#and probably a little anatomically incorrect

[applestruda]

They were not immune to the goodtimes

[im-literally-just-sitting-here]

A very quick doodle of limited life Pearl :D

[ratlordsarah]

whispers got any fun headcanons on any wordgirl characters… or maybe if you’re really crazy a whole wordgirl oc?… or even a au… fades into the shadows of anonymity

THE WAY I CACKLED AND SCREAMED AHAGAH

I will not miss this opportunity 🫡

Headcannons/theories:

for two brains (there is a lot)

The way Steven’s brain is fused with squeaky’s caused part of his skull to crack off and while part actually popped off during the transformation, it also caused a fracture or two in his skull, so whenever the mouse brain pulsates, it is basically a mix of feeling like your head is going to explode, and the brain slightly pushing his skull, causing the fracture to never properly heal, because it gets slightly opened up again as it pulsates

another thing I’d like to point out is I feel like two brains would occasionally black out and also have a seizure every once in a while due to the electricity during the transformation. This also goes with the fact that he also could get frequent nosebleeds too, if he injured his brain in a certain way.

Also, a hot take of mine is that 2 brains is basically just Steven, but being mostly forced/controlled by squeaky, and of course, his dna is modified too.

another hot take is that it’s only his scalp hair that turned white (maybe a salt and pepper mix everywhere else?idk) because his eyebrows are still brown, and in ballad of Steve mcclean, he is shown to have brown facial hair too, so maybe it was only what touched the helmet in the experiment to turn white, and the rest of the den was sort of scattered everywhere

As a more silly hc of mine, I like to think that squeaky likes to play silly games where he attempts to freak Steven out every once in a while, by causing auditory and visual hallucinations, but Steven later just gets used to it

Also, due to the change in eyes, he’s probably a little color blind, so I like to think that he sees colors the way the color settings were inside the hospital in the house md pilot episode, or maybe just having him see more in a slight grey scale? Idk

The way I like to think squeaky takes control is via brain stem, so it’s basically where the mouse brain still has the brain stem and spinal cord attached to it, and it’s braided and tangled with Steven’s spinal cord, so if Steven and squeaky are fighting for control, it looks like two brains is fighting an invisible person in an arm wrestle or something.

Another hot take is that two brains is still able to remember everything as both Steven and two brains, so have fun with that one as you wish 💀

also, the mouse brain is obviously anatomically incorrect, in both looks and scale, so my theory on how this was achieved was during the transformation, the mouse brain almost blew up due to the electricity, so the brain is basically very inflamed and bloated. As far as the brain wrinkles go, I like to think that squeaky was originally genetically modified before Steven buying him, causing the mouse to basically have the same brain as a human, and squeaky was actively seeking revenge

as far. As cheese goes, I like to think squeaky is really the only one enjoying the cheese, while Steven is purely sick of it, like where after the first month of being two brains, he was just done with cheese, but he’s basically addicted to it due to squeaky. Also, I like to think that two brains can hardly eat anything that’s not cheese, and if he eats something that’s not cheese, he’d have to put so much cheese on that food to the point where you can’t even taste the stuff that isn’t cheese. besides orange juice, because squeaky likes that stuff. In other words, I also think that if he were to put something that’s not pure cheese in his mouth with the intention of eating it, he’d immediately throw up because squeaky doesn’t like rebellion (squeaky read about famous dictators once pre-transformation and decided that’s what he wanted to be)

also, because of only eating cheese, this is why he tries to have as wide of a variety as possible, to at least try and keep it a little interesting.

with that being said, I feel like if the mouse brain were removed, he’d probably puke at the sight of cheese, from how much he had to eat, and due to squeaky, even normal food would probably not be that appetizing either.

Also, in the show, he is built like a noodle, despite how much cheese he eats, so my theory is that he stays like this because the transformation made his metabolism go into overdrive, and usually, fast metabolism causes excess body heat, so if two brains were to take his lab coat off, you can literally use him as a radiator, because he’s gotta get that energy burnt off somehow lmao.

also, mice can’t sweat, so unless unter extreme circumstances, he’s basically just chilling radiating heat like it’s nothing because this genetic trait somewhat transferred during the transformation

Also, throughout the show, he is seen multiple times to worry a lot about how people think about him, (prime example is the episode ballad of Steve mcclean, but also you can see little dribbles of this trait in invasion of the bunny lovers, fill in, wordgirl & bobble boy, and rat trap) and honestly I think this is caused because of the obvious genetic changes that happened, so he obviously gets a lot of stares and weird looks in public, due to his appearance, so imo, he gets that from his appearance.

Due to the cheese consumption this guy does, I feel like he’d definitely have some problems in his digestive tract, as well as a vitamin deficiency for obvious reasons 💀

Also, I like to think that during the transformation, he was a week away from turning 30 (what a great way to start off your thirties XD)

Also, as far as Charlie and meatloaf, I have another hot take that they don’t live in the warehouse, and only two brains lives there. Someone could protest on that because in the new year episode, they are seen to sleep in the warehouse, but I like to think this as more of a thing that they only do every once in a while when two brains is planning a crime that requires them to be there really early. So essentially, they basically work based off of when dr two brains calls them over for the scheme. as Steven

As Steven, I like to think that he had two tuxedo cats. A long haired tux cat named Dennis, and a shorter haired girl tux cat nicknamed mags in public, but is truly named plunger

he was certainly a cat person pre-transformation. Look at him. (You cannot change my mind)

I also like to think that he has a huge cage set up for the lab rats and mice that he had to work with, as he felt really bad for having to use them, so he tried his best to compensate by spending a butt ton on of money on spoiling the rats, and getting a big place for them to stay. (I also am convinced he would name them after the first thing he sees them do, but doomed to the worst way possible, so he named a lab rat piss finger, or Ricky pee pee, and he has a whole long story on how he decided to name the lab rats those names

i like to feel like he was in a science trio with tubing and doohickey, and they were probably great friends

honestly idk how much I agree with the hc I made, but I’d like to feel like doohickey and Steven are probably cousins (blood related or not)

I’ve even pondered ideas like how I feel like Steven is a mix of Irish, Romanian, and maybe a little bit Italian (mother is Irish, and dad is an Italian Romanian mix)

also, I feel like Steven was actually friends with lrw when she was Beatrice, and they’d have some long conversations while he is having his science research copied and stuff

also, I like to think that he and Huggy were good friends,too, and would discuss ways to help wordgirl fight crimes sometimes

I feel like Steven and amazo guy were really good friends and the two would have karaoke night at least once a week, and they’d prolly also chill a lot cracking beers and playing with Steven’s cats and stuff like that.

I feel like he has a phd in engineering, some form of degrees in both biology and chemistry, and a minor in culinary arts

this man can make the best food in the world, but the way he makes it will make Gordon Ramsay cry

has an o

Charlie

The reason Charlie doesn’t talk is either due to nonverbal autism, or a certain condition that causes him to not be able to talk.

either way, Charlie is so silly and honestly I feel like two brains has a soft spot for him(same bro, same)

I like to feel like he is more of a silent observer, like heavy from tf2

amazo guy

Honestly, I like the hc that people think his name should be Adam so much to the point where sometimes I forget it’s not cannon💀

so yeah, his name is Adam

i like to think he also came from lexicon, but on his own accord when he was 21.

he has the same language powers as wordgirl, but just doesn’t make them his main focus.

hes obsessed with pizza and pizza rolls. He would literally rather have a pizza party by the city than 1million dollars.

he was actually fighting alongside wordgirl, and teaching her how to deal with villains until about a month before Steven turning into two brains

he ended up leaving to go and help another city , because she thought wordgirl was ready to fight the villains herself.

i like to think that he was an extreme back street boys and David Bowie fan, and whenever there was a ceremony for him, star man would certainly be playing

he secretly loves the song baby one more time by Britney Spears, but will tell no one

he is more of a dog person, and words cannot describe how badly he wants a golden retriever or German shepherd

wordgirl

She made it to earth with huggy when she was about 9 months old

the reason why lexiconians are so good with reading is that lexiconians use their powers to travel to neighboring planets and galaxies to help others in need, and they achieve this by being able to hyper-adapt to any different language, like to where the average lexiconian can learn Russian fluently in just a week

hot take but lexionite it’s doesn’t come from lexicon, but an enemy planet trying to make a weakness (I say this because it doesn’t make sense to have something from her home planet be her weakness, so it’s basically a hc of mine to not go bonkers over that lmao)

wordgirl is fluent in many other languages, like French, polish, Spanish, and mandarin

Due to her high iq, she still has the energy of a kid her age, although the mental age of a 30 year old, which is why she is so good at talking with other adults

Near perfect memory (why she can remember how she got to earth

early 10 year old at the time the show starts, and either young 12 year old, or almost 12 towards the end of the show

[ms--lobotomy]

I have a billion drafts and even more requests but I just downed an edible and I'm going to write a breeding fic before it kicks in. God Emperor help me. (Or a Chaos god, I'm not picky.)

Summary: If you are to build your family with The Lion, you are to build it soon.

Word Count: 1289

Content Warnings: SMUT (I take my holidays very seriously, happy Mating Press March), heavy breeding kink (you're welcome), female reader, implied hormone smelling stuff, I know belly bulge is anatomically incorrect but it's hot so I'm writing it, also probably praise kink too

Image Credit: @squishyowl

He'd had a little study built for you in his room, right next to his. Yours was used far more. On the rare occasions he sat down to do "work," he'd made it clear it was only because you were there. You'd preferred to work while in his lap when you could, but now he had a meeting to attend to. And who were you to steal him away from his legion?

You typed a little bit more, taking a sip of your drink. Just water this time. You normally liked your fruity drinks, alcoholic or otherwise, but today was not the day to do that. You paused, tapping the side of your desk. No more words were coming to you. You sighed, putting your head in your hands before pulling your head back.

You heard frantic footsteps before too long. You immediately turned back in your chair, grabbing the back of it with your dominant hand. There was only one person those footsteps could belong to.

"Lion?"

The door swung open as if he were trying to break the ornate wood. He was inhumanly large and imposing without his armor, but with it he was even more befitting of the title of demigod. A grumpy expression graced his features... no, this wasn't exactly grumpy. You couldn't put a finger on it. He was gazing at you intently, and you locked eyes for a slight second before he rushed at you.

You barely had time to get out of your chair before he scooped you up, holding you close to him. Before you could ask what was going on, he practically tossed you on the bed.

"Disrobe. Now."

"Ex... excuse me?" you asked as he practically tore off his pauldrons and threw them to the floor. They rolled away and made a clinking noise against the wall.

"If we are to start a family," he said, "we are to make haste."

A soft "oh" escaped your lips, and you immediately started to unbutton your shirt. You looked over at your husband, who was tearing off his body glove. He was well endowed, but you hadn't the time to look. You instead looked down at your shirt and unbuttoned it even faster, pulling it off of you before Lion grabbed your hips and slid you further into the bed.

You yelped as his hands immediately moved to your wrists. He held you down to the bed as it bucked slightly under him. He pressed a kiss to your lips, careful not to bite too hard on your bottom lip. You let a little noise escape you as he moved your wrists above your head. After a few moments, he moved away to trail kisses down your neck. They weren't enough to draw blood, but you could tell quite a few of them were going to leave a mark.

"Lion--" you moaned, running your hands through the part of his hair not tied back. You gripped him tight to you, but not tight enough to hold him down for very long.

He said nothing, running his teeth along your nipple. He was holding your wrists together with one hand, and slipping the other under your pants to rub you with one of his fingers. He looked down at you with that same grim determination on his face before he went to your other nipple, leaving his mark before he slid himself down you.

He pulled your pants and undergarments down. You winced, anticipating the same tearing of garments as what befell his body glove, but he pulled them down much more gently, casting them aside before going to work on your underwear. His head was between your legs faster than you could account for, and the entrance of his tongue drew a sharp gasp from you.

He said nothing, but ran his tongue all along you. You wrapped your legs around his head, crying out. His hands were slightly above your hips, at the small of your waist, holding you to the bed. They threatened to bruise, but Lion was showing enough self-restraint to make sure that was not going to be the case. After a while he relented, pulling his head away from between your legs.

"Are you ready to mother my sons?" he asked, cupping your face with his hand. His thumb trailed down your cheek.

"Yes, sir," you said, as you felt something press up against your entrance. He took your ankles in his hands and folded you back, threatening to break you in half.

He pushed himself in, stretching you out on him. You let out a sharp cry, and he pushed his fingers in your mouth, muffling you. He went in deeper, as you moaned against his fingers and your eyes went shut.

"I am going to fill you up," he grunted.

You opened your eyes, your eyebrows knit. He rarely, if at all, talked while you were sleeping together.

"This will be the first of many children you will bear me."

You tried to formulate a response, but all that came out was a loud moan against his fingers. He pulled his fingers out. He was in all the way to the hilt now. There was a slight bulge in your abdomen. He throbbed inside of you.

"I could not have asked for a better mother to my children," he said.

If you weren't putty underneath him before, you had absolutely melted by now. Your hands brushed his torso. You looked at him, and he looked back at you as he started to pull out. "Thank you," you managed to choke out.

He thrust his way back into you, prompting a little squeal from you. Even now you knew he was holding back as his expression softened and he ran a thumb along the side of your face again. He blocked out the light of the room, casting a shadow over you befitting of a demigod. He sped up, eliciting squeals of delight from you before you soon came onto him.

He kept you squealing like this practically all night. Lion was gifted legendary endurance, and you had been chosen to witness it firsthand. He'd occasionally muttered sweet nothings to you about the family you were to build. After a while, his face became strained and his movements became frantic. You were limp on the bed, face scrunched up in pleasure and doing your damnedest to pull your lover down close to you.

"Soon," he said. Even as his little wife, you couldn't normally read him, but there was a look of adoration in his eyes that he rarely let slip. He stopped one last time, letting himself throb inside you once more as he pumped you full. You let out a little cry, turning your head to the side before Lion turned it back.

"Look at you," he said, before softly saying your name. Even now, it sent shivers down your spine. "You're a mother now."

You panted as he came down close to you, wrapping his arms around you as he kept himself in there a little longer. After a few moments he pulled himself out, sticky fluid leaking from you.

"Let me clean you off," he grunted, getting off of you. For a few moments you lay there, the cool air hitting you again, before he returned. He held you there gently as he wiped the excess off of you.

"There we go."

He lay himself on the bed and rolled you over, situating you on his bare chest. He pressed you close to him, running his large hand along your back. You exhaled and leaned into him as he ran his other hand through your hair.

"Well done, Mother of Angels."

[oofuri2003]

Hi! This is so so random but u work with bats right? Would u mind giving some Hot Tips regarding anatomy, specifically for the wings? Ive been trying to draw a character with bat wings for arms but i cant grasp how theyd fold and stuff, and any of the references i find online either have the wings spread out or wrapped around the bat's body. No worries if you dont wanna answer this, i just realized u might be someone i could ask! :3

Hello!! Indeed I do!! I'll do my best here for you under the cut <3

It's probably best to start by talking about how the homology of bat wings works in relation to human arms and hands:

of note: that little bit usually seen sticking out of the top of the wing is their thumb! You can also see where the elbow falls above (where the humerus meets the radius and ulna). The wing membrane on bats often connects to their ankles - this is true in both megabats and microbats. The spreadable part of their wing is analagous to our fingers and wrist, which can be super confusing to think about, even as someone who has watched and filmed bats for hours and hours. For more examples of the above, google "bat wing homology"!

Because these are technically their "fingers", the wings tend to fold in in a bit of a curved way. You can see below here on this vamp & flying fox, as well as where the elbow bends:

They can bend and stretch at the elbows just like us, and can curl their fingers in.

(Another thing to think about is what kind of bat this character is modeled after - I only bring this up because I study vampire bats, and they're one of the only bat species that can really properly ambulate on the ground, which gives their wings and body a bit of a unique look, especially when they are on the ground. Google vampire bat running if you want to see lol.)

Some video on how their flight works, which can show how they fold and bend: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLsXazDVEUA

I have some video I've taken myself of our vamps that usually includes them stretching and extending their wings - if you wanna see some of that, let me know!

I actually have an old bat character that I drew a while ago. I don't think these wings are the most anatomically correct or that great, but as a ref of an anthro char w bat wings:

Many people like to stylize their anthro bat characters as having the wings be anatomically incorrect so that their bat character can have actual "hands" or paws, so that's also an option!

(in the same char of mine, with the wings incorrect:)

if you'd like any elaboration on any of this let me know! This is kind of just an anatomy and homology lesson instead of an art lesson....so if you want me to actually draw something....i can do tha too...

[dragonfirerogue-writes]

Our Own Kind of Love

A/N: I guess I'll post this for V-Day. Just a quick drabble.

Wednesday x Reader

Valentine's Day. Wednesday's least favorite holiday. The assault on her eyes was almost too much to bear. The myriad of pinks and reds and anatomically incorrect hearts grated at her very soul. But if there was anything she was going to allow today, it was going to be a little more affection for the one she holds dear.

You.

Even now, the heart in her chest stutters at the sight of you laughing with your friends. There was some sort of discussion about love songs and which was better. She didn't care. She just wants to have you near.

When you catch sight of her, you immediately light up. Wednesday was glad you didn't share the sentiment of everyone else and dressing for the occasion. Though your red accents did lighten to a deep pink. As soon as she gets close enough, you take her hand and bring it to your lips, leaving a long kiss at her knuckles.

"Cara mia," you purred.

The goth smiles at the pet name you adopted from her parents. It was nostalgic for her and the thought that you loved her as your parents loved each other was a pleasing thought. In the past, it would've nauseated her, but your devotion to just her made her feel strong. It was a better feeling to linger on.

"Come, mi amor. I'd like some time with you away from this farce."

With a wave, you depart with Wednesday in hand. Once you're out of sight from other people, you draw the goth closer to you with a nuzzle. She just shoves your face away with an annoyed sigh that you knew wasn't real. You just let out a soft chuckle and kiss her hand once more.

Behind closed doors, Wednesday finally pulls you close and claims your lips with her own. It wasn't much different from your normal day to day affection. It wasn't more romantic or sensual. It's just how it always has been and how it will probably remain.

Your own kind of love.

[lokorum]

Hi! I really love your art. There's a certain haunting beauty about it. I was wondering how you got started in art and maybe what inspired you. I can't stress enough the hauntingly beautiful aspect of your art. Some pieces terrify me but they're really just so beautiful to look at 😅

hey!!! ahhhh thank you so much for your kind words, anon!! its a relief to know that im not the only one who finds my silly draiwings scary phphp

i've started to draw just like most of the folk i think?? by filling my university notebooks with super funny-looking and super anatomically incorrect sketches of my beloved oc phph i tried to work with oil but zero waste movement quickly got me and since then im drawing digital stuff only.

missing the feeling of paint on your hands face clothes and sometimes eyes tbh but also wow oil is expensive!! Σ(-᷅_-᷄๑)

phphpt my memory is bad. like bad bad. i remember having that burning feeling when i looked at something beautiful and i wanted to like...eat it? make it myself and no one elses? not very practical reply phphp sorry! i also really loved to watch film that i've already mentioned before - macbeth (2015) - its a treat for your eyes and ears trust me!! trailer still giving me a goosebombs!

zdzislaw beksinski live in my head rent free since i was a pre-teen and im 1000% sure i'll die thinking about one of his paintings somewhere at the back of my mind. just look at this! man knew how to use a brush like no one else (´ ˘ `).｡oO ( ♡ )

sigur rós music and video clips are definetelly changed a lot in me. watching ekki múkk and all alright made me choke from tears and be speechless for days!

later in life i accidentaly went on the concert where at night - jambinai was part of the perfomance and their music hypnotized me just like all the moths around were hypnotized by the stage lights. i dont even remember what i was doing! just standing there absolutely still, looking at them playing phphp i probably looked like a creppy stalker (◞ꈍ∇ꈍ)◞⋆**✚⃞

but they make incredibly beautiful and sad music, and their connection song, if i get the meaning of it right, about people with disabilities and it always was important theme for me ♡

from lately discovered sources of inspiration can reccomend little games i found on itch!

2:22 AM, how we know we're alive and NORTH!

they're all pretty short from 20 minutes to 2 hours, but use every minute of their time!

ahhh hope it wasnt too much of an info dump and maybe someone find a familiar name here or discover something new for themselves! thank you again anon for your super cute and nice ask!! and thanks everyone to reading all this mess! have an awesome day!! |´･ｖ･)ﾉ♪

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

I really hate putting human breasts on non mammal animals but im having trouble coming up with an alternate solution for my insect species that's pretty "identical" to humans cosmology wise.

I want to put something similar to "breasts" like a calcium sac but im pretty sure insects don't have calcium sacs. Do you think it'll be too anatomically incorrect to put calcium sac "breasts" on them?

alright, i know i was slow and you already found a solution that works for you, but i still want to provide some interesting references for other people.

Insects have so much visual variety. Their chitinous exoskeletons just do the weirdest heckin things. You can put breast-shaped bumps on insect people and I probably wouldn't bat an eye, but I would also ask "but why not make it a little more weird, just for fun?" because that is just how i am lol. so here's some insects with weird body structures. Exhibit A: treehoppers

(image description: three photos of treehopper insects. They are small and their wings seem to almost be fused with their bodies. One has a weird head structure that looks like a circle of baubles and a long horn. The next one looks like a thorn with a red point. The last one looks like it's carrying an avocado on its back, with a long thick horn extending from its head. end description.) Honestly, breast-shaped lumps might just be a coincidental bit of camouflage if your insect folks live in a place with enough lumpy trees/rocks they prefer to blend in with lol.

Exhibit B: wheel bug

(image description: a grey bug with a long proboscis and a rounded shape on its back. the rounded shape also has spikes that kind of make it look like a cog wheel. end description.)

anyway, yeah, have fun with your insectoid people that coincidentally have breast-like lumps, you can really go absolutely wild with insect bodies.

[insecurebee]

MORE CREATURE CONTENT

I changed it again, this time its final, hopefully

The ribcage looks goofy asf and probably disgustingly anatomically incorrect. But i couldnt find a front view of a raccoons ribcage so i just gave up and winged it

Sobbing crying i love my little creature but im too tired to put more effort into it now

I want a fursuit of this mf. Now. I need it. I need to go to a convention as this mf. Its not a want its a need

[mrslittletall]

Cult of the Lamb Review

Tumblr, I swear to god, if you AGAIN won't be fine with posting a 1000 word text, I am going to kill something! Graphics

Oh, they are adorable. Handdrawn and all the critters are so cute with your dash of cultist madness.The animals are anatomically incorrect, but that is its own charm. The game is colourful and dark at the same time. Yeah, the characters on screen are really really small, but I never had trouble seeing them. Music EXCELLENT! I loved the whole music of the game. The base themes during your cult with the charming little singing in the background, the theme for the dungeons (Anchordeep my beloved), the boss themes, they are all so good. They were made by River Boy and they are all uploaded to Youtube, so give them a listen. Story To be honest, I barely cared about the story. It was there, it was fine, but it wasn't of many interest to me. The stories in my cult were far more interesting, seeing who became friends with who, who smooched who etc etc. The story of your cult becomes 1000 % more fun if you start to name your followers after your OCs and Blorbos ^^ Gameplay The game SHINES here. It creates such a good gameplay loop. It is 50 % life sim and 50 % roguelike dungeon crawler. You spend time in your cult, inspire your followers, feed them, do rituals, grow stuff, build stuff. The more you unlock, the more the followers are doing the work for you and you basically only have to collect stuff, build something once in a while and cook for them. It is a bit baffling that you only get the outhose so late though, I was cleaning up so much poop at the beginning. And also there is janitor station for your followers to clean up, but it unlocks right next to the outhouse?! That is pointless! The other part is the roguelike dungeon crawling. You are going into one of four dungeons, get a random weapon and magic and battle yourself through horde of enemies. You can draw tarot cards which strengthen you on your crusades and at the end you fight a boss until you are unlocking the final boss of this area. Once you beat them, you continue this three more times until the final boss becomes unlocked and then you can play as much as you want without following any story. What I have to criticize is that I unlocked everything too early. And once you are done unlocking stuff, it becomes super easy getting money because your unlocking currency turns into coins. I was so RICH at the end! And I had basically nothing I could use the coins for? I made them into gold bars, but that also was only 100 coins for 10 of them and I had like 12k at the end. Also, don't expect a Binding of Isaac or Hades during the roguelike segments. They work and they are probably like that so they don't get boring if they would be always the same, but they are very basic. Overall I loved this game! I love my followers, even when I sometimes have to feed them poop. The dungeon crawls were fun and the music was excellent. The creepiness meeting the cute was the best ^^

[browzerhistory]

tips for beginning artists from someone who's been drawing since he could first pick up a crayon:

1. anything worth doing is worth doing poorly

scared the drawing you want to make will turn out ugly? nervous you won't do the angle/character/lighting/etc justice? do it anyway. do it scared. do it weird, do it anatomically incorrect, do it uncolored, but whatever you do, draw that thing. it's better to get the idea out on paper/canvas/etc than to leave it in your brain to eventually fade away. if you still really love the concept, you can come back to it later with better skills, and if you end up disliking it, well, now that you've drawn it you don't have to ever again!

2. get a little silly with it

experiment with your art. go to a color palette generator and make something with the first thing you get. make ocs with complicated designs and weird backstories. change things about your style just to see how they look. the more things you try out, the more things you'll find out you like (or dislike), and your art will start to really feel like yours. i'm not sure if the Youth of Today get as hung up over not having an art style as i used to, but if you do, there's only one way to get it: fuck around and find out.

3. always cheat

listen. there are many people who will tell you that tracing a reference or color picking from a photo or whatever is cheating. those people are lying to you. obviously there are limits (like don't trace/recolor art and post it without credit), but the vast majority of the time, tracing and taking inspiration from other people's art is how you get better.

(one way to stop yourself from plateauing is to trace a reference, then try drawing it by hand. you can also try breaking down a pose into basic shapes/lines; if this seems confusing, just pretend you're making hitboxes for it video game style.)

4. take a goddamn break

if drawing is starting to feel more like a chore than a hobby, or if you feel like you've run out of good ideas, stop for a couple days. pursue another hobby, eat good food, observe local flora and fauna. even if you love drawing with all your heart and think you'll never get enough of it, your brain needs a refresher every now and then to come up with new cool stuff to draw. trying to push past burnout will most likely just ruin the fun of it for you.

5. make a mary sue oc immediately

there's way too much hate on mary sue characters, especially when so many stories introduce protagonists by going "what if there was a guy. and he was the Specialest Guy Ever." having a character who's sexy and smart and powerful is not only fun, but good for the soul, and nobody gets hurt when you make one. plus, it's hard to overstate how good it is to have a character you love to draw in lots of different outfits, poses, and situations.

6. your art is good because you made it

now this one will probably be controversial, since a lot of artist memes are about feeling self conscious about or straight-up hating your own art. but you've gotta find pride in what you make. you've gotta look at your drawings and say, "this fucks actually and i did an amazing job." for me, even if i don't like how a drawing turned out, i try to find at least one thing i really like about it, like the shading or colors or emotion. making self-deprecating jokes stops being ironic the more you do it, and the same applies to jokingly tearing your own art apart.

7. keep your old art

a very good poster once said that throwing away/deleting your old art is like walking up a staircase and smashing every stair behind you. even if you're very high up, you won't see it because it looks like you're just on the first step.

personally, i have sketchbooks going back to early 2018, when i first started regularly using them, and i keep some of my first ever digital pieces in an archive on my tablet, but i get that that sort of record keeping isn't possible for a lot of people. the gist of this advice is just to have some reminder of where you've been, so you can look forward to where you're going.

8. make furry characters

beyond the obvious (you're probably a furry and it's nice to be able to draw your fursona), doing furry art is also a great way to find community in art. whether you do commissions, comics, or just draw yourself for fun, furry art is a wonderful method of self-expression that has the added bonus of being basically limitless. my main fursona is a bug, my secondary one is a gastropod. follow your dreams.

there may be more i add to this list later, but these are the main ones i can come up with. obligatory disclaimer that i'm just one guy with one experience; this advice might not work for everyone; etc etc. i've just tried to base this off of what i wish i knew when i started getting into art seriously.

[chaos--mode]

get to know the mun

basics

(PEN)NAME: neph

PRONOUNS: any, but i prefer they/them

ZODIAC SIGN: capricorn

TAKEN OR SINGLE: single

3 facts

1 -  i have a tattoo of a candy heart that just says 'no'

2 -  i've seen atsv in theaters 8 times (and counting)

3 -  i collect anatomically incorrect animal skeleton figures, like those ones you get from the dollar store around halloween

experience

PLATFORMS USED: tumblr, twitter, forums waaay back in the day

PLOTTING / WINGING IT / MEMES: i love plotting and memes most. i like winging it too, but i tend to have an easier time if i have something to go off of. memes are fun because you can do quick little scenes, build the relationship dynamics of your characters interacting, which helps plotting flow better!

muse preference

GENDER: i like to explore different identities in my writing, but i tend to stick with what i'm comfortable/familiar with, which is afab trans & genderqueer characters. i'm still working on being comfortable with masculine traits so i tend to stick with feminine-leaning characters.

MULTI OR SINGLE: single

LEAST FAVOURITE FACECLAIM(S): people/celebrities that are known to be shitty or bigoted, or have committed crimes against others. there'd probably be some people i just don't like for no real reason and wouldn't wanna rp with i'm sure, but i can't think of any off the top of my head.

fluff/angst/smut

FLUFF: hi yes please, there's never enough fluff. i love it ♡

ANGST: hurt me. do it. the angstier the better.

SMUT: i write it for fiction, but i have to be REALLY comfortable with someone to write it for rp. count this as a no.

tagged by: @edxmunson ily♡

tagging: YOU :)

[bogleech]

There’s been new research into human follicle mites and how their long term relationship with humans has lead to some unusual anatomical adaptations, as well as further confirmation that they probably benefit us as mutualists and some new discussion of how dependent they are on only human hair follicles as their habitat. But the article going viral right now mangles this concept in the most ridiculous way I have ever seen in my entire life of reading bug articles. ----

-----

First of all the word “symbiont” does not mean beneficial. Parasites are also symbiotic. Symbiosis is any obligatory relationship between two organisms, good or bad. The idea that “symbiosis” is just the “partnership” kind was basically invented by Spider Man/Venom in the 90′s. Second, living in human pores is not “internal” symbiosis. Internal symbiosis would be completely under our skin and in our organs or bloodstream. Third, they aren’t just now gradually changing into mutualists, we’re just getting new confirmation that they have probably been helpful to us for probably millions of years.

Almost every other article reporting on this mangles it a little further, and they all tend to use the completely incorrect images of these animals, too:

This CG model is unfortunately based on another mixed-up “science” article from years ago that mistakenly used a photograph of a caterpillar:

The real face mite has none of this anatomy, and is a simpler tubular blob-creature:

[saltymongoose]

Wouldn’t it be funny if the player is also a fanfic writer and found Phobos’s writings (idk how that would happen with the timeline and all but bear with me here) and instead of being disgusted or uncomfortable the player turns to him and goes “Well, where’s the rest?” and gives genuine interest about his smutty slow-burn yandere fantasy au to the dismay of Jeb.

That would be hilarious lmao. Not gonna lie, it's a little weird to you that Phobos has written a full novel of stuff about you, but you genuinely appreciate it from a writer's standpoint. Like it's obvious that there's a lot of passion behind it and you could even say it's remarkably well-written in some places. Though you might have to correct him on some things about humans (like the fact that you can't purr along with other anatomical differences), not that it's his fault for being a little incorrect. He tried his best with it and you find that to be endearing. (Even if some of the more inappropriate things were far more personal than you were expecting.)

Honestly, Phobos was mortified when he interrupted your first reading session; you weren't supposed to find out about this!! He's sure you'd be taken aback or at least incredibly offended, so imagine his surprise when you just give him an interested look and ask him where the first volume of his work was. In a weird turn of events, his works that feature you as a central character actually become something you bond over. You're a writer yourself, so you can give him all sorts of insight into little details that'll make his fics better, and you even introduce him to some of your favorite tropes. Now he considers you to be a God of literature in addition to your established role at the Player.

Meanwhile Jeb, who's probably the person who tipped you off on Phobos' fanfiction to begin with, is both very bewildered and angry. He expected you to show disgust at Phobos' writing, not interest! It didn't make any sense to him, surely you thought those heretical words were at least a little awful. Especially his revolting stories where you were portrayed in a filthy, impure manner with him; fantasies that he should be ashamed of having in the first place. Another thing is the fact that Jeb's used as a villain in some of these, so he can't help but feel a little betrayed at the fact that you like them. He wonders if you actually feel like he's evil (which doesn't make any sense because he's your vessel, but he forgets that when he spirals on this). You'll have to reassure him that you just entertain these ideas as, well, fanfiction and that it doesn't change how wonderful you think he really is. And you will have to do this quite a lot, as these doubts spring up whenever you have another little "book club" meeting with Phobos (and he likes having them very often).

[greysfall]

Joshua NEO sprite edits done by me and supervised by a friend. 

Since Nomura is not working on the drafts for sprites anymore, NEO saw significant changes in sprite art style and quality. Miki and Gen did a good job for some characters (notably the new characters), while some could have been much better or just less... generic. Even though we slowly got used to it as we played the game, there is no denying that the NEO sprite art style lacks the level of dynamic gesture and unique facial details that the OG sprites used to have. 

We have decided to fix the Joshua sprites, mostly because (1) they are fixable, seeing the design itself is done by Nomura and (2) some of expressions are anatomically awkward, probably because Gen/Miki failed to visualize and render Nomura’s design from just one single draft. 

I did a whole analysis on how incorrect the anime design for Joshua was, by now I believe I’m pretty well versed in this particular research field *pulls out magnifier*. First let’s go with a side by side comparison of Nomura’s draft vs the in-game sprites, image extracted from the official guidebook.  

It’s obvious that the draft by Nomura was done in his personal style, which had to be rendered into the TWEWY style by either Miki or Gen. The Neo sprites did a decent job in keeping the character core and even tried to copy some of his OG gestures. However, something still feels amiss or lacking. It’s important to remember that Joshua PICKS HIS OWN APPEARANCE, so 15-year-old Josh and 18-year-old Josh are the exact same from the inside. 

Now let’s take a look at Joshua’s OG sprites again: 

Let’s examine very closely these pairs of the exact same gesture from OG and NEO: there is a clear difference in dynamic and the level of details. The OG sprites (drafted by Nomura) show Josh arching his back a bit more backward, his head tilting more downward, his gaze obviously more upward, eyebrows slightly frowning and THE SIZE OF HIS IRIRES are smaller, the edge of his eyes sharper - even when he’s in a younger form. These small, little details add up to creating a character’s unique vibe. In this case, it’s an air of prissiness and insincerity that makes people a little uncomfortable - very unique of OG Josh.

To be honest, just by looking at each of the OG sprite individually, you can already see a visual character profile that makes you feel a variety of emotions regarding the character:

I know he’s just a guest character now, but that’s no reason to make him look boring considering that he had SUCH A GOOD BASE of sprites in the OG. So in comparison, this is how I feel about the NEO sprites:

Also, it certainly helps that the OG has a more hand-drawn style with flexible lines that go from bold to thin, resulting in a better contrast between soft expressive lines and bold shadow. NEO sprites are drawn with a much flatter line quality, limiting the expression of small details and sometimes missing details all together (one sprite shows only lower lip and another one shows only upper lip even when the character is not pouting).

This particular angle, was very hard to fix because the overall balance of the hair, the spine and shoulder placement, shadow and jaw are all wrong despite it being the angle closest to Nomura’s draft. It’s weird because the OG style is much more heavily stylized and NEO overall shows a more normalized anatomical balance - yet some sprites like this one are fundamentally off, as if there was not enough supervision work - or the supervisor couldn’t bring themselves to tell the designer to fix it. 

And thus, we decided to edit the sprites and you can see a side by side comparison here - left side is the NEO originals. Of course, we are not trying to bring back the OG style but we have fixed the anatomical imbalance and added a little more facial details to make Joshua resemble his original design a little more (sharper eye corners, less roundish face, adding lip, fixing eyebrow and mouth shape...). It’s not a huge change, but we just wanted to see him looking a bit more right.

Of course this is mostly for fun, as my friend said: “just because something can’t become real doesn’t mean it can’t exist as a concept”. And thus if I have to count, Joshua Kiryu must have owed me at least 1 million yen for all the plastic surgery I did for him by now.

Here are all the transparent files if someone wanna replace the sprites in their game mode + originals to compare. Note that I only edited 1 size of the sprites so some look a bit blown up in resolution, plz take a video and show me if they actually work.

[metfell]

okay so this is going to sound a little weird but whenever you do a comparison/redraw of your art tge new piece always feel so much more alive and mature! in particular the ranboo pride pieces come to mind where despite being drawn a year apart they have two completely different feels! the tubbo comparison you made a while back with your profile pic and your old tubbo drawing had the same vibes! the new pieces feel like your drawing an actual person if that makes any sense. like whether it’s the colors or the composition older pieces just feel stagnant, like you are just making a drawing but new pieces feel like you’re creating a world/person/scene/they just have so much character and i can’t quite put it into words lol :p anyways! sorry about my mini ramble that probably made no sense and have a nice day <3

this is so sweet thank u!! i understand what you mean :) i think a lot of it is my use of undertones in shading that really brings a figure to life. back then i was still kind of just coloring in the lines, whereas now by doing lineart last, i can force myself to sculpt out the facial structures or clothing bulk using my colors, and THEN use the lineart to put visual priority on specific spots.

so for example:

here's two eret artworks! the left one was done june last year, and the right one was done around halloween when she poster her halloween costume pics :)

you can see how much heavier and intrusive the lineart is on the left, combined with a worse understanding of anatomy, and flatter colors (though that metfell technique is peeking in), the left does not feel as alive or..... advanced, i guess? as the right, which has clear evidence of looking at anatomy references, studying how corsets work, looking at how leather reflects light, and using undertones and multiple different colors in shadows and highlights to really bring that whimsical feeling to life that i think so much of my art has.

another example is this:

the left piece again- aside from being horrifically anatomically incorrect and a completely wrong body type in my opinion for c!wilbur- looks like i used only one brown to color the main body of the coat. which i did! a lot of my improvement as a traditional artist has come from expanding the amount of colors i have to work with. instead of using only 75 total marks i have around 200-300 markers. and in particular i focused on buying as many different skin tone options as i could find. and i think that's evident in the right wilbur art, which has many rich warm browns making up both his coat and his hair/tail. and again, i referenced my poses for the pride art series this year, and did not do that last year. so they absolutely feel more human! because im referencing humans!

sorry this got long i love talking about my art its so fun