#i like the middle 1 the best and thats my usual style but i wanted to try something new. less busy

[leonenjoyer69]

I really love your art and your artstyle!!! I'm trying to learn to draw and I'm struggling to find a way to draw faces and especially eyes that I like, could you maybe share some tips on how you draw faces because omg I am so in awe of how cool your art looks! :D

FKEKVKKEKD OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH 🥺🥺 I'M SO HONORED

Honestly, the best advice I can give is to study tf out of art styles you like, bc that's exactly what I did with TGS. The amount of pages I just stared at and tried to lowkey memorize is ungodly, and once I started drawing the characters and trying to emulate sage's style, I kinda just kept getting better from there. My ability to draw poses and full body stuff also got exponentially better VERY quickly, TGS is just magic like that, I swear.

Also, for eyes specifically, referencing each characters eyes and testing different expressions is kinda the way to go. I use my physical copy of Vol 1 a LOT for referencing (especially for Hyde and Lanyon)

(A LOT more under the cut lmao)

Also, just drawing headshots of the characters over and over helps too, especially in pen! I have literal DOZENS of random 5- 10 minute pen doodles. The nice thing about the pen stuff is that, yeah, youll mess up a lot and not be super satisfied with most of them, but it forces you to be a bit more careful about how you place things and steadier with you hand, at least in my experience.

(The sillies)

See? Most of them really suck, but they made me pay a lot more attention to what I was doing and what I wanted to do. It also helped me grasp quirks of the characters and drawing expressions a lot better. Plus, this isn't even all of them, I've got a bunch more in a little envelope I made.

Also, looking on Pinterest for pose references probably would also help, or taking pics of yourself for reference, but I'm built different (stubborn and lazy) so I rawdog my anatomy and poses 🗣️🗣️

Otherwise, I can also give a little doodle example with Whole Jekyll on how I currently draw in pencil and such :3

Start with circle, then give it a nice center line and chin

Then I throw in the neck and shoulders (which tend to change a decent bit bc anatomy is hard), the eye line, which goes through the middle of the circle, and then I like to do a line down the chest to figure out which way I want him pointing, since he's at a tilt. I also change this quite often, along with where I want the face pointing lmao. Once I've figured out direction, I draw the nose starting at the bottom of the circle and up to the eye line. I also then draw the top of the eyes first. The eye line (and apparently the center line 💀) is of course a suggestion, and I tend to mess around with the eye shape until it looks mostly right.

Then the bottoms of the eyes and the pupils get thrown in, which I have to redraw pretty often to try and make them match better. I also usually leave the eyes blank bc I'm lazy af and can't draw pupils too well, I will shade them tho and that makes them look better.

Then bbg gets ears (which I usually start around the corners of the eyes and go down to just above the little curve of the jaw), eyebrows (also just mess around with these til they look right) and a mouth (I HATE drawing mouths 😋😋), then they get their hair (also have to redraw a bunch)

Also, to show Whole Jekylls other eye, I pinned his hair back, so there's a treat, Whole Jekyll enjoyers <3 bbg can fully see 😍 (Mind Lanyon probably forced him too)

Then I shade his eyes, give him clothes and fix up any quick things that were bothering me (in this his nose) and go back with the edge of a rectangle eraser and get those guidelines and extra lines out (sometimes they're still a little visible, but maybe just don't draw them as heavy handed as I do 💀) and Bada Bing Bada boom! Doodle done :3 of course its not the best, but it doesn't have to be, thats the joy of doodles

Heres another good pic to kinda show how I use my guidelines (and how messy my doodles usually are, it's part of my charm guys, I swear--)

Otherwise like, my progress shots for drawings look goofy af lmao, like--

Messy af, incorrect proportions, wrong anatomy, eugh. just takes time (and a lot of redrawing) to get to the final pieces.

But yeah!!! Eyes are annoying, it just takes a lot of tweaking and repetition.

Like, I redrew some of these eyes a decent few times and some of them are still off, like cmon Lanyon, why you gotta be so hard for me to draw 💔

Anyways!!! Thats probably the best I can offer right this second lmao, sometimes I kinda wish I could record drawing and stuff but I don't do stuff purely digital often enough to. I do have a full speed paint for that drawing of Jekyll in Hydes mind clothes tho, so idk maybe I'll share that if anyone wants me to lmao.

But yeah! Thank you so much for the ask and the kind words, I hope this helps! or is at least entertaining lmao

[mochiwrites]

OMG IM SO SORRY I DIDNT MEAN TO MAKE IT SEEM LIKE IM STEALING 😭😭 i mean more using of constant breaks inbetween segments n such for the formatting?? like i know thats a general writing thing but i was never rlly inspired to use it until now! same thing goes for the writing style, like having it jump between other characters povs n such?? ive never done that before and honestly i usually find it disorienting to write but ive began dabbling in that too!! (plus the having the characters thoughts in parentheses like this, i do this for messages n such but ive began slowwwlyy worming it into my writing?? like i rlly like it)

i apologize if i worried you or anything im bad at wording shit but i promise i didnt mean to steal anything or make it sound weird 😭 its all just for my personal works with my ocs that i dont share ^^

sorry again :(

awe no you’re totally okay!!! <3333 I had a feeling that’s what you meant but wanted to clarify just in case ☺️ I’m bad at wording things too so I 100% feel you on that front <333

I’m glad I could inspire some stuff for you :D !!!! I love using line breaks because it makes it Super clear when there’s a scene change of some kind or a time skip — literally one of the best writing tools ever fr fr

and !!!! that’s so valid on sometimes finding pov changes disorienting, I think a lot of it comes down to how it’s done/how smooth it is?? I tend to mostly stick to pov changes in different scenes (i.e. scene 1 being grian’s pov, scene 2 being scar’s) but I’ve found it REALLY fun to pov change in the middle of a scene. the key to that I’ve found is changing to a diff pov when the character is responding to something. it makes it really smooth and you get to go into how that character is thinking/feeling in the moment :D

I really really love pov switches because I like getting into the nitty gritty of how a character is feeling (case in point with like an arrow DFNFNFKK) and it makes the story feel fuller to me if that makes sense?? it adds a lot of weight when you know Exactly how both characters are feeling (unless the writer Doesn’t want you to know immediately hehe)

and :D using the parentheses is always really like. I love using them when a character is having contradictory thoughts and the thoughts in the parentheses are the True feelings or they’re an afterthought kinda deal :3c I’m glad you like using them!!!

but 🥺 I’m glad you could get more than just a story from my writing and find things to try out yourself and work them into your writing too <3333

[prettyallfriends]

yknow what 😤 im gna talk about my ocs a bit since i found out u can send images from ur switch to ur phone rly easily. they started as pripara ocs but theyve evolved into their own universe. these guys are basically like the season 1 characters of their universe lol.

the trio on the left is tripretty and the right is primaverano, altogether theyre pretty verano. left to right is mitsuba/futaba, charlie/hugo, manami --- gin, marico, akira. these are their usual rotations, hugo and marico are the centres of the groups but ofc the other members get to be centres sometimes too

the rest shall be under the cut so i dont flood any dashboards

here they are in dream parade coords☺️ this ones a bit more up to date design-wise. akiras the centre of primaverano here bc shes the only one who looks good in mr (i guess futaba could pull it off too but i wanted to keep the groups seperate). i stuck to the spring/summer coords for primaverano for hopefully obvious reasons, so that naturally pushed tripretty toward the cooler seasons. i was kind of surprised how naturally 4 of the characters embodied the seasons

here is the earliest screenshot i have of most of the group sans akira (i didnt have the 6-person songs unlocked yet). most are recogniseable except marico (second from the right). when i initially designed her she looked kinda like she does here, but it just didnt feel right so i started messing around with her every time i unlocked new mychara parts 😭😭 so now shes got green hair I Guess. she usually wears sunglasses but theres no good ones in the switch game :(

aaaaand here are their shuffle units. i dont really have names for them yet. but basically theres a contest that requires new teams to be formed, so hugo (blonde one in the left group) very quickly drops their teammates for primaveranos cooler members, and they completely surprise their usual teammates in their performance. gin (blonde in the right group) is an extremely chill and relaxed person so she just ends up joining the rest of tripretty. futaba (rightmost in right pic) is cool-type so she wonders why shes endes up in the sweet/lovely group and is v awkward about it lol

theres actually a third main group, theyre kind of not as important as these ones but theyre a very popular male idol group called shaKings (the pics are both kinda bad lol whoops). the pic on the right is the usual rotation: hugo, naoto, mamoru. yes hugos in two main groups, at first they go by charlie with the girls and is just hugo w tha boys but eventually they drop that and theyre just in two groups openly.

naoto and akira are twins☺️ naotos albino, mainly bc i wanted to really drive home the contrast between them. naoto is nicknamed nao by a lot of people, so he has a more feminine name to contrast his sisters masculine name

tripretty, primaverano and shakings together form the 8-person unit prettyveranou (ou for the king from shakings). i havent figured out what that would be in japanese though... プリティベラン王??? like whos veran........ but yeah along with their little supergroup theres four main duo units. naoto/mamoru (which was just the original shakings before hugo joined), hugo/gin (gins v laid back while "charlie" is very bubbly so they dont seem like theyd mesh, but theyre actually best friends), futaba/marico (both are shakings fangirls and theres a lot of tension between them... ust........), akira/manami (...theyre left over lmao. like canonically thats why they team up but they put on some interesting lives bc they have the most contrasting styles of anyone else; every other duo has some kind of commonality or theres a middle ground between their styles but manami is very cute/sweet/lovely whatever and akira is rock style. they make it work aaaand theyre the only duo i have a screenshot of)

so thats "season 1" of... my ocs lol. i have way more ideas for characters in this universe, like "season 2" ara4 (means storm, the characters are named after weather phenomena and are the start of my descent into pun names), and the group of the brightest stars around, o-types (led by O-ka (ouka). im almost definitely never gna follow through with their story lmao but idk... maybe someday..........

[baconcolacan]

Since I’m still stuck at work and cant do anything, I thought it would be fun to post my drawing process for my semi-serious style, using the latest fanart I did with Edd and Edu but only featuring Edd :3c Maybe one day I’ll make a speedpaint but thats not today. If you’re curious, one by one below the line + me talking about the process (as best I can)

1. Preliminary sketch. These are my roughs, this is the start after I had my brainstorm and planning phase. I’ve found all my references and did the pose myself as well so I know what it feels like and if its bodily possible. 2. Clean sketch. This is where I loosely put in all the nitty-gritty, where the folds are, details of the hair, etc etc. I change the pencil colour so I can differentiate certain parts. 3. Line art. Like it says on the tin, but for my semi-serious style I tend to avoid lining folds because I prefer to paint them in this style. 4. Grey out. I need this layer so that I don’t get blinded/confused when I lay down the colours,

5. Flats. So all the colours needed, usually when I draw backgrounds they would also depend on the lighting, so I would colorize them if needed, but for standalones I just put in the basic colours. 6. Soft shadows. I tend to use multiply layers for this step, but sometimes I also do normal layers, in case I feel as though the colour should be more relative to its surroundings since multiply wont let me do that. It all depends on how I want the shadows to feel on the piece, but when I’m lazy I just do multiply (lol). Soft shadows also include the colour on the planes of the face, so = yellow for forehead, red for middle, blue for the lower part aka jaw area. Of course also the reds on the skin in other areas like elbows and knees, but since Edd is fully clothed, its just the tip and inner part of his ear, and the tips of his fingers. 7. Hard shadows and minor highlights. For my style, I gear more towards a watercolour style kind of shading, so I follow that principle when I decide where to put and how to render my shadows. Typically I have at minimum 4 layers for this type of hard shadow shading. The minor highlights here are just the lights in the pupil, and a soft large airbrush going over the spaces where shadows cant reach. 8. Missing details and overlay highlights. Near the end I put in all the little details I missed, so in here its Edd’s 5 o’clock shadow, and some scuffs and scrapes on his clothing and shoes. The overlay highlights are super subtle but make the drawing feel a bit more alive, for me at least, these highlights are the ones on the “bumps” of the clothing folds, and the hair highlights.

9. Hard highlights and atmospheric lights. The finale! This is where I just put in the brighter, harder, highlights in places they should be, and then clip a Luminosity/Overlay layer on top of the entire drawing, using a large soft brush I go over the drawing to put a bit more brightness into it. And there! Thats how I render in my semi-serious artstyle. But...eh, dont be fooled, I know this step by step makes it look like I would jump around all the parts of the drawing and render things equally, sadly thats far from the truth. My perfectionism flares up badly and it often leads to me obsessing over a singular part before moving on, so the process would look more like this:

yeah......

[gentil-minou]

omg mdzs!!!!!! congrats to see you getting into that!! do you have a fav character?

God the better question is WHO DONT I LIKE????

obviously obsessed with Wei Wuxian the prettiest little shit ever. He is nicknamed Bestie. I have a lot of feelings about him but mostly I think he is shojo manga heroine levels of wonderful and I love him for that.

Then we got Lan Wangji who has some of the BEST sass. I loved him in the drama because his acting was so good despite so few lines, but omg in the book is is AMAZING. The scene where they play tag bdsm style??? Obsessed he is baby. Also the novel makes me think he's ASD coded which makes me very happy yes.

His nickname is Boyfriend because of course. He is also shojo manga levels of heroine and hero and he rocks it. I will gift him many bunnies and ribbons to tie up wwx with sjsjfjjs.

I could watch them watch each other for hours ajdjjdjsjjd I'm usually good at not shipping real life people but god....please give me strength their bts videos are just sjfjkakfkks.

Then we get the other characters who all have important nicknames as well. Wen Ning is Puppy Bestie because he is a puppy. Im honestly in shock that his actor is actually one of the oldest cast members because um what????? This baby be 30+?????

I loved him and his sister so much and was so upset that her death was just like off screen????? Excuse me????? For my queen?????

She is Queen Bestie of course. I worship the ground she walks and honestly I need fix it fics. Also her friendship with wwx was so good????? Like I just wanted them to bffs why did they do her dirty whyyyyy.

Jiang Cheng is Angry Bestie. I don't need to explain myself. Boy needs therapy. I will not be the one offering it to him though he too much for me.

Or just give him bunnies I guess. I wish we spent more time on him and wwx reconciling but thats what fics will be for!

The youth kiddos are baby besties. A-Yuan gets an extra high pitched squeal added to his name because he is extra baby

I can't decide if they are my favorite but I'm so excited for all the fics about them being a family SO EXCITEDHDJFJKS (send recs if you got any btw)

Took me a while to warm up but Jin Ling was great and his scenes with wwx was just so much fun to watch. Also the actor is like the same age as lwj's and I'm like????? The skill to act that much like a whiney teenager. Amazing.

(Please send me fics where his parents are alive I need them I need them like air)

(Also side note: making the fearsome historied terrifying Yiling Patriarch afraid of doggies???? Genius!!!!)

Jiang Yanli made me sob so many times cause I spoiled myself early to not get attached to the characters who die but then of course I was an idiot and got attached anyways. She is Soup Bestie or Sister Bestie. Depends on the day.

The best part of their dynamic was me realizing I have chaotic middle child energy like wwx. And she's such a good big sister like she made me want to call my own and tell them I love them and thanks for making that god awful kraft Mac and cheese with soy sauce and Broccoli and did I mention I cried a lot? Like so much (please send fix it fics kthnx)

Lan Xichen is Brother Bestie but honestly he should really be the Number 1 Wangxian Shipper and Wingman.

Boy knew his lil brother was pining over a dead evil guy for decades and supported him. We stan.

I just realized I didn't give Nie Huisang a nickname oops but also i saw somewhere that his idea of faking incompetence so other people will get shit done is genius. I love him, I want to be him. Hence forth he shall be known as Girlboss Bestie.

^me every goddamn day of my adult life.

I kinda hate myself for this but I also have a soft spot for Xue Yang. He's such a petty little piece of shit but also his crazy and evil vibes were just so good. I think I wouldn't have felt the same way if I read the novel version first instead if the drama, but god did I love the way this actor brought him to life. He is called Psychotic Bestie and he wears that title with pride.

This scene did so many things to me it must have been bait but yes twas I, the baited.

Would personally like to sue mxtx for the emotional abuse that was the Yi City arc thank you. Blissfully ignoring canon to say that the moment Song Lan left that city A-Qing and Xiao Xingchen came back to life from the power of gay vibes and found family alone thank you very much.

I can't fit anymore gifs but the short answer is I love everyone I'm so deep deeeeeep deep in this and I think I'll be in here for a while

[melancholic]

Happy Haseul day!

[pandemique]

hI!! i love your art and was wondering if you could make a tutorial showing how you paint stuff? only if you can! it's just really pretty !!

hi nonnie! thats very flattering !! i’m sorry i dont think i’ll be very helpful bc i’m a mega noob as well :D but i’ll try my very best <3

my process is very tailored for speed instead of quality (oops soz LOL) so i do suggest this for if u have short doodle breaks ⬇️⬇️⬇️

thumbnailing (for comics) -> lines (sketch who?) -> bucket tool/color drop in the base color -> color in the lines -> one multiply layer for a “base” shadow (in the vid below its purple!) -> one (1) render/paint layer a.k.a lawless no man’s land

full rendering process & more general painting tips below the cut‼️

NOTE: i’ll be focusing more on traditional/fundamental tips for stylized art because i’m sure there’s a much more effective way in digital. I truly do only use one normal layer for render... i think this is bc before i made this blog, my only prior experience in drawing is middle school art class, so all i know is traditional painting on one layer.... pray i can answer this again in the future with something smarter lmao

🌺 MY PAINT PROCESS

1. Choose a color scheme!

It doesn’t have to be set in stone like below, but i at least keep in mind the color range i’d like to use depending on what i want to convey (ex. soft pastels for soft fluff, or warm colors for happy vibes). I try to be as limited as possible for base colors because I tend to go ham when painting, you’ll see later AHAHA

2. Base coloring + Base shadow

Base -> bucket tool in the color scheme (I know other artists are against this but when i discovered the bucket tool in digital art I immediately divorced manual coloring i’m sorry i loved you tho bae) (this is why my style and lines are simplistic as they are, so the color drop works!)

Base shadow -> in theory, warm-colored light creates cool-colored shadows and vice versa. because i’m a fluff addict i mainly use warmer light, so i like using blue/purple as the shadow. generally u can’t go wrong with complementary colors!! (yellow light & purple shadows / orange light & blue shadows).

I make a new multiply layer (decreased opacity just bc i like things soft okay) and clip it on the base layer, then block in the areas i think would get blocked from the light.

3. Color in the lines!

for simplistic styles i swear this works wonders. i just clip a layer to the lineart and manually color the lines with a darker but more saturated version of the base color. it just tends to look more dead i guess with low saturation lol (ex. u can see above i use both peach and red or pink for lines of skin, i guess it implies the blood under the skin too. or something :D)

4. RENDERRRR

when i’m not in a rush i just paint things completely (and mindlessly), but here are the things i almost always do:

line the shadows with a saturated color! i’m not sure this is common but i love it lol, in almost all my doodles just check the shadows—on the edges, there’s bound to be a wild color :D (usually its the light color, shadow color or a color scheme color but sometimes i’m just like boY do i loVe piNk)

my art major friend told me about saturated colors on desaturated bases and my life was changed forever lol. u can see below even when my base is very grayyy, my rendering is very gay :D ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

make the shadows darker where i think they should be darker. usually i can just colorpick from that darker, saturated lineart color!

if it’s a more realistic piece i usually make the highlights lighter, but in simple doodles i find it unnecessary, and i dont like how light/white it looks :( i tend to just make the areas exposed to light more saturated

color in the rebound light~ in reality there’s usually not only one primary light source, at least there’d be secondary light from where light bounces off objects. in art we just emphasize that! so in large shadow areas, or in areas close to other objects/colors, i like to ‘splash’ other colors on

yeah this part is less intuitive for beginners and u have to learn a grasp on the concepts over time, like for lighting and structure. values can be more important than color, so i do suggest learning shading first before coloring, but only if u like (u can always be like me and just pull up references when u dont get how the light would fall on some materials :>). i have more general paint tips below! don’t give up okay, i believe in u nons, we’re all still in the eternal learning process together ( •̀ᄇ• ́)ﻭ✧

5. OOOOHHH SHINY ✨🤩

this step is just me being mesmerized by how easy it is to play with lighting in digital. i play around with the layer settings (multiply for shadow, overlay for light, and often try out the other settings too!). my favorite effect is the highlight glow thing, where u just make a copy layer of the highlights below the original layer, and blur it slightly so it looks like glow ✨✨🤩 overpriced acrylic could never

6. COLOR ADJUST / EDIT

Truthfully i usually skip this step, but my more pro friends really vouch for it!! i think definitely an incredible thing with digital is that u can edit proportions and even color after you’re done. i think they usually use like the curves adjustment layer in photoshop until they get colors they like, but for me, well, in a reaally diligent day i like to slap on the “auto” fliter in the iphone’s photos edit button lmaoooo

🌺 GENERAL PAINTING TIPS

learn basic theory: i think theres free courses everywhere online, but heres a few things u might like to have a basic understanding of: color, perspective, shape language, lighting, composition. don’t sweat it too much tho, it should be fun to explore the concepts!

and for drawing hoomans: proportion, gesture, expression, and veery basic anatomy. i find that overall forms are so much more important to learn than like detailed anatomy bc u can always look it up lol

but remember, u mostly want to learn the rules so u know better ways to break them :)

uuuuse manyyyyy referencessss every time u draww!

^this includes other people’s art — when u see good stuff, figure out why u like it and apply it to ur own art

get feedback!!!!

draw tons!!! brainrot helps !! ;D

aaand thank u for coming to my ted talk! sorry for the ramble nonnie, i hope u got something out of this lol

[crowtrinkets]

Analysis of Vesuvia :) Pt 4 Architecture!

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3A, Part 3B

*cracks knuckles* ok pals lets get going 

Also let me preface this by saying that I am not Muslim and I do not know a lot about Islamic culture or art (because we only spent a week on it in my art history class, which is a shame, and I couldn't afford my textbook cry) but I will try my best to put correct information that I have found all over the internet :)

This one I was waiting to do cause I find it the most interesting. But also while doing my initial research this one made me go HEY WAIT

When I was making the last 3 parts I noticed a common theme in the bgs specifically in the arches and domes

They dont look like traditional Italian domes or arches which makes sense since Vesuvia is said to also have middle eastern influences.

But what I found most interesting while researching the architecture in Venice, I learned that suprise surprise the Romans saw some art form they liked and copied it. 

Notably there are a lot of gothic influences in Venice.

Ex  The Ca' d'Oro or Palazzo Santa Sofia, that for some reason I could only find decent info about on Wikipedia which I was trying to avoid lmao

Lots of little “windows” minature arches, just a lot of extra. The thing about Gothic architecture is that its EXTRA, Vesuvia is just a little more tame.

But what I wanna focus on are the domes

So, domes were primarily a thing in the middle east, India, and the Mediterranean and ofc the Romans were like, I like that so they implemented it a lot into their architecture. Such as the Pantheon or their basilicas

So remember when I said the Romans took architecture from other places? Well yea one of those places was the middle east and more specifically, the Islamic Style of architecture. source that was hard to find for some gd reason

Because Rome sticks out in the Mediterranean it would make sense that trade occurred often especially with other territories so close by.

The Islamic style was input into Venice around 1300-1500, when the gothic style was very prominent, and so it influenced how Venice was designed aesthetically and structurally

In Islamic architecutre, specifically in Mosques theres a wide variety of styles depending on when it was built, but they all share common characteristics. One of which being a dome. Like I said I do not known a lot about Islamic culture so here is what Khan Academy says

“The interior decoration of a dome often emphasizes this symbolism, using intricate geometric, stellate, or vegetal motifs to create breathtaking patterns meant to awe and inspire. Some mosque types incorporate multiple domes into their architecture (as in the Ottoman Süleymaniye Mosque pictured at the top of the page), while others only feature one. In mosques with only a single dome, it is invariably found surmounting the qibla wall, the holiest section of the mosque.”

Source

And here's the mosque in question

Along with domes Islamic architecture also features a lot of arches, the Pointed and Ogee arch styles resemble the arches we see in Vesuvia in my opinion

Vesuvia’s arches are a little more dramatic✨ probably just for aesthetic purposes

Moving back to the domes they don’t exactly reflect European dome styles which are more half circular shaped, the domes in Vesuvia are more “onion shaped” as its called, such as the Taj Mahal, which is considered Indo-Islamic but thats besides the point

Here’s a nifty image I found labeling its parts for fun :) source

Some scholars believe that the Russian’s took inspiration from the middle east and also used the domes in their architecture, however based off what I’ve seen they're not as common in the middle east. Russians be loving their Onion domes I am not 100% sure on this I saw it on Wikipedia but ofc not a super reliable source and there were no citations on the page so apologies

But I feel that you could also argue that they are not onion domes but cupolas (not much difference but they don’t require a building to be on, they can be found on minarets and can be a little more dramatic with their shape), which like the onion dome originated in Islamic architecture, I feel theyre a better fit 

Along with Venice/Vesuvia having very Islamic looking architecture, the gothic style which is very prominent in Venice also takes inspiration from Islamic architecture as well

I think a great example we can look at is the Hagia Sophia, it was built as a Christian church in the 6th century, under the rule of Justinian I. Although it was built to be a Christian church, the Hagia Sophia resembles a Mosque like to the t

There are lots of domes, multiple layers, arches, and it even has the minarets (towers), on the four corners.

It now is housed as a Mosque today :)

I also find the column in the town square intersting, it has a very simple almost Corinthian shape but is also colored like middle eastern architecture typically is. Also the “capital” designs are usually at the top and not the bottom but it was probably the artist taking creative liberties :)

So while Vesuvia was designed with Venice in mind I would say it has very Indo-Islamic features, more so than Venice does. I also think it’s important to learn where styles originate from, especially when ancient Romans are praised for their architectural domes despite them being done before by other cultures

I was originally going to stop this series of posts here but I kinda want to do more about other parts of Vesuvia like the palace, the courtier estates etc and I can do other stories/worlds if you all want something like that :) 

I also wanna apologize for taking so long on this post even tho its kinda short, school is kicking my ass lmao

[owlidoodles]

so i do a lot of shading like this in my art (or try to) and i asked if anyone in my discord server wanted a tutorial.... and they said yes!

so im gonna do my best to explain how i shade things under the cut....

(i use clip studio paint but honestly this should work in any art program i think)

1. FIRST- have your drawing. have Layer. I usually have three layers at LEAST when im doing this- and i keep them stacked in this order: top is lineart, middle is flat colors, and bottom is the background.

the purple circle shows the icon for making a layer into a clipping layer- IMPORTANT

the pink circle shows the icon for locking transparent pixels- helpful! it makes sure you don’t “go outside the lines”

(in case you’re curious this is my csp layout)

2. create a new layer above your flat colors, and press the two little squares. this makes a clipping layer! it basically makes a mask of the layer below it, and you can draw whatever (in this case shadows) and it only follows the filled in areas of the layer below it. so if i drew a bunch of yellow stripes on the clipping/shadow layer, it would only follow the form of the werewolf flat colors and not anything else. i hope that makes sense!

3. decide where your light source is coming from! ngl i totally draw a little sun to remind myself where the light is coming from in a piece.... in this case the green shows where i think the light would be hitting the werewolf, and therefore i would draw shadows opposite/adjacent to that. im not the best at explaining lighting though, so heres a good reference. 

heres another.

4. SHADING TIME..... so for my shading i just use the default pen tool in clip studio. g-pen, i believe. Stabilisation!!! between the two pink stars!!! use it. its so good for lineart, and for drawing smooth, non trash lines and shapes. it has Saved my life. the higher the number, the ‘slower’ your brush moves, and the smoother your lines become. i tend to keep mine around 60-70 but play around with it....

i usually shade with a bright annoying color so i can tell what im doing. (purple usually), as shown in box one. thats your foreground color. 2 is your secondary (background) color, i dont usually mess with it and leave it white. hitting box three turns your current pen into an eraser version of itself... i use it a lot! dont forget about this box

i usually tend to think of shadows as shapes.... in the werewolf’s eyebrow/spot/thing you can see where ive drawn a line.....

and then filled it in! i dont normally use the paint bucket to fill in areas... just the pen. it gets too hard

hair/tufts are the fun part!!! you can see that ive drawn solid chunks of shadow in the werewolf’s mane....

...then i click square three to turn my brush into an eraser and carve out little details

here are some more examples of that... i use it a lot. A LOT.

go wild. go crazy. sometimes i dont think my shading follows like TRADITIONAL physical rules of the laws of light but just. dewit

5. SO YOURE DONE SHADING..... if you refer back to your Layers window, you’ll see a drop down box that usually says normal and a slider.... knock that slider down to like. 50, or 30 (what i usually do). this lowers the opacity on the shadows layer so you can see through it kinda. the drop down box is the layer styles... play around with it!! you can do some really cool stuff with overlay/multiply/etc and make your shading layer super funky.....

if you hit the lock transparent pixels button, you can color your shadows differently if you want! sometimes ill duplicate the shadow layer and color it differently and run it through the gaussian blur filter... it can make it look a little softer and less hard.

usually in my art, when im done i merge all the layers together so you just have one layer left. i duplicate that layer, run it through the gaussian blur filter and drop the opacity down to like.... 20 maybe so everything looks soft. on this picture, i duplicated the werewolf layer (without the bg) and did a motion blur on it to make it look like he was moving....

.... and here he is after dropping the shadow opacity/adding other little details and running it through 5000 filters

i really hope that gave you some kind of idea on how cel shading works!! i am by no means the master, but if you have questions or tips please don’t hesitate to ask me ;a; im really not good at explaining things lol

thank you for reading!!! <3

[owlf45]

First Line Game

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favorite opening line. Then tag 10 of your favorite authors!

Uh uh uh tagging anyone!!! Go u

Yes I just noticed this even tho you tagged me 27 days ago,, sue me 

here’s for stories I havent posted yet bc i think thats more interesting: 

1. The poor boy was pressed up against the muddy wall. His limbs were contorted strangely of his own volition, attempting to make himself seem smaller than he was as he curled away from her. His two wandering, glazed eyes barely peeked out between the folds of his arms, plagued with fierce terror and uncertainty. — quaternary structure

2. Wind, coarse, harsh and cold, whips at his clothes and hair and bites fiercely at his exposed face. It howls and whistles in his ears, pulling and yanking him aimlessly across the barren terrain. His eyes burn and ache from dryness as towering, sweeping clouds of dust and snow circle and billow around him like giant spirits swept away in a storm. Glaring flashes of lightning illuminate the outlines of the swirling haze, accompanied by hollow booms that tremble the sky. — pineal body*

3. Breaking his leg was the final straw. — idk royal duo holders au title here 

4. Maiko was twenty-three when the time finally came. — parallels

5. The first thing that appears on Chousen’s skin from his soulmate is a small ‘dumbass’ written in neat, slanted letters. — Smudges

6. Uraraka’s parents are chronic liars. — Uncanney Valley*

here’s for stories i already posted:

7. Second will never be what First wants, but he tries his best. — Meticulously 

8. Remember, Izuku, that the crown weighs heavy on a head full of stolen ideals. — Crown of Ink

9. Ren Akamine absentmindedly placed a water bottle on the girl’s desk. Hers was beside his own, but despite the close proximity as classmates, they hadn’t spoken a word to one another the entire year. — Vitamin Window

10. “I’d like one scoop of mint chocolate chip in a bowl, please.” — ripen the plucked days 

11. Izuku is sitting ram-rod straight in the courtroom as he listens to the prosecutor, who paces back and forth in the courtroom. His words are powerful and cutting. It booms. It echoes. It rings and follows back to Izuku. Standing next to Izuku is the translator, who quietly repeats everything the prosecutor says. — Frame of Reference 

12. It wasn’t meant to happen. — Insecurities of the Body 

13. “Does it ever get annoying?” — Rose Quartz

14. Seiya hated speaking Spanish. Maiko and he weren’t always on the best of terms, and as he stood there, hands on his hips, in the middle of who-fucking-knows-where in Brazil, he was starting to feel the edge of his distaste for her more and more. — Two Daisies

15. Izuku only had to wait for five more minutes. — Dandelion

16. He’s hiding in the dark, cramped space, folded into himself and silent. — Instincts of a Hollow Chest* 

17. “You? You’re the famous villain everyone’s talking about recently? A little twig like you?” — Safe Space 

18. Izuku does not have friends, but the man who sits on the bench with him every day is nice. — Imaginary 

19. He was found by a man with dark hair and yellow eyes. — Indefinite

20. Perhaps it was the predisposition of Nedzu’s character to seek out what shouldn’t have been his affairs, but he was undeniably interested in harboring a discussion with the peculiar man. — lol no this is on my second account good luck finding it <3 

pineal body, instincts of a hollow chest, and I think uncanny valley are my favorites (i couldnt pick one oops). they each represent the core of the main three styles i usually attempt in my openings. 

I tend to go with pretty snappy and short first lines that get straight to the point. I don’t really like opening with narration or rambles or character introspection—you’ve just met the characters, and often I don’t care about their situation enough to sympathize that well. After reading so many fics that start off with the ‘the world is cruel’ monologue i try to stay away from it. Starting off with a simple event or object or trait that someone can clearly visualize and relate to is something I prefer to jump off of. 

I’m the belief that if the crux of the beginning of somone’s fic is 1) the beginning narration of canon (like the ‘world is not equal’ dialogue from BNHA) or 2) relies too much on the character explaining their suffering, that’s what the rest of the story will stick to—canon and melodramatic telling instead of showing. its a fifty fifty chance (on a good day) whether or not im proven wrong, but there are so many ways to start off a story and its always exciting to get a strong beginning. 

[desiresign]

actually doing a game review of 2021

its 2022 now so im late but i want to go over the different new games i played in 2021 .dont play a lto of new games so understand most was replaing my other games of previous

the very first game played of 2021 was yuppie psycho. i love this game dearly and it was so much fun playing. i was very scared while playing, its so funny thinking of it now. definitely one of my favorite games, if i ever start streaming i am for sure doing this one. this is my first game i got 100% achievements in.

psychonauts! hey, this is a list of games i /played/ not games i just discovered...

anyways, i have 101% this game! it was enjoyable to do it actually. its not all that hard! just takes a bit, and a couple looking things up. despite 101% i dont have all the achievements, i will get those eventually and “officially” 100% though.

later alligator is short, cute, and very fun. i liked it a lot! i love the art style and in general just how this game plays. i would love to 100% it one day, but i got no clue where some puzzle pieces are, esp since some are time sensitive. its very funny silly and i realize i never really talked about it ever! but i love it.

cuphead...um, played very badly.... i only beat 3 levels. im not good at 2d platformers...

my singing mosnters well this sure did eat up a ton of hours while i wasnt looking! kept me going for like 3 months straight. ive got like. over 100 million coins right now, i dont remember. i havent been playing anymore, not out of dislike its just escaped me. its enjoyable and cute though.

psychonauts 2... whoa. um hehe! i waited for this game a long time and love it very much. where it improves over the original it really does. i love the settings to be invincible because my computer isnt the best so if i was playing normally i would die a lot to lag. unlike psychonauts 1, i didnt 101% this for those computer reasons but one day i will. its so big filespace it makes me cry.

cat goes fishing. a little game that i bought for a random boredom. its just a little fishing game, nothing to it.

deltarune chapter 2.                                                                       .  aaeeegghuffrufurufuruuaggeggeagegaegegehaghfghfehgfeghegaggeheegah. thats all i gotta say.

inscryption, oh yeah here we go. had a lot of fun with this. i love this, the game is really fun. however it is a game where i find the gameplay more fun than the story, usually those are like balanced. after beating it, i play kaycees mod, and a lot of it, though it frustrates me at times, like i said i love the gameplay. i wish act 2 had an endless mode. well, i wish..ya!!!!!!!!!

my final game of 2021, well. my final game of 2021 was the hex. i started played it just before new years, and beat it on december 31, actually. so it is,technically, a 2021 game, though it will be for 2022 in my mind. oh, how i love it..the hex...ohhh, the unloved middle child between pony island and inscryption. i lvoe you dearly....my bingus.... well, and other nonsense that goes on like that.

the first game of 2021 and the last game of 2021 both are my official perfect games on steam right now, wow, a funny.. life could be dream

[ewdaviddd]

folklore think piece

for a lower case album such as this, i will be writing a lowercase think piece on the subject. i will not explain why. you get it or you don’t.

the 1: i have never been in love or any type of romantic relationship that left me with lasting feelings of any kind. but, on my fourth listen through of this song today, what once was just a promising and fun intro to this peasant girl summer gut punch, brought me to actual tears as i sat on the toilet in my lime green childhood bathroom as if i were mourning the one that got away (another great song). however, i am an expert on being hung up on the past, the “what could have been”, and made up hypotheticals. this song also introduces the film motif seen a lot in this album. i think dating an actor has really gotten to her. anyway what a killer way to begin, top notch stuff. how can a song be so fun and so soul crushing at the same time?

cardigan: when did taylor wear black lipstick? this is important to me. an old cardigan is an inherently bisexual article of clothing. that is not an opinion. i read it somewhere today and i believe it. this is the tip of the queer-coding ice berg in folklore, never fear. another reference, “tried to change the ending / peter losing wendy”. this year i wrote a movie script where both peter and wendy were both gay. coincidence? probably. basically this one is classic taylor poetry on every level and it being one of a trio in a larger story makes it that much better. yet again, high school romance is not a universal experience (like for me for instance) but haunting my “what-ifs” is going to haunt me for a long time. and the thought of someone saying i was their favorite cardigan makes me want to scream into a pillow.

the last great american dynasty: my favorite ts songs have always been the ones with detailed characters and stories and this one introduces the trope of the “mad woman” who comes back later on as well a long with many fun character details. at first this song is just cheeky and cute, very visual, a fun world to jump into. but then this particular stretch of lines makes your heart drop into your chest and reminds you why taylor isn’t just always fun and always cute and always creative, she also holds the ability to nimbly sock you in the gut when you least expect: “fifty years is a long time / holiday house sat quietly on that beach / free of women with madness, their men and bad habits / and then it was bought by me.” my jaw is still on the floor. and i’ve never bought a house myself. but i’ve spent numerous christmases having a marvelous time ruining everything (so i’ve been told) so this song still applies to my life.

exile (ft. bon iver): i’m gonna be honest. for as long as i can remember i have strongly disliked bon iver and i never remembered why. it is a matter of principle at this point. i just don’t trust him. but then taylor announced she wrote a song with him which filled me with tremendous anxiety. but i can rest easy. much like “the last time” this song is a ts and male artist collaboration i can get behind. also the film motif again: the only time i’ve left a theatre when i didn’t like a movie was never because movie tickets are so expensive and if i’m shelling out 11 dollars to sit in a chair, i’m staying the whole time no matter how bad the ending. but i probably would have left my sister’s keeper if i had seen it before if i’m being honest. so i get it. thats why i read spoilers for everything i watch before watching it, because the anxiety of worrying about how it ends make me not enjoy it in the first place. the end of this song: the call and response felt… ethereal? i felt like i was watching a broadway musical from the splash zone seats, crying as i was spat on.

my tears ricochet: this song is what i picture stepping outside in the middle of the night when an inch or so of snow has just fallen and i can see the flakes fall in front of a street light sounds like. or the scorned secret ex lover throwing themselves onto the coffin demanding to know why they weren’t enough.   which is to say it feels like a sign from some sort of god. yet again, haunting is brought up, an overt reference to the fact that this album will live in my brain rent free for eternity. for some reason this song reminds me of the relationship between hamilton and burr when burr kills hamilton. that could be because i just watched the disney+ recording last week. one lives, one dies, but neither survive, both pay for it. Which is a super romantic and understanding view on murder. both musical experiences equally chilling and moving. if i die under mysterious circumstances this will for sure be played at the funeral.

mirrorball: first off, this is my mom's favorite which is very important. also, it has skewered a very specific but also universal insecurity of mine; existing just to please others and yet miserably failing. it is comforting that ts is not a “natural’ and feels she must always “try try try” because i too lack natural ability, but also rarely “try” even just the one time. the best way i can describe listening to this song is walking through a silent disco where everyone else is listening to some classic lady gaga jam and you are listening to a calming lullaby sung very far away. but don’t let the soothing sounds fool you. it still will have you reflecting on what it means to look and be looked at. a dark rabbit whole, like falling through the looking glass. i’ve never actually read that book though so i could be wrong.

seven: i’m dumb and on my first listen of this song i thought she “hit her peak” at 7 clock as opposed to age seven. but i always saw taylor swift as someone with an early bedtime. also a fun discovery while writing this, “seven” is the 7th song on the track list. clever. although this song is young and innocent and so nostalgic for a time when screaming ferociously was a widely accepted form of expression, it also sounds like a very old secret someone is whispering to me. a love from long ago that lasts beyond the person being in your life, passed down to me and it all just sounds a little gay. not just because of the specific line to hiding in the closet. but that certainly doesn’t go unnoticed. when i was seven i was definitely in love with girls and assumed that was just what friendship was, playing pirates and making plans of running away together.

august: the eighth track for the eighth month. her mind. also my birth month so that’s special. controversial opinion: from what i’ve read most people seem to think illicit affair is the third song in the triage of teen love. i will strongly make the case that it's actually this one. first of all, the subject: a short lived summer fling, which is specifically mentioned later in “betty”. the central heartbreak of this song is liking someone who always belonged to someone else. yes, this song is a window into a different summer, far from pandemic central and the escapist imagery is delightful. but a whole song from the pov of the “other woman” to james and betty is just so much more fun. and there are two more specific lyrics that prove my point. “remember when i pulled up and said "get in the car”” you will see later comes back from the other person’s perspective. and most of all: the repeated line, “meet me behind the mall”? only teenagers make plans to meet up behind a mall. i rest my case. so now we have cardigan and august. two pieces of the puzzle.

this is me trying: i’m glad i now have a succinct message to send to anyone when they ask me what the hell i’m doing at any given moment. this song just sounds like regret and waste in the most self-assured and confident way. this is “back to december” with the training wheels off.  i have no apologies for my efforts at wasting all my potential. but in this song, taylor has opened her arms to me in a warm embrace and has forgiven me for all i’ve done wrong and reminds me to not take for granted the “try”. okay mom. i’m crying again, but okay.

illicit affair: this is the kind of thing that makes you feel sixteen, living in a dull suburb, while secretly screwing your 38 year old married neighbor who’s rich but wants to be an artiste. aka like a character in euphoria or something. it’s sexy and dangerous until you think about it and then it's just dingy and creepy. but this song starts and stays beautiful. most importantly, this song is too sad and depressing frankly, to be a part of the trilogy. we could never forgive james for leaving such a mess and making her a fool. you don’t want to be this girl. you want to walk up to her and shake her and yell “you exist and will not be ruined by any dumb man”. and that’s feminism.

invisible string: is it reductive if i say this one’s about joe? all my non-stan friends have asked me which ones are about him. we forgive them and point them in this direction. because it is lovely and beautiful that we are all tied to our soulmate for our whole lives before we ever meet them (because that would in fact mean that there is someone out there for everyone which might be naive or dumb but i am both of those things and whats the point of living if you don’t believe in the power of love). this honestly gives me “begin again” vibes in the best way. it’s red-era level with the wisdom of lover-era tay. sublime.

mad woman: the second mention of the “mad woman” as both taylor herself and the character in the story. as usual, tay stays calling out double standards and the manipulation of women into “going crazy” for expressing reasonable anger. I, personally, wish i could say “fuck you forever” without someone saying i’m “overreacting”. this is my least favorite song on the album and i’d still listen to it three times in a row and need to resist the urge to set a man’s lawn on fire. just girly things.

epiphany: i know she said this one is about her grandfather’s experience in the military but all i imagine is a slow montage of harry style’s character in “dunkirk” on the beach. and it’s beautiful. and much like my sophomore in high school self reading “all quiet on the western front” it evokes a pain from deep inside me that engulfs a loss i could never describe and a sadness too awful to witness. you will listen to this song and feel absolutely powerless to the will of the universe and it’s cruelty. and the faint but steady heart monitor beep in the background… i’ve never seen “grey’s anatomy” but i can imagine why it has so many fans sobbing. and let me end on this: two soldiers in some old war (meaning both men based on dunkirk) watching each other like this and living and dying together…gay.

betty: the first verse was pulled directly out of my subconscious fantasy of being in love in high school and it being so wonderful and painful and dramatic. and taylor riding a skateboard… is a mood. the song has been out for less than a week and it’s already a cold take to talk about how this is her gayest song to date (close runner-ups being reputation’s “dress” and “cardigan”). but of course i will still talk about it. the lyrics embody such authentic awkward gay energy (see the lesbian in booksmart for reference) and having been a 17 year old only three years ago, i can say with reasonably good authority that no 17 year old straight boy could stand in front of a crowd of peers and beg forgiveness from a girl he hurt. it’s just not realistic. these are all awkward, over-dramatic, young girls stumbling through love. and it’s awesome. james is the speaker of this song, and the subject of “august”, the summer fling that was never truly there due to james’ love for betty, the titular role of this song. thus completing the love triangle. and there are so many obvious references in this song to both “august” and “cardigan”. rhyming cardigan with car again makes me want to light myself on fire in the best way. i love it. “i dreamt of you all summer long” is the final nail in the coffin for the girl in “august” who was clearly just a place-holder. totally separate from taylor swift, my favorite word is porch. so the amount of times it appears in her lyrics is wonderful. say it out loud. it just feels nice. anyway, this song makes me want to be young and dumb and in love. the second can really only be tolerated because of the first and third. i hope the story has a happy-ending. if james were a boy i’d wish him the plague.

peace: the coming-of-age movie starring james and betty (and inez) is over. we have come to “the age” i guess. there’s a thought that’s gonna fester. if this song was just the line, “would it be enough if i could never give you peace?” over and over for four minutes it would still smash me to pulp and fill my body with helium gas. i can and will cause a car wreck when this comes on the aux. if this song is what being grown up is like (bare in mind grown up to me is like, 30) then i’m ready to be done coming of age. because i already worry if i’ll be at all enough for anyone and way too much for someone at the same time. but like all good poetry, this song isn’t about what it “means”, but how it “feels”. and this is new york city, the summer, pouring rain, a long walk home, desperately fearing and hoping they are there waiting for you.

hoax: a one-sided conversation between me and my stubborn clinical depression. i too, constantly stand alone on the cliff demanding a reason. one has not yet been presented. it operates both within and and against me. i could be bigger and stronger than it. but instead i tend to it like a prickly plant. (“no other sadness in the world will do”). there is nothing both sadder and funnier then the scene in “avatar: the last airbender” when prince zuko stands alone on a cliff screaming at the sky for lightning to strike him. i don’t know why this song reminds me so much of that. what a way to end such an emotional rollercoaster. it is so emotionally draining that it simply forces me to start folklore again from the top and listen to it all over again.  or take a long therapeutic nap.

there are no skips. and it will still surprise you on your 267th listen. proceed with caution.

i knew you, in a past life maybe. i have not met you yet, but folklore has made me believe you exist.

@taylorswift 10/10 good work

@taylornation this had to be shared and i don’t have a twitter so

[bookwyrminspiration]

hello hello its been a few days but i, the dream nonsie, am back! (also my name actually means "dream" irl 👀) personally, i think a silveny flavored popsicle would be cinnamon-y as u said, but also... sparkly? in a way? not- not like actual glitter, thats disgusting, but.. when u eat it it just *feels* magical. not sure if im making sense lol ^^ aww, glad my crazy dream made you happy! :D ask word limit is getting close so imma continue in another ask if thats okay with you! <3 1/?

hello!! welcome back--i gotta admit I was not expecting this, but it's so nice of you and I really appreciate it <33. I hope you don't mind me compiling this all into one post, that way it's just a little more organized. you're entirely welcome to send as many asks as you want, so don't worry about continuing in others! I don't mind at all!

1. oo that's a really cool name meaning!! I always think it's interesting to hear what other people's name mean, or they meanings they've chosen to associate with them (as some have more that one). Quil doesn't really have a meaning, so I love hearing others'!! The only thing I miss about my dead name is the meaning, tbh, because it was pretty !!

also, I can totally imagine the cinnamon/sparkly popsicle. when you say that I immediately think of sparkling water for some reason, like it's not a taste it's a feeling. you put it in your mouth and it's an experience. you're wild dream was probably the highlight of my day!! something about it just stood out and I kept coming back to think about it. long silveny popsicles can do that to you, i guess

2. oopsie! my bad! when someone says writing I usually just default to the wings au, because that's the writing most people know me for. but!! i'm glad you like all the analyses I've done! I don't think they'll be stopping anytime soon--it's like everytime I answer an ask I get two more, which means there will be a steady stream of them for the forseable future. I really enjoy doing them, so I love hearing that people enjoy reading them! they're mostly just me rambling until I find a pattern or connection to latch onto, and then I build from there. and depending on the ask I might grab a book from my shelf to reference something if needed

also: thank you! The wings au is a pretty big project I've wanted to take on for a while, so it's absolutely thrilling to see people interact with it and talk about it--even if they haven't read it. There's absolutely no pressure on you to read it, just so you know! Honestly sometimes baffles me that I've gotten fanart and so many asks and comments on it, enough so that people who haven't read it still know what it is. like?? my wings au?? silly little idea I had all because of one stray thought one day?

as for writing it while taking college classes: yes! that's what I've been doing! I think i've had a combined total of like three weeks of break since January (i don't get summer), but aside from that i've had four or five classes while writing the au. Actually was taking an A&P class (which are notoriously difficult, even more so on summer schedule) this summer while working on it, which was wild. But a lot of the excited comments and theories and general interaction helped motivate me to keep going.

3. it's not dissapointing at all! I don't expect for anyone to read it, it's not something you have to do in order to interact with me and the stuff on my blog. it's just something I happen to be doing so if you like it you're welcome to engage with it! I actually don't read fanfic very often either, which may be surprising as I write it. Occasionally I binge a bunch of fics in a certain ship when I'm in the mood, but that's only once every few months. Ships just don't hold huge appeal for me, so I don't find a lot of fic that interests me. Also wow! mine was one of the first you've heard of?? that's a huge accomplishment to me, thank you! Where did you hear about it? I honestly don't know where people find my au, so I'm curious.

speaking of reading fanfic, Nattie's (theunmappedstar) fic is one of the few I've read! I haven't talked to them in a while, but they're very accomplished and it's an honor to be considered alongside them in terms of writing!

as for committing to mine, feel free to take your time! no rush! it's always going to be there! although I will say it does just keep getting longer, so be prepared for that. I update every two weeks on sunday, so you've got time. if you do read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts. truly, comments and just hearing what people think are the best motivation. it also enriches the story! I never know what's going to stick out to people or what they'll remember, so hearing from people gives me ideas for scenes in the future! I have a general idea of where this au is heading, but a lot of the details have been impacted by theories and comments. You absolutely don't have to though, just if you'd like I'd love to hear

4. thank you so much <33. I'd love to get back more into traditional art, as i've been focusing on digital recently. I just love how watercolors look! I actually have a few art requests from an embarrasingly long time ago (April) that I'd like to do in a traditional style. I also just haven't posted as much art recently, so I'd love to get back into that. Coloring and lighting were mostly me just winging it, trying to imagine a few colors that would look nice next to each other and then just going for it. Also, i cant even count how many times I would accidentally switch up the light source in in the middle of a piece. I actually took an art class a few semesters ago, so I have leftover supplies from that I could use for some keeper pieces! I've had a few ideas, so hopefully your encouragement can help me get back into that <33

the writer and artist thing: thank you!! both writing and art are interests of mine, so it's so cool to get recognized for both!! I remember when I started posting art I was doing it as a "I'll do this for now until I get to the writing" thing and then i accidentally became fairly well-known as an fanartist and i was just there like wait a minute this wasn't supposed to happen. But I love it!! I love doing fanart and I'd love to do more. But I also love writing! i have some ideas for aus and other one shots I'd like to do when the wings au is done, not that I'm trying to hurry that along. I thoroughly enjoy working on the wings au, and i'm not in any rush to get through it.

and don't worry, you have nothing to apologize for!! i'm glad you feel comfortable talking to me! You don't need to be concise or anything, you're welcome to take up as much space and use as many words as you'd like. I think it'd be a little hypocritical if i didn't believe that, considering how long my responses to the asks i get are (partially why they sometimes take a bit to answer). it was very much so a fun read!! I really appreciate you and wasn't even sure how to respond to everything in a way that conveyed that. I absolutely blown away by how genuine and sweet you are

i really loved this ask, and I've reread it several times because it's just so kind. thank you so much <33

[terminally-karkalicious]

allow me to rant about the only thing that has been in my brain for the past two months and that is doll customizing babeyyyyy

i know there’s a 90% chance that you wont give a Shit about any of this but here we go anyways

SO first you gotta choose a doll. preferably one with a high range of motion to avoid creating new joints or having annoying limitations like not having elbow joints for some fucking reason. what the fuck mattel. give monster high dolls back their ball jointed shoulders and elbow joints. smh

the most common dolls ive seen used as bases are monster high and ever after high. most customs ive seen are highly stylized so the stylized face molds work well for those types of dolls but dolls like barbies are good for when you want a more realistic face-ups.

once you’ve got your base picked out you gotta wipe that bitch’s face off with like. acetone or nail polish remover or something strong like that. you can also use acetone to shrink doll heads which is cool as hell imo. n e way once the face is wiped you gotta chop off the hair and remove the hair plugs from the inside. ive seen this done several ways but the easiest and most common way ive seen is to dunk the head into boiling water for ~30 seconds until it gets squishy and malleable. once you’ve got the head back, you can use pliers (i think tweezers would work in a pinch) to pull out the hair plugs which are kinda icky because theyre covered in glue and other gross shit. ew

now you must decapitate the doll. dunk em back in the boiling water to soften them back up then just tug the head off. the neck pegs look funky and are usually a different color than the body so thats cool ig

once the head’s off, you can start the face-up which is basically just giving the doll a new face using stuff like watercolor pencils, acrylic paint, gouache, and a whole lot of other stuff. hell ive seen people use person makeup on these dolls.

next,,,,, hair. there’s about twenty million ways to do hair from gluing yarn wefts to sewing to rerooting with purchased nylon doll hair or yarn wefts but i’m gonna talk about the most common one ive seen which is rerooting and gluing.

before you can reroot, you need doll hair. which, as i mentioned, can be bought at stores like the doll planet or made at home with yarn in literally any color. have fun with it! make rainbow hair or something idk

to make homemade wefts, you take some acrylic yarn, cut it twice as long as you want the hair to be (keep in mind you can cut and style the hair once it’s been rerooted), fold them in half, and tie it to something sturdy like a wire coat hanger for the next step.

once you’ve got your yarn tied to your hanger, use a pet brush and brush the yarn until it’s wispy and looks like hair. then take a straightening iron and iron the weft flat. then remove from the hanger and boom. hair wefts. ta-da

to reroot the wefts onto the head, use a rerooting tool (which can be as simple as a needle with the eye cut at angle) (just google it please i’m shit at descriptions)) to poke small sections of the hair into the head. you can use the pre-existing rooting holes for your own reroot as they’re usually pretty reliable. to reroot, take a small length of you doll hair (about 10-15 strands), loop it in half, and put the middle of the loop into the reroot tool. poke the end of the tool with the hair on it into the pre-existing hole and remove the tool. the hair *should* stay in and fill up that plug!! also remember to plug thickly at the hairline and part of the hair where it's most noticeable. it doesnt matter as much in the center of the head as that’s not usually visible on the doll. once you’ve rerooted, squeeze in strong glue through the neck hole and squish around the head to make sure it covers all the plugs and secures them in place. then pour hot water onto the head to make the hair lay flat for styling later.

also, you can reroot yarn directly into the head to make thicker, more textured hairstyles. and since the yarn is thicker, you dont need to glue the inside of the head for the hair to stay in place!!

if youre not doing body modifications (which are also cool as hell) then it’s time for clothes but clothes are boring and i like body mods more so i’m gonna rant about them instead

the material ive seen most doll artists use is apoxie sculpt, which is like play doh on steroids. it comes in two parts which you gotta mix together for some reason. why dont they sell it pre-mixed. what was the reason. also once it’s dry it’s super super strong and you can sand it, drill into it, paint it, and all kinds of stuff. very nice and i want some for myself.

you can use hand saws and drills and shit to whack off doll limbs to make stuff like digitigrade legs or new joints. also dont be afraid to use other mismatching doll parts when customizing like heads and bodies and forearms and hands and shit. it literally does not matter if youre gonna recolor the doll anyways so have fun with it. make frankenstein’s doll if youre feeling spicy

accessories my beloved. stuff like tiny beads and clay baubles and shit will literally transform the entire doll plus they’re adorable and multi-purpose

i suppose i must talk about clothes now. ah well. you can find great clothing patterns if youre new to customizing on other customizer’s etsy shops and probably google although those will probably be lower quality than paid pattern pieces. and keep in mind that if it exists as clothing irl, you can likely make it doll-sized. there are literally no limits to your clothing options as long as you can execute your idea.

the once all your components have been made, you can assemble the doll again!! and finally see what all the parts look like together!! very cool 10/10 stars.

ight that wraps up my doll rant. i could really go into more detail on certain parts but thats a whole other rant for a whole other day smh. sorry for fucking flooding your inbox ender ahaha……………. you asked for this

little did you know that dolls have been one of my favorite things since like ever. if i can read a 25 chapter long fanfic i can read this B)

mattel definitely fucked up by completely ruining MH doll designs and just stopping EAH, alot of their profits most likely came from people who collect and customize dolls and by changing MH doll designs/Stopping EAH dolls they 1. most likely lost a small (or big if we're not jus talking people who customize dolls) part of their profit and 2. made it harder for doll customizers to make dolls/get commissions out rather quickly because they probably have to waste more time making joints or learning how to make joints.

EAH/MH dolls (specifically MH dolls) had AMAZING MODELS because there was so much variety with height, face shapes, etc (my favorite molds had to be the short/tall dolls and the cat molds because of the tails) and doll customizers really went all out with enhancing a molds unique features. The only "downside" abt MH dolls is that they (or atleast most)(from what i remember)) had slimmer faces but wider eyes while EAH dolls have wider faces with slimmer smaller which left a canvas for the face and not the eyes (and vice versa for MH dolls)

I've never seen any videos where a barbie is customized (maybe because i absolutely despised barbies at the time) so I'll definitely have to check those out but they seem to be good for realistic makeovers. I've seen like like semi realistic makeovers for EAH/MH dolls that were pretty good too tho (pretty sure mostly EAH dolls since yk MH dolls were used for creature makeovers while most EAH dolls weren't)

yeah i was always amazed by the head shrinking with acetone. honestly i still am?? idunno i have no idea how that chemical bullshit works. Ive seen a few of uh makeovers that just pain over the face (in multiple layers ofcourse) but that's usually when they're painting the entire body a different colour (again usually when they're turning a doll into a funky little baby man). I've also seen a few that just chop the hair off and take out the hair plugs yk without uuh like softening the head or just go straight for the hair plugs after taking off the head (i used to do that it was funny to me??). i always really liked when they used watercolour pencils or just colour pencils in general to draw/sketch on the face cause like wow ur drawing on ur doll without ruining it?? kinda epic maybe even poggers and pogchamp?? oh god my brain is failing wjshsmsj.

Watching them putting the hair back on the doll was, other than the face stuff, was the BEST part for me. Favorite type of hair was iuuuuuh was either thick yarn or brushed out yarn. Literally worship the people that would reroot the hair, theyre the most patience people on this earth!! it's literally insane but i guess that's what happens when you've been doing that for years? you guess kinda get used to it. when they put glue into the head does it just become stiff?? like it's just a clump of dried glue or does it like..hollow out again??

dude you literally cannot convince me most of the supplies used for doll makeovers. APOXIE CLAY LOOKS SO FECKING GOOD. its edible and i will die on that hill. The body mods are literally so amazing!!!!! it's so impressive how theyre able to imagine certain features THEN LIKE ACTUALLY MAKE IT LOOK ACCURATE TO WHAT THEY WANTED TO LOOK LIKE AFTER LIKE ON TRY (or many yk trial and error is very necessary for..everything). Absolutely loved when doll customizers would saw off a dolls legs and use different ones or just completely get rid of the torso to use a different one. it's like uuh that one big guy that's mismatched and sewn together. very cool. The accessories are so fun!! just small little details you seen really need but can add because it's your feckin doll!! I used to be absolutely obsessed over the doll clothes i would find on etsy, so much so that i started sewing shitty shirts and dresses for my uh "customized" dolls (they were absolute HORRORS idk WHY my mom let me feck up my dolls like that).

Thank you for this!! i haven't been able to talk about any of my interests for a while and this just really made me happy!!

Question fer u my fellow MH/EAH enthusiast: what was your favorite MH/EAH movie/episode and doll series. Mine was The fusion dolls (MH obvi) and that MH movie "Haunted" cause we got to know more about Spectra :D

[penebui]

Lgbt manga pt.1

If you had to put up with my sorry ass for a few years then yes you know that I have been searching for lgbt mangas!! I put up with the pain of going through most genres that sexualize/fetishize gender identities and sexualities (like yaoi and gender bender) and reading mangas to find if they have lgbt content so you dont have to suffer the pain of trying to! Clown on this post and please face my wrath

Keep in mind that these aren’t in order of ratings!! Its just a list. I also give summaries of the plot, the things that make it lgbt, and some content warnings!! 

1. Welcome to Room #305! by Wanan 

Kim Jung Hyun moves into an apartment (room #305) with a friend of a friend, named Kim Homo! Who (you guessed it) is gay! As Jung Hyung begins to live with Kim Homo, he slowly learns to accept him for his sexuality. Once he overcomes his homophobia and completely accepts him for who he is, other lgbt characters pop in too!! They all have their struggles with their identities, and it is very realistic, but the art style helps keep all that angst at bay! As far as english translations go, we have several lesbian characters, and a trans guy. You can read the english translation on several manga sites, but if you want the link to the original since this is a webcomic, here’s the [link]! Unfortunately english updates are very slow since translation teams have other projects, and legal companies who translate take their sweet precious time. 

2. Bokura no Hentai by Fumiko Fumi

The title might seem misleading, however it can be translated as “Our Transformation”! Buckle up buttercup cause this manga will fuck you over emotionally. Three crossdressers meet up after being in a crossdressing group, with different reasons as to why they crossdress. Parou crossdresses to fall in love with a straight guy, Marika is actually a trans woman, and Yui crossdresses as his dead sister to “help” his mother with her grieving. There are some other characters who don’t fit within the gender norms! 

Now let me tell you if you are dealing with some trauma and can’t handle very sensitive topics, this manga might not be the one for you. Although it isnt just homophobia and transphobia, it also contains content of sexual harrassment, pedophilia, and suicide. However these topics are not glorified or sexualized. They are trauma of some of the characters and they must learn how to overcome from it individually. However, there is a happy ending for them!! Please let that be known! I enjoyed reading it if sobbing your heart out counts as enjoying it, because it has indeed pulled my heart strings (although I am not a trans woman, I am a trans guy and I can identify with only some of the things Marika goes through, as trans women go through different experiences than trans men and have it harder on them.) 

3. Hourou Musuko (Wandering Son) by Takako Shimura

This manga is one of the most well known mangas realistically depicting trans identity. It became popular when an anime adaptation came out! However the anime adaptation only covers the middle school part of our protagonists lives, however it encourages you to read the manga to find out what happens to them and their life! We have two protagonists. Shuichi who identifies as a girl, and Yoshino who identifies as a boy. Shuichi is the primary protagonist while Yoshino serves as a secondary protagonist. 

This manga also realistically depicts how hard it is for transfeminine people to come out and be themselves while transmasculine people seem to have it easier (dont clown on this dear fuck). We have lesbian, gay, and genderfluid characters galore! Although they do have some touchy topics like transmisogyny and transphobia in general, it is less heavier than Bokura no Hentai.  

Some people might not like the outcome of this story when it comes to Yoshino, however I am content with it because it shows that people should be able to explore their gender identity, and they are welcome to change it anytime as they see fit. Sometimes you won’t figure out your identity if you don’t explore. 

4. Shimanami Tasagore / Our Dreams at Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani

Also one of the more well known ones, the mangaka of this beautiful story is X-gender and asexual! It follows the protagonist, Tasuku is contemplating suicide as rumors circulate that he is gay at his highschool (he is). He sees a woman jumping off a building nearby and runs to her aid. Her name is Anonymous/Somebody and she sees herself is asexual but other than that she does not like labels, she invites Tasuku inside the building she just jumped off, which contains a group of exclusively lgbt characters. 

We have both trans, lesbian, and gay people. We see their struggles. We see how they overcome it. We see how even we ourselves can harm others even if we’re both lgbt. Of course there is homohpobia, transphobia, etc. however it is all handled perfectly and we get the satisfaction of these characters speaking up for either themselves or for each other. I also love Anonymous simply because she doesn’t like labels and chooses not to use them (excluding the asexual part). Not everyone whos part of the lgbt community has a label, however they are still a part of us! 

5. Fukakai na boku no subete o (Fukaboku)/ Love me for who I am by Konayama Kata

Fukaboku is a very special manga to me, as it goes in depth on gender identity and sexuality. There are two protagonists, Tetsu who is a cis guy and supposedly straight (we later find out that he is not), and Mogumo, who is both intersex and nonbinary. 

Tetsu works as a chef at Question Cafe, and everyone employed in fanlations are called girlyboys, however in the official translation they use otokonoko which is anyone crossdressing as a girl regardless of their gender. There are plenty of transwomen, gay people, etc.! Tetsu falls in love with Mogumo, so he isn’t straight, however he isn’t explicitly gay because he recognizes Mogumo as what they identify as, nonbinary. It is safe to say that he could either be pan, bi, omni, etc. however we can’t confirm since it hasn’t been explicitly stated.

We learn how transfeminine people have certain struggles, like shoes that dont fit them, breasts, and voice feminization. We also have a dose of family struggles when it comes to Mogumo in later/current chapters. 

Before you dm me, yes. Yes I know about the shit prequel. The prequel actually features a gay couple in fukaboku. I have read it. Reluctantly even if it was only 24 pages. However just because the prequel is shit does not mean we should cancel Fukaboku. There is a thing called being critical of the content you’re enjoying. If we treated it like cancel y because of x, then things like persona 4 and danganronpa would be cancelled, but lets not get into that. 

6. Kanojo ni Naritai Kimi to Boku by Umi Takase

I haven’t heard of this one as much as I have the others, so I was very much pleased when I heard about this! There are two protagonist (yes there are a lot of lgbt mangas with two protags I’ve noticed too), Hime and Akira. Hime has a crush on Akira, who identifies as a girl. However this manga is also realistic, as Akira doesn’t fully ‘pass’ as a girl herself. Hime wants to do anything she can to help Akira feel comfortable on her first day of school wearing a girl’s uniform. Because of Akira being made fun of, Hime shows up to school in Akira’s male uniform to help Akira in solidarity. 

Their teachers are fully aware of Akira’s situation, however instead of discriminating her they accept her. Their homeroom teacher helps Hime overcome her internal problem about lashing out at others who try to befriend Akira, and she slowly realizes that just because people can’t accept Akira straight away, they will slowly get used to her and come to terms with the fact that Akira is trans in their own time rather than have it being forced on them.

Hime and Akira make friends slowly and we see that even little things (like calling Akira cute and/or a girl) helps Akira, even if theyre small things we dont usually notice. Hime also struggles with her crush as she sees Akira as a girl, yet she cant accept the fact that shes attracted to girls. 

Although Akira doesnt feel the same way as Hime does, she doesnt just like her as a friend, but also not as a lover either. Its safe to say that these two have a quasiplatonic relationship with each other. 

7. Yuzu no Koto by Arai Shou

I have noticed that there are plenty of mangas with transfeminine characters as the focus, rather than transmasculine, so heres one for the transmasculines! Ichigo’s best friend Yuzu comes back to school, however he is enrolling as a boy! It is very humorous as Ichigo tries to understand and get used to her best friend’s new identity. Although it is slow as each chapter is a single page, it is hinted that Yuzu has a crush on Ichigo (or if thats just me squinting really hard). 

8. Ohana Holoholo by Torino Shino 

It is a story about two bi women who are ex-girlfriends, raising one of the women’s baby together as a little family! There is also an idol/actor who helps them out and visits them occassionally! If you want something warming and wholesome, this is the manga for you!! 

9. My Androgynous Boyfriend by Tamekou

Wako, a woman who works for a publishing company is in a relationship with an androgynous/genderless man! Her boyfriend wears dresses, makeup, and is an instagram model! It is not necessarily treated as crossdressing. It is handled pretty well, and the chemistry between Wako and her boyfriend is very strong. They both love each other so much and help each other with their hobbies and interests. This is what a loving and healthy relationship is supposed to look like!!

10. Inside Mari by Shuzo Oshimi

It is debatable if this is actually considered lgbt, considered the circumstances, however I put it on this list because it shows how mental illnesses and disorders really feel to the person whos suffering from it. Please read throughout this whole section to understand why. 

Inside Mari is about a man named Isao who stalks this young girl named Mari. He follows her back outside of a little convenience store, but when she turns back and looks at him he wakes up inside her body and doesn’t know how to cope with it. He tries to find Mari while putting on a facade and living as her. He meets a girl named Yori who instantly recognizes that Isao isn’t actually Mari from his mannerisms. This girl has had a crush on Mari, just like Isao. Isao tries to prove to Yori that he switched bodies, and when he goes to his apartment, he finds someone living as him, but it isn’t Mari.

The more we delve into this manga, the more we figure out exactly what happened to Mari and Isao. As Isao and Yori visit and retrace his steps, Isao gets flashbacks to memories of Mari. Isao soon realizes that he isn’t actually the real Isao, but a introject of Isao, and that Mari actually has DID because of childhood trauma. The ending is bittersweet, as Mari comes back but Isao unfortunately becomes dormant/disappears since I don’t think what happened was them merging. 

11.  Seibetsu  "Mona Lisa" No Kimi He by Yoshimura Tsumuji 

In the world, people can choose what gender they want to be when they’re 12. When they’re 14 their appearance corresponds to their gender. Hinase however, is 18 years old and they still haven’t chosen a gender. They prefer to be neither. However when their two best friends suddenly confess to them, their hormonal development suddenly starts to increase. 

Imagery and symbolism is very clear in this manga!! As we revolve around the color blue/cyan and the debate and interpretations of Mona Lisa’s gender. I’m very hopeful that Hinase will stay as nonbinary rather than choosing a gender, simply because both of their best friends confessed and asked them to become the opposite gender to be with them. It is very much hinted that Hinase will be in a romantic relationship with their male best friend however. I love this manga simply because the protagonist doesn’t want to identify as either male nor female. 

12. Jun And Kaoru: Pure And Fragrant by Neiki Zui

Jun and Kaoru have a special condition, by midnight they both switch genders. Because they both have this condition, they hang out with each other and help each other with clothing, etc. It should be addressed that these two do not have the “I wish to be a girl/boy” etc. The problem that they have though is their growing crush on each other. They are either genderqueer, or genderfluid, or whatever you prefer since it isn’t directly stated within the manga. They’re not cis or straight! It is a very fun and comedic love story and I wish to see further updates on it!!! 

13. Sakura-Chan to Amane-Kun by Asazuki Norito 

This story revolves around Sakura who identifies as a girl and Amane who identifies as a boy. Amane spots Sakura dressed as a girl and instantly recognizes her, however instead of belittling her he asks her out on a date, only if she goes as a girl. During school however, they have to pretend to be the gender theyre assigned with while not interacting with each other. 

Since there is a lot more but I dont want to break tumblr, I will be making a part 2 and I’ll post it tomorrow! 

[veeranger]

ok here are my thoughts on SPV3.2′s rendition of Halo CE’s first level: The Pillar of Autumn, which i played last night. 

please keep in mind these are my subjective opinions based on my single playthrough of the level on normal difficulty, and that i have nothing but respect for the obviously large amount of effort put into this mod by its creators. 

first of all its great that this level skips the camera orientation shit even on normal difficulty, thank god. 

so basically the level plays out exactly the same as it did in the original game with the exception of the weapons behaving differently, until you get to that one staircase room that was a nightmare on legendary in the original game. its clever actually because the enemies are positioned on the same side as you but above so you run up the stairs and turn around to find yourself face to face with....a brute! not an elite but a brute in the halo 2 style. 

with the brute comes their signature brute shot, brute plasma rifle, a new brute plasma pistol, and a new weapon called the shredder, a brute version of the needler that lacks the projectile tracking of its sister weapon but has a much higher projectile speed making it very fun to use and extremely deadly to unshielded foes including the brutes, who all lack energy shields like the halo 2 and halo reach variants, which makes sense. gameplay wise they’re much less of damage sponges than they were in halo 2 however i did notice that theyre markedly less aggressive again compared to their halo 2 iteration. i have yet to see a brute do its signature charge, but im going to chalk this up to engine limitations and not developer oversight, for all i know these brutes are probably just reskinned elites with no shields. brute chieftains are also missing alongside their iconic gravity hammers, though i assume this is engine limitations preventing something like that from existing. 

 now all this said i am sorely missing the spiker as the brute’s signature weapon because way too many of these bastards are carrying brute shots which can make encounters a bit frustrating at times, while paradoxically making other encounters far too easy due to the weapon’s ability to one shot weaker enemies and carry much more ammo than its halo 2/3 counterparts. it also makes vehicle segments suck sometimes because there are 2-4 brutes with these things knocking your warthog around but thats for the next level.

anyway back to the level, it quickly takes a turn into uncharted territory with a major detour that has you going through large storage areas and a lot more hallways before you finally end up back on track in the original level. i dont hate this per say and it certainly spices the familiar levels up but i can’t say i love how long these new areas are. i think i spent at least 30 minutes on this level and most of that was the new areas. now this isnt bad per say and the areas were not explicitly poorly designed, though i wasnt the biggest fan to be honest, its more so that the level becomes a slog after a while with no end in sight. i also think this addition muddles the intended game design of a tight corridor shooter than blossoms out into a massive open sandbox in the second level but that is not relevant really so i will not actually put stock into that opinion. 

after getting through the new stuff you just drop back into the original level and the rest of it plays out basically the same as it would otherwise, new sandbox notwithstanding. if this level and the second level are showing me any kind of pattern, its that i can expect every level to just suddenly branch into new content before eventually falling back on the original level path and playing out like that. more on this in other level reviews i’m sure. 

all said it was not the best level ive ever played and it dragged on too much but i wouldnt say it was all bad. i had fun more or less and i will say the level ran together pretty organically even with the new additions. oh yeah theres a few extremely minor environmental manipulations you can do like turning gravity down in some areas giving you moon physics and turning on auto turrets in some battles. nothing major but still cool. 

i dont think i want to speak on weapons yet because i havent gotten to use everything yet but i dont like this mod’s assault rifle. it added the smg from halo 2/3 (which i also dont like in this mod) so now the ar is the 32 round variant with a severely nerfed rate of fire which doesnt feel very good to me. the smg has way too much kick to fill the roll of the original ce assault rifle so i feel a little lost without a reliable spray and pray gun, but i suppose comparing and contrasting to the original game is a bit pointless considering this mod really wants to be a totally different experience. still i dont like the ar and im not crazy about the smg. 

i will speak on grenades though, there are two new ones, a clusterbomb which is self explanatory and a gravity bomb, which pulls enemies into it and then weakly explodes, killing weaker enemies and usually dropping elite shields. interesting additions to the sandbox but i feel like the clusterbombs make frags redundant.  

this mod has armor abilities now like halo reach, taking the place of your flashlight when equipped. i assume this has to be this way otherwise i would want to berate them for making me kill my flashlight for sprint or VISOR, which is basically just the detective vision mode from odst but in a really displeasing color pallet. now im nitpicking but yknow. the game is still very dark in a lot of places thanks to this mod still using halo ce’s original lighting engine or just respecting the fact that it was like that for a fucking reason unlike anniversary edition, so losing the flashlight is a real pain sometimes. 

oh also this mod changed the HUD, now your shields and health are where the should be, in the top middle of the screen like in every halo game starting with 3.  

anyway i think thats all i have to say about level 1, not a massively successful first impression but it was not bad and i did not hate it. pretty so-so for me. the next level i’ll have more positives to talk about i think