#hot artists don't gatekeep

[sir-fluffbutts]

Dude how do you figure out the heights for your characters?? i am trying to rewrite the info for my own characters and just thinking about the measurements makes my brain hurt :")

🗣🗣 ATTENTION ALL ARTISTS WITH THE SAME PROBLEM

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

- uses both cm/ft

- 12 people limit (including item)

- can add simple objects like door/car

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- used both cm/ft

- 6 person limit

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go crazy go wild 🫡

[random-rabid-creature]

awwwes ily too <3

i've been thinking about doing a part to to this post, and then another version for writers. y'all seem to really like this one

live Hperson reaction to seeing you in my inbox(NOT /NEG)

[midwinterhunt]

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

[pied-piper-pluto]

it always makes me sad to see "not being infinitely generous with your time and effort" being conflated with "gatekeeping" in online art communities... im thinking specifically of that resource masterpost that was going around titled "hot artists don't gatekeep". putting together a big list of resources is work! work done as a gift for the community! and reducing that to 'not gatekeeping' feels like it reframes sharing info and resources as an obligation instead of a gift

[devsgames]

HOT GAMEDEVS DON'T GATEKEEP

Inspired by this post by @midwinterhunt, here's a compilation of all the game dev resources I have come across, most of which I use fairly frequently. Most of these are free, some are paid but fairly cheap. Feel free to add your own resources. ✌️

Important reminder: When using basically any works or programs someone else created in your games, make sure you thoroughly understand the licenses and terms it has been shared with. If you don't know what the terms are, reach out to the resource and ask. Don't be lazy about this; it's not only dishonest but it can come back to bite you.

Engines

Unity - Best suited for mobile and multi-platform.

Unreal - Tailored for shooters and high-fidelity experiences.

PICO-8 - Virtual console for simple games

Godot - Open source and free!

GameMaker - Good for 2D games

Bitsy - Great little engine for making simple games and experiences

Construct - Never used but have heard nice things

Scratch - If you've never coded before, this is the best place to start. Great for young devs and those who want to get their feet wet.

Adventure Game Studio - Best suited for adventure games

RPG Maker - Best suited for top-down classic JRPG style games

Twine - Text-centric games like Interactive Fiction

Assets

OpenGameArt - Many assets, various licenses, and plenty of CC0 content.

Unity Store - For Unity only. Some free.

Unreal Store - For Unreal only. Some free.

Godot Asset Library

Jean Moreno's Toon Effects - Some of the best effects available on the Unity store. Unity only but I've used them in basically every project.

Steamworks.net C# Wrapper For Unity - Unity only C# wrapper for integrating Steam compatibility to your game

Itch.io - Plenty of free art assets and game dev resources

Kenney - Kenney makes tons of open-source assets for devs to use.

Art

Mixamo - Generates rigs for your humanoid models and lets you apply a library of free humanoid animations to them. Super helpful for prototyping. Adobe.

Blender - Free, open source and fully featured 3D program.

XNormal - Free offline normal map generator

Normal Map Online - Free online normal map generator

Crocotile - Cheap tool for building 3D models from sprite sheets

MagicaVoxel - Free voxel modelling tool

Piskel - Free online sprite drawing tool

Aesprite - Paid sprite drawing tool

TurboSquid - Not always great quality, but can be good source of free placeholders.

Textures.com - Limited texture downloads per day but free for personal use.

Pexels - Free stock photo resource. Most are free for commercial use. Check licenses.

Clipstudio - Good for illustration or graphic design. One time payment.

GIMP - Image editing program a-la Photoshop. Free.

Audio

Audacity - Free and fully-featured DAW/audio editor.

sfx.me - Free 8-bit synth-style sound effect generator for games.

CastingCallClub - Easy forum to find amateur voice talent for your project (p.s.: you should pay them).

FreeSound.org - Free sounds, searchable by license. A go-to for my audio needs.

Incompetech - Royalty-free music by Kevin McLeod.

Scott Buckley Music - Royalty free with conditions. Generally more on the cinematic side of things but very good stuff!

SoundCloud - 'Search -> By Track -> Filter: Use Commercially' leads to songs posted with allowance of commercial use. Always reach out to the artist to understand their terms and confirm that it's okay to use with your project.

Project Planning

Keymailer - Handy for mailing keys to influencers (don't expect a lot of traction unless you're paying for some of the features though).

Trello - Kanban board. Great for organizing tasks, managing bugs, etc. Free.

Notion - Private text and wiki page editor. Good for project organization, note taking, and fleshing out ideas. Free.

Obsidian - Alternative to Notion, with similar features.

Miro - Free whiteboard for organizing thoughts, images, brainstorming, etc.

Wave - Free Bookkeeping site. Great for keeping finances organized.

[acis-arts]

UM WHAT IBIS BRUSH DO YOU USE?

It looks consumable

(I think you use ibis)

Yup, Ibispaint user right here XD I'm also drawing everything with my finger on my phone

These are the brushes I use the most recently:

Pencil Mod is what I use for lineart, Transparent Watercolor for shading on characters and the canvas brush is what I occasionally use to color/shade some backgrounds. When I'm drawing stuff like blood stains, I use Watercolor (Edge 2)

You should be able to find all of these from the brush collection Ibispaint provides, except for the canvas brush. I don't remember when I got it, but I think my friend shared the brush qr code to me over a year ago. Hot artists don't gatekeep, so here's the QR code for the brush:

Other than these, I also use the Lasso Fill/Eraser tool often

[shapelytimber]

Hiii! Obsessed with ur art style and ur character design skills

Do you have any tips or tricks for depicting different body types and also specifically drawing wrinkles bc it never turns out for me (sad) and I need to draw hot older women

Omg thank you sm ! <3 And if you want some tips, I can give you a lot jfifkd I went to art school for way to long and I'm not one for gatekeeping

For different body types, just practice figure drawing (and learn simplified anatomy) ! Here are some great resources to do it online (because finding real life models when your not in school is hard)

Figure drawing :

Timed figure poses (nude) on ytb / line of action / sketch daily

You can also look at the books "Morpho", tho it's not free

Artistic anatomy :

You can look at books from Paul Richier (tho he was a doctor not an artist so a lot of it is way too detailed, but you can find some very useful drawings) -> general stuff (p53 for a full man, the rest is more specific but you can find some zoom on specific muscles in movement) (also oops sorry all in french), specifically woman's anatomy p65 (tho it's practically the same thing but this ones more wordy so less fun to look at)

Anatomy for sculptors (great 3d models)

And now old people ! Wrinkles can happen in a lot of different circumstances : when showing emotion, depending on the angles of the face, on fatigue, on weight, if your skull is more or less visible...ect...

But if you want to learn how to draw specifically wrinkles that appear with age, there is multiple things to know :

(Very long talk about lines on faces below, I'm sparing you all not interested to have to scrolls through all that fjdkdk)

-wrinkles show in the areas of the face where there is repeated movement that create a fold that, with time, makes a permanent mark.

-when drawing, you should more or less mark them depending on their deepness. For the deeper ones draw with a black line, less deep a colored one and very subtle just using shading (at least that's how I do it in my style). Also ! They are certain lines that are normal to see on faces of every age, but tend to make them appear wayyy older in stylized drawing (especially with lines). For example, I have pretty defined lines going from my nose to the corner of my mouth because I have defined cheekbones. But if I where to draw them as marked as they look irl, I would appear way *way* older than I am. So unless you want to go for realism, go a bit lighter on the ones going from nose to mouth or the crow's feet (unless laughing) for someone under the age of ~50

- Not everyone get the same wrinkles, faces can tell a story ! For example if you choose to accentuate more the ones at the edge of the eyes and corner of the lips, that could mean your character spent a lot of his life smiling and laughing. In contrary, if you accentuate the ones between the eyebrows and around the nose, that means he sneered and scowled often.

And tips specially for senior citizens (after like 60)

- The quality of skin in older people is different ! The skin is thinner and drooping down (interesting detail, that you prob won't use in 2d art but, around 80yo the skin becomes once again a bit more taut and smooth (this is very subtle) before once again degrading further ! Source : my old sculpture teacher- he used to teach in med school, but I can't find a source online so take this with a grain of salt).

So learning the zones of the face where fat accumulates, then making them shift downwards can be a way to show age. They are some people who have very peculiar faces or don't have much fat there (ex Peter Cushing), but in *most* people it's the case, even if it's subtle.

- You can also make the skull more visible : sunken eyes, hollow cheeks... Even if your character isn't particularly thin, it will make them appear older. But obviously the more fat there is, the more subtle it is.

But really the best tips of all : look at old people :) in pictures or irl

Oops this is very long fjfknfk

[guardian-of-fun-times]

❄️Toxic Cosplayers: Frostplay❄️

This is going to be a long-ass post, so get comfortable with your favorite drink and a snack. As for me, the tea is hot and I'm ready to spill.

If you don't already know, this is Juliette, better known as Jacoby or Frostplay online. A band enthusiast, cosplayer, influencer, public figure, suicide prevention advocate, and YouTuber hailing from Southern California.

When I first saw Juliette, I assumed they were either Genderfluid or Trans in which they never stated until they made the post: "I'm a Girl!" after an Instagram account "exposed" her for wearing a binder. The account no longer exists because it was reported and deactivated.

I met Juliette at Anime Los Angeles years ago and she was very standoffish and rude to me seeing that I was also cosplaying the same character. I saw her again at ALA as Jack Frost and she asked me what happened to my leg noticing that I was in a knee brace and carried a crutch to lean on while I had my staff in my other hand.

She wasn’t well-liked in the Jelsa community circa 2013-2015 because she used to fail to credit artists. I never really paid attention to their work because of that, and some things she did… she came across at times as if she thought she was actually Jack Frost, and therefore the authority. It was just a different vibe to others who can have fun but, end of the day you know they know they aren't Jack Frost or any other character.

Her YouTube seemed to have some blurred lines where they thought they were THE Jack Frost. There’s a difference between playing the part at a cosplay convention, or for kids, but end of the day, even the Disney face characters know they aren’t actually Cinderella or something.

Another thing that disappointed me. How can you cosplay Jack Frost and ignore children? That’s such a big part of him. He’s the one who gets the Guardians to reconnect with the kids. Jackson was entertaining the kids. Jack was there for the kids well before he was a guardian.

You might know, that Frostplay went to Disney and dressed as Jack to get those photos and videos with the Elsa face character. Disney face characters have to feign ignorance of things outside of their Disney universe, so putting her in a rough position and potentially causing issues for her at work -- all for internet clout.

So, the stuff about Juliette and the Elsa cosplayers is the tip of the iceberg. She went full Q Anon. She "came out" as cisgender and straight in an emotional video. She was pretending to be in love with them for about five years, so it's a whole fucked up thing.

For a while, it was clear that her whole thing with Jack was some sort of coping mechanism for insecurity about who she was. She threw herself into the character so much that she dated two people at the time, both were Elsa cosplayers. So, it wasn't just one. She broke hearts and pushed people away.

There was a girl named Sofie before Alison. Sofie was from Florida and flew out here a time or two. I still think Juliette will one day accept that she's gender fluid or trans. Plus I know someone who told me that she once used a pseudo penis as a vessel to urinate through, sometimes. So, that adds to it. She's from a conservative area and that definitely influenced her. As for her being rude: she seemed to start gatekeeping the character.

She got awfully jealous and upset that GuardianFrosty on Instagram had taken inspiration from her Royal Jack Frost cosplay. He was literally was driven off Instagram and deactivated his account a few years ago for months because of Frostplay and their friends/followers since they kept sending hate, and death threats if he ever showed up at any California convention.

Claiming a character is childish behavior. Cosplay who you want, when you want. If other people have issues, let that trash take itself out.

[sleeplesssmoll]

Life-Cycle of a Fandom

Interest

People are growing aware of the subject and sharing promotional material. They start creating spaces to talk and share information about the subject.

Growth

Increased activity as people get involved. Memes are shared. Inside jokes are made. Theories are developed. Fanfiction and fanart. A culture develops. Elements are analyzed, adding layers to the subject and makes it more complex.

Peak

The popularity is at its highest but the fans want more. Wilder theories appear. Increased hot takes on established "norms" in the community. Flanderization is rampant in this time.

"Flanderization is the process through which a complex fictional character's essential traits are oversimplified to the point where they constitute their entire personality, or at least exaggerated while other traits remain, over the course of a serial work." Wikipedia

However, the fandom is still strong. The memes still flow. There is an abundance of content to consume and share.

Division

Dissenting opinions create factions within the fandom. Tensions arise between those with differing opinions or idea. The factions support people in their group but belittle outsiders. In this time, there is a lot of policing, gatekeeping, and arguing happening. Morals, values, and accusations are brought into the mix. The fandom becomes less about the subject, and more about proving a point. Imaginary enemies arise.

Self-cannabalism and infighting

The faction begins to consume it's own members as the gatekeeping and policing gets worse. People within the same faction turn on each other. Those who tried to avoid the fighting are either dragged into it or leave. Its no longer about the subject but about the people in the community. For example an argument goes from "i don't like this ship" to "people who like this ship are twisted." This is one of the most toxic times to be in the fandom. The fandom has shifted from coming together to enjoy something to a war zone that must have a winner. It cannot recover from this state though some may try.

There is never a winner, only loss.

Decay

People are put off from the fighting or are tired of it. The well of fan content dries as artists, writers, and other creators move onto something else. Without new content being produced, interest declines. Potential newcomers who saw the toxic environment don't want to be associated with the fandom because now its a different beast.

Silence.

Someone may post once in a blue moon or a newcomer might stumble across the subject. However, the fandom is "dead" and can no longer reach the activity it did at its peak. Most of these same fans of the subject have similar interests meaning they end up together in a new community.

The cycle repeats.

[ullevikk]

I've seen the hot artist don't gatekeep so let me add some from myself too

Sketchfab - great source of reference with a ton of 3d models to rotate around

Posemaniacs - i haven't used it much personally, but it has clip studio paint integration which is super cool!!!

https://coolors.co/

Coolors - really handy palete generator!

BONUS ROUND:

Museum databases are a great source if you need some historical accurate references!!

[purple-cray0ns]

Sorry, but I had more thoughts! I find myself drawing like the same 1-2 head angles over and over again, and what stood out to me about your art is you are really good and drawing lots of different head angles. Do you have any tips on how to do that? /np

Of course!!! Took me so long to find a method that works for me for doing complex angles and I'd love to share the wisdom (hot artists don't gatekeep heehe)

I kinda build from the ground up, so my first thing is to get really REALLY good at drawing just sheets of paper in perspective, bend them fold them leave them flat but master this first!!

Next is turning those sheets into cubes and prisms, literally every anatomy build can be simplified into simple 3d shapes so that's what u work on! I chisle the head out of one of these cubes (and the best part is that they can be any size really and the face proportions will still be intact, really helps with diverse shape language :D)

And here's that breakdown! A lot of people use halves to build the face, I use thirds (which is actually a bit more anatomically accurate cough cough). Every feature on the face fits onto those cubes so you never have to guess where they go, and I have a habit of making either the chin or the forehead too small, so marking where the eyebrows and bottom of the nose go first leave me enough room for the rest.

Very janky example but this is how I do it basically! It's like sculpting the features out of a block instead of starting from the middle of the face and working out like I see a lot of tutorials do. It's not so much as memorizing how to draw the head at different angles, but learning to draw things IN the angle first, and making that object more complex :)

[nabbit-unmasked]

Current Strongest Kin(s): a bunch of songs

Most Preferred Name(s): Sage

Current Fronters: Sage & Cougar (probably)

Intro Post!

Hi! I'm Sage/Stolace, but you can also call me by any kin name. I'm also fine with any nicknames you can come up with, as long as they're spinoffs of my other names!

• I'm an Alterhuman, and that's what this blog will be mainly focused on, with a special focus on placekin topics.

• My pronouns are he/it/lo/🇨🇫

• I'm a minor (16+ in age)

• I am Autistic and attribute this as the source of my alterhumanity.

• I am a therian, placekin, fictionkin, conceptkin, and an alterhuman in general. Overall, I have 20+ confirmed kintypes which I'll list down below.

• I am genderfluid, and my sexuality is achillean. I identify as trans, mlm, and punkboy4punkboy. I am also objectum, especially for The Gambia and dakota discs.

• Taken by Val (he is my boyfriend /srs)

• I personally identify as a punk, degenerate, freak, and social reject. I reclaim these terms proudly.

• Liminous (Dreadliminal, Backroomian, +more)

• I am the functioner of an Imagian plurality. Collectively, we use they/them pronouns. We are mixed-origin and pro-endo, but we aren't really concerned about our own origin or if we are disordered or not.

[ Kinlist, Identities, Tags, and BYF under the cut. ]

♡ -> Kinlist <- ♡

• Theriotypes:

♡ Lipizzan

♡ Fisher

♡ Quoll (Species leaning: Eastern & Spot-Tailed)

♡ Ruminantia (Cladotherian)

♡ Ardeidae (Pluritherian)

♡ New Guinea Singing Dog / Canine

♡ Big Cat (Lion / Cougar)

♡ [Unsure] Kori Bustard

• Placekin:

♡ Central African Republic (C.A.R. / CAR)

• Conceptkin:

♡ Home Safety Hotline/HSH

*[as in the company, not the physical game]

♡ Slaughterhouse (GD level)

♡ Limbo (GD level)

• Songkins:

♡ Can't Stop - Red Hot Chili Peppers

♡ Everyone Knows That/EKT (Lostwave version)

♡ B O D Y O N T H E F L O O R - Scratchy

♡ you don't love me - Rebzyyx

• Songflickers:

[ Currently None ]

• Fictionkins:

♡ Stolace* (Helluva Boss)

♡ Vox (Hazbin Hotel)

♡ Adam (Hazbin Hotel)

♡ Stone (Ramshackle)

♡ Moisty (TWISTED DOCTOR Universe / Doll Eye)

♡ Nabbit (Mario Franchise)

♡ Cooper (Papa's -eria games)

♡ 1st Prize (BBIEAL)

♡ Blabbot (Amanda the Adventurer)

*[ I spell my name as "Stolace", not "Stolas". ]

• Fictionhearted:

♡ Blitzø (Helluva Boss)

♡ Valentino (Hazbin Hotel)

• Other Hearttypes:

♡ D.R.C.

♡ Birds

♡ Bat-Eared Fox

• Other Identities:

♡ Myotis/Little Brown Bat w/ Leafnose

♡ Common Bedbug copinglink

♡ Seagull copinglink

♡ Odie copinglink (from Garfield)

Special Tags:

#I am the CAR kin / #CARstuff🇨🇫: Posts about my placekin experience as the Central African Republic.

#placekin questions: Answering questions about Placekin and my experience with being placekin.

#🇨🇫❤🇬🇲: Posts about my objectum crush, The Gambia

#aWannabe: Posts about my favorite music artist, aWannabe.

Before You Follow (BYF) :

• I am a minor (16+)

• I don't mind if 18+ blogs interact in a SFW manner, as long as your blog isn't entirely/mostly NSFW

• I like Hazbin Hotel and 4-5 of my headmates are sourced there (some ppl have this on their DNI???)

• I'm dating Valentino from Hazbin Hotel. /srs

• I am against gatekeeping and exclusion.

• I welcome and support every kind of system, plurality, and multiplicity, including endos. I am part of a mixed-origin imagian plurality myself.

• I welcome and support factkin and factives. I am not one myself, but our plurality does have factives.

• I do not post or repost anything political on this blog, unless it is in reference to placekin.

• I don't participate in proship or radqueer discourse on this blog. Consider me neutral.

• I have no DNI. I cannot stop you from making that first interaction with me. If I strongly disagree with your views or you make me uncomfortable, I will just block you.

[cea-tide]

Art Advice and Resources Archive

A collection of posts with art advice and resources I have come across.

The entries are in no particular order. The post is edited with new entries when I come across them.

Anatomy

How to draw chubby characters

How to draw a damn fine ass

How to draw arms and legs

Head angles website

Better flesh cloud alternative

Drawing darker skin tones

Drawing east Asian faces

The colour of wounds cycle

Drawing a good amputee character

A general cane guide (for artists and writers)

Self-portrait exercise

Mobility aid user art references + video & more pictures of first ref

Drawing wheel chair using characters

iwasarob0t's "how I draw fat people" + more

nsfwbutt's "How to fat people"

Anatomically accurate catpeople ears

How to Draw Manga Furries

Bird wing anatomy

Fur tutorial

Drawing black characters

Horse hooves

Drawing arms

Hugs art references

Book: Morpho fat and skin folds by Michel Lauricella

Miscellaneous

How to draw good

How do I change the colours

Sight size method

Shadows

Getting ideas: become a cardboard box

Pixel art tutorials

How to draw a horse - comic

2-point perspective drawing trick

The art of lettering comics

Animation step by step (Tsuya vs Toga animation)

Colour theory advice collection

How to draw metal?

ShrubSparrow's bird tutorial

Animation storyboarding basics

Why not to use an eraser

Art studies for environments and characters

Colour palette inspiration from fire hydrants

Drawing drapery/clothes

Collars & cuffs reference

Free artist resources (hot artists don't gatekeep)

Historical fashion collection

Comic devices

niawildewood's "How I draw grass"

Drawing reflective highlights

Checker pattern names

Digital interior/exterior design

[carnivore-voyeur]

I've come to the conclusion that a lot of my anxieties re: new fans coming into the metal scene have less to do with wanting to gatekeep something special to me (b/c fuck gatekeeping) but more to do with the way new fans are bringing a "pop" mentality into the scene, especially when it comes to the consumption of metal and the perceived longevity of artists.

There's this mentality that artists have to be continually producing content in order to stay relevant that is rooted in pop music culture. However, metal bands can take years between albums and that's supposed to be normal. We aren't supposed to keep demanding and demanding and consuming and consuming.

Pop music was specifically meant for continual production and consumption. Artists are meant to produce hit after hit until they run dry, and that ties into the perceived longevity of metal artists as well as a possible reason why many fans make strange assumptions about metal musicians because of their age (i.e. thinking 42 is retirement age).

Along with this, there's a scarcity mentality among new fans. There's this idea that you have to keep on consuming the artist's work because they're only available for a limited time. You have to have the best tickets on the hottest tour and you have to demand the artist's attention and you have to capture every moment on camera.

You have new fans treating musicians like "biases" in a pop group instead of recognizing them as the musicians they are and while I don't agree with the (often misogynistic) takes that "people only like x b/c they're hot" from grody metalheads, there's something to be said for fans who don't respect the art that the musician is making.

That's also where I'm constantly finding fans evaluating musicians based on their aesthetic appeal rather than their talent. That is something that the pop music scene has trained audiences to do, but all of that isn't relevant to metal. It's not necessary in metal. Like why should I give a shit that someone looks older, especially off stage?

Don't purposefully misunderstand me. I'm not saying that fans shouldn't find the artists attractive. I'm also not saying that expressing that attraction is wrong. I'm saying that respect for the artist should not hinge entirely on how aesthetically appealing they are to fans, which again is something often promoted in the pop music scene.

Metal is for everyone and anyone who wants to come into the scene and enjoy it. However, metal is resistant to the culture of pop music for very good reasons. It's not because it is inherently better, and I'm not trying to prove that here. Even I enjoy pop music. It's just that metal is meant to counter that culture and we're losing focus on that.

... and there's always been douchebags at shows, but fan entitlement to attention - a sort of main character syndrome, if you will - at shows has made it much more difficult to enjoy. No one's there to look at you, nor should anyone be there to evaluate you as "the best #1 fan." They're there to enjoy the show and the artists.

Don't listen to gatekeeping assholes, but there's value in listening to long time metalheads talk about what makes metal special and changing your own mindset about what a good musician or artist looks like. There's some "deprogramming" you have to do sometimes to break out of the mindset that the pop industry has imposed on you.

[scarlettjulz]

You know hot artists don't gatekeep, so here you go, a golden one I found this month. So far? Exceptionally good.

This is like Mil*note but free.

In my case, at least now, it is impossible to pay something in dollars because of the economy in my country. So I'm really glad I found this app because I can still do mind mapping without paying extra in money I don't have.

If it works for you, I'm glad, let me know! If you would rather work with the other site, that's cool too!

Oh, btw, Touchnotes has an amazing app with an amazing interface that I find super helpful and easy to understand.

NOT A PAYED AD, just my thoughts on this gem!

[trixiedragongirl]

Dragon rider OCs and their Dragons

Something I never understood was all the fans' OCs riding a "newly discovered" second Night Fury/ "Night Fury Hybrid of [X Dragon]"

I get that Hiccup rides one, but it's overused in fanfics, and almost a trope at this point. I understand it's fanfiction, I just think the uniqueness of Toothless should somewhat remain center in a lot of works (there can always be exceptions of course, and I don't wanna sound like I'm gatekeeping or anything. This is also focusing on fanfics in the canon timeline/universe, meaning not modern or modern AU).

Here's some alternative suggestions that have a similar physical structure to the Night Fury species that I think would be more creative for artists and writers alike:

Light Fury: Probably the most obvious suggestion, but it is confirmed in the Hidden World they as a species are still around and thriving. Although you'd probably have to move around canon timelines for your OC to ride one (hey it's fanfic don't have to totally follow canon)

Sand Wraith: My personal favorite and choice for my OC, they tend to bury in the sand and do ambush tactics from below. This could be a very creative way to have your character need to ride a bit with another while your dragon waits in the sand for the prime opportunity to strike. Interestingly, they're a Tidal Class dragon, which is also a unique aspect of the night fury like dragon. The canon color is "sandy brown", but sand comes in various colors in reality, so you have a whole array of sand colors to choose from, such as white sand, black sand, orange, yellow, and reds could all work for a Sand Wraith. There's even a dragon with really bright coloration called Veiled Spectruf, with bright reds and yellows, so really any color could work. It even shoots hot balls of sand instead of normal fire or plasma, and are really fast and agile. So you've essentially have a lesser seen, more unique dragon similar in shape to the Night Fury, with, in my opinion, a really cool attack type.

Woolly Howl: The Woolly Howl was once my OCs dragon, before I did more research into the Sand Wraith, however these guys are still pretty cool and have a bunch of unique writing challenges you can deal with while writing fanfics. The Woolly Howl has scales, that from a distance, look like fur. This would mean any potential rider would need to develop a unique saddle and equipment for their Woolly Howl. They shoot ice instead of fire, and have really good endurance in battle, and in blizzards (a good ability on berk where is snows 9 months of the year). It's a strike class dragon, and has a fast speed and really stealthy in the aforementioned blizzards, and in the sky due to its light coloration. There are even Woolly Howls with brighter coloration such as red, or the legendary Snoggletogg Wraith (a green, white, and red Woolly Howl), so you've got more than just white colors to choose from for your dragon. The Woolly Howl is even considered to be one of the fastest dragons, and some of them are able to fly so fast their tails start to whistle. They're a bit bulkier in shape compared to the Night, Light Fury species, but your character would still have a cool, unique dragon not really seen in the movies, that would still be able to help in a battle.

Of course these are just suggestions for dragons that are similar in shape to a a Night Fury, there are still other dragons out there that are a lot more common but still cool, such as the Gronckle (poor guys are so underrated), Deadly Nadder, Monstrous Nightmare, and more! However these are just some suggestions from a random girl on the internet, so if you disagree, ignore me lol