#doing my best though

[pookasluagh]

I've started something new!

Ch 1 — Bad Omens: In which Zira wildly misinterprets an overture, Crowley makes an arse of himself, and the two board a transatlantic cruise as enemies. (And also as anonymous online partners, though they don’t know this yet, of course.)

Fic: Human AU, fluff-and-smut, enemies-to-lovers, E rated.

Excerpt under the cut:

His face closed up into an expression that he knew people considered supercilious, though in reality, it was the only way he could prevent himself from spilling something mortifying, like a whimper. Or tears. The stranger’s smile faltered slightly, and it gave Zira the strength to speak.

“If you’re looking to queue-jump, I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong person.”

“I—no—um—”

It felt good to fight back. Zira could feel the indignation burning inside him now. He was fifty-five, not twenty-five; long past the age when he let straight men take advantage of him simply by flashing an inviting grin. How dare he! “The back of the line is that way,” he said, pointing.

The man’s forehead was scrunched up, his smile completely gone now, but with the glasses hiding his eyes, Zira couldn’t read the expression. After a moment, he gave a sarcastic salute and the hint of a bow as he said, “Right. Okay. Message received. Have a good trip.”

[nicelytenseandalarmed]

I’ve been seeing an uptick in posts about “the algorithm” and likes vs. reblogging. I have never really considered that kind of thing before... on Twitter, I have an audience of ONE, so it’s not really something that I’ve ever considered in application to myself. I do try to boost things I feel strongly about, but the culture here on Tumblr is so different that I’m now wondering if I’ve been Doing It Wrong?

I don’t reblog a lot. I maybe reblog one out of every five or six posts that amuse me. It’s a conscious decision, for the most part, because I honestly, really don’t want to annoy people. In all things in life, my primary concern is USUALLY to be as unobtrusive and unseen as possible. There’s a lot I could probably say about being the middle child of an alcoholic, but basically my whole life has been about being as invisible as possible. Being too loud, too needy, too much has always been Very Bad and I do my level best not to be Bad. 

A post I saw recently explained that reblogging may be more necessary than I understood? That a lack of it was harming the site and reducing its usability and, more importantly, its enjoyability for those people who are out there creating beautiful, wonderful things and posting them to share. The underlying gist of the post (I wish I’d saved it somehow, but again... I’ve been Doing It Wrong) was, “Reblog it! Reblog it all!” It sounds like such and easy thing to do, but it’s so hard for me to believe.

What if I reblog too many things? What if I reblog too many things from one person? What if everything I reblog is just weird, niche stuff that the larger world doesn’t care about? Yeah, I know... there’s a part of me that knows I shouldn’t care, but I just really... don’t... want to bother people? And I’m so uncertain of the actual cultural “rules” of this place, despite having lurked here for some time.

Hell, I still can’t accurately gauge whether it’s a “I can reblog this with commentary” situation, a “reblog with a hashtag” situation, or a “just shut up and reblog” situation. 

I am not a person, I am a dozen undiagnosed anxiety disorders held together entirely with good intentions and baling wire. 

Anyway, I guess I’ll be reblogging more stuff. I’m going to try. 

[hinamie]

obligatory water tribe alt outfits so i am not held liable if they freeze

jjk atla!au with @philosophiums

[tubbytarchia]

got an urge to design ponies oops

[ruporas]

🎆 (id in alt)

[bixels]

I think 90% of my gripes with how modern anime looks comes down to flat color design/palettes.

Non-cohesive, washed-out color palettes can destroy lineart quality. I see this all the time when comparing an anime's lineart/layout to its colored/post-processed final product and it's heartbreaking. Compare this pre-color vs. final frame from Dungeon Meshi's OP.

So much sharpness and detail and weight gets washed out and flattened by 'meh' color design. I LOVE the flow and thickness and shadows in the fabrics on the left. The white against pastel really brings it out. Check out all the detail in their hair, the highlights in Rin's, the different hues to denote hair color, the blue tint in the clothes' shadows, and how all of that just gets... lost. It works, but it's not particularly good and does a disservice to the line-artist.

I'm using Dungeon Meshi as an example not because it's bad, I'm just especially disappointed because this is Studio Trigger we're talking about. The character animation is fantastic, but the color design is usually much more exciting. We're not seeing Trigger at their full potential, so I'm focusing on them.

Here's a very quick and messy color correct. Not meant to be taken seriously, just to provide comparison to see why colors can feel "washed out." Top is edit, bottom is original.

You can really see how desaturated and "white fluorescent lighting" the original color palettes are.

[Remember: the easiest way to make your colors more lively is to choose a warm or cool tint. From there, you can play around with bringing out complementary colors for a cohesive palette (I warmed Marcille's skintone and hair but made sure to bring out her deep blue clothes). Avoid using too many blend mode layers; hand-picking colors will really help you build your innate color sense and find a color style. Try using saturated colors in unexpected places! If you're coloring a night scene, try using deep blues or greens or magentas. You see these deep colors used all the time in older anime because they couldn't rely on a lightness scale to make colors darker, they had to use darker paints with specific hues. Don't overthink it, simpler is better!]

[uncanny-tranny]

You! Internalize that you do not always need to "improve your art/craft" now! It's great to learn and develop your skills, but you do not need to come from a place of hating where you are now! You certainly do not need to force yourself to improve if it is coming in between you and enjoying the things you do. Improvement for improvements sake does not have to be the only goal, nor the only one that "should matter"

You are allowed to have motifs, enjoyment, ameturism, and "less skill." Kill and devour the capitalist in your head that dictates that you must always improve for everybody else's sake and your "productivity."

[taichissu]

everyone on page 1 already has banri 😭 i need to step up my game

[blairaptor]

Captain Baja Blast 🥤🌮

[egophiliac]

oh no, I love them

(super quick doodles done between other stuff, there will be better things later I promise :')

[catboy-teeth]

can I interest you in some

SPHERES

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Reasons to play In Stars and Time: Canon Pronoun Warfare.

[lilybug-02]

Bribed with Chocolate. The way it should be.

Part 22 || First || Previous || Next

--Full Series--

More to come as this is a two-parter. But you know how I am with schedules.

Bonus:

I think this was an equally possible reaction from Chara.

[theceaselessidiot]

Eloise Bridgerton being an absolute mood:

and Cressida's reaction of 'this girl is so weird, but I'm into it??? Wait am I into this??'':

[crowlixcx]

[nerdy-talks]

I AM SCREAMING!!!!!!

Solomon is directly confronting Mammon!

Solomon is calling Mammon out without any hesitation, and even has proof/evidence!

Solomon is so jealous..... Please marry me right now, my darling teacher!!! ;u;