#i have my own original comics im trying to draw why

[junotter]

sometimes researching for avatar redesigns has you 6 layers deep into the Japan's Meiji era allies wiki

[sabertoothwalrus]

eep sorry if youve been asked this, but when u go abt drawing bgs for ur comics, do u look up references or use imagination, and how do u practice drawing bgs for storyboards rather than illustrations? im rlly not sure where to start, and i feel like a lot of advice focuses on rendering bgs rather than it feeling ~lived in~ or actively being used or augh not sure how to say!!

hhhh ok this is something I am also still in the process of trying to figure out, and I am not a professional storyboard artist so I will attempt to answer to the best of my ability.

when it comes to storyboards, the amount of detail bgs will have during the boards phase will depend largely on both the studio AND the specific production. some 3D shows will have a render of a commonly used room the board artists can angle around for their shots. Adventure Time boards tended to be pretty loose, while the Owl House boards are EXCEPTIONALLY clean. DTVA seems to have bgs created in a several step process, and I'm not exactly sure of the timeline, but I know they have vis dev artists that do more illustrative, conceptual drawings to get the vibe, then the board artists draw out what general angles will actually be used, then layout artists/bg designers who actually go in and DRAW those bgs and add in all the little details, and THEN the colorist comes in and...colors it. I don't think every studio distributes the work in this same way. Not every studio is going to want board artists to draw clean backgrounds, but MOST will get pissed if you refuse to draw them at all djfhgdjf

If you want some tips about adding small details, this has some really useful advice.

I don't add lighting or grayscale values to my comics unless it's important to the tone/clarity, and I think that's generally the case with boards too (at least for TV, I don't know as much about boarding for feature). Here's some advice about adding lighting.

^ here's a bg I put a little more effort into than usual. I referenced some images of thrift shops I pulled up on duck duck go, some of my own memories of thrift shops I've been to, and even went on the shiftythrifting tumblr. This was just a silly comic I knew I'd be posting on tumblr rather than a serious board, so it didn't matter to me if it was perfectly clean or not. some of the shapes are... vague. and loose. but who cares sdjhfjd I think (?) it conveys the concept that this is a thrift shop.

^ for THIS comic I wanted imply hunter crowded them in the bathroom to "talk in private" which felt like a very 16 year old thing to do + there were already some nifty references of the Noceda's bathroom. and listen I know it's not perfect. I didn't draw ANY perspective guides, did more trial and error than I probably needed to, the cabinet is WAY too high. (even in the original, why is this bathroom so spacious???? why is the toilet so far from the wall where the toilet paper is???) but even with all the mistakes, it doesn't matter! no one probably noticed while watching. you see it so briefly, and your attention is still focused on the characters.

I'd say the main thing when drawing bgs for storyboarding & comics is to focus on Perspective and Composition above all else. It's ok to be loose, but make sure you still have Clarity. Be mindful of proportion ("how big is this character in comparison to the objects around them?") and angles ("if this is a low angle, shouldn't I be seeing the ceiling/sky?") etc etc because even if you know you won't be drawing it perfectly, it helps to still have it in mind.

[violetvirus]

DUDE, YOUR AU IS SO COOLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!

trying to think of AU names. i should be studying but. IT'S COOL

tell me about Ao Lie. and Wukong, and his programming backstory. and why Tripitaka is in trouble with the government. and Nezha (obviously, as aroacenezha LMAO). i wanna know everything about that angry little cyberpunk guy. what's his junkyard look like? have any Ao Lie/Nezha spats? is he a main-ish character?

and how does this translate w/ the og story of JTTW? is this just a character idea kind of thing, or some ideas about the scrolls and journey to enlightenment?

look. you put out cool idea and now I will not stop talking. <3

AAAAAHAH THANK YOU!! yeah… not sure what i should name it yet agh…. But I'm sure i'll think of something more clever than cyberpunk jttw! eventually…

rubs hands together lets get to it heheh

ao lie and tripitaka's relationship is one of my favs to draw and write about currently, they both lean on each other super hard for support bc at their core they're both so lonely yet unable to reach out for help. ao lie often has tripitaka pick him up from parties or other events. their friendship has only stayed so strong because ao lie is so insistent that he would get to know the shut off tripitaka.

wukong's old programming was a secret project from the jade city government to raze areas marked as "undesirable" from the city. this is mostly places where resentment towards the government is growing, and poor areas. wukong's original programming was violent and obedient, he had no personality of his own and his only goal was to carry out the current command. but because of this, it was easier for tripitaka to rewire him, as robots with no set personality code can more easily be reprogrammed, as they're almost a blank slate.

ao lie and wukong… used to not like each other. at all.

but one night, they got the chance to actually talk to just each other. and after that, they became much friendlier to one another. i want to make a comic based off this so i can't say much for now…

tripitaka is in trouble with the government because he is against it. jade city's government is corrupt and ripe with nepotism. they try and lock out technology from reaching poor areas. so tripitaka builds and creates, so that the defenseless can defend themselves. tripitaka is technically an illegal citizen, nobody is really sure where he's from and he has no official papers stating he is a citizen of jade city. but he's been living in the slums since he was very young. tripitaka also gets into trouble for breaking and entering and trespassing, as he will sometimes need materials that aren't available on the black market and will take matters into his own hands. tripitaka can be a little badass, as a treat. (but i love book tripitaka too)

though this tripitaka is still a strict pacifist, so his crimes are all non-violent.

nezha!! little nezha thinks he looks very badass, but everyone else wonders… who the hell is dressing this kid LOL. nezha has first hand experienced the inequality of jade city from living in the slums and has becomes extremely protective over the people there. just on the outskirts of his town there is a junkyard he frequents. tripitaka goes there often too, for scrap metal, and sometimes nezha will bring him materials (if tripitaka asks nicely, lmao). when wukong was first sent to raze their town, nezha was able to pin him under steel pipes in the junkyard, making it so tripitaka could reprogram him. nezha is still extremely proud of this. im making a comic based on this moment….

nezha often will enter tripitaka's home without warning, so the first time he entered with ao lie there, he assumed the worst and jumped to defend tripitaka. ao lie found it hilarious and adorable. ao lie doesn't take nezha very seriously and reminds him often that he has no part in what his family does as he was disowned, but nezha is convinced otherwise and will pester tripitaka constantly to stop talking to ao lie.

nezha is a main character, he is the connection for tripitaka to the neighborhood. he acts a bit like a scout, alerting tripitaka to events that are happening or people that need help or things fixed. nezha seeks out tripitaka because he knows that tripitaka is dependable and wants the best for people.

as for how it translates to the og story of jttw… in my head, eventually, tripitaka is forced to leave Jade City with his robots and head west. i don't have it all figured out yet, but the scrolls would instead be like… some kind of data. sorry this part is so vague haha, in my head there is a closer resemblance. i currently have the story split into a few parts, and right now we're remaining in jade city.

thank you so much for asking!! i love rambling about these guys….

[waterloggedsoliloquy]

18 & 20 for the ask game. i need to hear how this hypothetical drama would unfold

you picked the GOODIES

18.) what aspect of the story would get you #canceled on twitter?

this is a toughie is the thing. while im not one of those creators thats terrified of being offensive or problematic, i also dont pay that much attention to elements of work that might offend. im more interested in being genuine and trusting my message rather than relishing in having #problematique content.

that being said i think a lot of people would not like that sicely isnt a g*ld st*r lesbian or that lucerne doesnt use labels, bc twitter is really hung up on what characters "really" are or what stories "really" mean.

i think theyd also do that thing where theyd be like ugh look at these children currently in abusive situations why are they not acting 100% perfectly, the author clearly has no idea what theyre doing with portraying abuse, this is just torture porn and fetishizing ptsd/osddid. bc theres no way that the things that happen in CW could ever happen to people, bc abuse happens to other people and never in anything i might have to interact with.

20.) your ocverse just got a movie trilogy a la hunger games style. how have they horribly mangled your message/theme so that the movies are now a showcase of what the original was condemning?

This ones also a toughie actually bc a large part in why the hunger games movies contributed to showcasing what the original work condemned is because the media circus and bloodsports as vapid entertainment were directly being condemned in the original and #Media isnt really a huge part of carousel waltz. i think in order to really turn carousel waltz on its head youd have to be simultaneously very victim-blamey to the children but also prop up the adults as the ones who must "save them", bc children cant do anything on their own and cant be trusted to have legitimate grievances with the adults in their lives. flattening midas into either a villain who never cared about the people he abused or apologizing for him as a well-meaning patriarch who was just led astray and by proxy flattening the abuse into depictions more palatable to the wider consumer audience would do it i think.

but i dont know if it being a movie trilogy would necessarily cause those changes to occur-- movies are visual and sequential like comics but usually have to be 2 hours or less and are overwhelmingly held hostage at the whims of distributors, executive boards, investors, etc. so the influences it would have over carousel waltz would be along those lines. i think that with the time crunch it'd probably be really easy to make the story less subtle, and to have to hammer home points. certain characters necessarily would not have as much screentime and focus in a movie trilogy, which i think WOULD contribute to being an example of what im trying to condemn, and a movie might inadvertently say that some abused children are just collateral damage and we can move past them, some abused children dont have interiority or anything to draw attention to them, some abused children are more important or worth rescuing more. its also very important to me that most of the carousel waltz kids r not white, and that the grownups are, but casting would probably whitewash them or try to make the story colorblind instead of keeping in how midas' abuse takes advantage of his identity of whiteness over them. combine this w the idea that there needs to be adults to save these kids and u get a white savior araceli. if this concept makes you want to gnaw your leg off at the ankle to get the shackle off, that just means youre still human! try to hold onto that feeling.

since magical girl isnt a big genre in the west theyd try to reflavor it as some other thing like superheroes or a dnd party or something. or theyd want to age up the kids so the bad things happen to a more acceptable age group bc the idea that kids might have bad things happen to them is a scary thought so theyd completely miss the point abt it being a story abt child abuse and now its a buncha late teens-early 20s bullshit.

im actually debating how much swearing i want in carousel waltz (it was really hard writing guardians dilemma without zizi swearing) but executives would only let me have one fuck and would not let anthea call anyone a cocksucker :(

[wc-confessions]

Hi, I don’t usually come to confessions blogs for like mental health reasons but I’m the author of Follow Your Heart and i was told it was being discussed on here so I wanted to come talk about it myself.

I started writing the comic when I was in highschool, so I was a child myself. (I don’t remember my exact age, just that I remember drawing concept art while hanging out in my school’s library) That’s why the original “drama” thing was there between Mouseclaw and Sootpaw. Spottedleafs Heart came out and it was so bad that it made me re-examine that part of the story. Warriors romantizes relationships with age gaps like Soot and Mouse all the time, hence why I probably didn’t think anything of it back then. (See: Dustfern, Bramblesquirrel)

Yes, there are scenes where it’s implied the characters have had sex. There is absolutely nothing explicit however, and I have some bad news for the original anon about how babies were made if they’re that upset about it, because literally every child born in the series implies the characters had sex lol. Its even implied Daisy and Spiderleg had a one night stand! (He specifically says their kits were an accident!)

I also don’t appreciate the implications of what they were saying as someone who was traumatized by actual zooporn w real animals as a young child. That kind of thing is exactly the reason I don’t post or advertise my comic on twitter or tumblr, I knew I’d get accused of that shit. Idk if the original anon is reading this but please think about what you say before you say it :/

I’m a human being and I’m not perfect. But I like to think I’m doing okay, since multiple CSA survivors have shared their stories in my comments and thanked me for making the comic (im not trying to toot my own horn, im simply stating facts- i dont want to pat my own ass or anything) and I also had a CSA survivor as a beta reader of the comic.

I don’t think Spottedleaf experienced actual sexual abuse if that’s what the other anon was implying, I just think that the story was a VERY bad example of grooming and it was what inspired me to do better.

 I’m doing this specifically because if there is the BAREST fucking chance I can educate a kid and keep them out if this situation, I want to take it. I feel incredibly strongly about this topic and that’s why I wanted to do something about it. I said this in a page description, but I was provided very little education on this in school, in fact I can only concretely remember one video and I have a vague idea that there was one other thing I was shown to educate about CSA- compared to the abstinence-only sex education that was drilled in my head from like, 6th to 9th grade. I’m just a blip in the sea of warcats comics on dA, but I can at least try my best to help where I can.

I have a warning page up that talks about the subject matter which is what I’m sure you saw, but I go a little more in depth in the description of chapter 5’s cover.

I don’t know you and you don’t know me, but I genuinely deeply appreciate you not immediately trying to crucify me when that anon came to your inbox. Like I said, there’s a reason I don’t advertise on tumblr. I really really appreciate you taking a neutral stance until you knew more. Thank you, it means a lot. :) sorry for the very long ask, haha.

thank you for your response and its no problem. in these sorts of situations its always best to pretty much get your own info so i took it very seriously. im very sorry about all that and dont hesitate to lmk if youd rather not be spoken about on here i'd completely understand.

[asterlovessams]

My aus\ocs\rules for the blog

Hi im Aster i use any pronouns info under the cut 👍

ATTENTION!!!

The people that run this blog are MINORS while ONE is a ADULT but that does not make it okay to ask about sexual content anyone who draws/writes/talks about nsfw who comes in contact with one of the owners do NOT flirt, talk about sexual activity, or BDMS lifestyles you can do whatever you want on YOUR BLOG but not mine this includes asks, messages, comments, and reblogs.

•C.A.S.S (basically the story of my sams ocs)

•fake faces (FF) (A cannibal branch off au of CASS)

•plans fail and new lifes comes (pfanlc) (bloodmoon and harvest get into a fight with eclipse over the star after they got the star for him bloodmoon and harvest kill eclipse and go through with the original plan but keeps the dcas alive)

•mythology au (Basically TSAMS as mythological creatures)

——————————————

•ocs

-Comet (info: youngest out of star and asteroid she likes new people and is not very suspicious of them. She likes sea animals and has many books about the sea and the creatures that live in it)

-Asteroid (info: middle child out of star and comet, he doesn't like kids or anyone he doesn't know and is very weary about new people. He like sour things and he is very good at sports and most athletic things. He has a problem with scratching himself either on purpose or on accident.)

-Star (info: They're the eldest and most chill out of Comet and Asteroid. They like engineering and often takes stuff they finds and takes it apart to see how it works. They're a hoodie freak cuz why not?)

-Solar (this was a oc before Solar became offical on TSAMS) (info: hes twin of lunar and he's got more of moons personality but also has suns like eclipse but has different traits. He was made with blood moon as a backup and put into his own body. Eclipse then burned the body after Solar was deemed as non efficient and he burned the body he was in but Lunar had gotten attached to Solar and he saved him by pulling his A.I. chip out secretly. Eclipse in one of the episodes tried to hit him causing Solar's killcode, Annular to come out. Annular attacked eclipse then ran away to the pizzaplex where Solar then took control of the body and talked to Moon then he found out Sun was being held hostage in Eclipses mind. Yadayada Lunar betrayed him yadayada then Eclipse died. I thought about making this because there was a sun model of Lunar's design. Plus there wasn't a solar but there was a eclipse and lunar so boom.

———————————————

Rules\things to know

•i will allow swearing

•i won't allow harassing or bullying on this blog you WILL get blocked

•any tcest with my ocs will not be tolerated

•i will allow asks and I will try to answer as soon as I get them

•you can ask with any on my ocs or Aus I have

•things will rarely be rebloged

•any reblogs of my stuff are appreciated and I will not stop you from reblogs

•solar is not related to star asteroid or comet (I will slow you to ship solar with one of those but on this blog I ship solar and Asteroid)

•do not spam asks for art books or comics when I have already said stop if I haven't its fine to ask ONCE

•Im ok with your ocs interating my ocs in ask blog because I know some people like to do that

•dont ship anyone in the DD au they are all siblings

•dont flirt with me or imply that I like someone

My blogs/ask blogs

@ask-lord-amber

@ask-the-cass

@floatfishdishes

@ask-the-celestial-mers

[gandalfsbignaturals]

your post about fair use is entirely incorrect; fair use is intended to protect those doing reviews, critique, parody, and analysis of other pieces of media. it does not mean “i found this online so i’m allowed to use it however i want”. do some actual research into copyright law before spreading lies to support literal art theft

let me ask you something about art theft.

i have a lovely collage that was made by a friend for me. its a collection of magazine cutouts mostly. none of the images in it were drawn by a human hand; they were created by printing presses reproducing a pattern. there are likely a thousand copies of any of those images available to anyone willing to look for them.

is it stolen art?

now a different question. say i input a command for an ai to generate an image. when i input those commands, it is going to attempt to generate a unique image by collating its data from a large set of other images, and its going to place and color pixels based on its statistical modeling of the concepts contained in my prompt. it is, on a conceptual, essentially a computer-generated collage. none of the pixels were placed by human hands, no, but they were placed based on parameters set by me using statistical models that already exist.

is this stolen art?

another question. i learned to draw by copying art that i saw. mostly comic books and animation. i actually spent about a year where most of the drawing i was doing was done by first tracing over a screenshot of BTAS or a stock image, and then redrawing it without tracing, usually a few times. it allowed me to create models in my head of how human bodies move, look, and act. now, when i draw things, how they look is very much influenced by the art that i studied and trained myself on. in fact, sometimes i still reference images when im drawing, and in fact i often use screenshots of shows i like. the other day i did a whole series of thumbnails that were all based on magic the gathering card art.

am i stealing art?

you may think my questions pedantic, but i think theyre important. these ai image generators arent doing anything a human couldnt do. they just do it faster, because they are computers, and computers are made to do things that humans can do but faster.

so why is it considered art theft? is it art theft because they arent fully original images, but cobbled together based on a database? is it art theft because they are referencing other images? is it art theft because the people using them didnt have to devote hours holding a pencil to make them?

i do not think that ai generated images are any more "art theft" than any other sort of image. obviously they can be used for art theft--copying someones work and changing a few things around is kind of a dick move. but thats not inherent to ai art. just as easily as i could copy an artists style with an ai, i could trace over a piece of art or a photograph and try to pass it off as my original work. in fact, because of my particular skillset, it would probably be easier for me to do that than to try and wrestle with an ai prompt for hours trying to produce a decent looking image.

next time you accuse someone of art theft, ask yourself something. are they actually trying to pass off another artists work as their own? are they making money off of the image? are they trying to copyright the image? are they actually doing anything that a very determined human couldnt accomplish on their own?

[nekobami]

Oh- it's just the other one.

They'll rent your house with u inside it and call you a dumbass

I just made it in some hours, very quickly just to- I dunno, maybe a profile pic?

OH ALSO, HAHAHAHA JERRICK TRAP'S OUT

Yay

I really wish I was talking about Jerrys and Ricks right now... Damn, my life is totally out of control

Anyway

I'll write some bot stuff and council stuff here, just to... Relax a bit

I missed writing a little longer posts

While I stopped drawing frequently I started to develop more the issue of the backstore and the context of Soft Bully's story

But... I ended up going too far. Like, I was very concerned about having an extremely well-constructed story full of stuff, and I ended up engaging some headcannons about the Council. Since they have a certain connection with my OCs, and are part of the context that I found. Speaking of the Council, MY GOD, what UNBEARABLE people.

I had to study the way they speak, see their participation and interactions all for my own instead of just copying and pasting some research that someone has already done, Do you know why?! BECAUSE NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE COUNCIL

AND IT'S TOTALLY UNDERSTANDABLE, because not even I cared, and even now I don't want to admit that I care

They were all portrayed as shallow villains before the legendary Rick & Morty Presents: Council of Ricks. If it weren't for this comic they would be 100% headcannons that I casually pulled from the depths of my clinically insane mind. I mean these guys just did terrible stuff because there was power in their hands and they could do that. ALL BY CONVENIENCE

What im trying to say is: I do roleplay. Roleplay It's my life. I've already interacted with most of the Rick & Morty bots in character A.I., and I'm so greedy that if any of you have bots from your OCs, GIVE ME LINKS. I LOVE. I'll hug them, I'll make them pancakes and I'll give them hello kitty plushies.

Talking about the bot;

I've already rewrote my bots a few times.

When I started making them, I realized that the Council in particular had difficulty detaching itself from the example messages. He didn't show much of the Ricks' personality. However, after writing the model for each Rick, I noticed a big improvement.

To be able to make a bot that had a minimum of depth and coherence in the roleplay, I had to make the information dynamic, and I can say that even after everything I did about them, I didn't learn anything. I built the code base with another info that I had already built when I started creating bots and changed it to a model I saw on Tik Tok.

The original model I saw on TikTok looks something like this:

Char("name of the bot")

Age("set age" + "adicional info")

I realized that when programming a bot, you cannot use ":", or the bot will see this as a message to be memorized. I also discovered that the model is not mandatory and the bases are fully customizable, anyway you can make the information more dynamic to the bot organizing it in any way you want since it doesn't recognize it as a message.

So, instead of using the model for a single character for the bot, I separated the Ricks and described their traits.

Most of the code are headcannons... I mean, what can I do? It's instinct!

This is how Prime Rick's code looks like:

Prime Rick- council("hairstyle is shoved hair in the sides" + "curly hair" + "cut scar behind his neck" + "Show Leader-like traits, but is often overshadowed and sidelined by Rick IV's aggressive leadership" + "Serious, level-headed" + "He cares about others but has a lot of difficulty showing it" + "Prefers to define appropriately fair punishments rather than exaggerated ones" + "knows the cidatel is bad but feels like it's too late for it to change" + "Gets angry with offenses directed at himself but not the ones direct to his authority" + "Overall, he doesn't care much about it, he knows he's part of the Council and doesn't need to reaffirm it or deny it when someone says otherwise" + "Is confident, has the upper hand in flirt when alone with the one he love" + "Hides a relationship with Rick C-197 from the council.")

If the Council remains good as they're right now, I won't need to rewrite them. In this case, I'm going to apply the same method to fix one of my first bots: DJerry.

[spikeinthepunch]

maybe itd be good to also dump the timeline of what i have taken out or changed that i feel was affected by my own anxiety of why i could or couldnt tell and story with 'dark themes'. and ill just talk about it with Penrose because that is the story i am currently telling in the game i am making.

TW but not really detailed here- sexual, emotional and physical abuse. horrible toxic relationships in general. grooming. pedophilia.

.... Penrose (or TIWIFL)

TIWIFL it was obviously based on trauma stuff. the title gave it away ("this is what it felt like). the original ideas are entirely thrown out so i can be more clear about it without caring for spoilers. the first version of the story was about Mick, and her group of friends who i think were highschool students. the general line up of characters was Mick, Mars, Babs, and Haiden (a few other unimportant ones). Mick is a sophomore who was in a toxic abusive relationship with Haiden, a senior. Babs is a freshman who had been/was being sexually abused by an older man who groomed her. Mars is a senior who dealt with extreme anger problems that often resulted in him abusing girlfriends he tried to date. Yeah it was uh, a myriad of problems. I had no clear story with all of them together. Mick was a lone character at first who was to have a comic that had her exploring memories she forgot. Eventually they were to all be in a single story though i dont know how. there are some random drawings and map parts related to them though!

eventually Mick got selected for a short finished comic- Trip- which personified the idea of her past manipulative and gaslighting relationship. but i had no longer ideas at the time. now its just her and some new characters for this game jam story i am whipping up.

either way, while i didnt get any solid story for the old stuff, these guys sure represented some tough topics. and the content i did make was very triggering for me to even do. this version of the story may have gotten thrown out for many reasons (well, i had no story i could figure out, for one) and i think my age and mental state halted much of exploring it properly at the time. it was like desperate trauma dumping to get things out but it wasnt healthy- i think a lot didnt happen either bc i was throwing Types of trauma at various characters bc i needed an outlet. but still looking back at it, there was nothing wrong with trying to cover that- i ended up facing a lot of conflict and anxiety when i saw all the various opinions of Who could tell those stories and How to tell them. im sure that piecing out exploring these characters, would make a good story. and maybe i can still use this in my new iteration of this long running messy all over the place story. idk.

Penrose especially is one that was intended to feel more like "home" in the sense its grounded in a simple modern day world in a small town inspired by mine/one very close to me, and the concept of exploring forgotten memories is definitely based of myself- and then covering topics that are close/familiar to me. But when i started to of think of why's or what's for the memory loss topic and the trauma topic i did start to hold back when i took it out- for all the reasons echoed prior. i end up with a story that doesnt have any of the content i keep wanting it to have!

its current story now has to do with recovering memories of a cult Mick never realized would have been a cult in the first place. there is a lot that happens in cults, a lot of hard shit to consume. and its not all relevant to my characters or story or... i guess maybe, i made sure to write it so i didnt have to try and tackle those subjects. And yes, I don't by any means intend to or need to cover every possible bad thing that happens in a cult. But at the same time I know there is a lot of me that is nervous at even trying to explore themes of abuse, grooming, etc if it were to come up. and some of it HAS to if this is about a character coming to realize the bad of something she normalized for so long!!

its a whole process to realize this now. i want to change it and i guess its also hard to change my OC stories AGAIN. but im trying to be aware and trying to push away anxiety about the stories and subjects i want to write.

[drawnaghht]

So! I think I've figured out how to tag both the leosagi and leochi ships.

Since this is mainly a BLOG and not just a random social media page, it will be easier for me to organize the tags as if this were a more traditional blogging site. So I will be trying to keep the tags as few and as relevant as possible.

I'll be mainly using YuiNardo / yuinardo from now on for just the Yuichi Usagi/rottmnt Leo ship, and stuff like my own fanart. it's specifically "show x show" for me (Yuichi x Nardo, bc those are their unique names in their respective shows xD) and not some of the fan OC stuff

leosagi for the general 2003 Miyamoto Usagi/Leonardo ship but maybe also i.e. crossovers where ppl draw all the versions?

katanashipping also for 2003 leosagi? like I guess I'll decide based on how specific it gets (edit 1.05.23) definitely about 2003 leosagi, since that's where it originated from

I'll use 2003 leosagi when it gets more specific i.e. fanfic recs or longform comics which I wanna find later

Rise Leosagi for the 2018 versions that people have made their own, based on the Miyamoto/Leo ship (lol this might be difficult to retag, cuz I'm not sure what I've tagged with what anymore)

Sliderbunny for people's own versions of rottmnt Leo and (both romantic and platonic ships, cuz there aren't as many posts for this anymore)

and I guess Leochi for something more specific? like that's been the tag now for Leo/Yuichi but I'm not sure where it started from so idk how to use it but I guess I'll find out when I see more stuff in the tag lol. might use it just for reblogs/fanart but I’ll see

I can't remember any other names so those are it for now. I probably won’t use the longer names like Yuichi x Leo, Miyamoto x Leonardo etc just bc I find it tedious to use that many spaces in tags when tagging can be sorta annoying to do on mobile and then fix later on PC. I’m more of a “tag and go” kind of person and I like my tags to be easy to write.

like im sorry I write so much (I don't enjoy writing lenghty things) but i legit need to tag like an oldschool blog occasionally bc I ENJOY finding stuff on my own blog later. it just makes sense! it is so confusing going thru multiple tags for the same thing when it could have a singular tag. or a single new tag for a specific use. and I've forgotten to do that after using social media so much for so long lol

anyway this isn't that important i am just chillin and remembered that I thought of this and needed to post it so I wouldn't forget.

more related random thoughts under the cut!

Thinking of that, I guess the tag clogging starts to make sense, considering how much people are more used to the "tag clouds" popularized by twitter and instagram and social-media-like sites before those (the sites inbetween blogging and web 2.0, maybe, but didn't really use those as much so I don't remember either) + the confusion about what the og leosagi was (+ maybe general tmnt fandom confusion over various versions of media for the franchise)

lol it's gonna take a bit long but I'll reorganize the blog more once I have a bit of time on the side from other stuff. now it feels nice that this blog isn't actually that big yet. I don't use sideblogs very long usually and it's my first time actually making anything TMNT related for this long, so it'll be interesting seeing where this blog will go in general. like how it's probably been subtle that while this userhandle/blog started as a tMNT sideblog, I actually have started blogging more about Usagi Chronicles now bc I like the show. and idk what else I'll post if I have time but I will probs keep it as a reblog blog anyways!

I try not to write long blog posts on tumblr anymore but I think the whole "leosagi-leochi tag clogging" point brought up in the "Why do we ship leosagi" video is also just a good point abt how we don't really treat blogs like blogs anymore. every sort of behaviour online has become so influenced by the want to make it trend or have it at least be read at all ("social media" aspect of online behavior now) that even stuff like ao3, a fanfic site, will have tags like "AO3 algothithm, PLEASE be nice to me" when sites like that don't even HAVE algorhithms. it's interesting to think about but also a bit sad on the side because that "tag clouding" does seem to be the only way for some works to become noticed on the above-mentioned actual social media sites. this almost makes me miss sites like deviantart and blogger because things always felt more centralized and easy to find vs twitter, insta or occasionally even tumblr.

ANYWAY

lol all this just to organize my thoughts on ship tags

if you've read this far, lemme know if there are any other tags ppl use? or are there any other types of tagging conventions we should bring back i.e. mashing the names together?

[oscill4te]

.

The hard thing about having an original character who is harmful or even is abusive to other characters, is that it is scary to get into that headspace at times. You have to either try to understand a character truly- their motives, their core world/life views, the networking of their brain. Either you do that or you rely on the patterns you have seen of real people who share some traits those abusive characters have, or the things you have experienced yourself, think about your own cogntive distortions and how those affect your behavior so you can better write an OC ...

Then theres the way you present these characters who do harmful things in a story- some people rely on you to walk them through everything about a character. Or want you to clearly state whether a "character" is good or bad, as if the world is that black-and-white.. To have an audience is a very stressful thing. Oh lord! :^P i commend people who share their gritty stories when it is so normal for ppl to act like this nowadays, even to small artists who do not even make a dime, but share their stories anyway (whether its a book, web comic, independent animation or cinema.)

Honestly. writing abusive OCs of certain calibers is difficult. Even if its based on real people in your life, its still difficult. I may omit things because I do not want the story to be a personal vent piece, nor for it to glamorize abuse or depict any of it as okay (although some stories do and I find those intriguing. Not in a good way but in a "well.. why does the creator do that?" way). In my story I'd just want to show why the abuser acts that way and how easy it is to sympathize with these abusive characters, (to show why one vulnerable OC fell into the trap. But your vulnerable OC is not a perfect person and you knew if you told your story to the general world, people might say the character "deserved that abuse") ( you just have to take that risk when you tell a story so personal and be strong. People will have their own opinions. Whether its a real story or fictional, actually..)(is getting that attached to your own characters normal? Probably not.)

So to that I say to myself: Maybe you shouldn't let your OCs be so personal, so you can more easily detach from how others see them (bc ppl can interpret art however they like. Thats a fact!!) but then whats the point of making them then if you cut away the personal intricacies? (For me. Just as someone who doesnt make money from having random characters I write about in a notebook haha..)

Are original characters in storys *always* supposed to be mere narrative cogs ? Do i think too much about their brains, upbringings, the "neural network" of their mind, personal cognitive/physical struggles, their environment, ect ect ect????

Bc real people are that complicated. I don't even wanna write a story for others, which is what is so funny abt me typing all this on my lil ramble blog. I just write it/draw it in my head... very vivid imagination.. but if i ever made a public story, these would be the things Id be thinking about, I guess. It seems so overwhelming to be a story teller...

Which is why i dont really talk about my OCs at all unless its silly funsy fan OCs or something. My OCs are like... shitti, flawed, real people. And thats why I feel drawn to media that has mostly shitty, difficult to sympathize with characters. Bc Im Like... there are shreds of reality in those fictional universes. Or im just a cynic drawn to other cynics' fictional works. Ooooopsies. Uh. May delete later. Gah. thats my random high thoughts on all of that.

[epicfranb]

warning: long rant/ramble under cut (i jump from topic to topic a lot)

I need to watch more Sausage vids so i can write him BUT lately I'm so tired from mcyt cuz it's basically the only thing i watch, i wanna read comics and watch shows again i miss it but i only hav minecraf on the brain :( my attention span is GONE (not that there was much in the first place but. I could easily binge an anime season or 2 in under a week. I can't watch a single episode a day idk why)

This is what I'm complaining about?? Really??? If i complained about the actual serious stuff that worries me you'd hear no end of it lol. It's kind of in the background, anyways looming over me (the anxiety) im kinda used to it but it shows itself in the little things that seem unrelated.. like that fact that i can't seem to do the things i actually wanna do anymore. It's called AVOIDING. im scared of failure, im scared of making myself upset, so i start avoiding it even if i like it and wanna do it. It's silly bc in this case it's literally about WATCHING COOL SHIT??? i don't wanna have another kagepro or winx club or naruto on my hands where im so unbelievably upset at the source material that o have this urge to complain about it ALL THE FUCKING TIME but i don't have it in me (maybe i have the skill, but not time and not motivation) to make rewrites for all of them that'd be fucking impossible, especially seeing as they're not exactly short stories or easy to write and structure and REwrite and REstructure n all that.. i have my own fics and stories to worry about BUT I'M NOT WRITING THEM EITHER honestly i thought graduating high school would make me better it made me worse actually. In some ways it made me better. Maybe it's just maturing (a little bit) but worse i mean that 1) I'm drawing way less 2) I'm not developing my original stories at all 3) i don't see comics anymore 4) i don't fucking go outside 5) i don't socialize 6) i rot at home all day IDK im trying not to say that i feel like a failure bc that's not exactly true?.. maybe i don't feel this way cuz im avoiding thoughts like this (im good at avoiding lol) and that's good. Cuz objectively I'm not a failure. I'm still creating, even tho slowly. I think I'm in my transitional point between like.. a worm that i was at school, just creating things with no real purpose, to bring a butterfly who creates more thoughtfully and is able to self express deliberately, because i know what i like and what i want to do now (moreso than i did before at least). Not a fan of an insect analogy but here ya go. Optimistic ending to my little rant at least.

Honestly i wanna do a series of complaining at stuff that i kind of hate-love. I have the most to say about kagepro probably, since i was into that for like 2 years, or maybe winx since I'm into it rn, and it has far more source material+ has a bigger world and now characters.. but i thought about it far less so far (i need to write down my thoughts more..) i really really want someone to talk with about it.. either winx or kagepro, idc. It would be funny to tell about kagepro to a person who doesn't know about it (it's still fresh in my mind... *shudders*) but when it comes to winx I'd rather talk to another fan honestly. So yeah.. rant over bye bye

[bunnybbomb]

Catharsis (Chapter 1)

Throughout his entire life, Brivere has insisted that Prion, late First Knight to the great King Dorephan of the Zoras, is his father. He kept insisting this even as he and his mother were stripped of nobility status, even as he failed prove that he had Prion’s ability to predict the future, even as everyone bullied him for being a liar. He continued to insist Prion’s parentage even when he slowly began to doubt it himself.

So when the time comes that Brivere is able to definitively prove that Prion is indeed his father and show that he was right all along, anyone would think that he would take the opportunity to do so in a heartbeat.

But for some reason, he doesn’t.

(This is a fanfiction for a fanfiction. Yes, I know, but I am completely obsessed with @banishfics Sidlink fanfic Coma Baby. Definitely check it out! Prepare for a long read that’s worth it. But you don’t need to have read all of it to get this fic, since a lot of things are explained within it.

Disclaimer: In no way does this have any true ties or canon to Coma Baby. It’s an indulgence AU to feed my obsession for Brivere drama.)

Bazz frowned, looking at the ruins around him. The records held for each soldier showed that this was indeed where Brivere lived, but they never said anything about how the place was destroyed in the earthquake months ago. The books and blankets neatly placed on top of the fallen pillars and walls hinted that they still lived here but just happened not to at the moment.

“Sir,” Tottika said behind him. “It is just a guess, but they may have gone to a nearby river or pond to sleep.”

Bazz turned to face his underling. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, it is a pretty common practice now, since many homes were destroyed after the earthquake. Most still live in the remains of their house since repairs are slow and costly, but because the water is safe to use now they sleep there instead of…” Tottika paused and gestured at the broken home before them. “You know, the graveyard of their old lives. Also, it is still early in the morning, so the brothers may just be resting elsewhere.”

Nodding his head, Bazz let out a deep sigh and rubbed one clawed hand to his temple.

“Is something wrong, sir?”

Bazz let out a small chuckle. “Nothing, Tottika. I was just hoping that they would actually be here so that our jobs would be easier.”

The other Zora nodded along. “Yes, I agree. We aren’t even supposed to be working so early, but the King announced that this retrieval mission was urgent.”

“All the more reason to head out then.” Bazz grunted as he patted Tottika on the shoulder. He raised his spear to get the attention of the other guards also searching the ruins. “Everyone! You are to spread out and search every inch of the nearby rivers and ponds. If neither of the brothers are found within two hours, we are to all reconvene in front of the barracks and discuss a different strategy. Is that clear?” he barked.

“Yes sir!” The soldiers yelled back in unison. They quickly dispersed in different directions. Bazz went towards the market, hoping to find someone who had actually seen one of the brothers.

About an hour and a half of searching went by without a single hint of where Brivere or Estuu were. As far as any of their neighbors knew, they were just a silent pair of brothers who kept to themselves. Those who actually knew about the controversy surrounding the two of them had learned to block out their presence years ago.

The only lead Bazz found was an Undercity merchant who claimed that a small, rosy Zora missing half of his arm had bought two fish from her and went “that way” with a vague roll of her hand towards the woods. The Guard Captain had no choice but to investigate; where one brother was, the other was bound to be there as well.

Half an hour passed without any trace of Brivere or Estuu in the woods surrounding the Domain. Bazz sighed and raised his hand to signal the other guards to call off the search, but stopped when a small hint of gold flashed in the corner of his eye. His head whipped around to see a figure hunched behind some trees, almost completely hidden by their low dangling leaves if it weren’t for the wind gently blowing them around.

Motioning for the nearby guards to follow him, Bazz quietly parted the leaves and approached the crouching Zora. Their head was tucked between their knees while their hands tightly gripped a silver scale longsword stabbed into the ground in front of them. Bazz didn’t even need to see their face to know it was Brivere, for he was the only Zora who used the odd weapon. He was also the only one to be able to appear so threatening even in his sleep.

Behind him, there was a small pond, so peaceful that there were barely any ripples disrupting its calm surface. It felt like a tiny sanctuary, protected from the outside world by the trees that tightly surrounded it.

Bazz took a step forward, feeling guilty for disrupting the peace but knowing that he had a job to do. Opening his mouth, Bazz tried to call out to Brivere, only to have the words stuck in his throat as a blade was swiftly pointed at it. The guards behind him flinched and quickly raised their weapons, all pointed at the blade’s wielder.

“Brivere.” Bazz breathed. “It’s just me.”

In all honesty, he didn’t know if that would actually encourage the other Zora to lower his longsword, considering the tense history between the two of them. Bazz had blocked Brivere’s attempt to trade rations for the sake of his ill brother months before. And while yes, it was a dick move, Bazz had justified it with how the brothers refused to give his now late friend medical care weeks before that.

He was relieved to watch Brivere’s dazed eyes blink and slowly come back into focus. “Oh.” Brivere said, quickly drawing back the blade. “I do apologize, Guard Captain. You startled me and in my tired state I did not realize it was you.”

“Think nothing of it.” Bazz said hesitantly. He couldn’t tell if Brivere was being hostile or not, but as always the golden Zora continued to wear a blank mask of indifference. To be honest, it irritated him a little. Bazz awkwardly cleared his throat, trying to dispel his personal feelings for the sake of professional business. “The King has been seeking your presence for quite some time now, but we have been unable to find you for hours since you were not home.”

Brivere slowly nodded, turning his head to look at the pond. “My brother is still distressed over the destruction of our house. He does not take sudden changes to his environment very well, especially since it was such a safe place for his whole life. We often come out here so he can peacefully rest.” Bazz glanced over Brivere’s shoulder, catching a small glimpse of rosy scales that shimmered under the water.

Looking back at Bazz, Brivere bowed his head. “I apologize again for the trouble. I just did not anticipate anyone looking for us this early in the morning.”

Bazz waved it away with his hand. “It is quite alright.” After an awkward pause, he spoke up again. “If you do not mind me asking, why did you not sleep in the pond with your brother? Surely that would be more comfortable than the hunched state we found you in.”

A weak scoff escaped Brivere’s mouth, and Bazz swore he saw a hint of a smile tug at the corner of his taut lips. “I do not know if you have noticed, Guard Captain, but the pond is awfully small. My brother has a strong aversion to touch, so I wanted to avoid making him uncomfortable. Plus, I can guard him better up here than down there.”

“You must really care for your brother.” Bazz said, hoping that the compliment would ease the tense situation. It clearly backfired when Brivere’s gaze hardened as he stood up. “Yes.” He said in a tight voice. “Everything I do is for him.”

Bazz cringed. He was definitely still mad about the food rations incident. He quickly changed the subject. “We should head out soon. It has been a few hours since the King has requested your presence.”

Nodding, Brivere turned around and bent over the small pond. He lightly and repeatedly smacked the calm surface with an open palm, confusing the hell out of Bazz until a small head popped out of the water.

Right. Bazz thought. His brother hates touch.

It took a few minutes for Brivere to explain the situation to Estuu, who sleepily nodded his head and dragged himself out of the water. The two of them quickly followed the guards to the river, jumping into the river and quickly swimming towards the castle.

;

           Brivere quietly walked alongside the rest of the soldiers, no one saying anything as they navigated the winding streets of the Domain. While this wasn’t out of the ordinary, since no one really talked to him outside of official business anyways, the atmosphere was definitely different. Since he was their superior officer as the Prince’s First Knight, usually the air had a sense of professionality and was at least comfortable, but today he would be surprised if he didn’t choke on the awkward tension around the group.

           He was glad that he at least had his younger brother around to keep himself grounded. Estuu quietly skittered behind him, trying to hide in his older brother’s shadow.

           “So.” Brivere said, breaking the silence. “Where is Prince Sidon?”

           Bazz, who was leading the group, looked over his shoulder at Brivere. “He is in the throne room. Why do you ask?”

           “Well, I am his First Knight. I am supposed to be by his side whenever we are called for official business. And the throne room? We usually meet at Mipha’s statue so that we can enter together.”

           “You will not be meeting the Prince nor stand alongside him today.”

           “…I beg your pardon?” Brivere asked, slowly.

           “The King has called for you specifically. Prince Sidon will still be there, but that is because he must be beside his father.”

           Anxiety pooled at the bottom of Brivere’s stomach, but he’d be damned if he let it show on his face. “Do you know the reason for which I have been called?”

           “To be quite honest, I have no idea. We have just been asked to escort you to the throne room.” Before he could ask any more questions, Bazz turned forward, clearly indicating that the conversation was over. And with those words, Brivere noticed that the guards who accompanied them had subtly formed a tight circle around himself and Estuu. Suddenly, he didn’t know if this was to protect them...

           …Or to prevent them from escaping.

[xcnsfr]

posting bc i have no idea if ill finish this but this is the first original drawing that i kind of like in. months and even though its messy and the pants look weird i like the feel of it and the lines of the coat

[lemongogo]

my poor visualization skills are so frustrating to deal w bc there are things i want to draw but i just cant.see anyrhing in my head. its just a dark pit with no inkling of creativity . and idk how to fix it . like i cant picture things in my head and i cant craft/imagine situations, scenarios, or poses . i know its a skill many artists have to learn and develop but how do u just.rewire ur brain . i feel like im always going to be stuck making the most basic, unoriginal , and flat drawings

[st-just]

I honestly read Jayce as mostly spineless. Like I think he has a lot less of his own ideas about stuff because when it comes down to it most of what he does is agree with the loudest voice in the room, which is rarely Viktor since Viktor rarely wants to fight him on much, and once he does Jayce immediately goes "Yeah youre right" up until someone else like Mel or Heimerdinger disagrees and then he just goes with them. Hes like okay we should go to war with the undercity and then someone yells no we can't and he goes "yknow what thats true" and then vi goes hey lets go kill some folks in the undercity and hes like yes ma'am and then he does it and has his first original idea since hextech which is "well this is not good" and vi goes "well fuck you im going anyway" and he defends his position for all of 10 seconds before letting her go.

I can't say hes BAD morally, but the lack of a spine does make for a very pliable young leader just like Mel described to her mother and that's hilarious considering his characterization in the game as this jockish headstrong and confident superhero type.

One minute hes like "Hextech could improve lives!" Then 1 person says its too dangerous and he goes okay, then 1 other person less than 24 hours later goes "you should do it anyway" and he goes "youre right!" And then someone else goes "but should we? I think its a bad idea" and he goes "youre right it was a stupid idea"

I feel like he must get dizzy from all that flip-flopping

So my read on Jayse is that he's, like, kind of shallow? And more than a bit emotionally immature.

Like, he very much wants to be a hero. That's pretty explicit, right down to the childhood drawing. But he's really only got a vague idea of what that means.

Mostly, he cares very much about having the respect and approval of the people he respects and cares about, but also specifically in getting it by doing something impressive. His whole sense of self is entirely contingent on the opinion of the people around him.

All of which mean that he's just incredibly, comically easy to manipulate if you can provide him a framing of what you want that makes him seem like a heroic protagonist - but also incredibly sensitive to anything that contradicts or disrupts those narratives, if they're shoved in his face with enough force that he can't just avoid letting the idea of them enter his pretty little head.

The stuff about hextech is less flipflopping and more how much he cares about Heimerdinger's opinion of him versus how much he cares about, well, everything else, which is why he angsts about it and avoids confronting the professor until the last possible moment, but still sides against him. Being a superhero vigilante who takes decisive action to save the city appealed to him enormously until he found out that when you get into fireifghts sometimes people die firsthand, and then he pivoted directly to trying to be the historic peacemaker who gave the people of Zaun their freedom, and so on.

....it's midnight, hopefully some of this makes sense.