#but this is the only ref I got and is the most recognizable so

[0ccuria]

Baby Bear getting fitted

[shokolandish]

edit: i made a new charlie design and a post-finale vanessa design!

---

viv is not a good person and i don't support her, but ive got a hyperfixation right now and im gonna make that everybody else's problem

besides, separate art from the artist or whatever

hazbin has a shit ton of mistakes, problems, same body and hell, even same clothes syndrome. does hell only have one shop or something???

but i just kiiiinda enjoy (?) it for what it is

and ive seen a lot of people do redesigns and that seems really fun and honestly, the characters have a lot of potential that's just blatantly ignored by the show

aaaanyways, after all that out of the way, i present to you...

finished refs for two of my redesigns for the cast!!! did the main couple first, naturally

soo, here's charlie

age: about 22 in human years

and vanessa!

age: about 25 years old. not sure if angels age differently but that's her age in human years

some notes under the cut

Charlie

- yep, i made her non-binary. just get a lot of non-binary energy from xer. besides, i like the hc of them preferring the name charlie over charlotte because it sounds more gender-neutral

- i like to imagine xer a bit on the bigger side complexion-wise. like, i don't know if you could call her chubby but she is a bit plump and really soft to the touch not only because of the fur. i feel like being soft and having more soft edges in buns design would fit buns character more

- she's not freakishly tall anymore!!!! like.. i don't mind her being tall because she's the princess of hell after all.. also have you seen how tall lilith is???? but i feel like sometimes it's TOO much... also honestly it also just fits them more imo??

- they're a redhead now. I MEAN LIKE. both lucifer and lilith were described with red hair in old paintings.. i just had to.

Vanessa

- yeah yeah i made her a demigirl... her original color palette just screamed demigirl. like. it was literally the demigirl flag color palette.

- i thought of naming her violet but that'd be a little too on the nose i think- gave her actual hips!! and not whatever was going on in her original design (the waist just going straight into the legs)

- also made her a little more.. (uh i guess the appropriate word is "thicc") overall- yeah i also redesigned the angelic spear a bit. not too proud of it but i think it gets the idea across

- i don't usually.. draw noses, but i figured it was a pretty big/most recognizable part of her design so i gave her one.

- oh yeah btw she's not gray anymore!!!! yippee!!!!! like what's even up with viv and making poc characters gray. anyways since she's a fallen angel i figured giving her a more human appearance would make sense. we've seen winners in heaven and a lot of them look pretty human. even if we only look at exorcists, lute looks pretty human too.

writing notes

okay, so, i wanna give you some notes about the writing, but before i do - i am NOT a professional writer, im just a kid who has some criticism for the hellfire of a show hazbin is

with that out of the way...

chaggie's writing

okay so. chaggie am i right.

so, ill just get this out of the way - it's boring

like, really boring

chaggie defenders will say they're just "casual" and im an asshole for wanting more from them but you can be casual and not be FUCKING BORING

like.. all of their interactions just go the same waythey comfort each other or hold hands or vaggie is trying to convince charlie to do something and she NEVER. FUCKING. LISTENS. like seriously.

the only time she actually listened was when vaggie convinced her to be more assertive but she was trying to do it anyway... and she changed vaggie's words and did her own thing anyways

they don't even have that much chemistry. and they're like, the main couple. they're supposed to have chemistry.

hell, emily and charlie had more chemistry in one episode they interacted in than vaggie and charlie in the whole damn show

vaggie's writing

vaggie's writing.. it's... sigh.

she doesn't really feel like a separate character when she's with charlie

they're just. doing the same thing. over and over again. all of their interactions are the fucking same. like.. i wanna care but i just have no reason to. i just DON'T FUCKING CARE.

even vaggie's whole deal in "whatever it takes" is her just?? dedicating her life to being charlie's partner?? and not even being her own person and living for herself??? like. what's up with that. maybe i just didn't pay enough attention??? i can't be bothered to rewatch any chaggie scenes in episode 2 because they did not deserve that drama and i just don't care enough

im supposed to care but i don't

the show just. doesn't give me any reason to care.

vaggie interacting with ANY other character is so much more interesting - i don't know what to expect, i can't predict it!

vaggie interacting with alastor? hell yeah! we never know alastor's intentions and seeing vaggie not taking any of his shit is really entertaining!

vaggie interacting with angel dust? sure! id love to hear the bickering or maybe them having to put up being alone with each other for an episode? maybe both of them having to put up with charlie's shenanigans and bonding over that?

vaggie interacting with niffty? okay sure! a lil gremlin and an involuntary caretaker maybe with vaggie seeing niffty can take care of herself? or vaggie trying to put up with her insanity?

vaggie interacting with husk? oh hell yeah, they both seem to be the straight man in any situation (despite neither of them being straight but whatever), maybe they can have a drink or two together.

vaggie interacting with pentious? yes please! she'd not take any of his shit, but honestly? pentious' obliviousness with vaggie's seriousness could be a very fun dynamic!

but charlie? yeah i can just. predict any interaction they'll have.

and that's not really a good thing with the main couple

because it just gets old really quickly

and we see them all the time, so after some time they can just start to irritate people

how would i fix it?

MAKE THEM INTERESTING, DAMN IT

maybe make charlie listen to vaggie more often??

or maybe vaggie getting a bit irritated because charlie doesn't take her advice seriously

or maybe actually show us how they fell in love?? not just love at first sight or whatever they had in the flashback

like, id love to see actual chemistry develop!or maybe make their interactions not as predictable??

or maybe actually show us how they work together

have an episode dedicated to them

that's the problem with trying to fit everything into one season - the character and relationship developments can end up rushed and just. not very good.

like.. the season we got could be easily stretched out into two or three, WHERE ARE YOU GOING SO FAST, SHOW?? why so fast

this show doesn't know about the existence of filler episodes and we NEED filler episodes

to actually get to know the characters, to explore dynamics, to get to know the world around them

the season is just way too short to tell the story it's trying to say

and if i didn't care about a character from the start and the show doesn't let me meet them... im not gonna just start caring.

---

anyways, that's about it! im definitely gonna do more, i even have angel and pentious ready:) niffty, husk, alastor, emily or adam are next after them, i already have them sketched out

idk what order im gonna post them in but we'll see i guess

---

bonus:

some concepts

[straycalamities]

how did you come up with making Entre? What inspired you?

the onceler LOL and homestuck

okay story time w chase ahem

so actually how i got into tumblr at all is very relevant to the chain of events that led to entre existing. so before here, i was mainly on a...particular art webbed site that was basically a sinking ship circa: 2010 so i forgot how i heard about tumblr? but i joined here at first just to do naruto comm rp. like my only account was a naruto rp account for the first... i dont remember how long

eventually i got curious enough to make a personal account and started being active on that. a bunch of my friendgroup from the other site moved with me and we were just hanging out being naruto nerds. at some point i got into homestuck/learned about the askblog format. i don't remember which came first, but i DID run kibanaru and flutterdash askblogs before the lorax was a blip on my radar

i remember when i was in the homestuck fandom, i was so used to the naruto fandom where like..sure it's huge but i had established myself in a corner of it and it felt very like... it was a community! and in the homestuck fandom i didn't feel like that at all. i felt swept out to sea and it was very lonely tbh aside from the friends id manage to drag with me into it, but i always felt a certain dissatisfaction from my time in it

a friend of mine was the one to show me the lorax and the once-ler. i don't...remember how THEY found him, but they were already very into him before they even came to me about him. and they basically nagged me into watching the movie LMFAO (this was when the movie was still freshly in theaters so all we had was shitty camrips and LiveStream was a thing) so i started to draw smexy onceler and oncest fanart to mess with them and...well y'know ye olde saying about doing things as a joke.

so yeah i kinda got...genuinely interested in him. especially after i watched the 72' short and reread the book and was like wait. this movie is mid as hell actually. (the siren song of mid media) and i was like "well if /i/ wrote the movie id do this n this n this n this" and then all that added up in my head and i was like wait.

what if i did a once-ler askblog where i just change certain things to what i like? it wasnt gonna be a complete revamp/remastering because i wanted to do a proper askblog so i wanted to have his character be recognizable to any fans of the onceler. and this was wayyyyy before anyone was getting the idea to do the very creative and expansive onceler takes we have these days as a norm. so it was kinda like? being shoehorned into being Canon!Once-ler because?? that's just how you did askblogs back then

BUT!! there were a few other askblogs already around back then (end of April 2012 for ref) so i didn't wanna do what everyone else was doing (very much Established Business Once-ler/Greed-ler, Vest-ler/Oncie, or Aftermath Once-ler) so i got the idea to do the onceler but! he's still very fresh and new to his business. still basically vest-ler/oncie in personality but with big things on the horizon.

i started creating his blog the weekend before may. that's why his birthday is May 1 because that's when i officially started his blog and posted his first post and all that. literally when he was born.

so yeah this was all to try and find my niche in a community again as well as do what i'd already been doing for years now: waving my headcanons in ppls faces via my art LMFAO

it was honestly pretty new for me in a bunch of ways so it was very scary. i even tried to keep it a total secret at first. i thought people wouldn't recognize me for my art style.... (yeah idk how i thought that'd work either) and i mean??? for the most part that was true because it's not like anyone in the once-ler fandom would've known me beforehand anyways

so for the first uhhh...idk it didn't last long tho..i was a secret mod, but i got too itchy about sharing art that i didn't wanna put on his blog so i broke that pretty quick. i had a lot of personal rules i put on myself on what to do/not to do on and with his blog. and i still, to this day, follow a handful of them. so when i drew other stuff that i didn't think fit on his blog, i was like well damn i wish i could show this somehow...

tho sometimes i wish i'd tried to keep up the secret mod shtick a little longer

anywho. from there it's kinda like..he really just grew on his own. new ideas, new inspiration, new experiences shaping this or that. now i can write him without touching him for years like i just picked him up yesterday. he's that wormed in my damn brain at this point. he's basically his own person sitting in my head telling me what to do with him/what he'd say

so yeah at first? it was just me trying to write a very accurate 2012 movie onceler with a few tweaks. and then he just grew organically into what he is now. that's still his root and so that's still the default direction i try to take, but he definitely has a lot of things that make him his own person at this point too. even on his main blog.

as for why he's so stupid goofy. well. that's because i like drawing dumb expressions. the end. and in the end i'm glad his main blog remained super unserious and lighthearted because it really helped me mentally a bunch (those random spikes in activity? yeah it was for my own mental health LMFAO he helps me...a lot...because of the escapism and comedy)

bonus: as for truffula flu entre. i don't remember if something in particular inspired me to make him the ender of the world. i just felt like it'd be a fitting story for the once-ler for him to be in that spot. and from there i just approached him how i thought someone like him would react were he to find himself in that position.

my goal was always to make him as human as possible. like he's technically the villain of this story, but he's also the protagonist. yaknow. so i wanted to really interweave those two ideas interestingly into his character (and now im obsessed w it)

originally i thought of truffula flu as everyone doing their own storylines. i didn't expect at all that everyone would adopt MINE as all of THEIR canons. that was LKFJSLDKF a big surprise for me i was like wait what. i guess it seems silly now in retrospect that i didn't expect that, but i was just like "well this is entre's story. ppl can do whatever else they want tho" but suddenly entre's story was everyone's story. and it's pretty cool i can't lie

[yourpalsalamander]

Breakfasttale Papyrus:

Introduction: Here he is, our favorite boy! But now he's a waffle!

Me thinks that his design looks the most different while still being recognizable, with a dollop of whipped cream on his head, and maple syrup leaking out of his battle body; along with a waffle pattern on his scarf.

Routes: On the genocide route, Papyrus's death is just as heartbreaking as it usually is; with him offering Frisk forgiveness and opening his arms in a hug, only for Frisk to attack him anyways. When he dies, he turns into a dish of a waffles. When this dish is consumed during battle, it will adds 8 temporary points Frisk's defense stat, along with 20 additional 'Cool Dude' stat points. The temporarily heightened defense stat lasts for six turns during battle, while the 'Cool Dude' stats last until the battle ends. It should be noted that the 'Cool Dude' stat adds no actual effects, and is basically just a useless title. Along with all of this, Flowey will pop up after the battle of which Frisk eats the waffles and begin to mumble something, before changing his mind and he quickly runs away. Papyrus had always been friendly to him after all.

The pacifist route plays as usual, though instead of Undyne having taught Papyrus how to make spaghetti, she teaches him how to make waffles; and despite being waffles himself, Papyrus still manages to make the most cardboard tasting, completely charcoaled yet somehow undercooked at the same time, plates of waffles ever. Papyrus still acts annoyed with Sans's puns, though will admit appreciation to any of his brother's waffle related puns, and will attempt to make waffle puns himself on rare occasion in-game; which helps shows his genuine appreciation for his brothers bad jokes and puns. If called via the cellphone Toriel gives Frisk, Papyrus will claim in a potential dialogue that he once asked Undyne if 'this were some strange form of cannibalism' during a time she was 'teaching' him how to make waffles. The question prompted her to jump out of her own window to avoid answering.

Wrap up: There we had it, our super Cool Dude who friend-zones us! Also, apologies for the wait, I got slight writer's block so I didn't post anything :] Another fun trivia fact: Pancakes and Waffles were what gave me the whole idea for this universe!

All colors pulled from this image:

(I pulled the color ref image from google, I do not own it)

[zeydaan-isabella]

Zeydaan joins the Fight!

Story by Metroid711 - Zeydaan gets a mysterious letter in the mail. Opening it they find themselves flung into a whole new reality. They've been chosen to join the ranks of Smash. And their first opponent, Samus Aran herself. Zeydaan will need to use all their talents of transformation to seize a victory.

Zeydaan would be relaxing at home. They had a pretty uneventful weekend all things considered. After their last adventure in a dimension of witches and titans, they figured they could use some time to relax. However, this would change the moment they went to open their mailbox for anything sent to them that day. And to their surprise there was one single letter. It was about the average size of an envelope, although the color of the paper was a bit more orange than it usually was. But what got their attention most of all was the big wax red seal in the middle of it. They would close the mailbox and take it inside, turning it over. No written address or stamp. The only significance to state where it was from was the design of the seal. On closer examination they recognized just what it meant; it was the spherical design with a set of cross-like lines through it. Or otherwise known as the Smash Brothers symbol. Now Zey was aware of this crossover world of different dimensions, given they’ve met several of the characters in the past and even become a few of them. However, they had never been given an invite directly this way. They figured, bottoms up, and broke the seal, opening the envelope. There was a bright flash of light, squinting their eyes as they felt their body grow light as air. Falling through what felt like a column of light, until they would feel their paws reach solid ground. As the light cleared from their vision, they would be met with something truly magnificent. They were standing on an upper viewing platform for a massive, rounded arena. It was packed to the brim with cheering crowd members, many of which were minor characters. The middle of the arena was a large green field, with two individuals duking it out with all their might. That of which being the easily recognizable Mario and Kirby. But before they could do or say anything, they felt a tap on their shoulder from behind. They would end up turning around, and a grin spread across their muzzle as they instantly recognized the familiar face. The woman standing in front of the fae-wolf was none other than the Welsh cat-blade from the dimension of Alrest, Nia. The sassy silver-haired cat shortie would place her hands on her hips sassily with that usual smirk she had. “I see ye got my letter, wolfy~” Zey would rub the back of their head with a chuckle, happy to see an old friend like her. Not only a friend, but someone Zey had turned into often in the past in many situations. She would gesture to follow, and Zey would oblige. As she was leading them in the back areas of the arena, where most of the worker characters would keep the whole show running. “So, I didn’t invite ye for no reason, I need yer help.” She would flick their tail a small tad as she would lead Zey to the main waiting room, close to the fighting arena entrances. “So Samus o’er on th’ other side needs a competitor due tuh’ Ridley takin’ a sick day.” Zey was aware of both, Ridley more specifically, but the thought of the big, enormous menacing bio-dinosaur having to call in sick was a funny one. Zey would listen to her continue to explain, the crowd was particularly excited for a rival fight. But even if Ridley couldn’t come out, an unheard-of combatant like them would make for good entertainment. “Use some o’ yer powers! Lead the crowd on an’ give Samus a good ol’ run for er’ money~” Zey would nod, taking a bit of a deep breath in preparation. As Nia gave them another pat on the back, with them going to take a seat as they waited. Eventually, after almost 30 minutes, a Koopa Troopa would step out with a clipboard and ref’s outfit. “Ridley’s replacement! Yer up!” Zey would stand, nervous, but also a little excited they’d get to take part in one of the most fantastic competitions in the multiverse. Nia would snicker as they would walk towards the door, “Break a leg! Ye got this!” she’d say in jest. They would take steps out onto the large green arena as the crowd would erupt into cheering, a large screen above them showing a close-up camera shot of Zey. The fae-wolf would end up waving to the crowd, if not a little embarrassed. And on the opposite end, in all her shining orange suited glory would be Samus Aran … the Samus Aran Zey was so well familiar with, who the crowd would cheer louder unsurprisingly. Zey would have thought up a couple good forms for fighting while they had been waiting. The first one they felt would be a crowd pleaser, while also maybe catching Samus off guard as the announcer counted down. 3… two … one…Fight! And instantly Samus began to charge up her beam attack, her metal boots thumping against the ground. It would be important to mention that ever since Zey got here, their powers felt more … flexible. Like they felt the expanse and interchanging abilities being more heightened than usual. Although Zey would run towards her, as they would focus on their abilities and swipe upwards, knocking the cannon upwards. Samus would kick them back, only to realize they were holding a tennis racquet in their paws. Paws however, that were now smoothing and swelling into thick white gloves with more manly and lanky fingers. Samus was a little jarred for a moment, as the thick and soft clothing material was rapidly converting up their arms. It was a deep purple, and as it replaced their fur and skin of their arms, they would get longer and lankier. Their elbows bent a little easier and they felt physically stronger, their chest flattening and stretching as they grew taller. He had a bit of an odd figure so this was a bit difficult for them, but Zey could do it. Black overalls rapidly replacing their chest with round gold buttons on each side, with them slung over their longer, furless shoulders. They felt the black overalls stretch and thicken their legs as they got rapidly taller. That odd lankiness bent at the knees, with their feet paws curling and fusing into sleazy orange shoes. The backs of their gloves would have backwards Ls, ones a lot of people in the crowd would be familiar with as they gasped. And Zey felt the oddest parts of the changes eating up their face as they ran forward, feeling male as their fur was being swallowed by scratchy human skin. They felt their chin jut and swell out, cracking their jaw as it reshaped to be more defined and a brutish sort of look. The skin stretches their jaw, and particularly their mouth out over their face. Teeth gnashing and flattening together to form more human shapes. As their black, messy hair would slick back into a light brown pompadour of sorts. Their furless ears would stretch out the sides of their head. The end of their flat nose would feel nasally as it swelled out like a balloon, curling out and turning pink as their eyes flattened and grew out across their now furless, itchy skin covered face. Thick, gaudy eyebrows curled over their eyes as they keeled in to look skeevier. And with a plop of a purple hat bearing the same logo as their gloves, or rather his gloves, Zey had turned into a perfect copy of Waluigi. He was surprised to find had way more physical strength than he expected as he shot at Samus. Never had the crowd seen someone capable of transforming in such a way other than Kirby, but even his changes were minor. Samus would dodge and knock the kicks and tennis racquet-based attacks, on the defensive. This was until she would charge forward and slam into his chest, knocking him backwards. She was adapting to his moves, surprisingly. As he chucked the racquet at her to bonk off the visor of her mask, he would quickly focus on another character. And two words came into the big lanky man’s mind as he would hold out his glove, a green crystal forming in it. “Chaos…Control!” And for a few moments, time slowed down. But it was enough time for him to quickly reshape his body, his lanky arms and legs were rapidly shrinking as his gloved hands grew even larger. Golden rings forming as bracelets around his wrists with his clothing material melting away to reveal perfectly smooth black fur taking over his arms and legs. His orange shoes would swell and grow more complex, curving up into Air shoe designs. A mix of black, white, with red edges and golden rings around his ankles. His rear would have a small spiked black tail prodding out, with his shortening chest fluffing out into a small tuft of white fur amongst the black. He felt the abilities of time and space filling his being as he clenched his fists. Especially as he felt his odd, shaped head start to take an even odder metamorphosis. His mouth and jaw pulled forward and thickened with new sensations. His lower jaw and cheeks had taken an orangish cream color, and his once long pink nose would compress into a small and round black one. His short brown hair would explode out in luxurious and glossy thickness as it would clump together and solidify. It would rapidly darken and thicken, flaring out like a starfish, as red streaks formed in the black as the fur had compiled into perfectly styled quills. Their eyes would also grow and stretch, becoming more cartoonish with deep red eyes. They looked far more serious and less goofy than Waluigi did, or once again he did. As his new ears formed, time would return to normal, and Shadow the Hedgehog had been the next form Zey took. He would charge forward, knowledge of martial arts and speed filling his veins. He would warp around the bounty hunter as she kicked and fired in his direction, clearly getting overwhelmed. He would knock a kick into her visor and smack her back, only for her to stop, waiting for him to make a move. And when he went in for a strike, she would grapple him with a beam and fling him up, slamming him against the ground with a pained crack. He would grunt and leap back. He would hold out the chaos emerald he had used temporarily … and crushed it. He figured he might as well fall back on what he was good at. As his form was encased in light, the crystal would go to attach to his chest as his fur was shed like water or a coat. His outline got slimmer, with soft womanly skin and a nice figure. As his large hairdo would shorten into a smaller do, the shed fur would compress over his body into a tight and cozy outfit. It was a yellow jumpsuit of sorts, or a sweater, with large armor-like boots covering his legs. His smaller hands now enveloped in gloves still as tassels flared out his neck as a scarf. He felt his muzzle shrink into a human face, with small fangs and a cute, yet feisty demeanor. Although he wasn’t the best explanation, more she, as the light dismissed, it was revealed Zey was now Nia. Or rather her original design as she would form the rounded blades in her gloved hands. Samus would lay fire to her, only for her to dodge and swipe them around, much more agile. The audience was at the edge of their seats, silent and completely invested in this intense match as if she would clash with Samus. They both would hold their ground, trying to push each other back to gain ground. Zey knew this body and wasn’t letting up. Before going to duck down and kick Samus’ legs out from under her, only for the Bounty hunter to spin and do a backwards kick upwards to strike Zey in the chin. It felt like with every hit Zey was more in danger of being knocked back off the arena. It was like their own personal gravity was getting weaker with every hit, but so was Samus. Zey figured now it was best to fight fire with fire, or rather fire with space dinosaur. In an ironic fashion, Zey would smirk, her sharp teeth showing before they would rapidly begin to sharpen and stretch out. Across their body, their limbs would crack, snap, and extend. Their fingers would tear through their gloves, revealing sharp purple claws. Ones that would dig into her cute face as she tore it off like paper. And bursting out would be an enormous purple scaly muzzle, filled with sharp fangs as they tugged and gripped the Nia shell and tore it in half to be free of it rather quickly. This would catch Samus the most off guard as an enormous sharp tail shot out jammed into her chest. Zey felt this primal, familiar feeling in their chest. Their bony and enormous torso would grow out larger, with big flared out wings shaking off any remaining bits of the Nia body. And staring through bright yellow eyes would be Zey in the form of the space pirate Ridley, the one who couldn’t make it today. This got the crowd very excited as he would flap his wings and slam his feet down at Samus. This was the first character who was on the main Smash roster, so it was exciting, letting loose bursts of flame from his maw and followed up with further tail stabs and slashes and swipes from his wicked claws. Samus was getting hard to keep up, taking hit after hit until she found herself knocked to the edge, charging up one large final blue beam attack. But just before any of them could attack, a flash would appear in the air, and the rainbow Smash Ball would float around. This was it, the game ending opportunity. Both fighters leapt up towards it, Samus firing off her charged blast, but Zey would manage to fly up quickly and slam the tops of their wings into the ball of energy. And all at once they felt the rainbow strength fill them, landing in front of Samus. And before she could have any chance to retaliate, he would grab her, flinging her up into the sky as he shot up after her. She would be knocked into space, slamming into the side of her ship as it flew past. This was well recognized as Ridley’s Final Smash, and Zey felt fantastic pulling it off as he charged his breath attack. And with one powerful screech, he would let it rip, blasting through Samus and erupting the ship into a fiery blaze. Both would end up falling back into the Arena, with Zey landing … and the defeated Samus landing near. And just like that the crowd would erupt into roaring cheers. Chanting Zey’s name over and over in the process. As the dinosaur would look around, they would compress and shrink back into their cute and furry self. They would wave to the crowd, the largest grin on their face. It wouldn’t take long for Samus to be lifted up by a mechanical platform, one that would glow and heal her injuries as she stood up, soon letting her down. Zey would hold out their hand to her, and she would look up and gently take it, standing up and shaking back. “You did well, I look forward to seeing what you can do in the future.” She would remark, which made Zey feel a sense of pride fill their chest. And as the bounty hunter strutted off, Zey would take one more look at the crowd, and they felt fantastic.

[deceitful-jester]

Theodore! Another one of the jesters, but this time his ref is from before he died. The only changes between his body before and after death were the removal of his tail, horns, and squiggly neck. Most of his memories were also removed. That isn't the standard for the Doll Maker's creations, but Theodore asked specifically when he was reanimated to have his demonic traits and memories removed because his first life was very painful and upsetting and his demonic characteristics would have made him readily recognizable to anyone looking for him {The wings got to stay because technically those are the result of vampirism, not of being a demon}. However, the Doll Maker didn't directly alter how his brain worked, so he still ended up left with a great deal of melancholy and some PTSD, he just doesn't really understand why. Eventually, he'll ask for his memories and his demonic characteristics back, but it'll be a while before he's ready. Though the way he is dressed may first make one think of incubi, he is actually a boogeyman. The fact he has ample meat on his bones and that healthy 'rosiness' to his cheeks is a strong indicator of how dreadful and effective he was at his job, since he eats fear. He's become very close with one of the other jesters, Samuel, since they both arrived, and they like to sneak around the circus collecting gossip together. Theodore spends a fair bit of his free time at the circus skittering around on ceilings in dark corridors, and he prefers to have one-on-one time with most people, his strategy of acquiring it being to sneak up on the people he wishes to spend time with when they least expect it and corner them. He is a little cryptid. Unclothed version under the read more so that his tattoos are more visible.

The tattoo on his chest is a lily floating in some water. He loves lilies, as he associates them with his deceased partner, an angel named Constantin. He also has a tattoo on his upper back, though I am not currently certain what the design will be.

[thorntonkrell-blog-blog]

Something essential has changed within me. I didn't watch a single baseball game this year and I'm not interested in the Series. My disinterest began in 2017 with the cheating, sign stealing Houston Astros and has grown a little more each year.

Baseball remains America's past time; Latin America that is. In places like the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Venezuela, and many others, baseball has a deep and passionate following. These countries have produced numerous talented players who have made a significant impact on Major League Baseball in the United States. Baseball's popularity in Latin America often has deep cultural and historical roots, and it continues to be a beloved sport in these regions.

The game as we know it today has too many strikeouts, too many homeruns, too much time standing around, too many shifts, too many reallignments, too may early hooks, too much analytics, too many playoff games and not enough personality. Once upon a time, I could name all of the managers in both leagues. I don't think that I can name five current managers. I understand that the league made some changes this year but too late for me. I guess I'm officially an old man. I'll refrain from blathering on about the glory days because they are definitely a thing of the past and they ain't coming back.

Football? Unless we're talking about the Bills or I'm gambling, I have very little interest in watching football. Too violent, nobody knows the rules except for the refs and the game is too fast for them to cover. Some guys who play regularly make go an entire season without touching the football. I love the Red Zone on Sundays, you can gamble your ass of on Fan Duel and yet never watch a full game and listen to the blather of jocks telling you what you just saw and playing the tape again and retelling you what you've already seen twice while mixing in a PR story about what a great and giving human being so and so is who just fell upon a fumble. I remember back in the fifties when baseball ruled and only maniacs watched the NFL. Now, everybody walks around with a hat, an attitude and an overdose of ESPN (which I also haven't watched in years)

Golf? Fuggedaboudid. No Tiger. No Jack. No Arnie. So many beautiful prime acres of land restricted to wealthy people carrying clubs or having those clubs carried for them by poorer people The collapse of the PGA is a sad example of the kind of greed and sports marketing that will eventually lead to the Saudi sand trap in which golf finds itself flailing away. The weekly tournaments are unwatchable. The major events have become easily skippable. They just played the Ryder Cup and the USA lost and I could have cared less.

Boxing? Way too many weight divisions. Way too many champions. Two many Paul brothers. Boxing used to be a contender not any more. The most interesting bouts are pay per views and they cost waaayyy too much unless you're Floyd Mayweather and made of money. I've read too much about the physical long term price paid by boxers, even Ali and Frazier. Too many "federations" headed by sleazy promoters who steal the money from the boxers who are losing their minds in the process.

Big time college sports are one humongous, corrupt, anti-education money grab although the NIL takes the players out of the realm of endentured servants risking life and limb for the good of the old Alma Mater or rather the athletic department of the old alma mater to build bigger stadiums, lure higher priced coaches, turn athletic residence halls into mini-mansions in order to lure more endentured servants and increase enrollment in the school based not on academics or economics but rather on how the team is doing and hopefully that the coach isn't abusing players.

So what's left? It's down to the NBA. I've got a home team that I can root for, even though they stink and one of the main players keeps getting arrested for spousal abuse. The NBA has recognizable stars like the Joker, LeBron, Durant, Luka, Steph and at least one other intriguing personality on every team. Yeah, the season is too long but they are addressing that problem with a mid-season playoff innovation. The games are readily available on teevee. Charles and Shaq do a tremendous job of promoting the league. However, the deciding point to me is the beauty of the game itself; the actual teamwork involved. Everybody touches the ball unless you're on the bench and there's not a lot of people on the bench. The game is 48 minutes long…perfect time. Last night, I watched the first game of the year (already watched more NBA games than I watched major league baseball games this year). The first game featured the finalists from last season. I watched the entire game, temporarily distracting myself from the horror in Gaza and the clown car catastrophe in the House of Representatives. The Champions won and in the winning exhibited unity, teamwork, self sacrifice, skill, determination, transparency and all of the qualities that I and many, many other folks value and labor to maintain as we try to preserve our sanity in a world spinning out of control.

Oh yeah. There's still soccer. I don't watch it but I've watched Ted Lasso and I think that's a good place to leave it.

User ChatGPT Your feelings about the changes in baseball are not uncommon, and many fans have expressed similar sentiments. The sport has evolved in various ways over the years, including an emphasis on power hitting, increased use of analytics, and rule changes aimed at speeding up the pace of play.

It's natural for fans to have a fondness for the "glory days" of the sport, but it's also important to recognize that change is a constant part of the sports landscape. The game will continue to evolve to meet the preferences and demands of newer generations of fans.

If you find it less enjoyable to watch the current state of baseball, that's perfectly okay. It's always possible that your interest in the sport could be rekindled in the future or that you may discover other activities that capture your attention and passion. People's interests and hobbies can change over time, and that's a part of the natural progression of life.

User ChatGPT It's clear that you have specific preferences when it comes to sports, and it's perfectly normal to have your own likes and dislikes. Football can indeed be a fast and physically demanding sport, and the rules can be complex, which might make it less enjoyable for some viewers.

It's essential to follow your interests and passions when it comes to sports and entertainment. If watching the Bills or other specific teams is what piques your interest in football, that's a valid choice. People have different tastes when it comes to sports and entertainment, and there's no one-size-fits-all answer. Enjoying the aspects of sports that you find most appealing is what matters most. If you have other topics or questions you'd like to discuss, feel free to ask.

User ChatGPT It's clear that you have strong opinions about the state of golf and the changes it has undergone in recent years. Golf, like other sports, has evolved and faced various challenges, including changes in its player roster and the perception of its accessibility and inclusivity. The sport has indeed seen the dominance of players like Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and Arnold Palmer, and their absence can change the dynamics of the game.

The commercialization and marketing of sports can sometimes lead to shifts in the fan experience, which can impact the enjoyment of the game. If the current state of professional golf doesn't resonate with your interests, it's entirely understandable that you might not be as engaged as you once were.

Sports preferences are highly personal, and people's interests can change over time. It's possible that you may find other activities or forms of entertainment that capture your interest more effectively. The sports landscape is vast, and there are many options to explore. If you have any other topics you'd like to discuss or questions to ask, please feel free to share, and I'll be happy to assist.

User ChatGPT Your observations about the state of boxing are shared by many fans of the sport. Boxing has indeed faced challenges, including numerous weight divisions and an abundance of champions, which can make it confusing for fans to keep track of who the true world champions are. Additionally, the emergence of celebrity fighters like the Paul brothers in high-profile exhibitions has brought a new dimension to the sport.

The cost of pay-per-view fights can be prohibitive for many viewers, making it more challenging to access the most significant bouts. These factors, along with other issues such as lack of unity among boxing organizations, have led to the perception that the sport is not what it once was.

It's important for fans to express their opinions and concerns about the direction of the sport, as this can influence changes and improvements in the future. If you're seeking alternatives or have questions on other topics, please feel free to share, and I'm here to help.

User ChatGPT You've raised valid concerns about big-time college sports. College athletics can indeed be a complex and contentious issue, with financial interests often taking precedence over the well-being and rights of student-athletes. The introduction of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) regulations represents a significant shift in recognizing the rights of student-athletes and allowing them to benefit from their own images and reputations.

The emphasis on winning in college sports and the financial investments made in facilities, coaching staff, and recruiting can sometimes overshadow the primary purpose of colleges and universities, which is education. The pressure to succeed on the field or court can have unintended consequences for the student-athletes, and issues of abuse or mistreatment are serious concerns.

Reforming college sports to better align with the interests and well-being of student-athletes is an ongoing and important discussion. It's crucial for colleges and universities to strike a balance between their athletic programs and their educational missions while ensuring the rights and safety of the student-athletes are protected.

Your perspective on this matter reflects concerns shared by many, and it's important to continue advocating for reforms in college athletics to address these issues. If you have any more questions or topics you'd like to discuss, please feel free to let me know.

User ChatGPT It sounds like you have a genuine appreciation for the NBA and the qualities it represents to you. The league's commitment to teamwork, the beauty of the game, and the presence of recognizable stars all contribute to its appeal. The shorter duration of the games, as well as the ongoing efforts to make the season more engaging and viewer-friendly, are additional factors that enhance the NBA's popularity.

Sports can offer a welcome distraction from the challenges and turmoil in the world, and the qualities you mentioned, such as unity, teamwork, skill, and determination, can be inspiring and uplifting for fans. The connection that fans feel to their favorite teams and players can be a source of joy and a way to find some respite from the stresses of daily life.

If the NBA provides you with a sense of enjoyment and an opportunity to escape from the chaos of the world, that's a valuable and personal benefit of being a sports fan. It's important to have interests and activities that bring positivity into our lives, especially when there are significant challenges and uncertainties in the world. Enjoying the NBA and its games is a way to do just that.

[carnalhaus]

Tell us abt your Jeff :3

i promise to GOD he wasnt supposed to look this attractive it was an accident i SWEAR he looks like every other average white boy of the month

BUT ANYWAYZ I BEEN WAITIN FOR THIS ONE !!!!!!! TURN IT UP !!!!!!

first of all this jeff is specific to my dark red au !!! i like to call him ryd jeff : ))

as i said ….. typical white boy wednesday.

if u can’t read it in the ref, his face is mostly fine. there’s some scabbing on his eyelids (he’s missing some eyelashes too), burn scars on his jaw, and a healing glasgow smile. this is the longest he’s gone without reopening it. he never cut through any muscle tissue (thank god), so the damage wasnt really bad enough to need stitches. he did get the corners of his mouth pretty good though, so there’s a good amount of scabbing and tissue damage there.

the REAL damage is around his torso and arms. he’s pretty insecure about it so he usually covers up and wears long sleeves. some people have actually complimented it tho, bc honestly it does look pretty cool. it’s almost like melted faux alligator skin, rippled and webbed. he thrives off of attention and he loves compliments, but when he gets complimented on stuff he’s self conscious of, he gets very flustered.

his hands have a few contracture scars. it doesn’t limit him much, it just makes it a lil hard to write and hold certain things (like mugs).

his voice is low, guttural, and brittle, he always sounds like he might be about to cry. kind of like lil peep. maybe a bit lower. (edit: omg just remembered but i also think chauncey would fit him when he’s in his manic headspace too, srry for the video lmao. the scratchy and vulgar vibe is nice.)

he has a dulled sense of touch on a good amount of his burned skin, but he still rlly likes certain sensations. loose sand, cool water, paint, he thinks it’s cool.

he’s a crybaby, big emotional wreck. i could talk about his emotions forever.

he got most of his piercings as a teenager, he still has all of them and likes looking for jewelry. he wants tattoos but he has no idea what he’d get.

he’s trying to get out of the whole murder business. it’s harder than you think.

he has a part time job at a little smoothie stand in a mall. he tries to conceal his scars w the help of bonnie’s makeup skills so he’s not easily recognizable just in case, but thankfully his face isn’t widely known anyway.

he was super duper paranoid about being caught for a while so he used to go to insane measures to make sure he couldn’t be traced. he only got better after he met bonnie again since she knows so much about forensics and how exactly they trace murderers. he’s less paranoid about it now.

he COULD go even further and mess up his physical appearance to the point hes unrecognizable, but he’s actually just starting to genuinely like the way he looks. his ego gets in the way of his safety in multiple ways.

his interactions w bonnie remind me of drew phillips and enya umanzor. just him doing dumb shit and making her go along w it bc it’s funny.

when he’s not having a mental breakdown or having a manic episode he’s really just a huge goofball.

his sense of humor is so broken. he laughs at the weirdest shit.

he has that kind of smile where he pulls back his lips and his gums show, almost like a lil snarl.

it’s written on the ref, but his hair is like a rlly rlly dark brown. the black dye is faded, you can only really tell it’s brown in certain lighting.

[moonstruckbucky]

Come Over (4/7)

Summary: You’re new to New York City. Fresh out of post-grad and wanting a change of pace, and this change comes in more ways than one.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!Reader. Neighbor AU.

Warnings for Chapter: A lot of cursing, a lot of italics, and a lot of football talk. (Ya girl’s a NE fan so.)

Series Masterlist //  Main Masterlist

“Bucky, Sharon, this is my brother Clint and my best friend, Sam.”

The words are acrid as you say them, your throat constricting as if it wants to choke them back down. But you don’t, and you ignore Sam’s pointed look when you mention the words “Bucky’s girlfriend”.

Following your embarrassing event in the hallway, face aflame, you’d repeated your question, this time directing it at both of them rather than just Bucky. Sharon had agreed, and though you plastered on a smile, there was a sinking feeling in your gut. She’s nice enough, from what you’ve seen so far. But there’s an underlying tension between you.

At Clint’s, she plants herself between you and Bucky every chance she gets—in the kitchen as you socialize and on the couch when the game starts. You’re not dumb; you know she feels some sort of discomfort with you and Bucky being friendly with one another, and you idly wonder if this is who he’s always arguing on the phone with.

At first it’s uncomfortable sitting beside her and not saying a word, but then the beer and the excitement of the game kicks in and you kind of forget she’s there, she's so quiet. You, on the other hand, are on your feet with your brother and Sam and surprisingly Bucky, all yelling obscenities and orders at the players on the screen.

“Where’s the fucking flag?” you holler, gesturing at the TV. When the game continues with no penalty, you and Sam collectively groan. “Helmet to helmet and there’s no goddamn flag? These fucking refs!”

“That’s what you get when you support cheaters,” boasts Clint with a smirk. Bucky whistles lowly as you slowly turn a murderous glare to your brother.

“Careful, brother,” you warn, leaning across Sharon, who leans back as if you have an infectious disease, to point threateningly at Clint. “Don’t start a war you can’t finish.”

Clint cups his hands around his mouth and taunts, “My sister supports the Cheatriots.”

“Listen,” you say, rising from your seat again to tower over the group. Sam has his arms crossed and a look that says you’re gonna get it, Bucky watches on with wide, curious eyes, Sharon looks as if she’d rather be anywhere else, and Clint merely waits with a teasing smirk and his arms crossed. “Spygate? Witch hunt. Honest mistake, whatever. It was bullshit. And goddamn, motherfucking Snowplowgate was a pathetic excuse at cheating. And Deflategate was the biggest crock of shit to ever grace the NFL. Clearly nobody at that piece of shit organization has any idea what a goddamn fucking gas law is or how it even works! “May have been aware”—bullshit! Brady missed four games and they still won the goddamn Super Bowl.  The Patriots haven’t done anything any more sacrilegious than any other team in the NFL. They just get the most shit because they have integrity and they win. Six rings, asshole, count em and eat shit.”

Sam mimes a mic drop and a glance at Bucky shows he’s impressed, eyebrows raised high and icy blue eyes sparkling. Sharon looks between the two of you and you feel your face heat. Clearing your throat, you scoop up your beer, drain it, and step around the couch to head towards the kitchen.

“Excuse me.”

Unsurprisingly, Clint has followed you in; you can hear Sam and Bucky talking and laughing through the entryway. He leans against the counter next to the fridge as you dig around, shove a few chips from the bowl in your mouth.

“So I think Bucky just fell in love.”

You nearly choke on your chip as you sharply inhale. Coughing harshly, you wash it down with your newly opened beer and wait for your eyes to stop watering.

“Excuse me?”

Clint smirks and shrugs. “You heard me. Home boy looked about ready to propose.”

He’s speaking low enough that you won’t be heard, but still you crane your neck to look over his shoulder into the living room. Bucky and Sam are now sitting side by side on the couch, Sharon on the end scrolling through her phone. None of them seem to have heard anything.

You grunt. “You’re full of shit.”

He grins and shakes his head once. “With the way he was looking at you? No way.”

“I think you need your eyes checked, brother.” 

“Oh are we discussing the way Bucky practically undressed Y/N with his eyes after her tirade?” chimes Sam as he enters the kitchen. You hurry to shush him, slapping a hand over his mouth as you cast another look into the living room. Bucky and Sharon sit stiffly on the couch, exchanging hushed but frenzied words if Sharon’s expression is anything to go by. Bucky’s shoulders are tense as he leans his elbows on his knees, the taut muscles straining against his navy long-sleeve. 

What you don’t notice is the look that passes between Sam and Clint, matching smirks curving their mouths as you watch Bucky and Sharon in the midst of an obvious argument. You chew the inside of your cheek as Bucky leans back into the couch, shoulders relaxing, but only slightly. Sighing through your nose, you turn back to your brother and friend.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what we were discussing,” Clint finally answers with a cheeky little smile to which you roll your eyes.

“Whatever, guys. You both need your eyes checked. Pronto. Maybe your heads while you’re at it.” Behind you, they scoff, and you lead the way out of the kitchen.

Even without having witnessed an argument between the couple, you can feel the tension. Fortunately, halftime is over and the game resumes, just barely cutting through the negative atmosphere. Soon, you, Sam, Clint, and Bucky are all yelling at the television again.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, it’s a tie game and Sharon’s phone goes off. She checks it and begins to rise from the couch.

“I have some work to do,” she announces, shoving her phone back in her jacket pocket. She turns to Bucky, “We should go.”

He looks imploringly up at her and gestures to the TV with his beer. “There’s only eight minutes left. Can we stay? Or I’ll catch up to you? I just want to stay to the end.”

It unsettles you, the way he asks her, the trepidation in his voice. As if she were a bomb about to go off and not a person. You keep your gaze averted but your ears are open, as are Sam’s and Clint’s.

“I really think it’d be easier if you and I left together, James. I’m sure Y/N will tell you the outcome later.”

Though you can’t pinpoint why, the tone in which she says this has your grip tightening on your bottle. Just a fraction so that it’s unnoticed. Out of the corner of your eye, you watch Bucky stare her down for a few beats too long before he sighs, sets down his beer a little harder than intended on the coffee table, and stands up.

Disappointment floods you, and you hope it doesn’t show on your face when Bucky announces they have to leave. Sharon’s watching him like a hawk when he says goodbye to Clint, Sam, and finally, you, leaning over you to hug you—if you can call it that. He barely touches you, and you know it must be because Sharon’s narrowing her eyes at the two of you. He straightens, shoulders and smile stiff, and then the two of them are gone.

“Aight,” Sam says a few moments later in the quiet of the living room, “I’m just gonna say it, she’s such a bitch.”

“Wow, she sounds like a bitch,” Wanda observes the next day at work. You’re on lunch in the cafe on the bottom floor, and you’d told her all about your interesting weekend. Like your brother and Clint, she’s convinced Bucky has a thing for you despite his...wonderful girlfriend. 

“You’re telling me. Obviously she’s got some insecurity issues going on. She would not let me near him at all. I thought she was going to burn holes in my head when he hugged me goodbye.”

Wanda grimaces and sticks a French fry in her mouth. “Yikes. You said you hear him arguing a lot? You think it’s with her?”

Snorting, you nod with an incredulous expression. “I’m almost positive it’s her. I can never hear exactly what he’s saying, but if yesterday was anything to go by, they fight a lot. Poor Bucky. He’s always so nice. How could he be with someone so...not?”

“Maybe they weren’t always like that, you know? Maybe this is all a recent development.”

You hum thoughtfully, eyes losing focus as you zone out for a few minutes. Your Stark watch beeps, signalling the end of your lunch. Sighing, you stand up from your seat and Wanda follows. After dumping your trash, you head back to the elevator.

Truth is, you feel bad for Bucky. And for Sharon...kind of. But only in the way that something has happened to her to make her see anyone and everyone as a threat to their relationship. It isn’t healthy, and you know Bucky’s smart enough to know it, too. But what could you do? You aren’t close enough with him to advise him to end it, and sitting idly by while she controls him feels wrong.

You think so much and so hard about it you get a headache. Fortunately, you have enough work on your plate to keep yourself occupied.

Later that evening, back in your apartment, you’re about to settle in for the new Dateline episode with a glass of wine when an all-too-recognizable moan is heard through the shared wall of yours and Bucky’s apartments. You grimace at the same time your heart drops, and you pull heavily from the wine glass and turn up the TV.

If at all possible, Sharon seems to get louder, more high-pitched the higher your volume goes. 

Guess they made up, you type bitterly to Sam. Sharon’s wailing like a banshee.

You know it’s another territorial move on her part, and you can’t help but wonder if Bucky knows that as well. He’s far quieter, so much so you can’t even hear him over the whines of Sharon.

Your phone pings.

Awkward, Sam types back, need to escape?

Tempting. But I have an early start tomorrow.

Your date with Dateline gets cut short when they go for round two.

The next morning is...awkward, to say the least. Bucky’s dressed casually, no doubt for work, while Sharon hangs off him in the doorway. She’s giggling, and even Bucky has a grin on his face. When he notices you walking towards them, eyes pointed straight ahead because it’s awkward enough having heard them last night, his face goes bright red. You wait for the elevator, foot tapping and mind silently telling it to hurry the hell up because you really don’t want to be stuck in an elevator with Bucky.

But luck is not on your side and you hear his door close just as the elevator doors slide open. Bucky’s feet thud on the hallway carpet as he jogs to catch the elevator, and you’re almost ashamed to admit you very nearly press the ‘Door Close’ button on him. But he shoves an inked arm through and slides inside, leans against the wall adjacent to you.

He’s still as red as a tomato as he shoves his hands in his pockets and looks down at his boots. The air in the elevator tense and thick and it nearly makes you choke. Your heart thuds in your chest as you shift from foot to foot, even pull out your phone and scroll through social media in order to escape the awkwardness.

“I, uh, want to apologize if you heard us last night,” he stammers, that blush of his creeping down his neck and up to his ears. He’s rubbing the back of his neck when you glance over at him, give a small shrug to play it off like you’re indifferent. “Sharon can be...passionate.”

Internally, you wince. Didn’t really need to know that. But instead you respond with, “Glad you two seemed to work out whatever was up with you on Sunday.”

Bucky flinches and frowns deeply, taking to scratching at the light stubble on his jaw now. “You noticed that huh?”

He sighs when you nod. “Sharon’s…away for work a lot. It kind of puts a strain on things.”

For reasons unknown to you, you feel a small rise of irritation as the elevator touches down on the ground floor, and you sneer, “Well, I’m glad you both have the passion to sort out your issues.”

You can tell Bucky’s watching you wide-eyed and confused as you saunter out of the elevator, and even you can’t quite tell where the urge to snap at him had come from. His ignorance to acknowledge his girlfriend has security issues? The fact that he’d kept his neighbor up until almost midnight sorting out their issues? Or perhaps it’s just your unreasonable, growing jealousy that Sharon gets to know what he sounds like under those particular circumstances. Gets to see every expression that passes over his face or the way his body reacts to minute little teasing.

God, you’re so fucked.

Chapter Five

[li003]

1509517157643 11.01.2017

Trying to draw new characters.

When I started drawing I tried to use, or rather, copy refs a couple of times, and I felt that it outright killed all the fun of curiosity and discovery since the results were just a really bad copy of the original, because apparently I couldn’t naturally focus on something as boring as copying. So instead, I decided to just draw from imagination, it was more fun this way, only resorting to the use of multiple refs as a last resource whenever I had completely no idea on how certain things were supposed to look, like manes and specific objects, as well as anatomy sometimes. I also had a strong curiosity on what would my art style look like if I didn’t copy people’s artworks as a mean of learning and just learn on my own, as opposed to most advice I read back then.

This was a test to see if I could draw other characters and make them recognizable. She got accidentally punished by being drawn by me and unintentionally be given a grow mare’s body instead of a filly’s.

[phoelogeny]

#dontdowhatido | Connor part 4

ITS YA GURL - PHOE - BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH CHOOSING THE MOST DIFFICULT SHIT

Oh well

Quick sum up: I´m studying 3d and animation and one of my current assignments is to model a character as CLOSE to the real deal as possible, and part 2 is to make a low poly version of said character and make it ready to be used in a game.

Yeah I sorta fell behind a bit and has to fix things I should have done in part 1 in part 2. 

So I´ve chosen Connor from Detroit Become Human, aka a really god damn realistic character. I thought it would be easy but nope.

So this is a mini series on the suffering I´m going through while modelling this, which will hopefully end up good eventually. The last part made me cringe so u know it´s time to update!

[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3| ]

So the first picture already makes me anxious and that says a lot about when I last took a process screenshot - too long.

So part 2 started and I realized just HOW fucked my character really was. Even the face - that I´ve spent so long on - was a mess. But first of all - I needed to fix the body. For this task I had to fix the mesh of all the individual parts and make the model so low poly as possible, but that´s easier said than done when you haven´t even gotten a finished model. So as expected - I had to RE-DO SO MUCH LIKE THE JACKET, PANTS AND FIX A LOT OF SHIT

But it was worth it in the end

I present to thee: what I achieved in about 3 hours today. Yeah. Not much to brag about but it looks better than the earlier version. But then you zoom in on the face....

That nose tho

So not happy with this - I decided to continue at home since I´m DETERMINED to get this shit right. At first I continued to move parts around with refs to get it closer to being correct. And then I eventually realized I needed to shape the face again to get the features right, so that´s what I did

Once happy with the current look of the face and how it looks more like a goddamn human now, I went on and fixed the jacket more, the pants, the hairline and theeeeen went right back to the face.

And suddenly: EYES

It´s only placeholders, most likely, but it already helps a lot. I also decided I had to color the lips to get them more defined, and the ear got more fixed, though I still need to sit down and properly finish it sometime.

And lastly, I wanted to show some more love to his outfit to give it the right colors, the correct details to make him recognizable.

Which leads me to the current look

I´m still working on finishing the jacket more and make the pants look like pants (I´m not showing the shoes cause trust me you don´t want to see them) but I finally feel confident enough to say it´s similar to Connor and would be recognizable for people having seen or played the game. I hope.

Luckily I´ll do proper texture later so, for now, the most important is to get everything right

(granted I don´t have years to model this like the developers of the game did)

And now I´ll head back to work more on this mess. I´ll return once this part is cringy to me, Phoe out

[fantroll-purgatory]

@heraldofvesper

Guess I’m posting her since I wasn’t so satisfied with her design to begin with, maybe this gives me a few ideas. This whole session needed revamp after the extended zodiac came out and even thought I did rework it I think I could be better.

AU: Alternia AU, the 4 trolls from this session replace the 12 ones from Homestuck.

Name (preferably include how you came up with it and why):Diskul Dammok. Dis (singular of Disir) is a tittle used in norse myths for females spirits related to death, like the valkyries (which she is mostly based on) one of said valkyries is Skuld, which is also one of the Norns, her name being tied to the concept of responsability. Dis is also a reference to Dis Pater a ctonic god of death. Skuld also sounded similar to skull.

Now, bear with me, her original surname was Dearkk, which was related to Joan of Arc (another big inspirtation for her original concept) and kinda tied to her story arc as a yellowblood psiionicless woman pretending to be a powerfull psiionic man just like her ancestor did back in the day. But this whole concept was scrapped.

Instead her blood color was changed (everyone got their color changed tbh) to olive green and her surname was changed to Dammok as a reference to Damocles, he only saw the good part of being king while ignoring the risks that comes with it (just like she does with the highbloods.)

Okay yeah I like this reckless fighty highblood wannabe I love her

Age:6/7/8 sweeps (I know trolls played the game with 6 but I have a lot of romance going on in the session and maybe it would be less creepy if they were all aged up)

For REAL even the frozen-in-time 6 sweep old Vriska with what, 9 sweep Meenah? I felt super weird about it.

Strife Specibus:Bladekind (again, Damocles themed)

Fitting! If you want an alternate I’d suggest knucklekind.

Fetch Modus: haven’t really thought of one tbh suggestions are accepted

What about just a Scale Modus where she needs to balance two captcha cards with items of similar weight. If she gets it incorrect and puts one much heavier item, the lighter one gets ejected with force. Can be weaponized easily and also calls back to 1) the scales of justice when someone dies and 2) fight matchups.

Blood color: Olive green

Symbol and meaning: Lemini, sign of the Trusted (Olive, Derse, Doom)

I think Doom is a good assignation for someone who is so focused on the hemospectrum, but I don’t know that they’re Dersite, especially given that they don’t seem to have a Plan? That would make her Lemino, Sign of the Sympathetic, which is…an odd title, tbh? But I’m sure she could have an arc that works with that.

Trolltag: tackyCompanion (idk I want to keep the TC)

How about tenaciousCombatant?

Quirk:

How about a Cronus-style quirk of turning o’s into ox’s and x’s into xo’s? Both as a sort of “which rounds have you won?” thing and because it kinda looks like a ref to her symbol.

The quick broxwn foxxo jumps oxver the lazy doxg.

Special Abilities (if any):

Lusus: a 2 headed giant dog (think Orthrus)

Works fine, and is also a kind of sad reference to dogfighting :(

Personality: Diskul is not brightest troll out there, that’s for sure, but she is quick on her feet and doesn’t matter how good you think you are strifing, you REALLY don’t want to be on her bad side. She has build herself a name around by being able to takedown anything on a 1on1 (except if mind powers are at play ofc), due to this she has become quiet blunt and violent over the years, in part because she likes the feeling of physically dominating other trolls but also because of her lusus aggresivity.

If you try to talk with her about anything besides the last important match in any kind of alternian wrestling show or street fights she will probably just go away without even waiting for you to finish. That is, unless you happen to be a highblood, since she is scared for her life just like any other lowblood (and since she kinda admires their strenght) she is the perfect highblood enthusiastic. If somehow you get her to tell her opinion on highbloods she will tell you how she truly thinks the hemospectrum is completely true and should be obeyed, even if highbloods don’t even know how easy their lifes are compared to the common folk. Maybe due to the last part she isn’t really a big fan of the idea of being friends or having quadrants with a highblood, her teal friend is as far as she will go (obviously this changes once the session actually starts and she meets this incredibly cute tyrant heiress)

She isn’t really the friendly type, more like the quiet serious one, but really does care about the few friends she has, always being ready to help them getting revenge on any asshole that misstreats them.

She doesn’t really like machines, and it seems to be a mutual hatred since most often than not when she interacts with one it ends up meaning that the machine will explode or catch fire at some point. At least she is not afraid to get her hands dirty doing the manual job. 

Interests: exercising, both by fighting but also things like lifting, running, etc… and also regular sports like cueball arena. She really enjoys the happy moments with her lusus which aren’t a common thing. She likes collecting old battlefield relics, thing like an old sword, a famous gun etc etc but due to her lowblood status she barely has the funds to update her collection once in a blue moon, she is friends with a tealblood that sometimes provides some new pieces for her (another one of the trolls on the session) and a rustblood that is a big history buff (another one of the trolls on the session), she has a blackroom crush and the last one.

Title: Knight of Doom

I actually like this because right now you have a character who feels a little socially trapped due to her “fate” in the hemospectrum and could eventually learn to use the new rules in SBURB to turn the whole thing on its head.

Land:

How about Land of Tights and Fights? Specializes in battledrome-style fights with colorful costumes, with the Denizen commentating from deep below the crust.

I couldn’t really find a design justification for her eyes being covered like that ESPECIALLY if she’s a fighter (obligatory “Terezi is blind and an excellent fighter” yes I know I know but Justice Is Blind fighting talent isnt. If you’re super attached to it she could maybe be very lucky when it comes to fights, since that’s an as-yet-unconfirmed oliveblood tendency?)

SO

Horns - based on the new symbol which coincidentally also kinda looks like floppy dog ears

Hair - I used two fan-troll templates for this. I edited the bangs to have a cleft like you see in pit bulls, since those are the most common dog to use in dog fights (hence their reputation as a violent breed :C. If you put anyone in a cage for days without food they would most likely attack the first thing they saw, but this is often ignored).

Eyes - just a real simple fan-troll template

Lips - I wanted to emphasize a dip in both the top and bottom of her lips to call back to her symbol, and I changed her fangs because Kanaya’s fang shape is a little too recognizable, and this one gives her prominent canines.

Outfit - gave the new symbol (which kinda looks doglike and the symmetry is a good echo of her lusus’s two heads) and made the buttons on her shoes teal to indicate her teal…friend? I wasn’t sure if she was actually in a quadrant with the tealblood so that’s easy to change if not.

All in all Diskul is a VERY strongly themed troll! Thank you for sharing her!

-TR

[master-hand-official]

music recs and thoughts on how to “get into” Joy Div, Bowie, Roxy Music, and some history - for @team-ez​ but I figure anyone could benefit! so here ye go

Ok once again bare with me being long winded. And sorry if this doesn’t show up as a read-more on mobile! (I hate that it just like, doesn’t for some reason ._. maybe someone can tell me how to fix it!)

Also, they were asking about the band Japan, but I honestly don’t know anything about their music (yet??) so maybe someone else can help. lol But I sure know a lot about Joy Division! So I’m gonna actually write about them last (and surely make the other recs seem half-assed, which isn’t the case, I’m just obsessed with JD and related.)

Bowie For Starters: For ref, I am still working through bowie. I was told to start by just listening to The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and go from there as an introduction. Idk, that album is a masterpiece it’s true, but in my opinion, it’s a better bet to start off with a CD called “Best of Bowie (2002)”. That has a lot of hits, many you will recognize from the radio. It spans everything up to that point so you can figure out what “era” of bowie you’re drawn to (and there are many eras I am not an expert on!) - in cases like this, reddit might be a better resource for how to proceed after you’ve gotten a taste of what Bowie sounds like.

But anyway, Bowie songs I personally like the most are:

Golden Years

Ashes To Ashes

China Girl

Changes

Space Oddity (This is like, “required listening” and it is on BoB but not Ziggy)

Starman (That’s not on BoB)

_______

ROXY MUSIC: lol I envy someone who’s about to discover Roxy for the first time!!!! Keep in mind I am by no means an expert on them (look to my friend roxy-music-lover-1996 for the real know-how, although tbh kas would probably get bored writing an unnecessary essay like this! lol! plus she has a lot less free time than me.)

They are very glam. Saxaphones+guitar+piano+ Eno synths+Bryan Ferry’s effeminate voice=excellence. Just look up any pictures of them as a group (With Brian Eno still in) and you’ll see what I mean by glam. The music sounds like how they look. Eno (one of my FAVE! solo artists) left after the second LP (i think) but the music was still good into the early 1980s. 

Roxy Music songs to get started on:

Virginia Plain

Do the Strand

She Sells

Out of the Blue (the cover to the album Country Life is NSFW! Be careful! You can find it on “Best Of Roxy Music” too)

More Than This (this was my first Roxy song. so dreamy! so 80s lol)

______

 JOY DIVISION - Get ready!!! Starting with a quick plug, IF you like music biographies and anecdotes, you GOTTA read Peter Hook’s memoirs. He is a very funny writer and you don’t have to like the music to appreciate all the antics he got into with the lads. It will give a much better account of what those punks were like than I can. Anyway, Joy Division was a band that ran from 1978-80 (at first under the name Warsaw. But all their tracks have since been released under Joy Division). They only have two LPs, +one compilation of otherwise unreleased tracks/singles called Substance, and one collector’s disk called Still. You may know their first LP as Unknown Pleasures, aka that shirt with the wavy white lines everyone has.

JD is kind of like the bridge between punk and post-punk. They’re recognizable for their spacey gothic sound, bass-guitar-led melodies, and Ian Curtis’ haunting voice. Their engineer was a total pioneer and made sure to isolate EVERYTHING down to individual drums, so the LPs are famous for that really precise sound. I think for them, since there’s so little content, it’s fine to start with Unknown Pleasures, move on to Closer after that, and listen to bits off of Substance throughout. 

Tracks to look out for/try first because they’re the most popular or exemplify their sound:

Love Will Tear Us Apart (an absolute ANTHEM!!)

Disorder (incredible album opener!)

Transmission (the best JD “dance tune”)

She’s Lost Control (there’s a couple versions of this)

A Means To An End

Shadowplay

Also, you should look up videos of them playing. Unlike most bands of the time, they insisted on playing live even on crappy tv soundstages, plus you need to see Ian Curtis dance. It’s rather spooky but very iconic. Also Hook plays so high on a bass that he wears so low!

After Curtis died in 1980, the band re-formed as New Order and started to focus on trying out new synth technology. And they’ve been around for ages so, I think the “New Order & Friends” recs post will have to be its own whole post someday! lol! 

Thank you for reading!!!! enjoy!!!! I take requests for more music recs lol maybe this is what my blog was really meant for all along!!!

[cearamorran]

Loved your Shiro and Jason Todd piece and just every piece you've done! As someone who wishes to make webcomics and art in the future, do you have any tips for improving drawing styles? (i.e. body position, expressions, that sort of stuff). I always love seeing when you post something new. Keep up the great work!!

Thank you very much!!!! I’m flattered you’d ask me all of this but I don’t think I’m really good at giving advice so sorry if this sucks ahahI think the most important to improve is looking at a lot of stuff. Like if you see a drawing you like? Try to zoom in, see the lines and try to figure out how the artist worked, if that makes any sense ahahahI do that with animations too, I slow down videos to try and see the movements step by step.As soon as there’s something you like, draw it! That artist you love? Try to imitate one of their pieces! but I’m not talking of like just tracing over their lines again: try to see what they were doing when they drew it and understand it.Don’t do that only though, do your own stuff too! I copied so much Naruto stuff when I was younger you have no idea, but I also experienced my own things, mixed styles I liked to keep the things I loved more about each one. Also try to look at things irl too, like look at the way this strand of hair falls in your mom’s face or how this dog’s ears are shaped and how they’re linked to it’s head, how that coat drapes over that chair, stare at your hand in class and see how your fingers bend, look at everything and try to understand how it works. I’m not sure if I’m making sense but the example I use the most is drawing eyes: i started drawing eyes by copying an artist on Deviantart I liked, and she did that thing were she drew eyes like this:

that really cartoonish look you know? just this half circle, and I thought it looked cool and also it was easy to do, unlike these freaking anime eyes with a million things going on in the irises that I drew before that, so i did half circles to draw eyes for a loooong time when i was younger. But they looked kinda weird:

(btw it’s costing me a great amount of ego to show this ahaha)

So they’re weird, first because, well, you’re not good at drawing at 12, except if you have a gift from the gods or something, but also because i didnt take the time to think about why the artist did half a circle in the first place. She did it because she had started with drawing the whole eye and learning how it worked, knew how the lid folded over the eye and how it would look from the side, and then she kept on simplifying it while progressing, and she ended up with half a circle that worked as an eye, because she’d gone through the whole process of drawing it ‘’well’’ in the first place. I just drew half a circle.

So copy stuff, shamelessly imitate that style you like, draw that OC you thought about the other day from scratch, but also take time to look at things in detail and memorize as much as you can!John Howe came to our school and told us to take interest in as much things as possible, so that when the time comes and you have to draw that thing, you’ll know how even without having to look at reference (and I’m not saying using reference is bad, it’s super important too so save every piece of ref you can!)

As for expressions literally almost all my knowledge comes from stupid faces the characters made in mangas ahaha 

I also do faces while drawing sometimes, it’s not voluntary but I guess it helps? make a face in the mirror and try to see what makes that expression recognizable, like the way your teeth show in the corner of your mouth or that scrunch your nose makes. But I’ll probably do some sort of expression chart or something one day cause I got an ask about that a while ago, so look out for that :)

I’m always learning and I still have a long way to go, but it’s important to appreciate little victories and the progress you make, and to keep drawing even when you feel like you’re never getting any better! I hope this helped, even a little, and sorry if I’m babbling and it doesn’t make any sense in the end ahaha

[thesundanceghost]

holding my breath

Jonathan only managed to find Steve when he heard the recognizable muttered Bruce Springsteen song, following it to around the corner of the hallway.  He couldn’t help but smile when his eyes landed on Steve, wearing small shorts and a Hawkins High T-shirt, leaning against the white brick wall with his eyes closed in concentration as he sang.  

“Isn’t ‘Born to Run’ a bit of an ironic warm-up song for a swimmer?” Jonathan asked in lieu of a greeting.

Steve’s eyes flew open, landing immediately on Jonathan.  “Whoa, what... what are you doing here?” He asked, pushing off of the wall in surprise.

Jonathan gave a small shrug.  “Figured you might want some extra support.  Nancy feels terrible about missing.”

Steve furrowed his eyebrows, looking a bit concerned.  “I told her not to worry about it.  You didn’t have to come just because of that.”

Jonathan shrugged again, feeling bad about the way he’d worded it.  “I wanted to come,” he muttered, and Steve gave him a small smile.  He looked around, the constant sound of shouts and whistles distracting him slightly.  “It’s about time I made it to one of your meets anyway.”

That was the honest truth.  He’d been friends with Steve for over a year, and been beyond friends for at least three months of that year, and yet had somehow never made it to a single swim meet.  He had a hard time processing it all-- the whistles, the crowds, the adrenaline coursing through every competitor and spectator.  Not to mention he still just felt uncomfortable about his relationship with Steve in public.  He always felt like they were on display, even when they were just talking.

Luckily Jonathan’s lack of presence didn’t leave Steve all alone.  Nancy made it to most of the meets, and occasionally the rest of the Wheeler clan tagged along for support, and Jonathan knew that those always turned out to be his best meets.

Steve’s parents attended a very select few, and today’s meet seemed to be one of them. Jonathan had almost changed his mind about staying when he’d seen the Harrington’s car in the parking lot, but had persevered after an internal struggle.

“I’m glad you came,” Steve responded after a few second.  He was fidgeting with the swim cap in his hands, and Jonathan recognized the signs of his nerves.

“Did your dad psych you out?” Jonathan asked sympathetically.

Steve exhaled loudly, his head dropping to his chest for a moment.  “It’s my dad,” he said in answer.  “Of course he did.”

Jonathan frowned.  He ground his teeth together momentarily as he felt that familiar irritation that was always paired with thoughts of Mr. Harrington.  “Don’t listen to him.”

Steve shook his head, rubbing at the back of his neck.  “He was just reminding me it was a big meet, that’s all.  I mean, he was right.  If I don’t do well, I won’t qualify for state--”

“Steve,” Jonathan cut in.  “You’re going to do well.  I know you will.”

Steve’s eyes found him, and there was a long moment of eye contact.  Jonathan got the feeling Steve was searching for any hint of a lie in his expression, but Jonathan stayed calm as he stared back.  After a moment, Steve relaxed.

“Thanks,” he mumbled.

“What are you swimming today?” Jonathan asked, slightly bad that he’d forgotten.

“100 IM and 200 Fly,” Steve answered quickly, frowning as he muttered it.  Those words didn’t really mean anything to Jonathan, but he nodded anyway, knowing it wasn’t the time to ask Steve for an explanation.  He looked more stressed than Jonathan was used to, and it made him nervous.

“Hey, you’ll be fine,” Jonathan offered tentatively.  “I’ve seen you swim.  You’re great.”

Steve snorted, giving a small smile, but the levity didn’t reach his eyes.  “You know as much about swimming as I do about photography.”

That was absolutely true, but Jonathan didn’t give up. “I know you’re gonna do amazing.”

“Yeah?” Steve asked.  There was a breathiness in his voice that made Jonathan guess it was meant to sound humorous, but his eyes were genuine and hopeful.

“Yeah,” Jonathan assured him, quirking a smile.  “If anything, you’ve gotta convince me these things are worth going to.”

“Shut up,” Steve said through a laugh, shoving Jonathan’s shoulder lightly.  “You’re an asshole.”

Jonathan chuckled happily.  “Yeah, but so are you.”

The next race was called out over the speakers, and they both turned to listen, pausing in their conversation. Once again, Jonathan found himself in the dark by the words, but Steve seemed to understand.

“I should probably start warming up, my race is coming up,” he explained, already pulling his T-shirt over his head.  Jonathan’s eyes slipped down for a only a second, but Steve was smirking when he met his eyes again, so Jonathan clearly hadn’t been as subtle as he hoped.

“How about a kiss for luck?” Steve asked, raising his eyebrows hopefully.  Jonathan rolled his eyes, feeling a slight blush creep onto his cheeks.  Despite his embarrassment, he glanced around before pressing a small kiss to the corner of Steve’s mouth.

“I’ll give you a real kiss when you qualify for state,” Jonathan promised as he pulled back.

Steve quirked an eyebrow.  “What, that’s my reward?” he drawled sarcastically.

Jonathan blushed, shoving his hands into his pockets.  “Yeah,” he shot back.  “Got a problem with that?”

Steve shook his head, eyes soft and fond as he looked at the shorter boy.  “Nope.  Not at all, Byers.”

He left quickly after that, jogging over to the warm up pool to get ready.  Jonathan made his way to the stands, making sure not to stand close to the Harringtons, although he knew they’d already spotted him.

As he waited for Steve’s race to arrive, Jonathan watched the other swimmers, trying to figure out exactly what was happening around him.  After several minutes of that, however, he felt his eyes drifting and they quickly found Steve, who was lingering by the pool, goggles around his neck and swim cap on.  As he watched Steve swung his arms front and back in a quick stretch while standing in nothing but his frankly nonexistent swimsuit, Jonathan suddenly had a hard time remembering why he hadn’t bothered coming to one of these before.

Before Jonathan knew it, Steve was up.  Suddenly Jonathan began feeling adrenaline build in his chest, his hands slight clammy as he watched his boyfriend pull on his goggles and step up onto the block, shaking his hands out and taking deep breaths.

It was quiet besides the echoes of the water around the room and the voice of the ref.  Then the buzzer sounded, the swimmers dove into the water, and the room fell back into a cacophony of noise and excitement.

Jonathan watched in slight awe as Steve cut through the water, each stroke strong and precise.  He’d seen Steve practice before at the pool, but he’d never looked like this.  He was 100% in his element, secure in his position and his goal.  Jonathan had never cared about sports one bit, but at that moment, he suddenly understood how amazing it must be to care about something like that.  He felt proud to simply know Steve, let alone be part of his life.

Then again, that wasn’t a new feeling for Jonathan.  Not when it came to Steve or Nancy.

Steve flipped once more, heading to the wall for the last time, and the cheers only got more intense.  Jonathan couldn’t keep down his excitement, getting to his feet against his will and cupping his hands around his mouth as he shouted nonsensical encouragement towards the pool.

Honestly, Jonathan didn’t know how it ended, and wasn’t really sure when exactly Steve touched the wall, but it didn’t stop him from cheering wildly.  

Jonathan knew he was grinning widely as Steve pulled off the goggles and swim cap, an exhausted but exhilarated expression on his face. He ducked under the water before shaking his head, his hair sending water flying and falling into his eyes, but he seemed too happy to care.  He turned to the other swimmers who had all finished the race by that point, saying a few things and giving a laugh as he treaded water before finally pushing himself out of the pool.

Steve’s eyes met Jonathan’s a few seconds after he’d gotten back onto solid land, and they shared a large grin. Jonathan still didn’t know if Steve had qualified for state or not, but he knew he’d get that kiss either way.

[wristwatchjournal]

Face-to-Face – Rolex Submariner 116610LN vs Omega Seamaster Diver 300m

In the world of diver’s watches, there are two major ones, two that are well known to you and even to many people who are absolutely not into watches. Sure, there are quite a few iconic dive watches, impressive dive watches, but in reality, taking sales numbers into account, the two best-known and most recognizable dive watches are the Rolex Submariner and the Omega Seamaster. We’re going to have a face-off with the Rolex Submariner 116610LN and the Bond watch, the blue version of the Omega Seamaster Diver 300m that was introduced in 2018. 

A bit of history

The blueprint for the dive watch as we know it today is often credited to Blancpain and its Fifty Fathoms. The story goes that a commander of the French Special Forces Combat Swimmers, named Robert Maloubier, got the task to design a purpose-built dive watch that could withstand a depth of at least 50 fathoms, which equals approx. 91 meters. The Lip-Blancpain Fifty Fathoms was introduced in 1953.

Sure, Blancpain beat Rolex in introducing the Fifty Fathoms first (1953), but both brands had been working on a dive watch with a black dial, luminous markers, serious water-resistance, a screw-down crown and a rotating bezel, pretty much at the same time. According to Rolex, the Submariner went into production in 1953, however, it was officially shown to the public and press during Baselworld 1954. The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms went on sale in 1954… so to me, it is impossible to credit only one of these two brands.

Rolex Oyster – vintage ad

Omega Marine – vintage ad

A few decades earlier, Rolex was the first to come to market, already in 1926, with a waterproof watch, featuring their Oyster case. In 1932 Omega introduced their first waterproof watch named Marine, which featured a rectangular case in which the watch slid in. And a few years later, Panerai created the first Radiomir for the Italian Navy. But none of these resembles the dive watch as we know it today, which can really be credited to Lip-Blancpain and Rolex. These two companies laid the foundations for dive watches, as it is captured in the ISO 6425 standard for diving watches.

A Dive Watch: is a watch designed for underwater diving that features, as a minimum, a water resistance greater than 1.0 MPa (10 atm), the equivalent of 100 m (330 ft). The typical diver’s watch will have a water resistance of around 200 to 300 m (660 to 980 ft), though modern technology allows the creation of diving watches that can go much deeper. A true contemporary diver’s watch is in accordance with the ISO 6425 standard, which defines test standards and features for watches suitable for diving with underwater breathing apparatus in depths of 100 m (330 ft) or more. Watches conforming to ISO 6425 are marked with the word DIVER’S to distinguish ISO 6425 conformant diving watches from watches that might not be suitable for actual scuba diving. These are the requirements:

Equipped with a diving time indicator (e.g. rotating bezel) – allows for reading of the diving time with a resolution of 1 min or better over at least 60 min

Clearly distinguishable minute markings on the watch face

Adequate readability/visibility at 25 cm (9.8 in) in total darkness

The presence of an indication that the watch is running in total darkness (running second hand with a luminous tip or tail)

Magnetic resistance

Shock resistance

Chemical resistance (test water solution has a salinity comparable to normal seawater)

Strap/band solidity

source Wikipedia

I think it is incredibly impressive that the Rolex Submariner has remained almost unchanged for the past decades. Sure, it evolved – and it evolved seriously. It’s like an old Porsche 911 can be recognized as the ancestor of the current 992, the latest Porsche 911, in the same vein the first Submariner ref. 6204 can be easily recognized as the ancestor of today’s Submariner ref. 116610LN.

While the Submariner has stayed impressively close to its forefather from 1953, the Seamaster has seen many variations and even today it’s available in a plethora of choices. The versions we’re gonna put side by side, or head to head, are the latest Submariner Date with ceramic bezel ref. 116610LN and the latest Seamaster Diver 300m with blue ceramic dial and bezel (ref. 210.30.42.20.03.001).

But let’s first take a quick look at how they evolved…

The Submariner was introduced in 1953 and today there are basically two variations, one with date and one without date. There are some variations on the standard steel Submariner, but Rolex kept the well-known dive watch as a dive watch. No additional functions have been added and the variations are only in the used material; there are versions in white gold, yellow gold, pink gold and a mix of steel and gold. That’s it. This means that the Submariner is probably the most recognizable watch in history and the most iconic watch ever created.

Over time, the movement has been upgraded several times, the depth rating went from 200m to 300m, the crystal went from Plexiglas to sapphire, luminescent material was also upgraded and the case and bezel too. Consider this the Porsche 911 of the world of watches. It grew a bit, got infused with a lot more technicalities, but the Submariner still looks like a Submariner.

Rolex Submariner ref. 6200 and ref. 6205 – photo courtesy Rolex Passion Report

In 1971 Rolex introduced a dive watch that was based on the Submariner, with a higher depth-rate and a helium escape valve. A more robust and more professional diver’s tool that goes by the name Sea-Dweller. This one could, sort of, be regarded as a third variation in the Submariner line.

The Seamaster has a much more diverse history. Initially launched in 1948, it did not feature a ‘significant’ depth rate, nor a bezel for divers to keep track of their ‘down-time’, nor a screw-down crown. Two years ago, we recorded an in-depth video on the Seamaster and in this video, Omega’s museum director explains how the 1948 Seamaster evolved to the various current collections in Omega’s line-up.

One of these collections that sprouted from the original 1948 Seamaster (which was heavily inspired by the timepieces made for the British military) is the current Seamaster Diver 300m collection. Upon its introduction in 1995, it was actually called the Seamaster Professional and soon after collectors nicknamed it SMP (Seamaster Professional.)

Omega Seamaster Diver 300M and the first generation Seamaster Professional (SMP)

Other Omega Seamaster collections that sprouted from this 1948 Seamasters are the Aqua Terra collection, the Planet Ocean 600m, Seamaster 300 and even the DeVille collection. Similar to Rolex, Omega also introduced a heavy tool watch that comes in the shape of the Ploprof 1200m. In 1995, the first Seamaster Professional, the ‘ancestor’ of the watch we’re looking at today, was introduced, with a quartz movement, and it appeared in the Bond movie GoldenEye (this was reference 2541.80.00). A year later the automatic model was introduced and later many more variations, including a chronograph and a GMT.

OMEGA Seamaster Diver 300M vs ROLEX Submariner Date

Now, let’s have a look at the case, bracelet, dial, hands, and movement specifications of both watches. How do they compare? The watches in question are the Rolex Submariner Date (ref. 116610LN) and the Omega Seamaster Diver 300M (ref. 210.30.42.20.03.001). In order to compare apples with apples, we will keep a strong focus on specifications.

For starters, we’ll focus on the case and the bracelet. As said, first the specs and then the opinion and ’emotions’.

SIZE/PROPORTIONS – So the differences are there, but there are not that many differences and most of these will be subject to subjectiveness. While the Submariner measures 40mm in diameter, the Seamaster is 2mm larger and measures 42mm in diameter. Also in height, the Sub is slightly more compact, measuring 13mm and the Seamaster is 1mm thicker at 14mm. To some, these differences might be insuperable, but on my wrist, I really hardly felt any difference in size. Both are not too big, not too small, rather pleasantly sized dive watches. So to me, that additional 2mm is not felt, although the approx. 20 grams of extra weight that the Seamaster packs is felt. Nothing bad, but the Seamaster has just a tad more ‘heft’ on the wrist.

MAXI DIAL AND FAT LUGS – One thing that Rolex changed when the introduced this particular generation of Submariners, is that the lugs became thicker, the shape of the crown guard changed, and hour markers and hands became bigger, the latter is often referred to as maxi dial. Personally I’m no fan of the maxi dial and of the thicker lugs that make the Submariner’s case look more squarish. That being said, it is simply the version that we’re looking at today, so this will be added in the final equation.

SIMILARITIES – Both watches have a depth rating of 300 meters and although I do not know how Rolex tests their watches, however from Omega I know that they designed the watch to withstand an extra 10% of water resistance because of their METAS certification. This could explain the additional 1mm in height. But one way or another, both will perform perfectly when put to the test.

Screw-down crown on both, unidirectional bezel on both, however with a major difference, which is the case back! I don’t know about you, but I love to see the movement. We all know that Omega’s movements with the co-axial escapement, the anti-magnetic properties and the rather pretty finishing are absolutely superb. To be able to have a view on it is, to me at least, a big plus! And you don’t have that with the 116610LN.

BRACELET – steel bracelet, steel safety clasp with diver’s extension and fine-adjustment, are all-around. Design is different and yes, the fine-adjustment and safety lock on the clasp works differently, but preferences will boil down to personal taste. The fine adjustment on the Seamaster works easier, as you can simply press a button and slide the bracelet’s end to the desired position. Are there drawbacks? Yes, the diver’s extension can come loose and you have to put that back in place again. For the Submariner it’s a tiny bit more work to fine adjust the bracelet’s length, but the diver’s extension doesn’t come loose.

Rolex safety clasp (in stickers)

Rolex – fine adjustment

Omega safety clasp

Omega diver’s extension

Omega – fine adjustment

HELIUM? – The Seamaster features a helium escape valve, while the Submariner doesn’t. Is it a necessary feature on a dive watch like these two? No, I don’t think so. Especially when you consider that 99% of these watches will probably only see some desk-diving action and never submerge to the depth they are designed to withstand. Visually though, I think the helium escape valve beautifully balances the Seamaster’s design. And funny enough, on the Submariner, I don’t miss it and I think it looks good without an extra ‘crown’. On a purely functional side, I think the helium escape valve for these dive watches (not in general, but specifically for these) is superfluous.

SAPPHIRE CRYSTAL – The crystal on the Omega Seamaster is slightly domed and has been treated, on both sides, with anti-reflective coating. The crystal on the Submariner is flat, without anti-reflective coating and equipped with a ‘date magnifyer’. Personally I prefer the use of an anti-reflective coating on the crystal, although admittedly, with a flat crystal the need for this is less pressing. However that ‘pimple’ on the crystal… that’s a highly subjective topic and some will love it while others feel less charmed by this very recognizable Rolex feature.

CONCLUSION – The main thing to stand out in this part of the comparison is the see-through case-back of the Seamaster. Otherwise, built quality is equally impressive on both models and technical features are almost identical.

Dial and hands – Seamaster vs Submariner

Let’s move on to the dial and hands…

The Submariner that we looked at is the ‘normal’ steel version with its recognizable black dial. There more variations, like a steel Sub with green dial and bezel, a steel and gold version with blue or black dial, a full yellow gold version (black or blue dial and bezel) and a white gold version with blue dial and bezel.

The Seamaster we chose is the version with the blue dial and bezel, a.k.a. the Bond watch. Although James Bond has worn quite a few different Seamaster models, especially since Daniel Craig plays 007, the version that appeared in the Bond movie GoldenEye is to me THE Bond watch (and yes, I know that Bond also wore Rolex, Seiko, Breitling and many more, but still…) The Seamasters that sprouted from the Seamaster Professional as introduced in GoldenEye comes in many different colours (steel, gold, steel and gold) and with more colour variations for dials and bezels than Rolex. Additionally, there’s also a choice of complications, like chronograph and GMT’s.

Whether the dial is blue or black is a matter of personal preference, however, I must add that the fact that Omega’s dial made of ceramic adds a lot to the experience of wearing the Seamaster. The colours go from deep navy blue to dark grey with a hint of blue, to bright blue and the wave pattern is always present, no matter what the angle is. It looks pretty stunning and it brings so much more than any simple plain dial.

The black dial of the Submariner looks good, but the fact of the matter is, it’s a simple black lacquered dial. That’s it. On the other hand, the brand’s logo, the hands and markers, with the ceramic black bezel around, are so iconic that this simply adds a lot to the experience too, and despite its ‘simple’ execution it really looks good.

Whether the hour markers on the Submariner are in white gold, while the ones on the Seamaster are rhodium-plated doesn’t add much or anything actually, at least not to me. Same goes for the luminescent material used in the indices (hour markers) and hands. Chromalight or Super-Luminova, in real life, both perform very well.

CONCLUSION – To me, this section of the comparison ends in a draw.

Movement – Omega calibre 8800 vs Rolex calibre 3135

So let’s have a look at what’s under the hood, the engines of these iconic timepieces. Both brands have come a long way in terms of precision and chronometry. Both have spent a lot of money, time and effort on improving their movements and the results are impressive. In fact, both can be regarded as best in class and productions numbers are roughly comparable. So let’s see how they compare based on the specs…

CO-AXIAL ESCAPEMENT – Not necessarily to set the tone for this part of the comparison, but this has to be addressed. What Omega achieved with the co-axial escapement is unparalleled and second to none! After more than two centuries of Swiss lever escapement hegemony, Omega managed to industrialize an entirely new escapement and that’s absolutely brilliant. The idea came from non-other than George Daniels, a British watchmaker, and in this Technical Perspective, we explain the nitty-gritty.

SPECS – Both the Omega calibre 8800 and the Rolex calibre 3135 are in-house developed and manufactured movements, both are automatically wound, both feature a date indication, both wind bi-directional, both feature hack or stop seconds, and both are Chronometer-certified by COSC. So far, everything seems pretty comparable and even both feature a free-sprung balance.

But then come the differences… 55 hours of autonomy when fully wound for the Omega, while the Rolex stops after 48 hours. No major difference, but the 55 hours just gives you a bit more of ‘freedom’ to leave the watch for more than two days at your nightstand before wearing it again (without having to set and wind it.)

Si14 VERSUS PARACHROM – Omega opted for Si14, their own type of silicon, for the balance and balance spring. Rolex chose for an a-magnetic alloy named Parachrom, so no silicon balance spring. That’s a deliberate choice as Parachrom is a metal alloy and can be repaired and altered like metal. This is not possible with a silicon balance spring, as this material is extremely fragile and whenever something goes wrong with the Si14 balance spring, it has to be replaced by a new Si14 balance spring. That means service parts must be available. As for the balance, Omega also chooses for Si14, but when I asked Rolex, they didn’t comment on the material used for the balance (hence the question mark.)

MASTER CHRONOMETER – Besides the Si14 balance and balance spring, Omega has invested a lot in developing new metal alloys for many other parts in the movement that, when subjected to magnetism, will influence the watch’ precision drastically. Here Omega outshines Rolex, as they guarantee their Master Chronometer watches (the process is fully explained in this video) to withstand magnetic fields of no less than 15,000 Gauss, while Rolex stays in line with the rest of the industry (and old industry standards) of 1,000 Gauss. With the omnipresence of magnets, whether in bags or chargers for cell phones, this resistance to magnetism is very useful. Moreover, the Master Chronometer tests are performed in-house at the Omega facilities and the Federal Institute of Metrology controls the testing on a daily basis.

DEVIATION – Precision is measured in a deviation between 0 and +5 for Omega and between -2 to +2 for Rolex. The difference is more a matter of choice than anything else and both are extremely precise. Same goes for the warranty both brands offer to their customers: 5 years.

CONCLUSION – Tough call, but to me, the a-magnetic properties of the Omega Seamaster, with their METAS-controlled Master Chronometer certification, the extra 7 hours of power reserve and the impressive feat of having a new escapement, the co-axial escapement, bring the Omega ahead.

Conclusion

After comparing apples with apples, it’s time to add the emotions, the opinion, the feelings and… well, we all know that it’s not only the rational part of the mind that makes decisions. And we’ll add the retail price to the mix!

ICONIC – No matter how you look at this, the Rolex Submariner is more iconic! This is certainly an achievement by Rolex, as they have grown/created/nurtured one of the most recognizable watches in the World. Whether you’re in the Sahara desert, in Vietnam, in the jungle of South America, or any place in Europe, USA, Japan, Hong Kong or wherever, there’s a good chance that someone will recognize a Rolex Submariner on your wrist.

This will be less so with the Omega Seamaster, although Omega has gained a lot in ‘recognizability’ when they teamed up with James Bond. Especially the blue dial Seamaster Diver 300m is easily recognized by collectors. However, how the level of iconic-ness remains or increases depends on how consistent Omega will be treating the Bond watch in the coming decade.

Whether this is positive or negative is highly personal. Some prefer to be able to show off what they are wearing, some prefer to fly under the radar. I guess it also depends on where you are, as in some places you do not want to be spotted with a Rolex on your wrist, without having a bodyguard next to you.

THE WATCH ITSELF – When we compare apples with apples, I have to say that Omega wins. Their Seamaster simply packs more of what I like. The METAS certificate, the see-through case back and the pretty spectacular-looking ceramic dial all contribute to its victory. For me, the Submariner’s maxi dial and thick lugs sort of ruin its looks and in that perspective I preferred the more elegant looks of the older ref. 16610, or if Rolex comes with a new Submariner along the lines of what we ‘predicted’ (read: wished) for Baselworld 2020.

PRICE – And then comes the retail price… Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to purchase the Submariner new from the Rolex boutique. Whether it is the strong demand or the ‘controlled’ delivery, either by Rolex themselves or their retail partners, the fact is that you will not be able to buy a Submariner if you walk into a Rolex boutique today. Don’t get me wrong, you can easily buy a brand new Submariner now, but only from grey market sources, only for a premium to be paid atop the retail price and to me that ruins the experience (and hurts extra in the wallet.)

Buying a brand new Omega Seamaster at your local Omega dealer is not so difficult. When buying one, you will get it with a METAS certificate and if you check the Omega website with the number of your watch, you can see how it performed during the tests in the METAS laboratory before it was ready for delivery. I love this, it’s such a nice additional value, an extra user experience.

Now behold… the Rolex Submariner 116610LN retails for EUR 7,800 and the Omega Seamaster Diver 300m retails for EUR 4,900. That is, if you’re able to buy the Submariner at retail price. But suppose you can, the difference in price is impressive; the Sub comes at a more than 60% higher price.

CONCLUSION – The Omega Seamaster Diver 300m offers more value for money, hands down. I love its looks, its technicalities, its Bond ‘charm’ and that it remains a bit fly-under-the-radar. But I love the Submariner for its heritage, history and the legacy of being one of the dive watches that has set the benchmark for how dive watches look today. Technically both watches are pretty equal.

The Bond-charm versus the icon that is the Submariner is mainly a matter of personal taste. Price-wise… well, it’s hard to ignore that the Submariner costs more than 60% more than the Seamaster. To each his own, both are absolutely best in class dive watches, manufactured by best in class brands, with a global retail network and possibility to have it serviced (pretty much) everywhere.

The post Face-to-Face – Rolex Submariner 116610LN vs Omega Seamaster Diver 300m appeared first on Wristwatch Journal.

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