#also more realistic art but also its not like I couldnt do it

[hasarjunadoneanythingwrong]

Why do your drawings sometimes go with a super realistic style

i like to play around with different styles! most of the time i do a sort of...idk i guess its more cartoony style?

which is also closer to the style i draw with on a day to day basis

then sometimes i like to try out cute stylized art styles. they kind of vary in how they resemble each other tbh but thats more bc of the different types of simplification i look at and what im trying to do

i do realistic stuff way less but generally its bc i either want to practice rendering or because i want to do a more involved piece as a personal challenge. its good to go out of your comfort zone tbh, while i wouldnt say my realistic style is necessarily my favorite i still enjoy the end results

[deepseacityunderground]

ive said this before but so much of what Retvrn Freaks glorify in early modern european art are just components inherent to the mediums being used at the time as opposed to like. an example of heightened skill that has been supposedly Lost in these degenerate times.... oil paint just looks like that. its very tonal and rich and even an artist with mediocre rendering skills will have their rendering skills improved by painting in oil. old oil paintings took years to complete not because the artists doing them were very skilled but because oil takes months to dry and they built up subtle washes over dried paint. tracing was also commonly utilized during that time period, and artists also often had small armies of apprentices who would do the hard work for them with no credit. these huge highly tonal oil paintings become significantly less impressive when you actually learn about their context.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for unintentionally weaponizing our relationship?

I (19F) have been with my partner (20M) for 3 years. We dont live together yet as the norm in our country is to stay living with your parents for longer. We call everyday and during one of these phonecalls he said he has been wanting to join the military after talking to some recruiter guy in his college.

I despise the military. Its an awful institution that grooms young people in with money. Even so, i have no respect for them or any empathy for their struggles. People tend to develop more bigoted beliefs and stronger misogyny while in deployment anyway. I might have this opinion because im autistic, and tend to have a very black-and-white mindset so i view the entire military and everyone involved as pure evil, and i dont really care for developing a more realistic view. When asked, i have always said i would never date a military guy.

I expressed this to my partner and he got quiet and asked if i would break up with him if he joined. This broke me and i couldnt give him an answer because i truly love my partner and we had been planning our futures but i completely refuse to date someone on the military. The answer to his question was yes and he knew it even if i didnt say it.

I feel awful to have put him in this position. I really didnt mean to use our relationship as a threat to convince him to not do something he wants. I truly dont want it to be an ultimatum but if he tells me he joined i would have to break up with him on the spot. Its a complete betrayal to my beliefs.

Its also worth mentioning that he has given me his full support on my more controversial career decisions (switching from a STEM career to an art career) and it makes me feel worse that i wont support him in this.

TLDR: My partner wants to join the military but i would break up with him if he did, and it feels like im weaponizing our relationship to convince him not to.

So tumblr, AITA?

What are these acronyms?

[angelicguy]

was talking about it the other day but its sad how we are never going to get really big budget games w/ funky artstyles again. like if you look at the majority of big budget releases lately, they are all kind of going for the same thing as far as actual modeling goes- hi fi, super detailed complex models that try to portray as much detail as possible. which is fine for certain games, but it makes me miss the big swings devs used to take.

take street fighter 4 for instance- despite being over 10 years old at this point, it still looks REALLY good. great art direction, has a weird painterly look so everything has a cool watercolor style to it, models are expressive, etc. and this was a BIG release, its not some indie game (where most big stylistic swings tend to be made nowadays).

compared to street fighter 6, which is going for photorealism (with strong choices made as far as animation and color goes) it looks dated in the context of graphics generally, but looks WAY better than its contemporaries from the same time period. my fear is that street fighter 6 wont look that great in 10 years time.

side note, its also why street fighter 5 was really only loved by hardcore fans. it does nothing particularly well! its a halfway point between realistic and artistic to the point where it feels like a side-grade rather than an improvement or even its own original idea!

whatever leaps were made in lighting and texture quality are essentially irrelevant here. fucking gross!

the thing is, i dont think this is a deliberate choice that devs are making right now. from what i can tell, recent rendering tech has made it way easier to achieve a handful of lately- hi fi LIGHTING, increased TEXTURE DETAIL and HI POLY COUNTS come to mind. these are cool, but if youre a dev who wants to make a triple A product, you kind of have to use whatever tech is on the table to make a product look cutting edge. none of those encourage taking wild stabs at cool art directions. devs used to use those cool art directions because it was the ONLY OPTION THEY HAD.

classic case being windwaker right. the gamecube was a huge graphical leap from the n64, where even getting a model to look like something was a challenge. compared to ocarina of time, windwaker looks absolutely fucking incredible. it got a lot of pushback at the time for being too kiddy, but really the strength of its style is a result of doing as much as they possibly could with the platform they were working on. no high poly counts, the shading tech was relatively simple, and the textures (while a huge improvement over the n64!) are still basic compared to what we have today. windwaker still looks impeccable to this day, and even the HD remaster they made which, ahaha, improved WHAT

LIGHTING and TEXTURE DETAIL. but without a real consideration for the original artstyle (or why it even existed... which was the gamecubes limitations) it just looks worse.

in response to this pushback (i think, idk i didnt work at nintendo at the time) they gave twilight princess a way more "realistic" look. but given the rendering restrictions of the time, it still has a fairly robust artstyle

proportions are more realistic obviously, but in order to achieve that realism without the kind of lighting tech we have now the "lighting" is BUILT Into the textures. look at links sword, how it kind of darkens near the hilt, or how the shadow on the keese's wings is just kind of painted in specific areas. i would argue that twilight princess looks a LOT like street fighter 4 in that area-

damn! they almost look like theyre from the same game! but twilight princess was celebrated for being "realistic" while sf4 was noted for having a funky watercolor style (thats built into the focus attacks even!). its so so smart, because the devs knew they couldnt go for photorealism (like so many games of the era tried at and completely failed at!) so they went for a mix of cool stylistic decisions that allowed a game to look GOOD in a subjective, artistic way.

Not that games don't try and apply artistic principles now, but its a lot less unique. look at mario odyssey

its just a beach. and it looks great, its well rendered, but its just a beach. colors are clearly intentional and very pretty, but it's nothin that special right now, probably will look even less special in 10 years even compared to levels in the same game.

what im curious about is when are we gonna get back to that kind of artstyle meets rendering tech! if ever! current tech makes it so devs are kind of forced to go down the same boring path. look at mortal kombat 1:

im sure there are some leaps in texture and lighting, but they keep taking shortcuts. all the faces are modeled after REAL peoples faces and they mocap for expressions/conversation, which gives a really boring look to it. the fact that mk11 and mk1 look so similar so many years apart (4 i guess isnt that much but there have been leaps!) is disappointing to me.

then you have tekken 8, which is like the best looking game ive ever seen. for a while i found it hard to put my finger on why, but my brother said something really smart i feel- they made all of these models by hand. theyre essentially digital statues. they didnt pull actual face models, they just worked on their features until it looked correct. on top of the lighting and texture work, it creates a look not unlike the renders tekken has been using for years. which is convenient for them, because they can finally match the kind of real-time fidelity they've been chasing for like 30 years

hell it looks BETTER than that. so what im trying to say is im hopeful that art direction will catch up with the kind of rendering tricks/strengths we have.

i think tekken 8 feels like how soul calibur 2 probably felt at launch. does a lot of the same things given the time period

i still think hi fi rendering doesnt make for a good looking game, but rather where the focus lies for the player. for tekken it makes sense that they would focus their horsepower on detailed models and stages- youre gonna be lookin at that forever. look at elden ring

texture wise, SUPER low res for 2022. maybe even 2020. but what they do with the horsepower is genius- they focus on scale to translate locations of objectives to a player while also reinforcing the feeling of adventure, on top of extremely strong choices in color and lighting. i hope, going forward, games focus on how they can use this kind of tech to reinforce a games "gameplay mission statement" while keeping strong artistic choices present rather than focusing on being able to wow someone with a couple of screenshots at the cost of BOTH of those things. im just ranting though french press got my ass

[animentality]

last playthrough i noticed gorty has a piano in his office at wyrms rock. think he actually plays it?

part of me thinks he couldnt so much as put two notes together and its just there to look fancy and expensive, which is funnier and maybe more in character, but the romantic in me keeps thinking about him genuinely being able to play it, and good at it too. not sure where or when he’d have learned but hes got the steady hands for it anyway

also him playing it for durge, of course. amnesiac durge catching themself humming a tune that they cant remember ever having heard before, and then later they find out its a song gortash used to play a lot when they were together

Don't fucking do that to me, anon, I'd be dead on the floor.

The Dark Urge expresses an admiration for Orin's "artwork."

I wonder if maybe the Dark Urge wishes they were more artistic themselves. They're very efficient and practical.

They wouldn't have an eye for art, or music.

Which is why it's kind of sad to me, to imagine a bard Dark Urge?

Imagine loving music and wanting to grow up to play music for people...and then you find out you're a murderous demigod.

Like ouch.

No symphony orchestra in the upper city for you!

But as for whether or not Gortash knows how to play...realistically, it's just there to make him feel like he's one of those snotty nobles, born with a silver spoon in their mouth, all knowing how to play at least one instrument from childhood.

But romantically?

i'm with you, anon.

Gortash learns ONE song, that he can play for the Dark Urge, and it is awful, it's soooo off tune, it's awkward and he's terrible.

But the Dark Urge is transfixed, because they have never stopped to enjoy music before. And they can't hear the mistakes.

They just hear a man playing a song for them, and only them.

No gods between them. No trail of corpses or blood or plans for the invasion of the sword coast.

Just two people, sitting in his office, one badly playing the piano, the other listening and wishing they could speak into existence the forbidden thoughts and feelings racing through their heart, but knowing better.

Also, let's go wild.

Everyone seems to headcanon Gortash inviting the Dark Urge to come talk to him privately.

He invites them in and he's playing that fucking song.

and they recognize it as something they have hummed to themselves, heard late at night, when they were between conscious and unconscious.

maybe it's even a song they hum to themselves in broken melodies and forgotten harmonies when they're feeling particularly uncontrollable or murderous, because gortash was the only one who ever knew how to manage your urge.

ahhhh.

anon, stop giving me fic ideas.

you won't like what happens.

[raw-law]

In response to the other anon asking if you guys look for our identities, frankly i couldnt care less if you know who i am, its fairly easy to figure out. i just like reasons to relate myself to Deer. I did a self portrait once as a deer mount pouring blood. it was quite...something. definitely got a lot of responses to that one.

as for art being subjective vs objective:

i can see where each of you in coming from in that sense. some things ARE blatantly what they are and it would be kind of wild to say otherwise. like who am i to tell Da Vinci that the Mona Lisa is actually an space cat alien, not a woman. but i do still think its possible to get multiple interpretations out of her.

i will also be the first to say im not a fan of the genre of what is technically in the art world called a "ready-made". basically like what you said, taking an object that already exists, fastening it to something, setting up lighting for it, etc. ya know, MINOR changes and calling it art. im not a big fan. its lazy and unoriginal in my blunt opinion. it doesnt create new ideas and thoughts in my brain unless i BS them. like if i see an apple on a pedestal, im taking it at face value, because its simply an apple on a pedestal. it being placed on something doesnt make it any less or more to me. its just an apple. and according to your definition, it would not be art since it does not cause or create new ideas or conversation to flow. it furthers nothing.

unfortunately, in the art community, its hard to have this debate because the widely used definition is the "everything is art" one and some people cannot take criticism to save their life. if you tell suzy sue that her michael jackson x barack obama fanart is not visually compelling and offer her advice, she might cancel you on twitter. we all need to stop being wusses and also stop being rude in the art world. its important to give your fellow artists helpful and meaningful critique and feedback without being harsh or condescending. and it is of equal importance to learn to accept that feedback and use it to better yourself as an artist.

i think another big thing for me and whether something is actually art is the design itself. does it have an interesting composition? does it use an impactful color scheme? does it have a focal point? etc, etc. if these points can be argued for a piece, im more willing to call it art.

realism is also a point of contention because some will ask "whats the point if it just looks like a photo?" the skill, the effort, the time. the unique touch of human hands that gives it a slight charm even in the most hyper realistic pieces. that is the point.

have another piece as a treat. a drawing i did from life for class last semester, its a plant. about as opposite as you can get from the other piece i shared:

https://imgur.com/a/hkcqYKK

-🦌

Light:

Ooh, that's interesting. Why the choice of deer, though, so specifically? Is it for some reason, or just an instinctive decision?

And I agree with your point on what you've referred to as "ready-made". I guess, for art to be meaningful, it has to mean something in the first place, and an apple sure as hell doesn't mean anything to people. Honestly, it seems like lazy artwork to me, even though I'm not an artist. But I'd like to ask you: what exactly would you define as 'ready-made'? Would that mean, then, that photographers' work are technically also 'ready-made', as all they're doing is taking picture of something preexisting and hence not creating, in that sense? What's the boundaries between something that's art, and something that's 'ready-made'? Is it something that you can define at all?

There's this branch of art called 'Dadaism', and there are some works inside that may be considered 'ready-made' in a way. For example, Marcel Duchamp's Fountain and Bicycle Wheel are famous examples of that art movement. And Dadaism was actually made up of artists who wanted to use this nonsensical, crazy form of art to express horror and disgust of the bloodshed that occurred during World War 1. It was commonly known as the 'anti-art' movement, and its main purpose was to create art that would confuse, shock or even aggravate the public.

This ties in to what you'll see Ryuzaki discuss below. Perhaps the occurrences of this 'ready-made' art isn't really the art itself, but it's the thoughts and emotions the artist wanted to express when making the art. And, if this 'ready-made' art exists because of a true effect the artist intended to create on the general public, then it's arguable that it could be considered as art, because isn't art used to express your feelings in the first place? Even though I still don't really consider 'ready-made' pieces as art...it's still interesting food for thought.

And your piece is wonderfully drawn. I love how you rendered the leaves; it looks really beautiful. Kind of reminds me of Chinese bamboo paintings...I'd love to see more of your work, if you'd like to share!

Lastly, thanks for your ask. I love having these kinds of discussions, even though I unfortunately took a long time to get back to you..

L:

wow.. the plant piece is beautiful.. all of the strokes come out so nicely and eloquent. it really makes me want to see this deer self portrait now. that sounds even more intriguing. no pressure though, of course. i just think it's a really fascinating idea.

and as much as i despise "ready-made" pieces too, i honestly have a slight respect for them. i would still consider them art, because i do think it evokes a conversation, but specifically the kind of conversation that makes you question it's existence, if that makes sense.

for example, that duct-taped banana i mentioned in the last ask, that's actually what made me question the whole idea of art in the first place. if something so insignificant can be considered so valuable to people, then who am i to tell them that it's not really art? maybe it is. or maybe the questioning of what it is was the whole point. maybe, the conversation it was actually sparking was more-so like.. a rebellion. a taunt. almost as if it were saying: "you want art? i'll give you art. and you'll be forced to take it." if i remember correctly, there was actually another artist who did that exact thing. his name was richard mutt and he submitted a urinal with a signature of his name as an art piece. it was stupid, and absurd, and that was the point. he submitted it to prove that if he signed his name on it and paid the application fee, the group he submitted it to would've accepted it no matter how thoughtless. he made an art piece that was meant to depict what stupid art looks like, and it worked. so as much as i despise the pieces, i do still think they're art, at least to an extent.

it's things that are made with the intent of gaining either popularity, money, or whatever else there is that i don't consider art. i'd go into more detail about it, but there's already a video out there that depicts it really well, so i'll just link it here. it's by cj the x and he's known for being very chaotic, so it might be a difficult to listen to at first, but i personally really like it. their points always wrap together really nicely as the video continues and the humor is my style, so i swear it's worth a watch, hah.

anyways. i'll stop myself there so i don't annoy you too much, but i do also agree with your points on the design, process, and overall thought that gets put into art pieces. i really like this discussion overall, actually. i apologize if i sounded rude at all, i have no intention to. i enjoy being able to converse about these topics, haha. so thank you for letting me, truly.

[nothingtoseeherebyeexx]

hello, its ria!

i was reading your fanfic, delicate [chapter four, to be precise] and i juist couldnt hold it in any longer; your writing is amazing!

do you have any writing tips for me? my writing is just... it doesnt feel like a stroy; more like a university essay. i would love to know how\when you started writing!

i love your art, too! its very playful, and makes me smile so much that my cheeks hurt!

with appreciation,

paria gasemi [AKA greek girl]

xoxo

hello!!

i’m glad you like my fanfic, it means so much to me!!

i don’t think i’m the most qualified person to give advice about writing, considering that english isn’t my first language and that i’m not a writer, but i hope i’ll be helpful!

delicate is my first fic and my first attempt at writing a *long* story so i’m not really experienced, but since i’ve consumed a lot of fanfiction i could pick before writing a few things i liked from the stories i’ve read: the fics that i enjoy reading the most aren’t too long, too angsty or too cheesy, and i wanted my fic to be just like that.

i think character study could help you a lot: ever-changing dynamics between characters keep the story intriguing, and knowing their personalities well can help you create some interesting situations (misunderstandings and fights, but also improbable friendships or alliances…) that are all entertaining to read (at least for me)

writing in an ‘essay-ish’ style isn’t necessarily a problem, in fact it could help exploring certain points more clearly, but i think those ‘static’ paragraphs should be interchanged with ‘action’ paragraphs or dialogue (…speaking of which, if you’re having a hard time making it feel realistic, reading it out loud should help.)

anyways, fanfiction should be something fun to write before it is to read, and since you don’t have to write a masterpiece (or a perfect mark essay), you can indulge yourself with all the cheesiest clichés, if that’s what you like. it doesn’t matter if they sound cringy, they’re fun to write and fun to read, and that’s all that matters.

and thank you for all the compliments!! knowing my drawings put a smile on your face makes my day better <3

love,

nothing (who wants to visit greece asap, you’re lucky af girl!!)

[natsmagi]

So with the new solos coming out gradually

Do you have anything in mind with it comes to switch’s new solos? Like what’s the sounds/improvements you want to hear and maybe outfits you’d like to see them wear

oh we're getting new solos ?? i had no idea :o

unless ur just referring to the new albums in general!! in which case i really want the switch climax event to have sora be center and i think itd be super cute if the mv had an RPG motif :'))) but ofc just going for anything along the lines of magic would be suitable too

as for the cd cover art outfits.... hm....... its a bit hard to say!! since aesthetically they tend to lean more athletic/electric if that makes sense ?? if we're going based off their unit outfits and their last album collection cover, but ohhhhhhh i have such a strong bias for cute magical things i just want their cover and outfits to be full of childlike whimsy..... realistically itd probably be something cool/boy-ish lenient but GODDDDDDD i just want them to be CUTE AND SILLY SO BADDDDDDDD

AND NOW SOLOS/SOUND UHHHH. again i genuinely have no clue if ur implying we're getting new character solos bc i couldnt find it when i checked the ra*bits track list but i could just be stupid (likely) but if we're under the assumption that they are i genuinely have no idea. the solos tend to highlight the aspect of that character happyele expects to sell in a way. focusing on their quirks/gimmicks/what have u, and i think their first solos did a good job with that..... but it would be very nice to see them have more personal songs. need those mfs to vent their hearts out in the recording room. i dont really have any requests for sounds though i love the way their music sounds!!! and i love when they experiment with new sounds like in brilliant smile!!! i trust the producers that make switch music with my life. and also i cant ask them to use sounds aligned with my fav music genres because its heavy metal and what i can best describe as Haunting music. THEY SHOULD DO WALTZ NEXT

[blogblogbloggittyblog]

may 11-14, 2022

im gonna try to write about my feelings again because maybe thatll make me feel less like shit all the fucking time. i dont even understand why im so upset about this. like. i think its cuz i romanticized the shit out of him and let myself believe that he liked me and i kinda allowed myself to be vulnerable around him and that he was there when me and noah broke up so he like kinda helped me a lot that night and idk he is rly nice and maybe i was literally in love with him or still am. and maybe the problem is that i realized how shitty that i am that he couldn’t even wanna be friends with me. maybe im such a selfish manipulative bitch that even he couldnt handle it. and i thought that he liked me and maybe that made me feel good about myself. but also i felt like shit because i fucking cheated on noah basically. and he told me i deserved better and i thought he would be the better one but he had a girlfriend and that already made me feel like shit and that time we kissed it was the most pathetic thing ive ever done because it was bad. it was bad and he thinks im pathetic and idk how to stop it i think the root issue is that i think that he thinks im a pathetic stupid idiot bitch liar. and maybe i am. god i hate him but i have no right to because all ive heard is good things about him. god. what the fuck. i need to move on from this but i quite literally dont know how to do that without getting some sort of closure but also THATS SO FUCKING STUPID BECAUSE U DIDNT DO ANYTHING AND HE DOESNT OWE U ANYTHING god.

-----

think the main issue is that im not a good person and i hate people who are better than me and i guess that makes me even worse. like i hate cameron because she’s quite literally perfect. and it makes me fucking hate myself. shes so pretty and confident and smart and articulate and talented and she has all that i want rly. i saw her and thomas adams today and it literally made me wanna die. im never gonna have that. no matter how much i delude myself into thinking that im this nice hot smart person. no one has ever wanted me for more than a year. if that. i hate myself. i genuinely can’t think of one thing i like about myself. because im not good at school. im not good at art, i havent made a single decent thing in like half a year, i dont do anything outside of school, im ugly, and not skinny, and a liar and im not a good daughter. i hate myself. i think i like being in relationships because then the person can fall in love with some weird fake version of me and i can believe that maybe im half-decent. harry is just another example of how i cant maintain relationships that i care abt. i dont even think i have any genuine friends. im pretty sure they all dislike me severely. god. i. suck.

-----

im literally in love w him or smth because he’s so nice and i want him to fucking like me too i wish he did how do i get him to like me but also i want noah back because it was so much easier and i could just love him and he loved me and it wasn’t turbulent and weird. and dustin is nice but that’s abt it. i like him but that’s all there is to it and i feel bad for like asking him on a date cuz fuck. but harry is different because he doesn’t even like me lnao and i want him to like me so bad i want him to be in love with me and go out w me and be my fucking bf and it’s so stupid and pathetic but i like him sm

-----

impermanence of life it’s funny how i really thought we were gonna be together for a long time and how i thought i’d love him for so long not just him but seb too like i thkught she was it like that was the end and it’s so scary how blinding and deceiving and deluding it is to be in love or at least think that u are. even when i tried to be so so so overly pessimistic and realistic with noah i still rly thkught we’d be together for at least a couple years i mean im glad we didn’t cuz like then it’d be even fucking harder to get over it but yeah and i loved him i loved him so much and he made me light up and he loved me too and he also wanted to be with me and that somehow makes it even worse the fact that it’s a mutual temporary affliction jt sucks

-----

and like it’s so fuckinf scary how in love i was even with noah like so blindly in love or maybe it was good and i just don’t remember i wonder if there’s another universe where we’re still together . i don’t wanna be in it because i know we could both find someone who fits with us better but god it sucks when someone loves you so much and makes you feel so good but then they slip away even if they don’t want to

[tareyoabrumado]

ive been a lot happier making art since i stopped doing character art.

i was focused on making interesting ocs and their stories and drawing them to keep up with what everyone else was doing. i had one oc i focused on most strongly, and everyone else within the story was an afterthought to fill out the backstory. i still really love the character, dont get it wrong, but i realized over the development process that my favorite parts werent designing and drawing the character; it was the worldbuilding behind it:

speculative biology for nonhuman sentient organisms

language with no basis in existing languages (i developed my first conlang solely for this one character!)

environmental influences on a society's culture

linguistic and cultural barriers upon migration to a new world

practicality and structure of clothing and tools (i feel it reasonable to believe that all the clothes i designed would be easily sewn in real life) (also hair!! many of the hairstyles i designed could theoretically be done irl, provided the wearer had horns)

music and instruments and the arts culture within a society

it got to the point where i would look at the character and there would be so much going on, and yet very little in terms of a present-day storyline. ive since realised this character was just a vessel for all my other interests: linguistics, anthropology, biology, music, and physical crafts.

and i didnt even realize those were things i was that interested in! i knew i liked music, and i was on my way to a second language, but the technical linguistics really came out of nowhere (the biology was a huge surprise, given my apathy when learning it in school).

i havent touched the character in a long time. but im happy leaving their story where its at. they live out their life until they get bored, and then move on to something else, and so on. life goes on.

i got a little bit off-topic with this post. anyway. when i joined the art side of the internet, much of it was dedicated to character design and story. everyone was making intricate universes with overarching stories and detailed characters and relationships and developments; and rather than write books, they shared concept art in the form of comics, scene drawings, and character reference pages. i very rarely saw more traditional art: paintings of just. people and things. nothing exists past the piece. its nobody specific. because of this environment, somewhere in my head it was established that this is what art is these days, and to be an artist online youre expected to do character-based pieces.

so i forced myself into it. its what all my friends were doing, after all. social psychology says that you are your friends. they were all making fanart and of course, character-based pieces with extensive stories behind them. and i just couldnt figure it out. i thought there was some kind of social disconnect--wouldnt be the first time, as i seem to be the only one in my group who really doesnt enjoy playing any videogames aside from minecraft. i tried my best, and really enjoyed the process of building up my character and their backstory and homeland and culture and anatomy and dear god ive strayed away from the character themself. it never was about the character. it was about the messages i was trying to convey. everything that overshadowed the character was everything that was more important. i dont care if the design is too busy--look at all the ways a person could wear chains as jewelry!

i see the details in everything, and especially people. human bodies. nonhuman bodies. clothes and jewelry and hair and everything else. this made drawing very difficult. i wanted to detail every part of it. it became a too-realistic cartoon. i drew the seams in the clothes and the twists in the locs. i had to stop myself from drawing lines in the face. there are lines everywhere and once you notice them its impossible to ignore them. the one time i included lines and creases in the face (not nearly as many as i wanted to, but the minimum required to convey the expression and emotion), my friends said it looked weird. unfortunately cartoons and anime and character illustration have simplified designs, and every character is either young and smooth and beautiful or theyre old and wizened and wrinkled and never beautiful and often played for laughs or when the protagonist needs a mentor figure. for a person grappling with their own identity and physical existence, seeing these sentiments expressed so prominently is. difficult. people have a lot to them and its busy and not traditionally beautiful and complex and thats what makes them interesting beings.

character art is almost always digital in its final form. so that was my medium. i got by with the lineart-colorblock-shading-background setup that much of that kind of art shares. i began using a crayon-style brush for my lineart. i was always searching for a way to do a realistic oil paint style with my coloring and shading. i never found the perfect brush, so my art never turned out exactly how i was dreaming.

i thought i hated art classes. i thought i hated art classes. i thought i hated art classes. i was so trapped in the character-art funnel that nothing was to my standards and every project was shit.

i took two art classes this year to fill credits, one focusing on 2d art and the other on ceramics. neither was digital. neither was about characters.

in my pieces, i want to explore abstract ideas. i could just make a candle lantern with a cool design carved into it; or i could explore themes of what it means to be human. there is not a single character aside from vague representations of human beings. im in love.

for my 2d class, we're expected to keep a sketchbook. any art, so long as it's art. too many times ive filled a page with a drawing of a person. nothing exists past the piece. its nobody specific. and their faces are covered in lines. everywhere. eye bags, crow's feet, lines around the mouth and nose and chin, forehead wrinkles. necks.

they are people aging and they are beautiful. they are young people with decades under their belts and they are beautiful. they are people of every age and every life and they have existed physically enough for their bodies to recognize their physical habits. a testament to their living.

they are not smiling. but they have the crow's feet and the lines around the mouth and nose and chin and you know they have laughed many times before. they have lines between their brows and you know theyve felt worried about maybe one too many things. they have wrinkles on their foreheads and you know theyve felt surprise. everything is surprising. and interesting. and awe-inspiring. and beautiful.

we age and we change. this is a story everyone knows. people are often afraid, but then years later, theyre happier than theyve ever been. and they know it will only get better with time.

november 15, 2022

[chisatowo]

Every now and then I think abt that one conversation with a guy who worked at the place where I took my ged tests where we talked abt tattoos and he suggested a praying mantis tattoo on the shaved side of my head and I just think damn. I wish I had money dhdkydjd

[windose20s]

ult detective!chihiro !!!! she’s the protag of my randomized (strong word….if i couldnt see the new talent fitting well enough into canon i rerolled) thh talent swap!!!! more design notes + backstory brainstorms under the cut :)

(no masc terms for chi on this post please!!!)

so i. actually forgot to draw part of her design (her bag) when i was originally sketching……and didn’t wanna retcon it….so i just left it out! heres a pixel art i have of her swap design including their bag!

she keeps mints in her bag to offer to people whenever shes unsure what to say :)

her gloves are simply for aesthetic purposes (as you can probably tell by the lack of fingers) - no kyoko-esque trauma here. she just thinks they look cool!

(also im using she/they in this upcoming text dump if you’re wondering :] )

my idea for her backstory is still very loose but i think i have a general hold on it:

due to the bullying she faced from her peers that they just couldn’t seem to shake, chihiro’s parents agree to homeschool her for the time being. however, they are both working parents, which means they have family friends watch them when they can and when nobody is available, they hire people to watch over her (at least until she is old enough to reasonably stay home alone for a few hours, with people coming to check up on them occasionally).

however, she was naturally bright - and such, finished her daily schoolwork rather quickly. so they spent the rest of their time waiting for her parents to come home watching detective anime.

being Neurodivergent (tm), she quickly gained a healthy obsession with detective media - although they prefer anime in the genre as a lot of the genre is far too exaggeratedly grim for her tastes, and at least the animated style keeps some semblance of comfort.

eventually, she began solving the cases ahead of the characters, piecing together the evidence a few episodes in advance. they told their parents about her predictions as she made them, and then informed them whenever she was right (more often than not).

at some point, though, telling her parents wasn’t enough feedback for them - they wanted someone who’d give her genuine critique in the flaws of her reasoning, in order to get better as mystery solving so that the number of times they’re incorrect lowers.

and since she didn’t really have many friends - chihiro fujisaki, age 14ish (maybe 13 but like. if it is 13 then it’s late 13 yk), made an [unspecified fandom blogging website] account (it’s tumblr) (we all know its tumblr).

they shared her predictions and gained somewhat of a name within the communities she participated in - generally their word was taken as the most likely conclusion due to her credibility.

however, over time as all of her favorite detective shows either finished, cancelled, or went on hiatus, she was stuck with no content. they tried to ask her followers for recommendations - but she found all the mysteries way too easy and predictable for them.

in a fit of desperation to crave her sudden restlessness at the lack of mysteries to solve, they started investigating real life cases. she was hesitant to do so, and even more hesitant to tell anyone about it, but it was the only thing hard enough to keep her from feeling like they’re walking in circles.

and then….she solves one. and then another. and another. obviously all cases with evidence on public record - don’t ask me how this is realistic you’re reading an infodump about the au backstory of someone from danganronpa - but they feel like she can’t keep the cases she’s solving a secret anymore.

so she goes back to her roots, by telling her parents. they’re not entirely convinced - after all, who would believe their 14-15 year old is solving genuine cases on her own? but then…they solve another, telling them the outcome before it’s released to the public. and then another. and another. they believe her, in the end.

after a bit more of brewing on it - she decides to but her internet persona’s mystery solving to a (maybe temporary) close. they make a post explaining how not much mystery fiction is hard enough to be worth it anymore, so she’s moving on to more serious things, stuff that she isn’t sure they should post on a silly fandom blog publicly.

and with that, she kicks her solving into overdrive.

she solves every case they can, getting bored (but relieved, don’t get her wrong! she doesn’t wish for crimes to be committed even if it leaves her without anything to solve if they don’t!) whenever they lack a case to solve.

in between active cases, she chips away at a particular cold case that interests her. and, despite all odds, eventually, they’re pretty sure she’s solved it.

so she takes a deep breath and tells her parents right away. they all concur that the conclusion should be taken to law enforcement right away. and so it is! and they’re not quite sure if this is a prank or not - a schoolgirl? solving a cold case?

but no, she has it right. trained detectives confirmed that the original investigation had major oversights that chihiro managed to work through and untangle. she makes the news - and sheepishly admits she’d been solving active cases in real time as well, if only for how it provides their brain a challenge. knowing they solved the cold case, it’s no longer that unbelievable, especially with her parents to back the claims up.

the rest goes as normal - hopes peak scouts her as the shsl detective due to her prowess despite her age yada yada yada

tl;dr: chihiro “i was too neurodivergent about detective anime and it led to me becoming an actual detective” fujisaki

please please please PLEASE reblog im begging /nf. and maybe comment or something or leave tags about this super long backstory dump if you wanna??

[spikeinthepunch]

you know. as i am playing Stray and writing some things, i was working on an article about gameplay VS art- basically how many games dont seem to regard gameplay as specifically when they are so... driven on being a spectacle. gameplay is important for games, but so many dont think of it as an art itself. there are SO many games that are like oooo look at how realistic it looks. look at this linear story in a world with hyper realistic humans and its like watching a movie. and the gameplay is the most basic goddamn thing of just using weapons, scripted movements, one stage after the next.

its not to say those game are bad but they just tell great stories. and i love great stories. but i also like playing games that arent just... that formula over and over. how are we exploring? unique weapons? abilities to progressing? can the protag themself make gameplay different due to advantages or disadvantages? what genre would fit the story while bring new gameplay elements to the table?

this thought was had after playing Disco Elysium because i was so blown away by the format, and how fitting it was, and how it makde the story even more unique. im tired of god of war, assassins creed, cyberpunk 2077, the witcher, last of us, far cry, whatever rockstar keeps doing etc linear story game bullshit with no gameplay worth mentioning.

and as i play Stray (which i have run into a game breaking bug now so i cant play more) i realize that too is what is missing for me. Animal games as a whole are getting directed into this specific category of linear story games where the Animal part doesnt really matter bc the gameplay itself literally does nothing special in regards to it. it looks lovely. the world is interesting. sure. but the gameplay itself really isnt cat specific. lets be real, you could be lots of things in a game that is just asking you to jump and talk to npcs. as much as Stray may be wanting to be a 'tame' game with little stakes, it doesnt mean it couldnt have offered more on the actual gameplay.

and this is a problem. people giving such positive reviews only really have to say... the cat is cute, the graphics are nice, and the story is good. i have seen fleeting comments about people wondering if the game is fun to play or if the restricted jumping is good, or if anything actually regarding gameplay is interesting and more than just "jump and do stuff". and i see people defend the game claiming its worth it, because everything else is great! and i dont disagree its all very good, but why are we so often disregarding the gameplay of video games? not every one of them needs to do something wildly specific to their setting but like. this is what so many games are turning into. linear story with pretty graphics, gains infinite praise for being so realistic and like a movie.... idk about yall but im tired of it. i wanna be hooked by the gameplay. i wanna see how the subject and the gameplay intertwine in ways that i have never seen before. i want gameplay to be the art itself.

[nebuleeart]

3 4 5 10 12 14 16 18 22 25 26 27 30

Skipped a couple bc i couldnt think of a good answer but ehehe lets GOOOO

3. What ideas come from when you were little

A lot of my current design elements for my anthro ocs actually started when I was in elementary school and designing magical kitty girls to LARP on the playground… like honestly? If you look at Chip and Fray and Hem and then compare them to my childhood characters, not much has really changed, i just got better at art. Also these two OCs (moon and lyrica) are from like 2011 and I still use them to this day 😏

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

Despite my best efforts over the past decade (decade…. *sobs*) i STILL to this day struggle to draw sonic characters 😭 its the faces and body proportions… I just cant get it right and make them not look stiff. I’m working on it tho so hopefully in another 10 years or so I’ll finally get it down AJSHHSHAHABAB

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

Its a HUUUUGE difference. Like i’d say out of 100 sketches maybe 10 of them get finished and only 5 of those 10 end up on social media… i am very picky about what art people see.

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

I loooooove thick/heavy fabrics!! Almost all my ocs have something like that on them, i like to make them comfy 😊

12. Easiest part of body to draw

Hair! it just comes to me the easiest compared to all other parts. Close second is eyes

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

I studied cat anatomy when i was young bc i was obsessed with cats so i can specifically draw realistic cats very well but i actually dont like doing it very much… i prefer to draw them more stylized and cute :]

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

Ive had a nervous habit of biting pencils since i was old enough to use one so you can imagine the carnage I’ve inflicted on many an innocent dollar store pencil

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

Nothing before but i do stretch and get up and walk around when im feeling stiff while drawing.

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

Not quite a different interpretation but an unexpected response was all the comments on my sonic underground redesign post analyzing the design aspects and a couple pointing out things i didnt even realize I did which was really fun!! I love getting comments like that i still think about it all the time

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

Yes!! I mostly do silly loose doodles of whatever’s on my mind at the time,, dont really think about it I just draw

Recent one i did around the time the new rtfd episode dropped and i thought was funny but never posted

just dumb stuff like that ajsvshhsaj

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

Okay so last year I did this splatoon magazine spread and spent hours on it and it got like 30 notes total but its okay im not sad about it im not sad😊 (lying)

Thank you for the ask maria ily!!!

[borom1r]

For the asks you just reblogged: lawrence, eric, peter (or strahm. whichever sounds better hfmsbsns) & mallick!!!

Lawrence:

Headcanon A:  realistic — ok ok ok ive seen it come up in art n im sure fics as well every now n then but i rlly dont think Adam could talk Lawrence into going to a pride event. i think the first time he goes is for Diana. and i think its just. so big for him? seeing his daughter making friends, and winding up at the end of the day decked out in bi flag merch + compared to how he grew up and the perceptions of queer people he was exposed to. its not even like. For Him, this huge fucking wave of emotion, but moreso that his daughter has grown up so much more open and joyful than he got the chance to. she doesn't have the weight of the world on her shoulders and he couldn't be prouder or more relieved.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious — Adam is the reason Lawrence drank wood. (to clarify: Adam decided to make shakes for them both and, while making an oreo shake for Lawrence, stuck a wooden spoon into the blender while it was still on. he couldnt see any chunks of wood so he decided to just leave it be. later, while drinking, Lawrence bit down on what was Supposed to be a piece of oreo. it was instead, in fact, fucking wood. this is coming from lived experience. please know I am Lawrence in this situation.)

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends — hey do u wanna hear the worst headcanon. hey. hey. Lawrence Does Not Feel Guilty About Leaving Adam In The Bathroom <3

John indoctrinates Lawrence into a system that feeds his craving for purpose and structure and Lawrence does not think twice. I think it says very interesting things abt him VS Mandy.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own. — in a perfect world Lawrence played along w/ John only long enough to get himself safely to a hospital + then showed up later and beat John to death with that torture device of a fucking prosthesis John tried to force onto him. peace and love on planet earth, baby

Eric:

Headcanon A:  realistic — idk how realistic this really is but i also dont care u will pry trans/autistic eric from my cold dead trans/autistic hands. especially the autism side of things i see soooooo much of myself in him it makes me fucking insane

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious — ok entirely based off Donnie Wahlberg himself, the man the myth the legend, Eric can sing SO WELL and has a weakness for pop music. even Jigsaw himself couldn't make the man admit it out loud but dear god. when he's alone in his car? BLASTING the tackiest 90s boyband shit imaginable

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends — Eric was raised in an abusive household. idk this has come up vaguely in other meta ive posted but that quote, "if you grew up with an angry man in your house there will always be an angry man in your house"?? yea.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own. — i feel like this is literally all of my softer meta abt Eric but it makes me happy and goddamn do i love him. Eric gets pet rats as soon as he can post-IV + definitely has had multiple "I put the rat in the fridge and went to put the butter in the rat cage" moments. thankfully, this just means his rats get to ransack the cheese drawer unsupervised for a few minutes every now and then

Strahm:

Headcanon A:  realistic — he has a wedding band but is not actually married. the one (1) time he splurged on himself it was to get people to stop fucking asking why he’s not married/if he and Perez are dating/when they’re gonna make it official. there? are you happy? he bought a ring now shut the fuck up.

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious — Peter Strahm: Good With Children. Literally Cannot Comprehend This Fact. Diana has declared him like, her 6th favorite person (after Larry and Allison and Adam + Allison's partner(s)— I love Allison/Tracy/Rigg so much so yknow) and he has No Goddamn Clue Why. lord help this emotionally stunted, dense fucking man.

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends — he doesn't replace things unless they are near unusable. why waste the money? he doesn't deem himself worthy of comfort.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own. — Perez buys him gag gifts a lot. or like, not GAG gifts but shit that’s definitely making fun of him a little. by far his favorite is a trucker hat that says “retired don’t ask me to do a damn thing” he wears it regularly when he’s not working

Mallick:

Headcanon A:  realistic — he used to bite his nails sometimes bad enough they’d bleed. reeeeegularly had bandaids on his fingers for a long fucking chunk of his life

Headcanon B: while it may not be realistic it is hilarious — FURRY FURRY FURRY FURRY FURRY FURRY im a Mallick Scott sparkledog fursona truther

Headcanon C: heart-crushing and awful, but fun to inflict on friends — Brit is dead and that’s the only reason Mallick sits and listens to Bobby’s bullshit. he lost the one person keeping him going. he lost himself.

Headcanon D: unrealistic, but I will disregard canon about it because I reject canon reality and substitute my own. — REAL MALLICK SCOTT ARKIN OBRIEN COUSINS HOURS. I FEEL LIKE CHARLIE FUCKING PEPE-SILVIAING IT UP OUT HERE BUT THEY ARE COUSINS AND YOU CANNOT CHANGE MY FUCKING MIND

[seravph]

Hi, I didn't really know who to reach out for this question, but do you have any tips on how to find your own unique fashion style? I'm not really looking to hop on popular clothing trends on social media e.g. eboy/girl or cottagecore, so I'm not exactly sure where to start! I come to consult you because I've seen some of your posts and you look very well versed in fashion and you seem to know your own personal style. My wardrobe is very outdated and I would like to update it to reflect the truest expression of myself. Thank you 😊 You don't have to answer this if you don't feel like doing so btw 😅

EEEE more fashion asks i love these thank you!!!! warning this got a lil (very) long so its under the cut :^)

so first and foremost the most important part about curating your own style is to learn more about your body and what flatters/doesnt flatter it. it's learning some basic fashion 'rules' pertaining to proportions, cuts, etc. there are plenty of resources on this if you dont know where to start (kibbe body test, video, video) but keep in mind this step has nothing to do with your weight!!!! i could talk wayyy more about this but at the end of the day, some clothing is just more flattering for specific body shapes - that doesnt mean you cant wear something that isnt perfectly flattering, but knowing your body and knowing what flatters it will make you understand your own style and help guide the pieces you buy. fashion 'rules' arent necessarily meant to be followed, but just understood so that 'breaking' them is a conscious choice. (it also really helped with my insecurities???? like this step is basically recognizing that its not your body thats unflattering, its the clothing, if that makes sense???)

also remember that every 'style' works for every body type. i.e if you want to be a 60s vibe but youre too curvy for shift dresses, there are plenty of clothes in a similar style that would look great on you <3 basically, if you dont like the way a piece looks on you, you can still achieve the same vibe with a different article of clothing thats more flattering. but also umm.... you can just wear the unflattering thing if you want LOL if it makes you happy... then it becomes your own controlled decision <3 live love laugh follow your heart

okay. now that you have that out of the way. there are a million ways to develop a sense of style, and no particular order in which i recommend them. what i love doing is creating pinterest boards for the spring/summer or fall/winter seasons and just filling them with pieces i would wear in a perfect world. i dont mean like cottagecore aesthetic boards, just boards full of runway looks and clothing pngs that i like. i also love making little outfits for characters which can influence my own style. everyone thinks of their style differently; i think of my own outfits as little vignettes with narratives behind them, but other people are more concerned with just wearing things they think are pretty, other people view it as an expression of art or their identity, and other people just want to feel comfortable!!! its all up to you and what youre drawn to!!

one thing that tan france mentioned once was to go online window shopping by going onto the website for a brand you like (regardless of whether its affordable or realistic!) and just adding things to your cart that youre interested in. dont worry about how expensive they are or anything, and when youre done, remove all the items you like the least. and then keep reviewing and removing until you have just a handful of really nice items you really like, and keep doing this with other brands until you can identify common threads between the pieces you like. you dont have to buy them!! in fact maybe its better if you dont!!! and the websites dont have to be like zara or h&m ... go on balmain or chanel if you want, play pretend and have fun!!

re: the last bullet point, i think a big turn off for people in terms of fashion is the idea that you need to wear something palatable and 'appropriate.' its like looking at a runway and thinking "its nice, but i would never wear that in real life." but honestly????? in a perfect world i would be wearing full gowns to the supermarket!!!! if your ideal style is imaginative but unattainable, your style in practice will be a microcosm of it. basically... dream big... dont be afraid to 'overdress' if its what you like!! one of the best pieces of advice i ever got was from my aunt, who offered to by me a plastic tiara. i asked her when i was ever going to wear it irl, and she just looked at me and said "??? you can wear it whenever you want to!!" so true!!! wear a tutu to mcdonalds. wear a bedazzled tux to prom. who cares

accessories, nail polish, hair, jewelry, perfume and makeup goes a long way in developing style. i dont wear a ton of makeup, but just putting some color on my cheeks achieves a kind of sunkissed lovestruck vibe that i strive for. i paint my nails red because i think its chic or bright colors so they contrast with a toned down outfit. even wearing no accessories is an accessory in itself. accessorizing (or specifically not accessorizing) is like adding texture to an outfit imo

anything that advises you about 'absolutely necessary essentials everyone needs' is entirely wrong. there is no one size fits all; i.e everyone says you need one good pair of denim jeans, but i havent worn jeans in two years!!! an essential for ME is a pair of neutral wool shorts, but an essential for another person could be a thick knit sweater or for another person, a flannel. the idea that everyone needs a 'little black dress' or a 'basic white t shirt' is preposterous. YOUR essentials depend entirely on YOUR style. a pair of denim jeans is useless if you hate wearing jeans!!!!

as for my personal style, im mostly influenced by movies, books, songs, characters, feelings, colors, high fashion, and costumes. ultimately, you should worry less about what you want to be and worry more about what you already like. every piece i have kind of plays into some narrative ive constructed, or otherwise theyre all special to me :) if you want to update your wardrobe, dont feel the need to over consume fast fashion (or any fashion for that matter) to do so. if you take it slow and buy pieces you really love, every item will have a story and you'll begin to develop a more stable internal style and they'll last longer :)

let me know if you have questions or want me to talk more about any of this because i really love answering these kinds of questions!!!!!! especially the body type thing because thats such an important but long winded thing i couldnt really fit it all LOL

some more videos + resources about style and fashion i think are interesting:

deep dive into kibbe body types

pinterest aesthetics, fatphobia, and white washing

lies about clothes to unlearn in your twenties

studio ghibli: how clothing shapes identity

breakfast at tiffanys style analysis: the reinvention of onself with fashion

will the millennial aesthetic ever end?

go viral, post #spon, get canceled: how social media transformed fashion in the 2010s

analyzing the "is it a cute outfit or is she just skinny?" meme