#cherri.speaks

[cherrifire]

I was watching Martyn's stream today, and out of curiosity- why can't he look at ddvau yet? I know doody and maruu requested that we don't share it with ccs explicitly but I'm wondering why you say "not yet"?

(For context: someone suggested Martyn read a hero au fic on stream. I wasn't looking at my screen and just heard Martyn say "vigilant", panicked thinking someone suggested he look at Doody and Maruu's Desert Duo Vigilante AU (DDVAU for short) and started shouting "NO HE CANT SEE THAT YET" by mistake.)

Doody and Maruu have told me before that Martyn is one of the ONLY ccs they'd CONSIDER being okay with seeing the comic once his character has been introduced. But until then you CAN'T SHARE IT WITH HIM because those are Doody and Maruu's wishes. I just want it to be respected. So that's why I panicked.

[cherrifire]

Okay, so quick post about boundaries I wanted to make because I get asked about it a lot. Now, I mean this with love since I know you all care for me when you ask, but...

Please stop asking me for my boundaries.

I'm not going to answer asks questioning me about what upsets me/makes me uncomfortable. Genuinely, I love that you all care so much about me, but I don't want a list of things that upset me to be up on the internet for everyone to see.

I'm pretty much okay with letting you guys do whatever you want with my art (WITH CREDIT), my sona, and any other ocs I have/make in the future. I love everything you guys create so I don't want to be policing the community to fit a standard and I'd rather just let you guys go crazy with it. If I think something is crossing a line, I'll be just fine ignoring it and moving on. And if my opinion changes, I'll let you guys know.

[cherrifire]

New layout and branding! I have unlocked my cherry blossom shiny variant :)

Shoutouts to @localwheel for the amazing profile pic!

[cherrifire]

I think my favourite part about the 30-minute demon roleplay session between Ren and Martyn today was that for the first half, Ren didn't even know Martyn was streaming. So he was just acting like that for fun and whimsy.

[cherrifire]

I was told that Rendog would be subbing for Tango and the first thing I could think of was "Cherri is gonna have a field day with this"

MARTYN WOULDN'T LET ME DRAW RENDOG FOR THE THUMBNAIL

I SENT HIM A SKETCH AND HE DIDN'T EVEN CONSIDER IT! CRUEL AND UNUSUAL HOW COULD HE DO THIS TO ME!!!

[cherrifire]

Is mumbo the channeling

Reasonings:

He had the entire s8 arc

He has the vibes of a very bad liar that no one found somehow

He would want to pick a cutie mark and then look at a loose wire and go. Perfect.

No, Mumbo is not the changeling, but in a way, you were close. May I present to you, Mumbo Jumbo's true identity:

[cherrifire]

Why is martyn a catboy? Sgddgjgkkkjg

He called himself a pathetic wet cat multiple times on Tumblr, Twitter, and Twitch so I looked at the thumbnail and said "okay. Catboy beam."

[cherrifire]

What do you mean received LOL?

[cherrifire]

DID YOU DO A FUCKING GRIAN THUMBNAIL??? HELLO??????? THAT'S SICK??????????

maybe

[cherrifire]

WHAT DOES SHE KNOWWWWWWWWWWW

I know that following the events of the attack on Dogwarts, Ren began to spiral into a deep desire to protect those within his walls. To protect his friends. He couldn't just stand by and let Scar and Grian destroy everything he's been working for. Couldn't have them take Martyn and the rest of his people away.

So he had to take a stand. He had to ask his Hand... no... his best friend to do a terrible terrible deed. Something so drastic and so cruel their relationship may never be the same. But it had to be done. He had to take this risk. He needed Martyn to raise his axe high into the night sky and behead his beloved king.

And with three painful strikes to the neck, it was done. The ritual was complete and RED WINTER HAD FINALLY BEGU— //I am forcefully dragged off stage

[cherrifire]

I love when things just. Happen. In the Life series. And I specifically mean coincidences.

Obviously you have your "Jimmy is always out first" and your "Grian always kills the person he cares for most in a given season." But even just the last episode.

Like you're telling me Scott put on a gold helmet, which looks like a crown with the texture pack, and was caught wearing it by Martyn— Hand of the King in a previous season— immediately after exiting the nether?

Or how the highest kill count for a single trap has been 3 since 3rd Life, set by Grian for an illegal tnt trap, was just met again by Scar with an illegal tnt trap.

Or how the episode Grian (Watcher alligation) goes AFK, he hands the responsibility of giving people time to Martyn (Listener alligation), and the session ends up being the one filled with a ton of illegal kills and chaos? Like Martyn was not meant to be in charge of the game.

Facts like these are so special to me. You understand.

[cherrifire]

Does AstralSpiff really pay you double for thumbnail art?

Yes.

I say "Here's the invoice :D" and he goes "Okay :)" Then I wake up with a 100% tip. Without a doubt, he's one of the best commissioners I have.

[cherrifire]

Hi :D Logic behind the latest batch of cutie marks? if you feel like sharing :)

Hello everypony ^-^ It is cuie mark info dump again ^-^

Before we start, reminder that Grian + Tango do not have cutie marks because they are a hippogriff and a Kirin respectively. Non-pony creatures do not have cutie marks :)

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's get started!

Mumbo's Cutie Mark

I'm the proudest of this one because it'd simple but affective.

Mumbo's cutie mark is a tangled-up red wire which has been cut at the ends to expose the conductors. The wire is also particularly made to create an 'M' shape.

Similar to Impulse's cutie mark, Mumbo's is related to electricity for his investment in redstone. Electricity being the closest thing to it. That said, I gave Mumbo a wire because it is the baseline of all electricity. It connects everything together. From the power source and into whatever little machine or contraption you've built, wires are needed to keep it all powered! So I thought using it as a cutie mark would work really well for Mumbo. Sometimes he can just bring people together just like a wire does for electricity.

(And the little knot in the wire is just a little something to indicate Mumbo may be a bit of a mess)

Additionally, with the wire being in the shape of an 'M' it could stand for Mumbo while also being in the shape of a mustache too :)

Scar's Cutie Mark

Capitalism baby! Scar's cutie mark is of a red top hat next to a bag of bits (the currency in my little pony is called bits and are essentially gold coins).

At heart, Scar is a swindler. He's full of joy and whimsy sure, but he has a real talent for selling little trinkets to anypony who takes a look at his store front. In my head, Scar is essentially the flim and flam of this AU. He's a wandering salespony who shows up from time to time with things to sell from all across Equestria! That's where the little bag can be interpreted as a bag of coins, or a bag full of mystery items he's collected over the years.

Also, the top hat is there to represent Scar's salespony flair.

Joel's Cutie Mark

Joel's cutie mark is of a greek stone pillar and a chisel.

There are a couple of meanings to this one. The first one is pretty obvious, Joel loves to build! He's a fantastic builder with an eye for design. So I chose a greek pillar to represent one of my favourite builds of his, Stratos! But of course, a simple pillar can be used for lots of things and that's where the second meaning comes in. To hold things up! Joel holds himself up to on pretty high pedestal. He's very full of himself and I honestly can't blame him. Joel is great! So of course I had to represent his ego in his cutie mark somehow.

Jimmy's Cutie Mark

Jimmy's cutie mark is of a little canary bird. Another cutie mark with two meanings behind it!

First, is the obvious one. The canary in the coal mine. Misfortune will fall upon the canary to indicate to others that the journey may be too dangerous to continue. A bad luck charm if you will or a bad omen. And that's the surface meaning of his cutie mark that everypony knows it for. Jimmy is the poor clumsy pony in town who always seems to hurt himself before things go wrong.

However, there is a second meaning. Canary birds are also supposed to happiness and harmony. This is the main core of the cutie mark which gets over looked. Despite the bad implications of his cutie mark, it does not stop Jimmy from spreading joy wherever he goes. He's kind and joyous, keeping a positive attitude no matter what.

(I of course have a Ranchers plot point where Tango says this to Jimmy to cheer him up about his cutie mark one day. Tango, who has never had a cutie mark and does not understand their importance, says he doesn't see Jimmy as bad luck, but instead feels joy when Jimmy smiles no matter the situation. But that's a story for another day 🤭)

[cherrifire]

Please share your thoughts on the other 5 cutie marks, I'd love to hear!

Hi everypony! I got like 20 asks for the Dogwarts cutie mark lore so I'm here to speak my truth!

Before we start, I would like to write a quick reminder that a pony's cutie mark is not always their "special talent", but can also represent who they are, their personalities, and a possible destiny. Different cutie marks have different meanings and interpretations, but they're not just about representing what you're good at.

That being said, let's start with the cutie mark design I'm proudest of!

Ren's Cutie Mark

Ren's cutie mark is of a sunrise and looks pretty simple at first glance but there was a lot of thought that went into this one.

First of all, I bet you're wondering why a sunrise? Well, in the show, it is pretty typical for unicorns with great magical abilities to have one relating to space (examples being Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, and Sunburst). And I figured since I wanted Ren to fall into a similar position of potentially becoming an alicorn, I gave him a cutie mark following the same trend. And I chose a sunrise to reflect the way Ren seems to glow when he enters a room. The way he carries himself is very warm and bright it just catches your eye in a similar way the sun would.

Also, Ren wears sunglasses. So a sun-themed cutie mark seemed appropriate.

Additionally, there are a couple of smaller details I want to point out too. Like the sun rays, if you look at them for a moment you'll see they're shaped like little crowns! I of course had to put a crown in thanks to how much Ren likes to play royalty, so I snuck it in there. And then the red spots underneath could both be interpreted as the sun reflected over water or blood. (But of course, this is a kid show AU so there wouldn't be any blood in Ren's destiny, just a fun reference to the red king and his whole thing about blood dyeing the snow red)

Martyn's Cutie Mark

I explained this one in an earlier ask but I thought I'd explain it again here for anyone who didn't see it!

Martyn's cutie mark is of a chopped log and a small stick.

This one is mostly a play on the name "Littlewood" but has other meanings too. As a character, Martyn tends to travel and explore quite a bit. In the Life Series specifically, he is usually the last one to find a permanent base and even then doesn't spend a lot of time in one place. Always on the move. Additionally, he's more of a wild card compared to other characters, always trying to be as unpredictable as possible.

The smaller detail here is the little swirl on top of the log is the same as the one on his Minecraft skin's shirt.

BigB's Cutie Mark

Cookies! Cookies! Cookies! BigB's cutie mark is of 3 cookies where one is trying to eat the others. There are also a few sprinkles there made to look like action lines.

We all know BigB loves cookies so of course I had to give him a cutie mark with cookies in it. For this one, I decided to follow the cutie mark trend of "symbol/item important to the pony duplicated 3 times" (examples being Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie) but I added a bit more creativity to it with the top on trying to eat the others to represent just how tasty they are 😋

Additionally, rather than the first cookie trying to eat the others, you could interpret it as opening its mouth to talk. Because BigB can not keep a secret to save his life! In Double Life when he started "secret soulmates" with Grian, he didn't last a day without opening his mouth. He told Ren about it immediately because he felt bad for keeping things from him.

Also worth quickly mentioning: People pointed out in my original post that they don't think BigB would be the element of honesty because of his behaviour in Secret Life. But that's just Secret Life. I think Secret Life to BigB was like that episode of My Little Pony where Discord makes the main 6 act the opposite of their true element. BigB was just going through a weird phase of telling very obvious lies because a book told him to.

Skizz's Cutie Mark

Skizz's cutie mark is of a lightning bolt from a couple storm clouds hitting the ground.

I think this is the cutie mark with the least thought put into it, unfortunately. There was still though just not as much as the others. The big thing I thought was fun was I made the lightning bolt shaped like an "S" to stand for Skizzleman. But other than that, this cutie mark sort of has the same meaning as Rainbow Dash's cutie mark. Quick like lightning, loud, bold, dangerous, and powerful.

Impulse's Cutie Mark

Impulse's cutie mark is of a lit-up lightbulb.

I absolutely crowded this cutie mark with the letter i. If you look closely, there are 6 of them. Impulse's design also has an i-shaped pattern on the belly if you look closely enough. But that's more of a fun easter egg and doesn't exactly reflect Impulse as a character.

There are a couple of reasons I chose a lightbulb for Impulse, the first and probably most obvious is that he's a redstone guy! He's a technical guy who likes to work smarter, not harder. So I figured the My Little Pony equivalent would be a light bulb/electricity. The second reason for the lightbulb is that it's usually used as a visual representation when characters have that "eureka!" moment in cartoons. When someone has a brilliant idea a little lightbulb turns on above their head. So since Impulse is the ideas guy, I figured a lightbulb would work for his cutie mark.

Etho's Cutie Mark

Etho's cutie mark is of a snowflake with a missing branch.

I promise there is more to this cutie mark than just "Canada is cold" even if that's part of the reason I wanted to give him a winter-themed cutie mark. While it is fun to make a nod to Etho being Canadian, I thought a winter-themed cutie mark would be fun to represent how he sometimes presents himself. Cold and a bit mysterious. I think deep down once you get to know him, those attributes melt away, but for people who have never met him, he may be intimidating that way.

I'll be honest, I don't watch a lot of Etho content, but I do have a few friends who identify as Etho girlies so I did my research. I was told in his Minecraft Let's Play World, that he has a snowflake build somewhere. I believe they said it was an iron golem farm? (Please correct me if I'm wrong) but I thought that was perfect for the cutie mark. And if you're wondering why there's a branch missing, it's because one of my friends said he was incapable of finishing builds sometimes so I thought that would be fun to include.

-=+=-

Alright. Rant over. To celebrate, here are a few pony doodles so I can put this post in my art tag.

[cherrifire]

how much on average does a commission for a thumbnail make?

I've recently been offered my first thumbnail comm but it feels way too low

My base price is $60 USD per thumbnail, but that's just the base. What I actually charge depends on the client. I try to be flexible with thumbnails since it's my only commission type with recurring clients. (I'm more strict with typical illustration commissions)

If someone plans to commission me for all their videos/a whole series, I will open a discussion about the price. In some cases that means raising the price, and in others that means lowering it. As an example, Martyn and I decide the price based on series popularity. His life series thumbnails generally cost more than his other thumbnails.

Also, be sure to know your limits and when to charge a rush fee. Don't let creators stress you out with a short deadline and no extra pay to compensate.

[cherrifire]

Hello cherrifire, leading authority on the crane wives, how are you doing this fine day o7

I'm doing fantastic thanks :)