#first art post in like 4 years woo

[alinesann]

Did a portrait of my oc Holly :> she's the oc I've drawn the most over the years :D

[catskets]

A more in-depth guide for creating visual novels, especially in the horror, horror-romance, etc circles

Some of you have seen my previous, smaller post on crafting visual novels, especially in this little space of Tumblr that a lot of us have found themselves in. Since that post took off, I've wanted to create a longer guide to help touch on some points I've thought about for the past few months.

In case you've never heard of me, I'm Kat, also known as catsket. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Game Design. I've been making games for nearly 5 years, and I've been doing visual novels more "professionally" for 2. You may know me for Art Without Blood, 10:16, God is in the Radio, or Fatal Focus. I'm here to help you make your first visual novel.

Please note that my advice does not fit everyone, and you may disagree with what I say. That's okay! It doesn't work for all. That's why there's thousands of resources out there.

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE NEVER MADE A GAME

So, you have an idea for a huge visual novel. Horror, a shady and obsessive love interest, a little bit of woo-hooing. 100k words. Maybe a million. What is this, the 07th Expansion?

I notice a lot of people getting into visual novels are artists first. That's okay! I wanted to do art for games before I realized how much I enjoyed writing. And even less of you have probably touched Visual Studio. Again, perfectly okay. We all start somewhere.

My number one piece of advice? Make shitty games.

What does that mean?! My recommendation to those who have never done games is to make a bunch of shitty ones. Think of a theme, or hell, even join a game jam, where you make a game that fits a theme in a short amount of time. Spend about a week on your game. Focus on making something polished. Polish your mechanics. Polish your output.

I recommend, if you can, to make at least 4-6, if not more, kind of shitty games before hopping into longer projects. Making a game is a skill, just like art, just like writing. And game development is combining ALL of these together into one big soup being stirred by a skeleton hand puppet. You'll get into the rhythm and see what works for you.

It also helps you learn, perhaps, the second most important thing here: do you even like making games? There are cases out there where people have created video games (not saying visual novels) just for clout. That's no fun for you, that's no fun for your players. And you might go through this process and find that you don't like making games. That's completely okay! It's not for everyone.

Also, you can use these shittier games to gather an audience. I've built my audience because, for the past few years, I've been releasing games that slowly give me growing fields of eyes every day. A success story overnight is a rare one. It takes time. It's like building a brand, but you aren't a brand, you're an artist.

REV UP YOUR ENGINES!

Ren'py is the number one engine you will be recommended. It is very beginner-friendly, with lots of tutorials, assets on itch.io to use and download, and support. The engine comes with a few tutorials in the form of games, whose code you can freely browse. This is the engine I use most often. Most visual novels you see are made in this engine.

Twine is a text-based engine that most people use for interactive fiction. You can add images and audio, though, if you don't mind messing with HTML. I use Twine for text games and for outlining for my larger games. Ever played Degrees of Lewdity? Yeah, I know you have. Don't ask why. That game was made in Twine.

RPG Maker has multiple versions and has been used for exclusively VNs if you don't mind fucking around with plugins. It can definitely give your game a super unique feel. I recommend RPG Maker MV, since it has the most resources. This line of engines usually costs money, but it often goes on sale for under $5-$15.

People will recommend TyranoBuilder, but as a user and player, the lack of options and the format the games often come in is just...not fun to navigate. It advertises itself as little to no code, but it's often evident in the final results. Some good games have been made in it, though, so if you want to use it for prototyping/practice, you can. I'm not a fan, but that doesn't mean that fans don't exist! This engine costs money.

Not an engine, but check out Ink! Super useful scripting language that's used for more professional projects.

DEMOS, DEMOS, DEMOS

You've got an idea for a long-term project, and now you want to show it to the world! But wait, wait, don't do that yet!

When should I start advertising my game? This is a personal opinion, but I say that you should not start advertising your game until 50-60% of your demo is complete. Why? As I've discussed with some fans of indie VNs, they can name quite a few projects that have been in the "working on the demo" age for 1-2+ years. I've been in the Kickstarter MMO circles. If you, making a single-player experience with little mechanics to balance and polish (aka a visual novel), are taking that long on a demo, I am going to assume the game is not coming out. There are some games I have seen out here that have been in "working on the demo" phase where I haven't seen a single ounce of what the project will look like.

What should I put in my demo? The purpose of a demo is to showcase the mechanics and the vibes and the mechanics of your game. It's a demonstration. In my last post, I pointed to the Dead Space 2 demo that was showcased at E3 (RIP), that takes place about 2 hours into the story and shows how enemies are defeated, some animations, bits of the story, etc. Usually, because it's less about mechanics and more about vibes, visual novel demos showcase a certain percentage of the full thing (5-10%.) Can you showcase the vibe of the game here and what players should expect? If not, show off another portion.

How long should I work on my demo? Before, I said 3-4 months. That can be true, that can also not be true. Think about how long the demo takes you in proportion to how long the actual game should take you. Don't put too much effort. The demo is to showcase the vibe. It's to see how much the public and fans may enjoy the game.

My game is 18+, what should I do? Make a splash screen when the game is downloaded to let players know your game is 18+. If it's going to contain sexual content, you can hide it with itch.io's adult content filter. Write it on the page itself that your game is for adults only. Don't put your demo behind a paywall. This is genuinely ridiculous. The purpose of a demo is to showcase what a game is like before a player purchases it. That defeats the point of a demo. I've seen this happen, and it discourages players from approaching, especially because most demos never make it past the demo phase. So...I'm paying you $10 for 2-3k words of a game that may never come out?

Should I make a social media for my game? YES! Go for it. These anchors are how people will find your game. Make a Tumblr and open that ask box. Make a Twitter. Go to BluSky. Advertising is not bad. Some YouTubers even take e-mail suggestions from developers. Feel free to shoot your shot. The worst they can do is not respond.

HOW TO SET UP YOUR ITCH.IO PAGE:

Getting your itch.io to a presentable state can be very challenging! There's many ways to do it. I highly recommend using this page image guide for learning how to size your images to make your page pop!

Itch.io themselves has suggested to not publish a page until the game or demo is released. You can make the page and keep it as a draft, but do not publish it until you're ready!

Your cover image is the image that will appear in the search of the website, on any front pages, in collections, and on your profile. What have I seen that works? Key art of one of the characters up close and the title of the game! If you can make it a .GIF, do it! Bitches love .GIFs!

Itch.io recommends 3-5 screenshots on your page. I recommend 1 of these 5 be a .GIF that shows how gameplay feels. This is effective, even for visual novels!

Write a 3-5 sentence summary about your game for the description. What is your story about? What is the draw?

DO NOT BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO IS GOING TO SAY "This is not like other visual novels. It doesn't have that cheesy this or that or-" No one cares. Genuinely. You're putting down other games in your genre and elevating yourself to the pompous level.

TAG YOUR GAME! itch.io gives you a list of tags to choose from when you go to tag. DON'T USE THIS! Try to go for more specific tags. Arimia has a very good guide on how to use itch.io's tagging system to your advantage.

GENERAL GAME MAKING ADVICE

SCOPE KNIFE IS SUPER USEFUL! Everyone makes games that are way over their workload. It's okay to cut out features and add them later. Prioritize making a finished game before hitting those stretch goals.

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN! Writing outlines is super helpful. I use Twine for my outlines, because you can connect your passages together and make really well-thought webs.

IT'S OKAY TO ASK FOR HELP! Whether it's from friends, professionals, or anything in-between. They can help with assets, editing, etc.

HONE YOUR SKILLS OUTSIDE OF GAMES! Write some poetry. Do some sketches everyday. Improve on your craft to improve your games

MUSIC IS HARD. THERE ARE RESOURCES. Most of us aren't musicians. That's okay. Make sure the music you get for your game is allowed to be used. You can use anything non-commercial if your game will not cost money or donations. I try to do songs in the public domain or free to use overall with credit if I don't have a musician. Consult the Creative Commons website if you're unsure how you're supposed to use a certain piece of music. If you don't use the right stuff, not only can it put you in legal trouble, but it can put streamers in hot water if they play your game and they can't upload the video because music is copyrighted.

PLEASE, DO SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR UI. Wanna know an easy way to get your game to look more professional? Edit the damn UI for your game. Make a new textbox, even if it's just a black box. Change the font. Eventually, players recognize the defaults and patterns of games made in certain engines and may attribute a lack of UI changes to a developer being lazy. It doesn't take very long to change the colors around and move text! Please do it to add a little pop to your game.

DEADLINES ARE AWESOME. Not everyone works well under pressure, but if you give yourself an infinite amount of time to make something, it'll never get done. Set goals for yourself for how much you can work on something.

IF YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP, GIVE UP. Making things is hard, especially long-term. Emergencies happen, jobs happen, life happens. Let your fans know that a project isn't happening anymore. Don't leave them in the dark. You don't need to tell strangers your medical history or anything, but transparency + honesty are really hot traits. You should use those in your creative work. This is one reason why I advocate for not publishing or advertising things until you know it's stable.

SHOWCASING YOUR CONTENT

People love to see WIPs for games! This is what the devlog is good for! A devlog is a post where a developer talks about and showcases some things happening in the game? What can you add to your dev log?

PERCENTAGES! How much of the artwork is done? How much of this character's route is done?

SNEAK PEEKS AT ARTWORK AND SPRITES!

GIFS! GIRLS LOVE GIFS!

Anything else to showcase your game's content! Posting consistent updates retains and even gains a fan's attention for your work.

RUNNING YOUR TUMBLR

You've joined us, and you've made a Tumblr for your blog! Link it on the itch.io page, so people can come find you after playing your awesome demo!

Do I have to respond to every ask? No. It's your blog. Delete whatever asks you want.

I got a hate comment! What do I do? Delete it and move on. I have a more detailed section on hate below.

I want to interact with [blog]! How do I do that? Reach out to the devs for silly little collabs. If you come onto a developer slightly headstrong, they might feel you are being abrasive or using them for content.

If people make fan content, interact with it! Encourage it! Reblog it. Show your love.

OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS

PROFESSIONALISM IS KEY. These may be pet projects, but you want to appear some level of professional on your actual itch.io page.

Being dismissive of player and fan complaints or criticisms will make you appear childish.

If your game is broken, fix it. I have been told by some amateur developers to ignore game-breaking bugs. It does not make me, a player, want to engage with your content. It seems messy and unfinished.

With the above point, it's 100% okay to have bugs and errors upon release. Every developer and their brood mother has. To decrease these issues, get playtesters. Friends can play your games, spot any errors, and help you point out things that can be improved upon. I recommend having playtesters at every stage of development.

Make sure your game runs before you publish it. Please.

You can still be silly and giddy! There's no reason to not be, especially when you get positive comments! The point of this is to not be outright rude to potential players and fans.

IGNORE HATE COMMENTS. In this case, a hate comment is a statement that contains no constructive criticism and are only here to be insulting or malicious. People are going to leave you with actual piles of dog shit in your ask box. They are trying to provoke you. Giving hate comments any attention, even if you're there to "clap back" proves that they got to you, even if you don't take the hate to heart. They will continue to pester you. Delete any hate comments and ignore them completely. Laugh about them with friends in a private setting, sure.

THINK BEFORE YOU REFERENCE! I know one big thing in this community is adding references to other games in yours, such as plushies of other characters or putting them on posters. The best thing you can do it ask the developer before adding this. How would you feel if some random person you've never met put your character in a video game? Most of us would feel weird and potentially violated. Open communication with devs is awesome. I am usually okay with it as long as someone asks for permission.

As a complete aside, I prefer more tasteful references to other games as opposed to 523482346 plushies and posters. These have been slightly overdone. Why not theme a candy after another game's character? Maybe your characters know each other.

OTHER RESOURCES I RECOMMEND

Devtalk is a server dedicated to independent visual novel creators. You can find jobs, resources, advice, talks, and, like, everything there! Devtalk is super useful. Everyone in there is so cool. They have a really great and comprehensive list of resources that I could not even begin to cover.

Visual Novel Design is a great YouTuber. No other words, check the guy out!

Ren'py and whatever other engine you're using has documentation that's super useful to follow.

Arimia not only has amazing VN resources, especially for marketing, but she also just has? Amazing games that you should check out?

And for a shameless self plug, I'm the lead of Sacred Veins, a collective of devs creating narrative games, whether it be horror, humor, romance, or everything in-between. Come hang out with us!

[robobarbie]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! STAY SAFE OUT THERE!!!!!!

Update regarding art posts in 2023 below the cut.

-------------

Hello gamers. As you are all aware, I'm busy working at my IRL job and on Adonia in the free time I can spare (I like to save a large chunk of that free time for just me time now, so not all of my free time is dev time dw dw). Because of how much I want to focus on Adonia, I can't make any promises for art at events next year for blooming panic -- birthdays, holidays, etc. I'll probably try to do a doodle, but I'd rather spend most of my time on Adonia in 2023. Ty in advance for understanding 🙏

Some updates on Adonia:

- I've pulled in some more readers to help out with Sungho + Sara, and will be pulling in more for Jerri soon

- Jerri has her own writer now (woo!) who was one of the devs on the bp dev team

- Sungho has a co-writer now, and it's someone trying game writing for their first time. We shout our support for them from the rooftops!!!!!

- Now that I've offloaded half the writing to ~4 other writers, I'm focusing a lot on game design and cohesion. That game flow shit is fun shit

- I'll probably not be posting many preview images of the game since I like surprises. But I'll drop something from time to time

Anyway, that's it! Ty all!

[stormdragon23]

Choi Jong-In Character Analysis

We'll stick to five different things for now (because this post got long)

Choi Jong-In's vision

Jong-In doesn't like bright lights. It might be because of that firecracker that went off in his face before (according to the dossier from the game), but I wonder if it hinders him when he's hunting in closed spaces other than the fact that fire is just dangerous in such places

I'm also curious if he wears the glasses to help with the brightness since they seem tinted and tend to reflect light a lot, but both could be because of the art style.

The lenses on his glasses seem rather thick, so it's either to help him with bright places or his vision really is just that bad. He's probably blind without them either way though-

2. Choi Jong-In's age

If Jong-In got his passport when he turned 18 and just renewed it, he’s probably around 28 at the youngest since he might have gotten his passport when he was older. He could have renewed it earlier than that, but no one does that- (at least not more than a year before it expires)

This also means that Jongin might have been around 18 when the gates first appeared though he didn’t know he awakened until around six years later according to the game dossier. This means he was probably around 24 by the time he knew he was awakened (although he actually awakened earlier without noticing)

3. Choi Jong-In's leadership skills

Jong-In seemed to assume the role of leader during the raid by making sure the others would be safe and efficiently clearly obstacles that made it harder for them to get to the queen. This was interesting considering there were three other guild masters there (and likely with more experience based on Jong-In awakening six years after the gates appeared, whereas Lim Tae-Gyu and Baek Yoon-Ho awakened soon after the gates appeared). While the reason could be because of how versatile his powers are, he appeared to naturally make the first move rather than let someone else try their idea or wait for someone to ask him what they should do

He also explains what he’s doing calmly to the other hunters. While this could just be for the readers to know what he’s doing, he doesn’t make any rude comments to anyone. Like when Baek Yoon-Ho asked what he was doing, Jong-In explained how the explosions from the fire would show where the queen was. It could be argued that the two were too busy to be arguing like usual, but Yoon-Ho and Min Byung-Gyu were bantering quite a bit as they were making their way inside

Jong-In also knows how to make Yoon-Ho mad as seen throughout the series, so he’s actively not picking a fight when he certainly could have at this point when they weren’t fighting the ants yet. It could be that Jong-In’s too focused on the raid despite his calm demeanor, or he knows it would distract Yoon-Ho too much as he’s very capable of reading Yoon-Ho’s body language

4. Choi Jong-In's perceptiveness

Yoon-Ho is the one Jong-In tends to read the most in terms of body language and emotions, so this part will mostly be about Jong-In reading Yoon-Ho

While Jong-In knew exactly why Yoon-Ho was at the building, he didn't indicate that he figured it out other than his usual smile. He's good at drawing conclusions based on what he observes and reacts in a way that prevents others from knowing what he's thinking. (This might be why Yoon-Ho dislikes him as he knows how well Jong-In can read him)

When the other major guilds were glad that Sung Jin-Woo was no longer taking gates, Jong-In found it suspicious rather than being glad that his guild could get more gates. Jong-In seems to question why things happen and how they work. This was shown in the game dossier when he wanted to test his powers before finding out his rank and ended up burning down a whole building

Despite Yoon-Ho making a provoking comment, Jong-In either knows that Yoon-Ho is avoiding the question and chooses to ignore it or knows that's just Yoon-Ho's way of answering him. In either case, Jong-In understands him enough to try to help him

Side note: Yoon-Ho tends to be the one to start arguments with Jong-In, making Jong-In defend himself

5. Choi Jong-In's self-confidence

While Jong-In seems like he would be an arrogant person, especially with his title, there are actually more moments of Jong-In being aware of his limits rather than being overconfident

When he first heard about Jin-Woo's powers, he believed what Son Ki-Hoon said and immediately understood that Jin-Woo was much stronger than him, compared to Thomas Andre or Hwang Dong-Soo who refused to believe it at first

Jong-In is also aware of how much damage he is capable of as shown throughout the Jeju raid. After assessing how strong the flying ants were, he was confident enough to jump off the helicopter to take care of the ants below alone. However, he did not take the same risk when the S-Ranks entered the anthill as he did not know what would be ahead

That's all for Choi Jong-In in this post, but I do plan on making another one about him. If anyone has specific things they want to hear, feel free to ask for them. If you made it this far, have this picture of Jong-In

He's so precious

[serpentinespider]

kit 14, 43, D!

guy 13, 4, 35, 3!

been thinking about these fellas a lot recently!! thank you questionnaire this is the perfect time!!

WOO WOO YEAH I took awhile to answer these because they got my brain going so hard I had to think about them for hours before I could articulate any responses AAH /pos You always pick the best questions for each character!!

this got so long I’m putting it under a readmore actually heheh

Kit!

art by StudioScheppen!!

14. What animal do they fear most? DOGS, forever and always. Kit’s been super anxious since he was a little kid; he’s never been fond of any animals really, but dogs specifically were one of the first things that would consistently set him off. Mouth full of sharp teeth, unpredictable loud barks, usually big enough to bowl him over without much effort… he can tolerate them more these days, but he still can’t really go over to his buddy Larry’s house for fear of his family’s golden retrievers. Being attacked by one messed him up REAL bad mentally, even setting aside all the turning-into-a-beast stuff lol

43. If someone asked them to explain their sexuality, how would they do so? Depends pretty much entirely who is asking and when. It took him quite awhile to come to terms with liking men, but once he did he pretty much leaned into it 100%. Towards strangers, he has a pretty flippant “I’m a homo, go fuck yourself if you have a problem with that,” attitude… but towards his friends and family he fumbles with the subject. “Welll uhh I don’t know… I guess I’m not straight maybe… I don’t think about labels too much…” (he does, he’s just scared of being shunned.)

D. Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look? First of all, I like the phrasing of this question, usually I think of design tweaks as a ‘want,’ but ‘having’ to do so actually more accurate describes Kit’s evolution I think! I’m going to go slightly off the topic of the question for this one because it requires some elaboration (and because I can do what I want! /silly)

Most of my characters gradually change over time as my style changes and I just become interested in different design traits, but Kit has def had the most frequent and rapid design changes over the two-ish years I’ve called him my OC. I genuinely can’t remember where or how frequently I was posting about it at the time (outside of my old defunct tumblr blog), but I was deeply hyperfixated on Captain Underpants in 2022, specifically book 11 which is my favorite :] That book takes place in the past, and the antagonist is Kipper Krupp, Mr Krupp’s 12 year old nephew. He’s very goofy and his writing is standout enough that most of my fixation was focused on him. Like, it was so shockingly intense I cannot describe it. I’m not ashamed of liking CU but the extent to which I blorboified this one-off character is really something. Anyways, after a couple months of this I began to become embarrassed about how many headcanons and ideas I had for him, so I just took him and his friends, changed their names a little bit, aged them up and made them my OCs! As I’ve become more Normal about Kipper himself I’ve distanced Kit from him more and more— making him a werewolf was my main big effort to separate him from Captain Underpants tropes-wise if that makes sense! I mean I still love Kipper dearly, but not as much as I love Kit :3c

Canonically he’s still the same guy I guess, just in a super derivative AU lol. His dad is still named Jasper and his uncle is still Benny, buuut since I changed his surname to Parker I’m guessing most people are going to think that’s a Spider-Man reference haha

my gooby 🐺

I like how the antagonists wiki classifies wedgies as ‘torture’ lmao

moving on to Guy!!

13. What color do they think they look best in? Do they actually look best in that color? She gravitates towards dark gray a lot, and I think it can flatter her, but it def is more of a dysphoria thing than a fashion thing. As for what looks best, I’m certainly no fashion expert (all her ratty gray outfits are based on what I wear HAHA) but I have a soft spot for him in white <3

4. How easy is it to earn their trust? Very easy. Maybe too easy? He doesn’t make an effort to connect with people, but if you do show any interest in him he’ll pretty much be willing to put his life in your hands. He might be shy, but he loves making friends!! This does mean he’s pretty likely to volunteer personal information to acquaintances too soon, either putting them off or giving them ammo to potentially harm him in the future :< [picks up Adam like a naughty kitten and stares at him really hard]

35. How do they treat the things their friends come to them excited about? Are they supportive? Guy doesn’t really react to things appropriately in real-time— tell him you’re getting married to the love of your life, he’ll monotonously go “oh, okay,” go silent, then a week later he’ll run up to you crying happy tears congratulating you!! He is very supportive, just has a hard time with the emotion part.

3. How do they put themselves to bed at night (reading, singing, thinking?) — cw marijuana mention! — Pre-Daniel: Thinking… or more accurately overthinking. Nighttime anxiety is a big problem for her— she’s tried a variety of things to distract herself and alleviate it to varying degrees of success: journaling, reading, herbal teas… it’s hard to stick with anything, though. Weed is been the most consistently helpful for her, but her family has a history of addiction that makes her scared to commit to it. Post-Daniel: Snuggles!! It’s hard to worry about much when you’ve got a warm snakey creature wrapped around you so so happily, Dan’s purrs make her mind go wonderfully quiet. It’s like having a weighted blanket that’s in love with you

[choicesmc]

Rams' 4 Bands

This is a long one folks. I had so much fun with it, I hope y'all will too! I'm putting it under a read more because (and this is a warning) it is long. And all the art you'll see is mine (admittedly it's only four pieces but 🤷‍♂️)

Tagging: @choicesbookclub

Summary: A rather established band with pop rock aesthetic. Rams found them in ~8th grade and has been an avid fan since! Right now, she's listening to their latest album: Solitude.

Band Name: +Eyes+ Members:

Adaeze Okeke "Iris" Leontes Valjean "Lens" Dieuwe Antema "Optic"

Latest Album: Solitude Songs In The Album: Keep Quiet, At Night, Things Stir, With Mal Intent, Interlude, Twilight Hour, Moonset, You Know Too Headcannons:

This band exists in the magickal world and are better known there! Their Tuneless music doesn't include Phono magick which often makes the sound feel 'lacking.' When Rams discovered this, xe reexperienced all their music 'properly' and will admit that it's much better on Phono than not. It feels complete.

Summary: Still underground, Buried Alive is a new band trying to gain a little following. Rams only heard of them through a friend of his who was friends with the band members. They only have four albums so Rams is starting with their first: BROKEN BONES.

Band Name: Buried ALIVE Members:

Ji-Woo Min Gang Deadweed Nkiruka Thorn

First Album: BROKEN BONES Songs In The Album: Mary's Strange Daughter, The Pastor's Sermon, My Witch Hunt, Sticks and Stones Headcannons:

They have a very ballad/tragic style. Each of the listed is songs is 9+ minutes long. Rams isn't sure how they feel about it yet but it's... not bad. It grows on them with each re-listen. The cover is homemade. They're trying their best, okay?

Summary: This band has the oldest members of all the bands Rams has listened to. The duo is 76 and 81 years old and their still going strong. Rams started listening sometime around sophomore year of high school.

Band Name: Sickening Sugar Members:

Immy (76) Mal (72) Nia (Deceased) Tyril (Deceased) Aerin (Deceased) Valax (Deceased)

Latest Album: Coffee + Tea Songs In The Album: Filter Me Out, Divide My Mix, Stir It In, No More Cream, Pieces of Crystal, Hot Bitter Drink, Choke and Choke Headcannons:

They're an old queer band though they were only moderately known in the 50s and 60s. That changed with the AIDs epidemic which claimed four of the six members lives leaving only Immy and Mal. Post-death, Sickening Sugar released a single (the last one to feature all members voices) titled 'What Do Mean? There's Still Six of Us'. It quickly gained traction and catapoulted the now duo into the centre of the LGBT movement throughout the late 80s and 90s. Their still heavily involved in activist work even if their heyday is a shiny memory. Yes, they are named after BOLAS characters because I think BOLAS the show is sort of like what Honor Amoung Thieves is to D&D. I headcannon that in-universe the BOLAS show pulled from a nerd culture of RPG games and Sickening Sugar named themselves after their favorite characters in those collaborative RPG games. It actually caused licensing issues while BOLAS was first coming out because two major characters couldn't be licensed since this band already held those licenses. The BOLAS legal team, Immy, and Mal worked out an agreement so Immy and Mal get royalties from each item. It's pretty good money considering the show's popularity.

Summary: it's a very folk-rock song. Mainly blending religion with critical anti-capitalism themes. The members in mid-40s and are currently on a break-up tour. Rams is devasted about it, the band has been a major part of hir highschool career and none had seen the break-up coming!

Band Name: PrOvide Members:

Wally Crawford Josslyn Platt Lilac Winton Astra Jackman

Last Album: Old School Choir Songs In The Album: Hymn, Hum, Worship, Watch, Praise, Pray, Worship, Watch Headcannons:

Yes, there are two different songs named Worship in the same album. Fans call the second one 'Worship Again' to differentiate them. Rumors have it that they're breaking up over creative differences but Rams doesn't fully believe those rumors. Unlike other bands, they've have a rather flexible sound that should be able to accommodate the odd/diverging album here and there.

[pies-database]

HYPERIA [She/they/it]

Name(s): The Fearless, The Exodus, Adeline

Nickname(s): Perry

Likes: Forgery, psychology, birds, soldering, making stained glass art, Flirtatious behaviour, cheekiness, yellows, greens, mellow shades of colours, independence, exploring new tastes and places, learning, chutney, instrumentals, orchestras, poetry

Dislikes: being restricted, being uncertain, sea urchins, jelly fish, the quiet, baths, "Quiet days", beach holidays, being unactive, not having a reading list, maximalism, anything too minimalist.

Personality: An active thrill seeker, Adeline was known that she would be something truly confident from a young age. She goes to clubs, woos people (of all genders) as much as they woo her. She almost handles flirting like a sport, not anything genuine but an art she has down to a science.

However, when she finds an anchor, she unwittingly lets it completely stump her. She has bad days and months were she may become reliant on an ideal and however it presents itself. If this is challenged, she will dig her feet. She has to come to terms on her own, which she usually does.

She doesn't mind pain and has a relatively high pain tolerance, but the sight of a wound can make her queasy. This just makes her very fidgety, but she can still deal with first aid, its just a lot less enthusiastic.

Abilities: Can sense and alter the nature of a person's existence and experience. As she hasn't been around for long, she isn't very accurate and finds it rather difficult, but she is learning. This usually represents itself as spheres of various kinds, colours and vibrancies. Only she can see those Shrimp Colours that make it all come together.

Also higher resistance to heat and bacteria.

Abnormal physical features: Abnormally pale skin, her eyes and hair look like gold, she has small wings in place of ears.

Backstory: She was always the rambunctious sort, always going out of her way to find a cheap thrill. As a teen this presented as always chasing the high of the start of a relationship of any sort. The feeling of so many new possibilities and potential connections. But she never felt comfortable enough to settle with a friend group or a partner.

As she got older, finished college, started applying to jobs, as her world changed in massive ways every few months, she allowed herself to hold onto this "new" partner she'd had for a year. He kept her anchored, he would always let her know when a job opportunity was too far, or if a house was not roomy enough for when they would have kids, or that it was ridiculous to completely rule out having kids because "feelings change" and he wanted a bloodline.

He kept her anchored, but her sister would always be there to be the wind in her sails. And, funnily enough, she would keep dropping the weirdest questions about her partner. Why was that trip to that dormant volcano refused? Well, because I'm stupid, didn't realise how dangerous it was. Silly mistake, right?

And her sister kept prodding, until she dragged Adeline out by her ankles to go on a night out with the sister's friends. And they proper shat on her boyfriend. It was only then Adeline actually listened, and realised she should keep an eye out for his behaviours. She started documenting "Weird" stuff he'd say and posting it anonymously to online forums. Everyone was just telling her to break up with him.

So after her longest relationship of 4 years, she decided to go through. Her sister would wait outside in her car, willing to let Adeline stay in her house in Staines until she could get on her feet again. The breakup went relatively well, and Adeline walked out with the weirdest feeling of freedom mixed with directionless floating.

She walked out of the house, away from all her history and forging equipment, and felt lighter for the first time in years. she went to the car, and let herself move on.

But, that's when she started seeing the lights.

Funnily enough, ending a relationship, loveless or not, that had been going on for almost a decade tended to cause symptoms such as depression. She laid on her sister's couch for hours, eating what was laid in front of her and then napping. But those lights.

They were little spheric things, with no core. Like a very, very bright firefly. And they had a kind of lure to them, one that called for her to stand up and follow.

And one day, after staring at them for a few months, she decided to follow. She only had her PJs on, but couldn't be bothered to change. It wasn't a particularly hot or chilly night, so she would be fine in what she was wearing with some flats thrown on her feet.

She followed it onto the weird island that had heaps of local legends stirring within, she had seen the rumours that the serial murderers that stirred the small community actually lived there, but the police refused to go in. There had been limited reports of death from within that area, so she did just cross the bridge.

She didn't actually meet anyone when she went in, the plant led her to a small pond and submerged itself. And once more, bracing against the cold, she followed.

When she eventually made contact, she felt warm, like molten lava nestled into her very bones. It wasn't painful; it felt right.

And she came out different. Then, and only then, did she run into two strangers, lingering behind a warehouse. They had been watching (well, one was watching and relaying it to the other guy, who was blind) the entire time, and were just as confused. However, they did have some answers, starting with the fact she had probably just died. And she would probably have to withdraw from society now.

And Adeline, thinking these two people clearly had some sort of idea of what happened, quickly ran home with newfound energy, left a note for her sister, changed clothes, and planned her new name, her new identity.

Enter stage left, Hyperia.

Current residency: near Sawyer's warehouse.

ASKS: OPEN.

[bl00dngh0uls]

wh0 is the best OC youve ever created hand down and like a total list of all OCS

I wanted to wait to answer this until I had a digital artwork completed of every OC that I have, bc a lot of them I’ve only ever hand drawn (my favorite ,, I love me some good pencil to paper art)

But , I figured I’d be waiting forever, bc with so much going on, and so many other drawing projects I have in the works, this ask would be long forgotten until I saw it in my inbox months down the road and went oh fuck me ,, I forgot to do that.

Sooo , to answer the first part of the question, I don’t think I have a ‘best OC’, because I literally love all my sweet babies so much. They all have their beautiful qualities, and all have their lil garbage ones. They’re all such well rounded characters HHHH, and I want to squeeze them all to death in my arms in one giant group hug.

They would probably hate/fear me if they ever were actually in my presence because, well, I’ve put all of them through some pretty fucked up shit. Some worse than others LOL.

I will now compile a list of all my OC’s.

(I continue to ramble)

Later, I will be adding drawings of my darlings, as I so please, in whatever order, because I really want to try and make my tumblr more of a space for my OC shit. If I could someday get asks directed towards specific OC’s of mine,,,, that,.. would be a dream come true .

But, yaknow, in order to do that, I gotta get on top of actually posting art,, hhhha , that is a goal of mine for the rest of this year, into the following, and forever HAHA ,,my goal is always more art

SO ,, here we go. I’m going to list them in order of creation. (As best I can,, I started making OCs like,, fuck,, 12 years ago almost?? Some were lost along the way.. some were made so close to one another that I don’t know which came first)

1: Thomas James Burns🖤 age: 19

2: Kyle Frederick Hunt🖤 age: 29

3: Lucifer/Lilith🖤 age: n/a

4: Jehovah�� age: n/a

5: Esteban De La Cruz🖤 age: 37

6: Percival (Percy) Chauncey Palmer🖤 age: 21

7: Donovan Christian Bell🖤 age: 23

8: Joon Seo Woo🖤 age: 24

9: Ikeda Noboru🖤 age: 40

*Uhm also I have a bunch of OCs that were made to be in the specific stories of these characters,, so this is just a list of the ✨mains✨

Also I’m vvvvery aware that this is a bare minimum list,, just names and ages lol ,, uhm I just want to add a picture of each of them for a better description. So you can see them aaaand get a lil background info on them. I’ll probably start doing a few of those tonight~

Gonna tag all future OC posts with #MYOCDUMP so I can look through all of my own OC shit on my blog like a noob

[ticklygiggles]

Top 22 of 2022

I've been meaning to do this before the end of the year for obvious reasons, but I just didn't have the chance until now! Thank you everyone who had tagged me, you all are so sweet

I apologize in advance, though. My memory sucks and my perception of time is broken sdjfjdhf

Part 1: Fandom Faves 

01. Favorite new fandoms of the year: SPY x FAMILY, Demon Slayer

02. Favorite new ships since this year: SPYxFAMILY - Twiyor, Cynari, ScaraLumi - Genshin Impact

03. Favorite anime/TV show of the year: Extraordinary Attorney Woo, SPY x FAMILY, Pokémon Journeys

04. Favorite movie of the year: Hmm, I honestly don't watch many movies, so this one's hard... maybe Turning Red? Haha

05. Favorite character of the year: Scaramouche/Wandered, Tighnari - Genshin Impact. Uzui Tengen, Rengoku Kyojuro - Demon Slayer. Seo HyunSoo - XXX Buddy.

06. Favorite soundtrack of the year: One of my favorite soundtrack every year will always be Liyue OST - Genshin Impact!

07. Favorite book/manga/comic of the year: sajkhfjdf this year I read lots of new Manhwas and also a few books. Some of my favorite manhwas were Define the Relationship, Perfect Buddy, Actually, I was the real one, Who made me a Princess?, Under the Oak Tree, Love so Pure (side story), Forget About My Husband, I'd Rather Go Make Money, The Marriage Business and mooore.

I didn't like the books I read this year that much, but I guess my favorite was Six Crimson Cranes. Also read some light novels and they were The Marriage Business and I'll be the Warrior's Mother.

08. Favorite game of the year: Genshin Impact and Obey me!

09. Highlight of this year to remember: March 7th when I went to Disneyland JSAFHJ

Part 2: Community Review

10. Favorite Tumblr moments of 2022: Tickletober, my 2k milestone. @vqler and @dokidoki-muffin return aaaand... I think that's the most I can remember hahaah

11. Favorite fan art of the year: I have been blessed with so much fanart this year omg, some of my faves were this one, of course because it's the first time someone drew art for one of my fics!

Also this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one, but honestly, there are so many aaaa

12. Favorite fic of the year: I read good fics this year, I can't choose, but definitely some of my faves are these beautiful fics I got from my dearest friends in my birthday and Christmas, here, here and here.

13. Favorite ask game of the year: The tickly alphabet, this one and the 3 sentence fic

14. My top achievements as a writer/artist/creator/blogger: Participating in Tickletober for the first time! I didn't finish all days, but I'm happy with the result haha. Also getting to finish my 2k milestone event!

15. My own best fic/post of the year: I think I wrote a lot this year, but one of my faves to write was this Koi ga Ochitara one because I've been wanting to write one with them for sooo long!

16. My most underappreciated fic/post of the year: Probably not the "most", but this Mafuyu x Ritsuka x Yuki one?

17. A post of mine that got more popularity than expected: Omg these three Tickletober fics because they don't have a large popularity in the community, but they got more attention that I expected!

Koi Ga Ochitara, Junai Drop Out, Sign

18. Something I changed on my blog since this year: I think I did write more this year, so that was nice!

Part 3: Next Year

19. Something I didn’t post this year but would like to do next year: I'd like to work on this little AU idea thingy I have been neglecting because I feel unsure to write and post, but we'll see!

20. Goals for next year: As for this blog... maybe getting into more fandoms to keep writing haha. Also, Ginny girl is trying to write less trash, but I'd like to keep collaborating with her, because I just love how well we write together aaaa

21. 2023 releases I look forward to the most: MAHOUTSUKAI NO YOME SEASON 2! Aaaand more Genshin updates and also Obey me cards that I can actually get LOL

Part 4: Spreading Love

22. Shoutouts to people who made my 2022 a better year: 

Goodness, here comes the fun part haha:

@otomiya-tickles of course my sweetie girl precious baby boo. I already told you this, but thank you for making my 2022 a loooot better, thank you for your endless support and your love! You are the best and I'm so happy to talk to you every single day! You are so so talented and smart and amazing and I love you!

@ragewerthers my frieeeend, I always have so much fun talking with you! From just daily life activities to our endless hcs about our precious Toshi *teary emoji* you definitely did my 2022 a lot better too and I hope we can still talk lots this 2023!

@wertzunge Maaaax, I think this year we talked more than any other time haha, I'm happy we're both excited about Mahoutsukai no Yome sdbfhsdf I already said this to you, but I hope we get to talk some more this year as well! Thank you for your friendship!! (Also thank you for your kind support during commisions!)

@vqler @dokidoki-muffin we barely interact with each other BUT I wanted to say that you both are amazing and super talented people and I admire your abilities and your creativity and it's so so nice to have you back in the community! You both are GREAT and I get excited every time I see art from you both. Such talented people, let me give you a respectful kiss on your forehead.

@ticklystuff omg hi! I know we don't talk much, but I just wanted to say that I really like you and you are so so so so SO good at writing ome such talent! I love seeing you in my dash and seeing all the cool amazing stuff you write aaaaa I think of you every time I see Childe, no lies. Thank you for being amazing!

@happyandticklish Queen of writing. No words just admiration. Honestly, you are so so so GOOD. I wish I could write like you and you're so kind and amazing help askdjskf We've talked a bit before and I apologize for my awkwardness aaaaa Thank you for showing us all how cool you are and for being a cupcake!

@myreygn Reeeeey! I honestly get so so shy when you mention how you fangirled when I followed you back ahahaha, thank you for always being so supportive with me! You are amazing and I like chatting with yoouuu! I hope we get to talk some more during 2023!!

@thornoisdono Thank you for the generous support in kofi aaaaa, I love every single fic you requested and hopefully, you'll see them up in the next couple of days! Thank you!

@intheticklecloset @zeke-ism @lovelynim @xsezzie @bloominggiggles @ticklish-v-93 @soft-tk-fluff @chibimochii @nnainai @tickles-tea @looneytickles @tiredleekaz @ssnicker-doodless @spongeboblevel25 @justmaybee @itslittlegiggle @tiklart @lovelymessybubbly @italeean @ticklishfanart - whether we had talked before or not, I'm so thankful for you all! I love seeing and interacting with your content. You all are amazing and make my stay in tumblr so much better! I'd love to get to know you all more this year, but I'll be always be awkward, but I want you to know that you are some of my favorite blogs EVER.

[xjoonchildx]

hi. i feel that newer armys—and by ‘newer’ i mean those who became armys post-2018—don’t know exactly what’s going on with the whole enlistment stuff so im going to break it down for you. this might be a bit too long so i apologize in advance, but please note that this all started back in 2018.

so back when BTS started blowing up in the west in 2017—which we dubbed as ‘the DNA era’—SK started ‘noticing’ BTS, in some way (im not talking about korean armys. im talking the SK general public). naturally, this made the whole kpop industry ‘held their breath’ and waited to see if BTS’ blowing up there was a mere fluke (and so did the boys themselves, because later on during MAMA 2018 AND in their docu-series Break the Silence, they revealed how during the period between the LY: Her and LY: Tear, they got so overwhelmed and didn’t know how to go on with their newfound fame, so they thought the LY: Her was their peak and they briefly considered disbandment. their song Outro: Tear was their almost-disbandment song where they rapped about how parting ways would destroy them, according to yoongi in Break the Silence).

turns out it WASNT a fluke because later on when they released the LY: Tear, it debuted at #1 on the billboard 200 and Fake Love landed at #10 on the Hot100. this caused a huge uproar in SK that even the biggest tv networks in SK reported on it—one of them was SBS and they even invited BTS in to talk about it in an exclusive interview, because BTS were the first Asian act to achieve this feat.

now, that moment was both of triumph and of the start of BTS’ years-long stress because entertainment companies (SM, JYP, YG, FNC, JellyFish) in SK started looking at BTS’ success as a way to lobby military exemption for their own idols. to put it harshly, they rode on BTS’ success for their own gain. they held a meeting with the Korea Management Federation in 2018 to discuss this WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF BIGHIT OR BTS. used their name and everything, and even yoongi talked about this in What Do You Think (“woo woo, we’ll go serve in the military when the time comes. i hope all those bastards who tried to get a free ride by selling our names shut their mouths up”). basically that meeting went like this: “hey look, BTS blew up in the west! see, kpop is bringing prestige to South Korea!! so military exemption for idols, please? 🥺”

(now y’all know why armys are so prickly about BTS’ success being considered a win for the whole of kpop.)

and so that 2018 meeting started the 4-year long torture for BTS where the government kept dangling the POSSIBILITY of exemption—and BTS never even asked for exemption in the first place. never even attended ANY ensuing meetings held by the SK government and those companies after that first meeting where they KEPT using BTS’ name and success to push for exemption.

and then in 2021, the government allowed BTS to POSTPONE their enlistment until the age of 30 because BTS were holders of the Order of Cultural Merit (awarded to them back in 2018 for their outstanding achievement in art and culture, and please note that BTS are the YOUNGEST recipients of this order of merit because all the other recipients are in their 50s or 60s). this caused TWENTY SIX (including SM, JYP, YG, Pledis, Kakao, Naver) entertainment companies to file ‘complaint’. essentially the complaint went “tHaTs nOt fAiR!!1!1!!1 nOnE oF oUr iDoLs aRe rECiPiEnTs oF aNy oRdEr oF mERiT!!1!1! dOnT yOu tHiNk yALL aRe a BiT tOo hArSh?? pLeAsE LoWeR tHe sTaNdArD fOr pOsTpOnEmEnT 🥺”.

(i mean that’s what you get for trying to lobby exemption for your own idols by using BTS’ name because of course the government would use BTS’ achievements as the standard/criteria like… what did you expect 😭😭)

but anyway. yeah. even after that postponement, the SK government kept having ‘meetings’ for BTS’ possible exemption—which let me reiterate, BTS NEVER ASKED FOR EXEMPTION IN THE FIRST PLACE. essentially the SK government kept going “oh to exempt or to not exempt you… that is the question :)” . president moon even kept using BTS for political shit like mentioning them to foreign dignitaries to form political alliances, giving them diplomatic passports, etc.

of fucking course this was fucking with BTS’ heads, and essentially just derailing all of the boys’ plans because of this uncertainty looming over. would they get exempted, or not? that’s why during PTD in Vegas, hybe finally put their foot down and basically went “hey you fuckers just be done with it already and stop playing with BTS. exemption or not?”

but nothing. still nothing, and THEN president moon is gone without any of this solved. and now we have this new alt-right president who’s a raging incel and hates women and disabled folks.

my guess is that if exemption or any form of compromise had been granted during president moon’s administration, BTS PROBABLY would have taken it. but since this new president essentially represents EVERYTHING the boys stand up AGAINST, this is why the boys took matters into their own hands and decided to enlist (SEPARATELY too at that) instead before the SK government was able to announce their decision regarding exemption (which would have been at the end of October). because if they went to enlist all at the same time, this new president would try to push the boys to do group activities for the SK government (like the Busan show. that whole thing was a shitshow because Busan refused to pay a single penny so everything fell on hybe and bts but that’s a whole ‘nother convo) DURING THEIR CONSCRIPTION. remember: YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO MAKE MONEY DURING CONSCRIPTION, therefore all profits would go to SK and SK alone; none of them into the boys’ own pockets. enlisting separately is a smart move on their part.

BTS are not anyone’s puppets. they know their worth, they know who they are, they know what they stand up for. and they’ve had ENOUGH. and they’re always ten steps ahead—as evidenced by them suddenly announcing to enlist separately instead of waiting for their decision to be made for them.

anon, whereever you are -- just know that i am giving you a standing ovation for this thoroughly researched post. you came with links, receipts, facts. we love you for it.

i think you hit on a lot of important points here -- the current political ideology of the government, the way they screwed around back and forth with HYBE and the members.

i was fully unaware that the memberrs can't make money during conscription? WTF? the members make money when they're sleeping so what happens to that?

also you're right -- they are no one's puppets and they are not going to sit back and let anyone else drive.

well, i mean except for namjoon. because he can't. you know what i mean.

[grigori77]

2023 in Music - My Top 5 Favourite Albums

5.  LONELY THE BRAVE – What We Do to Feel

The alt-rockers from Cambridge, UK have completed their reinvention after their post-sophomore record shake-ups with what is arguably their best album to date, a canny mixture of moody, anthemic guitar-heavy muscle and haunting introspective beauty.  Enthusiastically gruff vocalist Mark Trotter definitely seems to have really earned his place now after making an impressive debut on 2021’s similarly excellent The Hope List, taking what was already a strong band producing great music and helping to transform them into something truly special.

Standout tracks:  Long Way, The Lens, Our Sketch Out, Victim, In the Well, Eventide, Unseen, The Bear

4.  HOLDING ABSENCE – The Noble Art of Self Destruction

Looks like it’s third album’s the charm for one of the very best bands to have emerged from the 2010’s second-gen post-hardcore alt rock scene (which also produced my absolute favourites of all, Don Broco … but that’s a different story).  Following up in FINE FORM INDEED from their already MAGNIFICENT second album The Greatest Mistake of My Life, Cardiff’s (no longer) best kept musical secret have crafted a streamlined powerhouse of a record that’s all killer/no filler, perfectly showcasing their ubiquitous double-threat of blistering guitars and lead singer Lucas Woodland’s spectacular, nakedly honest vocals.

Standout tracks:  Head Prison Blues, A Crooked Melody, False Dawn, Scissors, Honey Moon, Her Wings, These New Dreams, The Angel In the Marble

3.  HOZIER – Unreal Unearth

The rightly beloved Irish singer-songwriter has returned with what is arguably HIS VERY BEST record to date, a brilliant ever-shifting musical landscape incorporating subtle, spellbinding Celtic-flavoured gentleness, ear-wormy pop-accented bops and bravely inventive experimentation.  The result is the year’s most effortlessly SOOTHING musical offering, which has done wonders to cheer me up every time I’ve put it on after a rough day.  But I still miss “the woo” …

Standout tracks:  De Selby (Parts 1 & 2), Francesca, I, Carrion (Icarian), Eat Your Young, Damage Gets Done (featuring Brandi Carlile), Who We Are, Butchered Tongue, Anything But, Abstract (Psychopomp), Unknown / Nth, First Light

2.  ENTER SHIKARI – A Kiss For the Whole World

The craziest rock band to have EVER come out of St Albans continues to blow me away with their fiendishly eclectic mixture of edgy post-hardcore grit and anarchic electronic-edged musical MADNESS.  This is BY FAR their most streamlined record to date (I can’t believe it’s little more than HALF AN HOUR LONG!), but in some ways also their most rewardingly EXPANSIVE, Rou Reynolds and co. once again playing in an arena of massive themes and making us think as much as they make us ROCK OUT.  More of this please, lads!

Standout tracks:  A Kiss For the Whole World x, (pls) Set Me On Fire, It Hurts, Dead Wood, Bloodshot, Bloodshot (Coda), Goldfish, Giant Pacific Octopus (I Don’t Know You Anymore)

1.  SLEEP TOKEN – Take Me Back to Eden

It’s fascinating to think that just a year ago I’d barely even HEARD of Sleep Token, and certainly wasn’t at all FAMILIAR with anything they’d done.  Then they dropped The Summoning and everything changed … less than 12 months later this is BY FAR the best record I’ve heard ALL YEAR, and as far as I’m concerned anyone who DOESN’T rate it at the very top of their own 2023 list clearly wasn’t paying attention (I’m looking as YOU, Kerrang!).  The mysterious Vessel and his equally unknowable fellow collective have crafted a work of unrivalled MAJESTY here, a little over an hour of pure sonic MAGIC which constantly flips between the hardest possible progressive metal and a dizzying myriad of other genres from its attention-grabbing opening to the heart-wrenching closer.  The end result is not only the best album of the year but a very strong candidate indeed for, potentially, my album of the DECADE.  Worship indeed …

Standout tracks:  Chokehold, The Summoning, Granite, Vore, Ascensionism, Are You Really Okay?, The Apparition, Take Me Back to Eden, Euclid

The ones that didn’t quite make the cut:

STONESIDE. – God of the Mountain (the Texan prog metalheads amaze us once again with their long-awaited debut album); PVRIS – Evergreen (multitalented musical genius Lynn Gunn delivers her most eclectic and full-on electronic alt-rock record to date); TESSERACT – War of Being (the latest offering from the endlessly inventive Milton Keynes prog metal maniacs just might be their best yet, and it’s DEFINITELY their most memorable); BABYMETAL – The Other One (quite possibly the greatest metal band to ever come out of Japan have done it again with another stone-cold banger of a record); STAIND – Confessions of the Fallen (one of the greatest secret weapons of the American post-grunge era makes their long-awaited return after a 12-year absence with one of their best albums to date)

Honourable mention:

EXPLORING BIRDSONG – Dancing In the Face of Danger

Much like with Sleep Token before them, I was genuinely ignorant of this emerging prog rock band from Liverpool up until mid-November, when Kerrang! Radio introduced me to them through their haunting cover of Deftones’ Diamond Eyes.  Then I did what I always do, see what else they’ve got knocking about on YouTube, and within two videos I was LOST.  Their second EP is completely fucking AMAZING, a magnificent musical adventure of pure imagination and experimental GENIUS which goes a long way to prove you don’t actually NEED guitars to rock out, lead-singer and pianist Lynsey Ward doing a genuinely beautiful job with just her keys.  All five tracks are absolute FIRE, but the undeniable standouts are Bear the Weight and the killer closer, No Longer We Lie.

[thebigbidea]

Media I've obsessed over throughout the years!!

2010-2019: My Little Pony: FIM

Was definitely my favorite show. I still love that show sm. Definitely has the most active fan base of them all. Making art for this show definitely inspired me to be the artist i am now. -- This show rased me, and raised me good. The older fandom is questionable, there's definitely some generational trama given to us Gen Z by them, but it was a very pro-lgbt space, and i loved this so sm.

Favorite character then: Fluttershy / Now: Trixie

2017-2021: DuckTales!! (Woo-hoo)

Always kinned Louie, and always will. I mean hell, i named my first MLP OC after Lena!! -- I really loved the episodes Quack Pack and GlomTales! (the latter if wich being because is was A. it Louie centered episode, and B. he proved to his mother that his scamming isn't all bad which i was proud of him for). I think i loved him sm just bc, well one, my favorite color has always been green, but two he's so relatable. Like the episode where he wasn't so sure and up to the idea of Della suddenly coming back and being his mom when he'd never even spoke to her once was just so good. Now i can look back and see how it was relatable, but even then when i didn't know what ik now i found him to be the most logical person in that situation.

Favorite character then: Louie (maybe i liked Lena a lot too?) Now: Louie

2019-2023: The Owl House

When MLP ended, this was the show that came in and swooped me up. As of writing, the shows only been officially over for about an hour. And while yes, DuckTales was there when MLP ended, it still definitely made me feel like something was missing. It did take about a season for me to realize TOH was filling that feeling but it got there. This show has probably effected me about as much as MLP. Like through the episode “Lost in Language”, apon watching some reviews and theories on the episode, i found out Luz was bisexual. At the time i hadn't really heard the term b4, but only about a day of finding it out, i was already comfortable going by it! It just fit too well!! I also got my preferred name/s from Emira and Edric!! Sigh, i could write sm about TOH since it literally just ended, but i don't want to be here all day.

Favorite character then: Hunter, Now: The Collector. // Kinnie: Edric and Emira all the way, baby.

2023-???: Welcome Home! @:3

And now we're here. I already know this will be the thing i obsess over for the next 3-4 years, i can smell it. If things wrap up before 2026, i know the fandom will still be alive. Like idk maybe I'll laugh at my naivete in like two years rereading this post but come on!! Everything lines up way too well!! When MLP ended, TOH was there. Not TOH is ending and, oh, what's that?? WH!? I don't think its too unrealistic to think this story can take 3 test to make.. look say DHMIS, The Mandela Catalogue, and the Walten Files!!

...And well i mean if not, South Park has been going to 25 years and strong!! So I'll probably love that.

Favorite character: Julie!!!! (And Frank) // Don't make me pick favs from SP bro they're all so great. :')

Bonuses!!!

2021(-2023?): Loki

Bc of this show, i discovered i was gender fluid :]] I also found a wonderful community from it, and i love all of those people i met!!.. except for J***. You know who you are. Lmao, jokes. But yea, I'm no marvel fan or anything, but i love Greek/Norse mythology.. so it's no surprise i love Thor and Loki as much as i do!

Fav: Owen Wilson.

2021-2022: Inside Job (+ the 2000 other animated shows Netflix cancelled after one or two seasons..)

Yes there are shows that ended justly, like Kid Cosmic and CentaurWorld. They only planned on having two seasons so they ended great and with a banger. But like,, Dead End, and Glitch Techs, and give BNA another season, goddamn it!!

Fav: Brett 1000%

2020(-2023?) And 2021-2022: Animatics and The Cuphead Show respectively

I decided to add these two after ranting in the hashtags bc i just had to. :] Not much to say, i rlly love these shows. Made some art in my sketchbook and sh/t.

Fav: Wakko // Muggsie.

There's so many more shows (on tv, steaming, or online!) I'd live to acknowledge but I'm bored as hell do I'm calling it. Buhbies!!

[elmaxlys]

I posted 10,614 times in 2022

That's 1,440 more posts than 2021!

2,152 posts created (20%)

8,462 posts reblogged (80%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@as21-7

@origami10

@elmaxlys

@pinepickled

@metalkingshit

I tagged 9,815 of my posts in 2022

Only 8% of my posts had no tags

#art - 3,408 posts

#tokyo ghoul - 1,155 posts

#tenkuu shinpan - 515 posts

#video - 412 posts

#sk8 the infinity - 404 posts

#cosmere - 364 posts

#sk8 adam - 359 posts

#chainsaw man - 346 posts

#clown of my life - 283 posts

#stormlight archive - 215 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#avant je les lisais à la bibliothèque mais ils ne les ont plus maintenant alors je cherche désespérément à trouver les anciennes couvertures

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

See the full post

90 notes - Posted March 19, 2022

#4

Rereading WoK is amazing literally the first thing we see of Adolin is that he's pissed off at Sadeas talking wow

91 notes - Posted October 15, 2022

#3

93 notes - Posted October 26, 2022

#2

@space-diablo replied to your post “what’re y’all’s favorite birds?”:

Ravens

​Woo! I hope you like it! :D

Referenced from a pic by Régine Le Courtois Nivart

118 notes - Posted December 15, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

shaking crying throwing up

578 notes - Posted December 6, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[salt-hag]

I posted 1,926 times in 2022

84 posts created (4%)

1,842 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@mystery-ink

@wibbly-wobbly-who-has-the-time

@omicheese

@couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name

@lierdumoa

I tagged 616 of my posts in 2022

#ofmd - 63 posts

#kdrama - 51 posts

#dracula daily - 49 posts

#cdrama - 29 posts

#tvn little women - 28 posts

#our flag means death - 28 posts

#wwdits - 25 posts

#pokemon - 25 posts

#little women - 21 posts

#love like the galaxy - 16 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#this feeling doesn’t happen as much when i’m watching kdrama - then i only watch a female lead to punch a male lead if he’s a real asshole

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Between the king’s affection and now extraordinary attorney woo, park eun-bin has become one of my fav kdrama actresses. If she has a million fans I’m one of them etc etc

46 notes - Posted July 15, 2022

#4

Jonathan sitting down after his panic attack on May 8th:

61 notes - Posted May 8, 2022

#3

Tvn little women has (as of ep 4):

Art hoe vibes. The sickest opening credits I’ve seen in a while.

Childhood trauma

A very awkward birthday party to set everything up

Three fucked up sisters who love each other with a fierce desperation

Women 👏 who 👏 are 👏 terrible 👏

A cute man in sweaters who can cook

A very suspicious man who is handsome and always around when there’s trouble

Murder mysteries and red herrings

Jason Bourne-esque “you are surveyed and could be attacked at any moment” suspense

Interior design and set porn. The contrast between austere wealthy living spaces vs cluttered poor living spaces

Plant hoe aesthetic

Questioning whether or not to sell your soul for stability

Money, money, money, must be funny, to live in a rich man’s world / late stage capitalism babey

61 notes - Posted October 5, 2022

#2

Ok I’m reading lore Olympus for the first time (love it) and here’s a small offering of my collection of new reaction pics/fav moments so far

See the full post

162 notes - Posted August 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

See the full post

209 notes - Posted September 3, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[serial-doubters-club]

I posted 5,899 times in 2022

That's 5,899 more posts than 2021!

68 posts created (1%)

5,831 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@shinidamachu

@coquinespike

@ka-go-me

@fandomobsessions016

@lavendertwilight89

I tagged 5,884 of my posts in 2022

#q - 4,782 posts

#inuyasha - 3,468 posts

#kagome - 2,922 posts

#fanart - 2,895 posts

#inukag - 1,953 posts

#anime - 1,104 posts

#sango - 625 posts

#gifs - 603 posts

#manga - 552 posts

#inukag fanart - 549 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#reminds me of how our vice principle had to come into my second grade class and explain the difference between true bullying and mean talk

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Home

Written for InuKagFluffWeek2022 @inukagfluffweek

Day 7: Family Time

Summary: Inuyasha never imagined he'd find a place to call home until Kagome gave him a place to belong to.

Rating: G | Words: 543

Read on AO3

I DID IT!!! This is the very first event in which I've participated every single day!!! Woo!!!

First and foremost, I would like to thank @inukagfluffweek for all of their hard work and dedication to running this event and giving us yet another opportunity to demonstrate our profound love for InuKag <3

Secondly, I want to thank everyone that has read, kudoed, commented on, bookmarked, and shared my stories on AO3 and on Tumblr, as well. As a baby writer, it means the world to me that people would take the time to read, enjoy, and provide feedback on my stories. Yes, I'm giving a speech. Sue me. I have seen all of your wonderful comments, and I promise to respond to each and every one because they mean everything to me and keep me going and wanting to improve! Thank you! Thank you! Ok, I'm off to cry now!

Preview:

The first time Inuyasha entered Kagome's home he'd been an intruder. He'd barged into her dining room and ripped her away from the table to take her back to the Feudal Era while her family looked on in awe.

Today he'd been invited to sit at that very table as a guest.

62 notes - Posted August 14, 2022

#4

Written for @inu-spiration (Reverse Solstice Bang 2022)

I had the absolute pleasure of being paired with the incredibly talented @valuvi! Her beautiful art piece, which you can view here, inspired so many beautiful ideas and scenes that went into the making of this story.

Please make sure to go and give her artwork lots and lots of love because it's so amazing and will take your breath away!

B-Side (Read on AO3)

Summary: Inuyasha is a photographer assigned to cover a local music festival. When one of the performers sings a song written by his mother, a song only the two of them could possibly know, his world is turned upside down. Inuyasha may have to come to terms with the fact that his mother kept a secret that she took to the grave. A Modern AU. Pairing: InuKag. Rated T (for language)

64 notes - Posted June 21, 2022

#3

I love that Bankotsu thought he had the advantage when Hakushin's dokko exorcised tessaiga.

See the full post

84 notes - Posted July 18, 2022

#2

Look at Kirara!!! She's like a little boat! 🥰🥰

And then later when their boat sinks 🤣

125 notes - Posted July 12, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Excuse me, I'm still not over how sweet and tender this scene is:

From Kagome using her scarf to wipe the sweat from his forehead...

To Inuyasha being touched by Kagome crying for him because she thought he might die and asking to lie on her lap...

See the full post

299 notes - Posted July 26, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[tendergothic]

I posted 8,332 times in 2022

305 posts created (4%)

8,027 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@timeskip

@dentist-brainsurgeon

@vaultedvagabond

@creekfiend

@shadylex

I tagged 2,192 of my posts in 2022

#video - 386 posts

#videos - 372 posts

#tik tok - 190 posts

#art - 84 posts

#dogs - 73 posts

#s - 67 posts

#answered - 43 posts

#w - 43 posts

#asks - 39 posts

#ask meme - 37 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters (removed for percy<3)

I sent 1 gift in 2022

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

i invented a little creacher

35 notes - Posted April 29, 2022

#4

im losing my fucking mind at this horrible Garfield plush i found on Amazon

i would also like to know what happened to garmfield.

45 notes - Posted January 6, 2022

#3

this is an animal.

this is an animal and i feel so much guilt having to knock them over

45 notes - Posted September 30, 2022

#2

hey why is this allowed to happen. i cant even get auto generated captions? i cant hear well. i need captions to follow along.

i firmly believe creators should not be allowed to turn off auto translation cc at the very least. the fact this is an issue hoh people have to deal with sucks. its is a big "fuck you" to people with hearing and processing issues. i was angry when YouTube was wanting to remove them and im angry still. watching videos is useless and a waste of time if i don't know what is happening.

and as a final note, its absolutely shitty that you can never get captions for a video back if you remove them in the first place.

79 notes - Posted April 6, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

December just started but let's make 2023 the year of more gay transgender sex!!!! woo yeah!!

1,154 notes - Posted December 5, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →