#also i make a lot of sad art for a person who is generally pretty happy

[hellenhighwater]

How do you stay creative while working full time? :)

I don't know, I just do stuff. Not art stuff, really! I think sometimes that I have to maintain a base minimum of Stuff Going On to stay above the gravity well of Comfy Bed All the Time No Need To Get Up And Do Things. There's an inertia to stuff, you know? Sometimes when you're busy it's easier to just maintain the momentum of getting things done. I don't always get stuff done as quickly as I'd like--the fact that I'm doing stuff all the time doesn't mean that the stuff I'm doing is necessarily productive. That's a good thing, though, because creativity has to be fueled from somewhere. There's got to be non-creative time for that part of the brain to recharge and rest, so it's not bad to have a job that doesn't demand that kind of thinking.

I did a lot this weekend and almost none of it was creatively productive in a normal sense. I got some pottery done on saturday morning, and then met a friend for sushi, went to my dad's to sandblast and powdercoat car parts and got a milkshake, went for a walk in the woods to pick tiny flowers, met my brother for dinner, and played DnD until midnight before driving back home. Today I planted hydrangea, hauled flagstone into place, dug up grass and tilled it over, and put mulch down. I made a roast for lunch and played DnD in my other campaign for a few hours, then started mixing down the clay slurry into slip for casting, which has to rest for the next 24 hours. In a little while, a friend and I are going to do an online movie marathon, and tomorrow--monday--I've got a board game night after work. Then the next week is pottery tues/thurs/saturday, dinner with my other brother and his wife on wednesday, DnD friday and sunday again.

You know what all of those little appointments with friends do? Force me to manage my time well. Force me to stay on and not just let the day get away from me. I rest when I need to but I also put really concerted effort in to spending time doing stuff that I enjoy.

People often say that they create art from a specific emotion, but to me, in order to make art, to make art sustainably, you have to be happy enough to want to put new things in the world. They don't have to be happy things. But you have to be in the world to reflect it out. Sometimes that's work. Sometimes that's friends.

Work on joy; the art will follow. That's just what's true for me.

[exilethegame]

What's the go-to topic for the RO's if you want to get them talking for the next 4 hours straight? In other words, what kind of things are they most interested in/passionate about?

Hmm...

Vethna: Politics in Vygrand, the ethics of blood magic, the history of magic in general... they are very much an academic at heart and like trying to find the balance between a "perfect world" and reality. Plus they've never spoken about these things to someone who takes them seriously, so having a place to do just that would have Vethna blabbering for hours.

Nikke: Weapons, daggers, specifically. He collects them as he finds them which may be grim to other people (considering he usually takes them from the bodies of the people he kills), but hey... it's still a cool collection, okay? He also loves talking about all his adventures and sharing stupid stories about cool places he's visited. Also fighting techniques. He's genuinely super into that. Goes for Jost + Nikke that they both have A LOT to say about the Taipan gang in Vrithka as well. Like a lot a lot. (None of them are good things)

Jost: Jost is a listener, not a talker. But in the rare, rare occasion you have her going on about something, it's usually because she's upset and somehow, you became the one person she trusts enough to vent things to. It's not necessarily upset as in sad, per se, but she's in a place emotionally where needs someone to bounce ideas and thoughts off of. (However, passion-wise, she's super into the arts, so you could probably pull some words out from her re. arts from the Old Worlds, museums, that sort of thing). 

Amilia: Amilia does not stop talking. Amilia will go for hours talking about a cute mushroom on the side of the road, no not underestimate her. And you know what? Yes, she's doing it to annoy who she's with, but part of her really is interested in that mushroom you know. On a more serious note, she's really into music and getting to know people. Amilia's one of those people that makes others open up pretty easily, and it's something she genuinely enjoys since she likes learning the "lore" of individuals. (... is that just gossip?)

Sabir: Astrology, the gods of the Old World, the Old World in general, really. Interestingly enough, Sabir does not enjoy talking about politics. Like you can rile him up if you try hard and enough, but he sincerely tries to avoid getting too far into it because it's such a glib subject. That, and he's already talking about politics all day given his position. Sabir isn't a ramble talker though-- he won't just chatter for hours on end about something. He's into the art of conversation, you see. The back-and-forth is what's fun for him, so he'd rather talk about nothing at all and fill the conversation with shallow banter than passionately talk about his map collection.

Syfyn: Just remind her of the time someone vaguely pissed her off one time and you got about an hour of entertainment off that incident alone. (One time a person cut her in line at the mess hall, one time she stubbed her toe because someone moved a box, one time--) Syfyn also likes talking about combat and training, but Nikke's more like "genuine excitement and tips and tricks" and Syfyn's more like "lmfao I kicked your ASS you're a loser" or "did you see how hard I punched that thing lemme remind you"

Freedom: Hmm... this only works if one is super-super close with Freedom, but they'll be very genuine and skip the word-games when it comes to talking about the Old World, the time when the other gods were alive, their past and people they've met/known. That's the one thing Freedom could speak about for hours and be upfront about AND be genuinely invested in the conversation. They enjoy sharing relics of history with people who are actually willing to listen, and the fact anyone might want to really know about them on an individual level would be very flattering.

[agarthanguide]

I just realized that Deanna looks like smol Gina Torres, who is my #1 Space Mom. Was that on purpose? What was the direction from Aabria? How does the process of creating the guests’ art compare to what you do with the main cast?

It was not intentional!  Aabria was pretty descriptive about Deanna, but I’d say Deanna actually has a lot of influence from animation, more than real life markers.  In fact, she was getting so far from realism that I consciously stepped up and chose to hyper-render the knitted and textile elements to see if I could ground her, a little. But her features- her big eyes, her button nose, her heavily defined curls- and her proportions are simply not realistic enough to meaningfully reference a human.  That being said, I’m hugely flattered that anything I’ve ever drawn could make someone think of Gina Torres, who is actually my wife (I share her with tens of thousands of others who also have immaculate taste).

As for guest processes- they are all very different, but I can honestly say that the Dimension 20 kids are like- they are succinct, descriptive, flexible, and fast.  They are honestly such pros.  I thought it was an Aabria thing- I remember thinking- oh, she must make 5 characters a week, and she’s so good at YesAnd-ing, I’m sure that this is a one-off experience with an amazing player (this was during Laerryn).  But then Emily and Lou and (half of) Erika were exactly the same!  IDK if that’s because they are ALSO hyper-prolific and well practiced, or if this is circumstance, but it was Notable.

As a general rule, I’d say that the guest characters are faster than the main cast, but I think that’s just because they aren’t gearing up to inhabit that character for potentially years, so they don’t need to feel complete comfort the way a long-term player would.  It’s not because they care less, or because I care less.  The actual lining/rendering has the same level of effort.

The only person who really freaked me out was Utkarsh/Bor’dor, because he had a really intense description, but then deferred to my opinion on like most things (actually, just clothing. Utkarsh was pretty specific about things like face and hair and eyes and expression).  And I didn’t know anything about him, but I was pretty sure something was up with him, so I wrote a list of things that could be changed at the drop of a hat, in case the story went that way.  And then I sat for weeks worrying about it and wondering if I should like... paint in glowing eyes, or a version with his cape thrown back revealing... something!  Or whatever!

But honestly, I think the fact that ultimately he was a carefully constructed terrified kid who was then thrown into rags by a stranger was... pretty on the nose, actually.  Sad, right?

Anyway, Aabria rocks.  Very hard.

[poemsfor-her]

GLOW UP QUIDE 𖹭⠀࣭⠀ֹ⠀͡꒱

I. THE INNER ME

— When you think of the word "glow up" , your mind automatically thinks of changing your appearence, right? For me the beauty is in our soul. If you think nasty and degrading thoughts of yourself that can be damaging in so many ways.

let's get some things clear here:

First of all, beauty standards always change, as trends come and go, and you will never be enough "pretty" for someone; because beauty is subjective and you might be the dream person for someone and for someone not. which is ok! there are so many beautiful flowers. i personally perfer tulips and peonies, but someone might prefer roses or sunflowers. that doesn't make a flower less beautiful because every flower is beautiful in it's own way.

— do you know yourself? we spend so much time trying to know others, but do we even know ourselves? go on pinterest and find some questions to ask yourself. here are some:

1. what qualities do i like about myself?

2. what qualities of others do i admire?

3. what am i scared of?

4. what would i like my mornings to look like?

5. who inspires me?

if someone asks me any of these questions i would answer them all in a second, because i know myself.

— SHADOW WORK. Grab a pen and a journal, go on pinterest and search "shadow work prompts". I Personally, don't know much about this subject, but i know it's talked about by many people i look up to. It helped them heal from trauma.

some videos i suggest you watch that helped me so much in changing my mindset:

why you'll never be pretty enough - zoe unlimited.

you don't need to glow up, our obssesion with glow up culture needs to STOP.

tiktok is DESTROYING YOUR IDENTITY.

what type of pretty you are.

— I suggest watching every commentary video of zoeunlimited. Her videos changed my views on various topics.

II. THERE IS NOTHING TO CHANGE

— you are perfect just the way you are. embrace yourself. there is only one you in this world. many women look the same to me these days and it's a tiring and sad thing. Everyone is following the standard that is going to probably change in a month. As Hwasa said "I am my own beauty standard" and thank you Hwasa for that!

Embrace your features, look for makeup that suits your face shape and eyes. I know that eyeliner doesn't work with my eyes so i don't apply it. I also know that a lot of bronzer doesn't suit me.

Wear whatever you like and don't be afraid to express yourself.

When it comes to exercising, ALWAYS DO IT FOR YOURSELF. Think of it as: "My body deserves to be healthy"

strech when you wake up, do yoga, workout or go for a walk/run. whatever you like!

eat healthy but don't pressure yourself too much. have it balanced. you can eat a healthy meal but that doesn't mean you can't eat a cake. BALANCE IS EVERYTHING.

my favorite fitness youtubers:

lily sabri

yoga with bird

mady morrison

emi wong

III. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

— if you follow my posts you know how much i respect and talk about education and it's importance. As my favorite saying goes "BEAUTY IS DANGEROUS, BUT INTELLIGENCE IS LETHAL." I stand by this!!!! READ BOOKS, FOCUS ON YOUR STUDYING, WRITE, PAINT, LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE AND DRAW.

here are some book suggestions:

i who have never known men

the great gatsby

the prophet

my body

the art of war

search some famous musicians or artists and get to know their work. i seriously find this so attractive.

watch documentaries.

watch news, read articles and just generally know what is happening in the world.

get to know your country's history.

watch some iconic movies.

beauty fades, but knowledge always stays.

that's it! if you have some questions send me an ask ♡

with love, t

[sgtmickeyslaughter]

#47 (normal childhood au) + #44 (first date) for the gallavich headcanon prompts <3

Good morning Michelle! thank you for asking but NO thank yous for putting yet another AU i want to write into my brain. now this is just going to ping around up there like a pinball machine until i write it, all because of you

47. AU if they had a more normal childhood- How would they be in high school? + 44. When was the first real time they went on a date? 

So if Ian and Mickey had a normal highschool experience, I think Ian would be very academic and involved in various clubs. He loves English lit, but studies with the goal of raising his GPA and getting into a good college. He’s probably on the track/cross-country team and is generally pretty popular in the sense that people get along with him and he’s out pretty publicly among his friends and people that know him, overall kind of a goody two shoes but lets a little looser at parties.

Mickey is an art kid through and through. Dedicated enough to skating by with C’s in the classes he can’t stand (English, Spanish and science I am looking at you!) and actively engaged in math and history. He pretty much lives in the art classroom though. Definitely sneaks out at lunch to smoke weed sometimes and gets in a little trouble for tardiness and language. He’s also on the wrestling or maybe boys waterpolo team, and has the same deal where his friends know he’s gay but his circle is smaller and closer. Maybe he has an after school job at a coffee shop (an: the self projection in this is crazy btw)

They get paired up for a project together and Ian thinks Mickey is totally brilliant and so funny and talented and Mickey just thinks Ian is just the cutest thing since the invention of puppies (even though he’d never admit it) so they start hanging out at Mickey’s house a lot because his mom works late most nights, and Ian comes and does his homework at the coffee place Mickey works at, fighting off grins every time he looks up and Mickey’s already looking at him over the espresso machine.

They go to a movie for their first date a couple months into hanging out, and its mostly a formality and a way to make out in the back row the whole time, but when they stop at a dinner on the way home Ian basically sits him down with friction red lips and explains how much he likes mickey and how he thinks they should be boyfriends, officially. And Mickey, who usually thinks he’s the coolest person in the room feels very uncool as he stutters and explains that yeah, he thinks Ian is the brightest thing in the universe, they can be whatever he wants them to be. 

So they go to each others games, Mickey cheers the loudest and Ian cannot for the life of him get over how hot he thinks Mickey is on a wrestling mat. Mickey calms Ian down when SAT studying is driving him crazy and Ian cries at Mickey's AP art showcase. They go to prom together, dancing with their friends and each other and going to parties together after. 

And when their senior year rolls around people start giving them sad, knowing looks and their parents start trying to gently warn them that college might make it hard for them to be together all the time, but they’re both like, yeah no actually we’ve (Ian) planned for every contingency. They go to different colleges in the same big city, or colleges less than a couple hours away from each other and spend the rest of their lives telling people that they’re highschool sweethearts. 

i had a very unusual highschool experience and sometimes it shows. hopefully this is not one of those times, thanks again for asking

headcanon ask

[ping1n]

Theres a trend I've noticed with the current era of minecraft modding.

It's a sort of... professionalism? We're seeing a lot more mods made by large teams rather than single creators. Theres also a lot more focus - theres a definite trend of larger mods with many distinct features being split up into multiple separate mods for each distinct feature, if that makes sense. That's probably largely driven by curseforge's revenue scheme - I guess it's more profitable to have 5 mods with 1 main feature and a million downloads each, than 1 mod with all 5 features and a million downloads.

I don't know if this corresponds to the latter trend or the former but theres a definite increase in library mods - mod makers are building a lot more infrastructure for their work but each team is building their own library.

And I really don't know how I feel about all this.

This trend of professionalism has lead to an increase in quality but it feels like its come at the cost of creativity - theres an obsession with fitting into the vanilla game, both mechanically and artistically. It feels like modern mods are focused on expanding and fleshing out the vanilla game in a cohesive way, in stark contrast to how earlier mods used vanilla as just a platform to build their own stuff. And I feel like this is a good thing, but I also feel sad for what came before.

And I really think you can trace this change back to minecraft's change in artstyle. Programmer Art is aptly named - the original graphics were quick and dirty textures thrown together so they could get on with making the actual game. And this fostered a lot of creativity in the modding community - a community largely comprised of programmers - who could imitate this artstyle very easily. The new artstyle is great, don't get me wrong, but it pressures modmakers to match it. This means the old generation of simply textured box machines look out of place in the new graphics. When the old graphics were simple it didn't feel wrong to have something wildly different thrown in there - think Thaumcraft's inexplicably 128x128 textures in a 16x16 game, or whatever the fuck was happening with draconic evolution - whereas the obvious thought and care put into the official art makes anything even remotely out of place look wrong.

This is definitely a factor in the increase of larger teams - it's a lot harder for one person to make a whole mod and a whole set of cohesive textures. And when something looks professional theres a pressure to make it function professionally as well - if it's going to fit in with the vanilla game visually it's going to have to fit in mechanically as well.

And again, I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing - indeed, this could all just be a result of the modding community maturing. But I do have some problems with it:

Firstly, I think its notable that previous eras of modding are associated with a specific version - 1.6.4, 1.7.10, 1.12.2. That's not the case now. There seems to be a lot more pressure to update to the latest version, which is combined with a sudden increase in vanilla update frequency. I think this has pretty drastic consequences. When the modding scene stayed still, as it did in 1.7.10 and 1.12.2, theres a lot of time for mods to get used to each other. Think back to 1.7.10 where magic mods were including references and counters to each other. With the much faster development to get every mod updated to the latest version with different mods getting updated at different times theres much less opportunity for intrinsic cross mod compatibility. This is combined with the recent split between fabric and forge, resulting in mods that ironically look very similar but with much less conscious compatibility.

Theres also something off about the art style. Theres a sort of shared style that you see across a lot of popular mods right now. It's not just that they look like vanilla textures - because in large part they look more like each other than they do vanilla. Idk if that makes sense. It's like theres a consistent artstyle for mods that is ever so slightly different from the art style of vanilla.

And this, of course, brings us to the elephant in the room.

They all look like fucking Create.

I said earlier that I thought these changes could all be traced back to the change in vanilla artstyle - and I still think that's true - but when you're tracing it back the line inevitably runs through that one mod.

Create was huge. Back when modding was still getting used to the artstyle changes, Create I think solidified the entire era. It was an aesthetically pleasing, stylistically cohesive, mechanically balanced and technically astounding mod. It was big enough to draw attention from vanilla players who had never played modded before then, bringing them in with expectations formed by it. Which, in turn, created a pressure in the community to replicate this success.

I'm gonna be honest - Create annoys me. I dislike the artstyle. I dislike the obsession with aesthetics and vanilla-like gameplay over functionality. I especially dislike how its found in literally every modpack for recent versions.

But (reluctantly) putting aside my dislike of Create, I begrudgingly admit that all in all, these trends are overall good for modding. As I said earlier, they're a sign of a maturing community. But I'll still miss how mods in earlier eras were much more free to be completely batshit, or pure functionality (rftools and mahou tsukai come to mind as mods that have largely ignored the changes in the community). Every era has it's own feel and if what's new isnt for me, that's fine. Maybe I'm just old and bitter and this is all in my own head - I'm not a modder, I've just been playing this game a long time.

[desceros]

hello! so new writer here, I'm just starting out with writing x readers, but I'm having a bit of trouble. I saw in a previous post that when you are reading a fic marked x reader, you want it to actually be an x reader, and (as much as possible) not be an oc from the writer. And I agreed with that and want to try to make my reader self-insertable for everyone. the only problem is that I'm not sure how much I can have set opinions for them and have things up in the air. You've written a lot, so I was hoping you'd have some advice? If not that's totally fine. I appreciate you and your writing 🫶 hope you're having a good day!!

hmm well what i Specifically meant by that was when you have someone who has a fic that is written in the first person or third person with a named character who has a physical description, but they've tagged it as "reader-insert". to me, that's not a reader insert. that's an oc, and your fic is incorrectly tagged.

to me, a reader-insert fic is very specifically a fic in the second person without a name or physical description as much as possible. which isn't to say that oc fics are bad!! i write them myself in other fandoms. i just... don't really like reading oc fics for fandoms where my brain has decided This Is A Reader-Insert Fandom. Nod Nod.

so there is a delicate art to writing second-person fics with the intent of having it function as a reader-insert. the balance between giving enough flavor to have it be compelling vs so much that a reader can't comfortably put themselves in an insert-chan's shoes is actually a real passion of mine!! it's one that is kind of... something that you eventually get a Feel for after writing them for a while.

that said, here are some little tricks and whatnot so hopefully you can shortcut things a little. also, obvious warning since you're asking desceros dot com for writing advice, but this is a long post:

first, embrace the fact that you're going to exclude some people. no matter how bland and empty you make an insert-chan, you're going to exclude someone. and that's okay! if you try to cast Too wide a net, you're going to have a boring, bland insert-chan, and that's not going to make Anyone happy. still, there are a few things that i keep in mind since i want to appeal a broader audience: 1. try to be mindful of race coding, and avoid it. very specifically, describing hair (length, texture, care, etc.) and blushing or general discoloration of skin besides bruising are both something i avoid. i don't describe someone's night routine beyond, say, taking a shower, putting on lotion, and brushing teeth. this allows for black readers to more easily read your fics, which is something i'm particularly passionate about since i've had friends who feel excluded from the reader-insert community because they're black and that really makes me sad. 2. avoid describing favorite things, clothing, etc. little things that don't matter don't need to be described. does the reader need to know that your character is wearing a green sequin dress? or does it matter that they're wearing a pretty dress? 99 times out of 100, the latter suits the writing just fine and allows for a reader to picture what THEY think is a pretty dress. hell, unless i'm writing something that involves removing clothing, 9 times out of 10 i won't even mention what a reader is wearing, because it doesn't matter, and describing it gets in the way of someone's imagination. same thing with favorite foods, what someone is eating for breakfast. in symphony, viola-chan is famous for a baking cookies--but i don't specify what kind, and i won't. because my favorite cookie is different from someone else's, and the specifics don't matter. what matters is that they taste comforting, and everyone else likes them a lot, too. 3. avoid physical descriptions where possible. as i said before, i typically don't mention hair at all. instead of having someone run their hands through your hair, i have them stroke your nape. same basic touch, but one allows for short-haired readers or curly-haired readers to insert easily, one doesn't. i don't mention an insert-chan's size or height, other than a relative "you're shorter than donnie" or "leo's bicep is so much bigger than yours." i try to avoid weight-coding as much as possible so that fat readers can feel just as welcome as very skinny readers. that stuff just doesn't matter, and so cutting it out broadens how many people can read and feel represented.

4. keep unimportant details vague. for example, in a lot of my fics, the insert-chan has a family, but communication with them isn't mentioned. the status of the family or its makeup isn't important. a lot of writers will tell you to kill them off for convenience sake (which i do sometimes write inserts with dead families), but to me this is just lazy. you can have an insert-chan with a family. but instead of showing their relationship with the family, show how that relationship has shaped the insert-chan's personality. for example, in the latest fic i wrote, infinite singularity, the insert-chan's family is alive and well, but they're distant. not only does this mean, yay, i don't have to define what that family is--but it also allows me to show that piercing-chan avoids pain, emotional as well as physical. now i don't have to say you don't like pain. i can show it. and that always makes for more powerful writing.

so that's how you keep things broad. but there's a flip side to this, which is "how do i make an insert-chan compelling without any details?!" and the answer here is, well, add details!! which, hey, didn't we just say to eliminate details? to which i'd say, yes, Except for the Ones You Need.

1. give your insert-chan something they like to Do. whether this is a hobby or a career, this one has several functions in your story. one, it gives you something on which you can hinge characterization. for example, in my fic electromigration, that insert-chan likes camping. now i can have conversations about it, have an excuse for you to know how to do things camping-related, etc. it propels the plot forward. and two, it gives your insert-chan something interesting, which is the secret to a good character. you don't want to go too overboard on this, since again we don't want to overload the insert-chan with things that aren't helpful, but one, maybe two hobbies, or a job, makes them rounder and makes the fic more enjoyable to read.

2. give your insert-chan a personality dot dot dot carefully. now this one sounds weird. "don't i want to have a blank canvas onto which people can put themselves?" well, kind of, but really, no. that's how you get a bland character that's so boring no one wants to read your fics. and it doesn't even have to be a mild personality! in my fic goldilocks, that insert-chan has a Very strong personaity, such that i've even gotten requests for a chef-chan/reader fic. but because i've stripped away all of the other identifying things, it can still read as an insert-character without being an oc. that said, this is a tricky one. the more personality you give, the more people you alienate. but also, the less personality you give, the less interesting the fic. it's a delicate balance, and one you'll figure out eventually as you write more and read more.

3. give your insert-chan a story. this one is one that is more relevant for longer fics, but is still helpful to keep in mind for shorter fics. what i mean is, okay. you're writing a reader-insert. but for a moment, treat it like an oc. where did they come from? how did they get to new york? what personality arc do you want them to have over your plot? are they going to change, and if so, how? for this, let's look at my fic amaranthine. the history is vague enough that it doesn't impede a reader's imagination, but there are enough details that you Feel like there is a story that was happening before, and you've dropped in at this point to ride along with these people before you leave them to go on their way again. things like being best friends with raph after he found you drunkenly crying on the sidewalk. things like leo having known you and donnie were gonna be a mess when you got together. things like splinter always loving to drink tea with you. these are small details that make the world feel rich, but not so much that it's impossible for a reader to build their own narrative around it.

anyway, these are just some broad tips, and i hope you found them useful!! my main, tldr thing i'd say is just to write. it's going to take practice. writing in general is hard, writing something new is Really hard, writing something new and being picky about how you want it to come out is REALLY REALLY hard. so be kind to yourself, and remember that this is supposed to be fun. don't fret, don't get stressed, just take it cool. maybe write a few that you don't publish, just so you can get the voice under your fingers and take some of the pressure of Oh God People Are Going To Read This off your shoulders. i always do that when i enter a new fandom, and it's soooo helpful.

good luck, and let me know if you have any specific questions! :D

[jess-the-vampire]

Ok I wanna elaborate more on why some parts of the fandom might be bummed about hunter's hair in a more fair way.

"I don't understand why ppl are upset about hunter’s hair, he's distancing himself from caleb-"

No one is upset because of the reasons behind the hair change, like I have yet to see one person complain that its because of him wanting a new identity.

Nah nah, I think the main reason is purely because of the strand providing hunter with a really fun unique trait to his design, that provides a lot of character, that he looks naked without it.

Regardless of the context in which he got it, that stupid little strand was basically a character in itself for how much it got dirtied, burned, and pulled.

Its just one of those really fun features he has that provided a lot of fun gags and character moments and people loved stylizling it in their art to look like hearts, fun curls, ect ect. Like when people did simple draws of him his strand was literally used as the telltale sign it was hunter and not another character most of the time.

And his new hair isn't nearly as memorable or unique looking by comparison.

Like people have already done hunter in other hairstyles and people don't normally seem to mind, but that strand has stayed in pretty much ALL of them.

The context is fine, no one cares if he did it for identity reasons. And sure, we'll probably eventually get used to it.

But its perfectly understandable people would be a little bummed they traded his memorable, full of character and fun moments lock, for something more generic and robbed them of those fun moments and gags unique to hunter. I think that's why people are actually bothered.

Personally I don't care if he cut his hair, I am not complaining his hair changed, I would just like the lock represented somewhere, even if it were tiny now. Not having one his most memorable and notable features is a lil sad. That's just me tho.

And besides, people can perfectly understand the reasons behind a character changing their appearance, but not care for the appearance themselves. Like if people find it ugly they can find it ugly, no amount of "he's distancing himself from caleb " is gonna make it less ugly to people who don't think it looks good on him.

Its fine, we'll probably get used to it, but its ok if people are sad his most characterized feature was completely removed from his design, regardless of the context.

Also some of the responses to it are also probably for funny reasons and aren't serious.

If you like it, good for you, but I think there's a bit more of a reason people responded how they did.

Rip to all gags, jokes, and fun fanart with the hair strand. 💀💀💀

[theneighborhoodwatch]

uhhh wally/barnaby for the ship thing?? idk if you ship them im just guessing because youve rbed some art for it lmao

(send me a character/ship to hear my thoughts)

when or if I started shipping it: [friendly shrug that communicates absolutely nothing]

my thoughts: IT'S FUNNY, I... I FEEL LIKE I SHOULD FEEL WAY MORE STRONGLY ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP BEING ROMANTIC THAN I DO? especially considering that "eccentric and traumatized manic pixie nightmare guy obsessed with fulfilling some fictional archetype x his more cynical and worldly friend-slash-colleague who starts out supportive but eventually finds himself way out of his depth" was pretty much the Exact dynamic of the last ship i was invested enough in to call an otp. so far though, any moments they have together don't get much more out of me than "ooh, interesting, i wonder if/how that's gonna come into play later," or "oho, i think my friend who ships barnwally will get a kick out of this," or "aaaghghg fuck.... buddy comedy angst...." i think my thoughts on them right now can be best summarized as ... i am excited for when there is enough About them in canon to finally make me as emotional over them as i am about, like, franklydear or wally and home. but also even if their relationship is never explicitly or even implicitly romantic then i have more than enough reason to believe it will still be just as emotional and rich with Themes. TL;DR: i know they're gonna fuck me up Some day, but that hasn't happened yet.

What makes me happy about them: they genuinely like each other! i feel like with welcome home's whole Thing of its characters' predetermined roles coming into conflict with their reality it'd be really easy to have one of them secretly hate or resent the other from the get-go, but - no, wally trusts barnaby to always have an answer for what he's feeling or experiencing and barnaby is gentler and more upfront with wally than he is with almost any other character (although considering his general personality that may not be saying much HAHA.) it makes it a lot easier to get invested in them and subsequently dread what effect The Horrors will have on their relationship.

What makes me sad about them: so, like. wally probably knows why he and barnaby are friends to begin with, i.e. he probably knows that A Higher Power decided that they should be friends, and so it was done. the possibility that wally can exist beyond what his audience/creator(s) expect of him does not seem to have ever occurred to wally himself. what i'm getting at here, is that. wally may genuinely like being friends with barnaby, yes. but liking something because you chose to seek it out and liking something because you are under the impression that you will somehow cease to exist without it are Two Very Different Things, and the latter is. very dangerous for any kind of relationship. and, fuck, barnaby - if i was barnaby and i found out that that was how my best friend (who i may or may not be in love with) saw our friendship the whole time - if i found out that was the truth and i never noticed it? i would never be able to forgive myself. even if that friend ended up doing things that hurt me or other people or themselves and i was rightly upset with them for that, there would always be that little voice in the back of my head telling me that if i had just looked closer for two seconds i could have fixed it. i could have helped him. i could have shown him i was a real friend.

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: i don't seek out WH fic all that often, but i remember when it first became a thing a lot of explicitly romantic barnaby/wally fic made barnaby a little too earnest/mushy for my liking? like yeah, he cares about wally and is gentle with him and everything, but he is also very quick to tease wally and to dress up pretty much everything he says in at least on layer of irony/clowning around. this pooch does NOT have the emotional self-awareness for the things you want him to say!! i also dislike when authors make another character (usually home or. howdy?) like, over-the-top abusive towards wally so barnaby has more incentive to get with him, but i just don't like character assassination/flanderization in general, so.

Things I look for in fanfic: honestly, just, like. more stuff that actually interacts with WH's canon. i feel like a lot of the stuff i see for them is either AU fic or smutty oneshots that don't do a whole lot to incorporate canon elements. which, like, do whatever you want forever, but i'm Starvin' over here.

My kinks: y'know i was gonna be like "teehee, wrong blog! you're not getting that here, silly!" but. i actually have no idea what kinks i would consider Only in the context of wallaby. uhhh. ask for my nsfw blog if you wanna hash that out i guess.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: i'm very curious to see if canon is going to end up making a case for laughingstock. i don't know if it will but i think it would be very funny. as for wally... [looks at his relationship with home] uh. [looks at his relationship with W/the WHRP] umm. [looks at his relationship with the audience] fuck. maybe work on yourself a little bit before thinking about sharing your life with someone again, buddy.

My happily ever after for them: an animated music video set to on melancholy hill by gorillaz. it opens with wally sitting in front of home's burning remains at night, gazing mournfully into its eyes one last time. the only sound we hear is the crackling of the fire. we smash cut to black for a split second before the song begins to play, paired with the visual of wally driving down a long highway at sunset, in what is very clearly a hastily painted over mail truck that used to belong to eddie's post office. after the opening instrumental of the song, the footage alternates between three perspectives: wally traveling to his unknown destination, complete with all the hitchhiking, gas pumping, pit stopping, and otherwise less glamorous parts of road travel; the other neighbors trying to put their lives back together after The Bullshit, in particular following barnaby's melancholic point of view as he visits each one/attends their various get-togethers; and finally, the neighbors Braving The Horrors back in the day to fight for a life that best fits their needs rather than that of their long-dead makers. as the song begins to roll to a close, we see the mail truck pull up to an unfamiliar looking house, with a handful of neighbors hanging out on the porch and barnaby leaving out the front door to grab something. the entire scene takes place at sunset once again, meaning everything in is in silhouette. barnaby stops dead in his tracks when he sees the truck, and the others soon follow his gaze. wally opens the door and steps out, his body language hesitant as he takes one step towards barnaby. barnaby begins to walk towards him. we smash cut to black on the final note of the song. the end.

[robo-milky]

[MORE INFO]

Nicknames:

Brittle Star (Floyd) | Monsieur Fontaine (Rook) | Mr. Leikata/Leikata-sensei (Idia) | Lei (Neige)

Bio:

Leikata is an expressive boy who’s always honest to himself. Whenever he feels happy, sad, or angry, his body’s natural reaction is to tear up. As a result, his peers mistook him for an irrational crybaby. Contrary to this, Leikata is someone who can speak clearly and calmly in tears. Additionally, he’s gained a reputation for being a “pretty cryer”. This does not make Leikata ashamed, he instead embraces it as a natural side of him. Leikata believes it’s best to let loose and go with the flow, than bottling everything up. Moreover, Leikata’s heart bleeds as much as he cries. Leikata is not just sensitive to his feelings, but others’ as well. If he feels like he did something wrong, he will gladly admit and bring attention to it, even if the other party can’t care less. This is also the reason Leikata can’t lie, the guilt would have eaten him alive.

Core values -> Honesty + Peace

Background:

Leikata’s father is a renowned artist in Twisted Wonderland, known for his craftsmanship of using purely paper to make masterpieces. As a result, Leikata followed his father’s footsteps and became somewhat of an apprentice, working under him for exhibitions and galleries. At the age of 12, Leikata discovered his own UM, “Paper Plans”, and started to surpass his father when it came to crafts, via magic. Out of respect for his father’s value of traditional crafts, Leikata branched off to do his own shows and viewings, by joining the scenes of paper theatres and stop-motion. His personal works are niche among the art community, but he’s been getting more attention through collaborations with others.

Notable Thoughts: Leikata’s

“Silver’s the best! He is my first friend in Night Raven College. …Why? Because he was the only student who wasn’t intimidating.”

“Kalim is a surprisingly good person to vent to, if you ever need it. He always knew how to pick me right up, and sometimes he’d even cry with me.”

“Vil is truly the fairest of them all! Well… maybe not when he’s chewing me out for flunking potionology, haha…”

“When Rook is not keeping an eye on Epel, it becomes my job to keep an eye on him. I’ve tried so hard to teach him how to differentiate between the dessert spoons, but he still doesn’t get it…”

“Lilia’s wears a sun-blocking visor when he has P.E.; I wonder if I should get that too.”

Notable Thoughts: Others’

“I thought I had offended Master Leikata when I talked to him the other day, but apparently his eyes are sensitive to sunlight. That makes me wonder how much of his tears are real…” - Cloche

“Leikata brings such life and energy to the Board Game Club, even going so far as to make customized game pieces for us, and animating them in front of our eyes. He’s so creative, turning chips into something so avant-garde. …Surely, they must be worth quite a lot under his name.” - Azul

“I don’t get why Vil wants me to be like Leikata so bad… All that pansy does is cry.” - Epel

“I can’t believe Azul invited Mr. Leikata— THE Leikata who was part of the stop motion for one of the biggest current blockbuster anime OPs of all time, to the BG club—! What was he thinking?!” - Idia

“I wonder how Lei how is doing, after he animated the credits of my last film. I was hoping we could catch up some time, after he moved.” - Neige

Extras/Trivia:

- Light magic user

- Leikata’s hair used to be long and symmetrical, until Rook burned it part of it by accident during a science lab.

- Leikata’s favourite food, stargazy pie, is banned from the Pomefiore dining hall for life.

- Pomefiore is generally very protective and coddling of Leikata. Not necessarily because they’re scared of him getting hurt, but because of the potential danger that is his UM.

- One of Leikata’s past times in Pomefiore is doing puppet shows in the lounge. Students of other dorms drop by sometimes to watch.

- Leikata’s anime/manga/gaming collabs are essentially the TWST equivalent of JJBA x Gucci/Louvre

Full Sprite:

[shoechoewarriors]

I just finished reading Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez. To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect going in- all I've ever heard about it was from people going "Can you believe Nickelodeon asked a guy who makes stuff like that to make a children's show!?" After reading it, I can say that it's definitely interesting in a way I don't think any basic plot description could've fully prepared me for, and I kind of want to dump my thoughts about it as I just come away from it.

As the title would suggest, its most noticeable surface-level feature is that there is a lot of gore. It gets about as brutal and graphic as it can with its cartoony art style- I was actually a little bothered by it a couple of times. There are a lot of things reminiscent of Invader ZIM beyond its art style- it shares a lot of the same humor, its randomness (often to the point of stupidity), and the chaotic nature of the story progression. (There are also two aliens that show up in a few pages that I'm pretty sure are the same aliens that appeared in the IZ episode Abducted, which would mean that ZIM and JTHM take place in the same universe...? Interesting.) In a lot of ways, it had the same energy as ZIM, but lacking the restraints of a children's network- admittedly, it was very fun and tickled the twelve-year-old ZIM fan part of my brain.

The story itself is a bit trippy and somewhat disjointed. There are lots of times where Johnny will go on long monologues about how he sees himself and the world (alongside blocks of text at the beginning and end of each issue from Jhonen himself). The actual story is cut up in-between little unrelated comics of various characters getting slaughtered and mutilated in some way, facing their inner turmoils and making other people miserable, or yelling incoherent word salads and then getting murdered. You are often left unsure as to whether some of the story's events were really happening or just Johnny dreaming or making things up. It also gets kind of cosmic horror-ish at one point, but that proceeds to end itself somewhat abruptly.

I haven't looked at any discussion of the comic and what it's *really* about yet, but my first impression coming out of it is that it's... a lot of things, really? It's a nihilistic black comedy, but I got the feeling that it was also somewhat of a vent story- A lot of JTHM is dark humor and absurd scenarios for the sake of societal criticism and expressing frustration with the world. It brings up a lot of ideas about what the "nature" of humanity is, if there is a caring God, the good and bad of living, and ultimately, what the true "evils" of society are and what causes them- all told through the eyes of a weird morally bankrupt loner that likes torturing and murdering people he doesn't like.

Most of the people that Johnny goes after are assholes and bullies, generally bad people, or anyone that just generally upsets or inconveniences him in day-to-day life. His arc throughout the story is discovering who and what "controls" him in his search for true freedom- and through that, he realizes that he, himself, is a massive contributor to why everything is so awful, eventually seeing people like himself as one of society's issues (but not really doing anything to change or control his behavior, which, to me, suggested he really never attained the "freedom" he desired so much). It was quite interesting to have a main character like that.

And, while I do not really know anything about Jhonen Vasquez as a person, a good amount of Johnny's traits struck me as... maybe a bit of a projection? A lot of the blocks of text from Vasquez at the start of issues will have him describe his thoughts and behaviors, and then in the story, Johnny displays a lot of those same thoughts and behaviors, like his hatred of sleep resulting in him regularly staying up the entire night and his tendency to experience loneliness and sadness (though, of course, these blocks of text might also be Jhonen simply putting up a persona as well.) Still, though, I wouldn't be too surprised if a lot of things about Johnny were in fact an exaggerated depiction of the author's own perceived negative traits and turned into an edgy serial killer character (especially since I know that this is indeed the case for a lot of Vasquez's characters, like ZIM in his inability to realize when his ideas won't work and Dib in his undying need to prove himself above all else in IZ.)

JTHM was one of the most unique things I've read in a while- it's one of those stories that sticks in your brain and leaves an uneasy feeling in you when you come away from it, but it definitely has a lot of substance to it beyond the "edgelord serial killer gorefest" surface-level appearance. It doesn't give you any moments of comfort in its overt negativity, but I think it manages to come out as something meaningful beyond just a nihilist "everything is awful and there's nothing you can do about it" message. It's definitely not for everyone, but if you're up for it, I'd really recommend giving it a shot.

[silvantransthranduiltrash]

Okey same person who asked about thranduil baby daddy’s here.

By the way loved the explanation, makes sense. But I would love to hear more about Ingwe and his adopted relationship to thranduil.

Especially your opinion on how would have thranduil reacted seeing how ingwe turned out? in the sense that in valinor he was all “pease,art,music and the serving the valar”.

Also do you think if given the chance to return to middle earth after going to valinor, the we’s would have returned? And would they have brought their children with them?

I love hearing questions, so dw!

So, first things first: little reminder that everything i have to say is about my au, and is not always canon compliment.

So Ingwe actually calls Thranduil his ada. If you ever hear him talking about his Ada he means thranduil. And everytime someone tries to interfere and say “don’t you mean ingen?” After they started living in valinor (ingen and Alehalen(ingwe’s mom) went with the vanyar) ingwe point blank tells them no, they aren’t his parents.

It’s actually a point of tension, bc valinor elves don’t really understand the concept of adoption, just like they don’t really deal with divorce/remarrying/everything that happened between miriel and finwe. So a lot of elves don’t actually acknowledge that Ingwe has disowned Ingen and Alehalen. Including his younger sister Indis, who was born in valinor (yes, in this au indis is his sister) and his wife, who keeps insisting that he should mend his relationship with them.

And thranduil just treats him like he came from his body. Which isn’t difficult bc Ingwe and Lasgen could be twins tbh. Lasgen and Ingwe are genuinly close, btw, and will call each other “twin”. Thranduil is, however, ready to throw down with Ingen and Alehalen the moment he catches even the faintes whif of them treating him like shit. It was a lot of comforting a crying elfling way back when. Tbh, because custody arrangements and such didn’t really exist then, Ingwe actually just generally spent a lot of time with thranduil and his family, especially as he became older.

This actually what kind of kickstarted the bad blood between the two families. I mean, when ingen ding-dong-ditched thranduil, they were annoyed but moved on oretty quick (especially when they don’t think that loosing Ingen was any real lose) but the way ingen proceeded to treat his kids, and the way in which thranduil “stole” his sone from him really sparked the fire between the two families. Which is why ingwe doesn’t understand how Finwe, who is a Miriel simp, could possibly cheat on her with Indis, of all elves.

It’s complicated. And the drama started long before the Miriel/Finwe/Indis debacle was even thought up, though most elves don’t realize it/forgot.

So, idk if you know this, but i joke on here that Ingwe “started a cult” to deal with his emotions/gain power. Except then he lost control of the cult. To his parents. And sister. And wife. And to an extent his son. Yeah Ingwe’s just having a bad time. He also is very scared that after the thousands of years since he’s seen thranduil that thranduil no longer thinks of him as his son.

Dw, the moment thranduil is in valinor (through whatever means that may be) he pretty much immediately tracks down his long lost son and demands he comes for a family diner all while hugging the stuffing out of him. Thranduil genuinly wouldn’t care how Ingwe turned out as long as he’s happy and not an ass. Sadly, it’s sad vanya elf hours and ingwe’s been lowkey miserable for millenia and this 👌 close to snapping.

The thing about cuivienen elves, is that in general, i think, they deserve to have their own classification bc, by virtue of being the ones who discovered everything/created society/etc. they all have their wires crossed. And it’s not that they dislike peace, but most of them feel a bit stiffled in valinor. Furthermore, i feel like they feel at least a little disassociation with other vanya/teleri/noldor born elves bc cuivienen elves didn’t actually grow up in that culture, and a lot of those distinctions between elven ethnicities happened after they were kids. They feel a little lost, a little out of place at times.

I actually hc that none of the we’s were actually planning to stay in valinor or lead their people but somehow ended up in that role anways and they’re kinda pissed about it. They just wanted to explore, ok, they did not know it meant signing up to be king.

I feel like all of them want to return to middle earth, if they get the chance, but they also don’t want to abandon their people/families, nd they feel it would be unfair to ask it of their families, when a lot of them are clearly happy in valinor.

In short, in my au, the -we’s feel more or less trapped in their role.

Especially when they have to constantly behave civil, when they’re all a little unhinged. Ingwe’s actually pretty bloodthirsty when it comes down to it. It’s something he shares with Lasgen, Willow (other older sister from another mother) and indis. This drive to be ruthless and almost cruel when dealing with any type of opposition is something they inherited from Ingen, though none (bar indis) likes to acknowledge that that is where they get it from.

Also, just a thought:

Thranduil: *steps foot in valinor*

Ingwe, finwe, elwe, and olwe: finally, an adultier adult.

Might have gotten a bit side tracked, but i hope this answered at least most of your questions.

[empressawesomecoolness]

Doctor Who: The Ultimate Speedrun Marathon - Series 1 (2005)

Eccleston as the 9th Doctor seems to be a big fan favorite, including among my Whovian friends, so I was especially excited to start his era. Needless to say, I was very impressed! This series really brought Doctor Who out of its ‘80s era funk and into the modern age, so its importance deserves the praise, which I’m about to give in truckloads.

General Thoughts

Right out the gate, Christopher Eccleston was the perfect actor to take on the role! From what I’d heard of the 9th Doctor before watching this series, I assumed he’d be very serious, edgy, and overall just a grimdark take on Doctor Who. The early 2000s was ripe with franchises and reboots like that, so I was pleasantly surprised to see just how three-dimensional he was! I was mainly familiar with Eccleston from the 2010 TV movie Lennon Naked, which he was fucking awful in, so to see him so perfectly embody the Doctor gave me whiplash ngl. He does have darkness in him, which comes out in relation to his Time War PTSD and his hatred of the Daleks, but he’s also really lively and snarky in most moments. Such a great character all around! If Paul McGann makes you fall in love with the Doctor’s personality, Eccleston makes you understand it.

I assume the tragic backstory 9 mentions throughout this series (regarding the Time War, the destruction of Gallifrey, and him being the last of the Time Lords) was a retcon made for this series in particular, since the 8th Doctor was on his way back to Gallifrey at the beginning of the ‘96 TV movie. Maybe he was just visiting the rubble idk. I could be wrong, but I include this just to mention that I assume lore retcons will probably be rampant from here forward, so I’m cool with that.

Moving onto this Doctor’s companion, there’s a few. The main one we follow is 19 year old Rose Tyler, played by Billie Piper. I was familiar with Piper as Brona/Lily in Penny Dreadful, which she was great in, so it was cool to see her again in a very different role. Rose starts out really wayward and flat, but over the course of the series and her adventures with the Doctor, she grows more involved with the world and becomes happier as a person. It’s a cool development that really cuts to the core of what the Doctor represents as a traveler and explorer of all things exciting and hopeful. Dr. Grace Holloway gives her a run for her money as my favorite companion so far, but Rose is really interesting and overall just a great human protagonist for us to tag along with.

Along with her, there’s also Mickey (Ricky?) Smith, played by Noel Clarke, and Captain Jack Harkness, played by John Barrowman. With Mickey, I assumed he’d just be a throwaway character, as a teenage boyfriend Rose leaves behind for good to move onto greater things, but he comes back again and again, with a lot of development that really surprised me! He grows from a pretty flat and lame guy into a character with a lot of agency and intelligence. His angst over Rose leaving him for time/space adventures was also really sad :( I felt bad for him honestly, but he grows beyond his need for Rose and comes into his own right

Captain Jack was really fun too. Reminded me a lot of Firefly. I expected him to be one-off character too, but he sticks around and is really fun to follow. It’s cool to have another snarky space/time adventurer around for a little bit. He’s also a bi king so that’s dope as fuck

Back to the 9th Doctor himself, I really liked the parallels drawn between him and the Daleks. This might just be a coincidence, but I think the interior walls of his TARDIS look a lot like the outer shell of the Daleks. Just thought that was a cool detail.

Speaking of his TARDIS in general, the more industrial look contrasts with the 7th & 8th Doctor’s warm homely TARDIS. The spindly concrete pillars and the shiny metal walls/floor are really striking. It’s like a modern-art exhibit. It’s both very 2000s and very classic looking.

Favorite Episodes

Aliens of London

World War 3

The Empty Child

The Doctor Dances

Dalek

The End of The World

Favorite Moments

“You would make a good Dalek”….. omg chills

Rose being there for her father’s death was really sad and moving. That whole episode was great, but that last moment was especially effective

“Kill yourself.” lol

Charles Dickens having his own sort of Scrooge-esque arc was really nice. A bit sad knowing that he would die a year after the episode is set, but still bittersweet and nice.

The Doctor’s joy after realizing everyone finally gets to walk away okay in episode 10 was great! It’s an amazingly emotional moment for someone who’s gone through so much loss and grief, and Eccleston plays it perfectly. Everyone lives!!!

Rose getting super glowy TARDIS powers was cool as hell for her development into a hero in her own right, as well as being dope as fuck overall. I’m gonna assume/headcanon that the “Heart of the TARDIS” that appears in the finale is the same as the Eye of Harmony that appears in the TV movie.

That final regeneration scene… So cool! I’ll miss Eccleston, but he made the most of his time as the 9th Doctor. The way David Tennant also makes his appearance uniquely his was super funny. Just kinda commenting on his new teeth and then shrugging it off.

Alright, that’s it for Series 1, as well as the end of Eccleston’s run as the 9th Doctor. It was a fun ride and an amazing start to this fresh new beginning to the franchise, but I suppose it’s time to move on with him. Now, onto Series 2, with David Tennant taking over as the 10th Doctor.

[fandomfluffandfuck]

hi S ok you definitely dont have to answer this bc its basically just me venting and its pretty lame haha but im curious if its something you've ever dealt with or if u have advice... basically i have diagnosed ASD and marvel is my special interest and has been since i was a kid and im pretty positive its going to stay my favorite thing for the rest of my life lol. and sometimes i get so sooo sad and kinda lonely thinking about the fact that like .. i know its basically still one of the biggest fandoms out there but like all my favorite fics were posted like 5-10 years ago mostly from authors that arent even in the fandom anymore and theres never gonna be another movie with steve and bucky together that everyone gets excited about and wants to talk about and theres also just so much less of a fun goofy little tight knit community for stucky on tumblr and online like ... idk i just miss so bad when the mcu was at its peak and there was so much content to consume and so many people passionate about it... and i know theres definitely still a huge presence and like im so thankful that youre an author that i love thats still super active and im always glad to visit your page and to see that theres still so many fans out there that care and wanna interact yknow. but tumblrs different now and its been like ten years since peak stucky content and the actors are all doing their own thing now idk it just makes me sad 😩😩 i feel like such a loser saying it i swear i have other interests and an irl life that is very fruitful and lovely hahaha its just makes me a bit frustrated at my autism because i know i wont be able to ever really stop loving these characters even as others move on

Hey, sweets!

I understand what you mean and you're not a loser, not at all. It's fucking great to have an interest in something, anything--what else is life for? You gotta have something to be focused on and interested in that gives you joy, otherwise, what is there? Just blandness. And, yeah, Marvel fandom is still very much active and that's wonderful and great! But, it's also true that it will never be the same as it was in its heyday. Personally, I wasn't around when the stucky fandom was exploding along the release of CA:TWS/the general MCU height, but I certainly see all the old art, edits, cosplay, etc. that's still reblogged and I've read so many of the fics from years prior, so I have a grasp of what was happening. And I can totally see how you'd miss generally, but especially if your fixation has attached deeply to these characters.

I have a sibling on the autism spectrum (who's old enough to have been diagnosed with Aspergers's syndrome before that was phased out but they are, of course, on the spectrum regardless of arbitrary hierarchical labels that I will restrain from ranting about because I fucking hate that shit, don't talk to me about "high functioning" ugh) and they have a few different life-long hyperfixations as well. So, you're not alone, but, it is hard to think of any actual advice per se. I think you're already doing what you need to be doing, y'know? You're here and enjoying what is going on now, connecting to blogs that are active, finding space where you can talk about these characters, you've got other things to do that also capture your attention, and, of course, you know you're sad about what isn't going on anymore. It's okay to be sad. You can't control what you're passionate about in the same way you can't control who you fall in love with. Are these silly little fictional characters not just people we've fallen in love with a little or a lot, no matter if they don't "exist"? I love that for us. Humans are so cute and full of love.

Fandoms and people change and sometimes it fucking sucks when it happens, sometimes it's great. Either way, it's part of the ecosystem of life. Water and nutrients and air and sun--it makes people change, it makes them grow, and you're allowed to be sad about what they used to be, you just have to keep growing, too. Remember what they were and know who they are now.

Hopefully, something in there helped you feel better, even if it was just from telling someone how you feel.

[bloody-revenge-days]

How has things been

So... Hi. I hope you guys are doing well

.

I'm kind of afraid to share this with you but... here it is :

.

This blog is now a ghost town and I've kind of forgotten it existed, not gonna lie. And it's very close from the end of the year so... Bloody Revenge Days update for late 2023 is not a really bad thing, let's say.

For those wondering what's going on with Bloodstained, well unfortunately I lost interest as time went on, and by the way at the time it was just me trying to make things work out with the ideas I had. I had very little help to execute it (and writing is not my best thing, I'll be honest with that). Also lost interest with Bloody Bunny in general because one, updates are painfully slow and two, I just moved on... naturally, and got other interests. And I also kind of matured.

And I'll be honest, 2023 was a year where I was really not in my place.

For those who only know the bloody revenge days facette, I must admit that I was very very low. I mean it by the way, because Twitter. Cause you know, Twitter and anger issues is not a really good cocktail. So I did what was the best option, and it was to just log off completely. And that after a heated argument I told myself it was time to get the fuck out that place immediately before I get worse. And also I am considering getting help with said anger issues cause this is really not it. I've argued with my friends a lot and now I'm in good terms with them again after logging off that site and taking a break from the friend group. And I've been feeling pretty much better after that. Still not perfect but I can feel a sense of improvement within me

So yeah, revealing a more personal side of myself and feeling kind of shameful about it, let me tell you something about Bloody Bunny.

I am feeling like 2Spot really doesn't care about Bloody Bunny or its story or at least not enough to use it outside merchandising (or doing the good ol' Hasbro technique as I like to say it) And it sucks to me because fans like me wanted more to The First Blood or the game they released in 2021, and what did they do ? Those millenial humor posts with their imagery slapped onto it and NFTs. and it really sucks. This only proved to me that 2Spot really doesn't give a shit about their beloved IP and only wanted money. And with that in consideration I kind of understand why I lost interest in Bloodstained and this blog (aside from my attention getting all over places) and why I lost interest with Bloody Bunny in general

All I can see now is a story of fans dealing with a company's corporate greed and lack of interest for the IPs they make. And it makes me really sad.

So is this the end of Bloodstained and Bloody revenge days ?

Well, Bloodstained is already scrapped so... I don't see a lot of hopes in reviving the project.

For Bloody Revenge Days, the tumblr blog will still exist but will be in a state of archive so I won't be posting here unless I see legitimate news for Bloody Bunny but at this point it's too late.

So I won't be posting here and... yeah.

Still, thanks to all who came here to see this blog as imperfect as it is, my theories, my art, my posts, thanks for all of the the support, and I wish you a delightful new year and a better year for 2024.

.

.

-soursweetfoo

[66sharkteeth]

Hey there, 66! Hope you're doing great. I have been going through your account for the past few hours (this reminds me of that one time I stayed up till 2 am as I appreciated all the artworks on your Instagram) so I know you've heard this several times, but I wanted to say it myself too: your work is wonderful. Believe me, I absolutely love it!

I found City of Blank years ago, during its first season. I read it all, and was quite impressed with the concept, intrigued by the plot, and in love with the characters. But before the next season started, I dropped out of reading Webtoons completely, as far as I remember. Long story short, I revisited Webtoon recently, read a few episodes of City of Blank, and was hooked. Yep. I binge-read the entire rest of the episodes in... three to five days?

So I want to commend you on your amazing concept, beautiful and eye-catching art, plot that keeps me reading late into the night (and at the dining table, between my studies, every single chance I get), the characters (really, they're very well-written — please don't doubt that — and unique, with different stories and personalities, I just love them), and the themes too (incorporated nicely, and it does make me wonder what it means to be a human). The way you write grey characters is one of the best things in your story, I feel.

(I feel like I should give you specific examples of what I like, but I have a tendency of talking too much, as you can see, so this will get way too long, I think... and sorry about the already huge chunks of text. but I hope this make you feel happy somehow)

Alright, now onto my actual questions. They're actually not related to the webcomic itself, since I really can't think of anything interesting... But your story is really good, so here are some queries I have about writing in general.

Do you have any tips for thinking of ideas? About concepts, plot, whatever; how to really get your brain in that mode, you know.

How do you create such vibrant characters? My characters are so similar... there are at least three pairs of nearly-identical characters. And how do you make them flawed yet still so likable?

They are pretty general questions, my apologies. It's just that, you know, since I'm getting to interact with the creator of one of my current favourite stories, why not learn something from them? You can just answer with your personal processes or whatever, I just wished to know how you do it.

I'm really looking forward to the next episode (but take your time, I'm okay with waiting). Pretty sad that this is the last season though. I'll miss it. Could you maybe tell me the estimated date of return and how many more episodes we'll have? Just a rough idea will do too.

That's all. (At this point it'll come as a relief to you 😂) Have a wonderful week ahead, lots of love, and know that there are lots of people who genuinely enjoy your work, you adorable shark! ❤️

(also, don't know why I'm telling you, but this is my first ever interaction on Tumblr with literally anyone) (cool site, I like the easy formatting)

(If you've read this entire thing, thank you. Did I bother you too much? I hope not.)

Hey there! Gonna do my best to answer this since it's been in my inbox for a while, but apologies if it's not the most coherent as my head's still in a bit of a fog from a cold.

First off, thank you for the kind words. I remember they made my day when I first got this ask, but they made it again as I'm waking up w/ a throbbing head ache and coughing my lungs out from the NYCC 2023 Con Crud™.

Anyway, gonna answer your questions the best I can, especially because I'm not entirely sure what the best way to answer these kinds of questions are-

Do you have any tips for thinking of ideas? About concepts, plot, whatever; how to really get your brain in that mode, you know.

I think one thing I like to shape a lot of my concepts around is making something unordinary ordinary. I've talked about it before, but one of the inspirations behind blanks is shadow people, like the ghosts. They're so horrifying and creepy to me, and I thought it would be neat if I made a world where the most creepy and scary thing to me was just...super ordinary and mundane. Like a world where you go into your living room and you're like "Man, that shadow person is still standing in front of my tv. How obnoxious."

A lot of my upcoming ideas kind of focus around this concept too. What if we lived in a world where demons were just every day citizens that went to work and school with us? What if we lived in a world where nobody feared death and was excited for it? What if we lived in a world where half the population was in prison? I can't say every single story idea I have falls into this, but I'd say a lot of them do and I find it's often a kick off point for a lot of my ideas.

How do you create such vibrant characters? My characters are so similar... there are at least three pairs of nearly-identical characters. And how do you make them flawed yet still so likable?

Do I make them likable? Sometimes I can't tell when I look at characters like Lyss haha. Because I think she's a victim of how I write characters, which is just... I dunno, write them like they're real people. Everybody is mad at the decisions Lyss made but... I'm sorry. I'll forever die on the hill that everyone are hypocrites and 90% of people would have done the same thing in her shoes. Only a flawless, benevolent, and frankly kind of stupid, person would have just...let Rex go in those circumstances, evil other half be damned. He was still a danger who proved he couldn't control himself, and the same way you'd probably report your best friend who was driving raving drunk after he just smashed into someone, she reported a dangerous person. Even if people hate her for it, I wrote what any person would have done in that situation. And that's how I try to write all my characters, for better or for worse. A lot of Rex's stupid decisions are dictated by his anxiety and depression, and I know from firsthand experience how being in that state of mind can influence your decisions and overall outlook on life and the people who love you, despite what you may think. I guess my advice is just to give them human flaws. A lot of people don't like Nia because she's manipulative, but I write her as a character who 100% practices what she preaches. Yeah, she "gas lit" Rex into joining Blan Corp, but she also 1000% believed it was the best thing for him.

Desmond probably comes off as the more "flawless" characters, but his own self-loathing and... catholic blank guilt is a big part of what pushed Rex away. In the time when Rex was questioning and hating himself for being a blank, why would he ever go the one person who hates himself for being a blank more than him? When he could go to the person (Nia) who celebrates him being a blank, and reminds him he can be loved for being one.

Anyway, that's enough rambling for now. Hopefully that gives you some to chew on.