Doom mods mainly inspired by Mario but the variety of worlds is diverse enough that they can be based off other series like Resident Evil or Castlevania.

And then there's stuff I want to avoid like Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard because I wouldn't want a Drawn Together parody direction.

It's why I hope I get to remake Project Nortubel in like 10 years with better visuals and presentation, but also include different worlds in other games, besides just doing more with certain characters/ideas.

Maybe even make something feel "seamless" like Half-Life where you feel like you're taking this transdimensional journey.

I'm also reminded of a 4chan rage bait image where a guy goes "what I want vs what I got" over wanting videogames to look like old novels/comics concept art and saying modern games are generic looking.

But it does remind me of how a lot of games people like have specific media influences and how modern tech should make it easier to mimic the look of a Philippe Druillet comic.

Because when it comes to someone saying videogames look the same, they always stop at photorealistic brown FPS but never at certain fantasy/sci-fi aesthetics being more used than others.

Kinda like how "CalArts" was used to make fun of "beanmouth" cartoons but some people doing that refuse to point out Disney's presense in animation looking less diverse.

But honestly, it's just a matter of picking different media, copying it and making a "journey" out of it.

Edit to add more:

Different music is worth considering, specially if you have specific preferences and a variety, instead of just mimicking videogame music or something like that.

UI/HUD stuff too, since Nortubel even has different stylized titles for worlds. This was inspired by Kingdom Hearts.

How about playable characters and genres? Someone once thought Bonka should be playable in Nortubel, but with that in mind, I'd also do the same for some other characters with different genres in a potential remake. Bonka and Leon get 2D platforming, Kalub gets a top down puzzle with some combat, Uulga gets beat em ups, Yiegour gets an FPS mode etc.

[pomrania]

Looking over last year's Smaugust stuff in preparation for this year's Smaugust -- I don't want to have to rediscover all those tricks from scratch -- and damn there's some REALLY good stuff in there. Good job, past me.

Currently working on writing the text for at least the first request post, decent chance it'll get changed up for future posts as I think of things to add or remove. At least this time around, I have a "for more information click here" post I can link, instead of having a wall of text to scroll through before people can see critters and art.

So yeah Smaugust is starting tomorrow, and I'll want to draw some (read: a lot of) cats as dragons. If you have cat pictures, get them handy.

I remember that last year I was really drained by it, so I think this year I'll work on limiting the amount of time I spend on any one picture; ideally this will help me develop some artistic efficiency, but "not feeling tired all of the time" is its own benefit.

DO NOT REFRAIN FROM MAKING REQUESTS BECAUSE YOU DON'T WANT TO OVERWORK ME; TIME AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT IS A PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED ON *MY* END. If I end up needing to close stuff for a bit, I'm perfectly capable of deciding that myself; have some respect for me as an autonomous person. I've already set things up to prevent certain ballooning; "separate posts for each day" means that it can't go too far if it breaches containment, and also that if I end up needing a day off, I can just... not make a post for that day.

(In completely unrelated news, I just found a comb I'd been looking for, for a few days; it was behind the container it's supposed to be in, but I know for a FACT that I'd taken that container out, looked in that area, and hadn't seen it. *shrug* Gremlins.)

Gah, every time I prepare for an art event, I keep coming back to that rant, of people not making requests, WHEN I EXPLICITLY SAY "PLEASE GIVE ME REQUESTS", because they "don't want to be a bother". First of all, that's some nasty scarring on your soul, that you think that way; I know "don't think that way" can't make you heal, but at least it doesn't let the lie continue that you're SUPPOSED to be mentally limping around. Second of all, my own damage resulted in the exact opposite problems; so if I ever hit a lull with this, there's a decent chance I'll be bothering people "hey give me a photo of your cat to draw".

Back to looking at the stuff I'd drawn last year. I'm pretty sure THAT prompt list is better than the one I'll be using, which I'd made in like half an hour, MAYBE an hour; so there's a bunch of cool concepts I won't get from my list, so I'll have to be aware and try to work cool stuff into it anyways.

Huh, I hadn't remembered I'd drawn so many pictures in greyscale. Well not MANY of them, but still more than I'd thought. That's what I did when I didn't have the energy for working with colours, or I simply couldn't think of what colour scheme would be best; and they all looked good regardless. (Okay there's one I don't care too much for, but it was from early on in the event, where I hadn't fully figured out the best way of dragonification, and it doesn't look any worse than pictures done in colour from that same timeframe.) Need to keep in mind an that's an option.

Also, I really like a lot of the pictures I'd done where there isn't really any shading, just lines and colours. Something else to keep in mind, that it's not a NECESSARY step. Might or might not want to try working on that specifically, because when I see a picture (that someone else has done) in that style, done with skill, I personally enjoy it more than one done in a different style with equal skill.

Also seeing a number of pictures where it's EXTREMELY obvious I just had a dumb thought that made me grin and then I ran with it; and you know what, those pictures STILL make me grin.