#i love making fanart 4 this show because it gives me an excuse 2 draw Funny Little Creatures :o)

[labratboygirl]

does curiouscreations have any kinda fandom . if so come bite this onions

[thegatorsgoose]

Mourning Dove notes, batch #1

So since I am a very visual thinker, whenever I post my ideas (that aren't in-the-moment rants, that is) I like to draw something for it. It's the closest thing I can get to transferring something directly from my brain to yours. Unfortunately, I have a lot of thoughts, which means I have a lot of drawings I want to make to help get my points across. And since it's easier to write my ideas down as they come to me anyway, I'll be posting Mourning Dove stuff in batches, drawing + notes = a batch :)

Speaking of the drawing part, this is actually a redraw of fanart I did for Wayne's Haunted Mansion I drew a while ago, so you can actually use the bear as a size reference! He's bigger than Bearwing now, but to be fair the bears not that big. Danny, at 14, is 5”2 at most, probably closer to 5’0. He's still a small king.

I decided to have him be 14 when he becomes a vigilante because 1. That seems like a reasonable amount of time for him to have recovered mentally and physically enough for him to be able to handle unfamiliar environments and have the training necessary to be cautious and know when and how to step in (at least 4 years of training + his powers make him a tiny terror).

2. Yo Danny Phantom he was just 14

This batch is going to be dedicated to why Danny is this au has autism and ADHD, and how that affects him. The why will come from the original fanfic this au is based on, Wayne’s Haunted Mansion by @tathartiel (which you should definitely read if you enjoy dp x dc!). How it affects him will mostly be part of the au. Ok? Ok. I tend to ramble a bit but I tried to make it easy to follow.

First of all, Danny enjoys knitting! He's already sewing, it's only the natural progression for him to find out about knitting, and the family would definitely try to encourage the hobby with less sharp tools. It gives him something to do with his hands, and at the end of the day he has something he made all by himself, something he can be proud of. He loves making stuff for people he cares about, he likes knowing he can do something to keep his loved ones warm, whether by making a blanket, scarf, sweater- you name it. He's definitely not great at first, but he does practice a lot. Whenever he's nervous or fidgety, it's nice to do something with his hands.

One of his favorite parts of knitting is the yarn itself. Specifically the texture and feel of certain yarns. The Waynes are rich so they have no problem supplying him with extremely soft yarns to make the softest sweaters and blankets. And you know how he loves pillows? Well I'd imagine that he’d also love the extremely thick, pillowy yarn. He uses it to make a huge blanket that enhances his pillow nest 10 fold. The day he got a giant roll of thick fluffy yarn he spent all day making a giant fluffy blanket out of it, and the following night shoving it in the birds and bats faces so they can experience the bliss that is the feeling of his new soft, pillowy creation.

Speaking of textures, Danny loves hoodies, especially his Batman hoodie(s). Not only so that he can physically show his appreciation for his family, but that they are warm and soft on the inside, and make him feel secure. His siblings have all gotten him their merch at one point or another, but it wasn't until Jason got him Red Hood merch in the form of a leather jacket did they realize that texture could be a problem. The inside was just not working for Danny, but he was happy to have merch so he tried to ignore it to make Jason happy. It lasted until dinner that night, Danny had a breakdown because the uncomfortable feel of the jacket was agitating him and suddenly the klinks of silverware on plates was to loud, the scrapes and stabs of forks hitting the plates felt like he was physically being hit on the head, and the vibration of the table when someone moved felt like pins and needles going through his arms that were resting on the table. It all became too much for him and he excused himself from the table with a wobbly chirp before promptly disappearing.

It wasn't until later that night, before Jason left, that he reappeared in front of him, tears in his eyes, and handed back the jacket with a guilty chirp. It took Jason some prodding to get Danny to explain why he was handing it back, and then when he finally understood it took a lot more convincing to get Danny to understand it's ok to not like the jacket, no i'm not mad at you, its ok. After he got Danny to calm down he left the manor and informed the rest of the group chat of the new development… and then got Danny another, comfier Red Hood jacket. Bruce, having autism himself (i'm not even sure if that's a headcanon or canon at this point), helps Danny in making sure he knows its ok to feel that way about certain textures and asks what textures he likes and doesn't like, even writes them down so when buying something online or getting something tailored, they can make sure it won't be uncomfortable. His siblings 100% take advantage of this list and start a sort of unspoken competition of who can buy Danny his favorite piece of merch.

Speaking of merch, he has a hoodie of every single Gotham vigilante and wears one almost 24/7. The media was given the vague explanation that Batman saved him from a physically abusive household at 10 (or whatever his age ends up actually being, they don't reveal his existence to the world until he's 12, where by that point he can change back into his human form comfortably. I'm making the assumption he eventually can for the au cus I don’t know everything) so they just assume it's hero worship from that. His siblings however know that it's because he loves them and thinks they're the coolest people ever. Everyone thinks he's adorable anyway. When he first saw Mourning Dove merch he was super excited, until he realized it would be too uncomfortable to wear. Later that week when Bruce gives him a tailor made Dove hoodie, he cried. (Bruce totally won the competition for it, the kids are just a little bitter about it)

Merch was made for him because Gotham does know Mourning Dove exists, mostly from eye witness accounts of the baddies he took down, but also from the literal one blurry video of him that exists. It shows Dove holding onto Batman's cape as Red Robin talks. This was taken on his first official patrol, so he was a little nervous. At first Gotham was mad at Batman for bringing yet another child into the fold, until all the criminals Dove brought in came back terrified. They realized they really should have learned their lesson from the latest Robin, and now just respect their funky shadow child.

However Dove doesn't actually come out all that often. He started his vigilante career because he got wrapped up in the supernatural side of Gotham, at first it was just helping the occasional stray ghost find their haunt, but you know how dangerous magic and the supernatural world can get in just the blink of an eye. Think Jujutsu Kaisen, he was able to see Gotham spirits causing and feeding off of citizens misery, and he just can't not help. When the Batfam realizes what he's doing, he's fully committed to helping the spirit of Gotham deal with her curse. They know there's nothing they can do to stop him, so they do the next best thing and give him armor, a mask and a weapon. They also up his training, which they had been doing before because… it's Gotham. So Mourning Dove doesn't actually come out as often as the others, just either when they're down on members, there's an emergency and need his powers, they want to teach him something, or when he just asks.

… Anyway, back on topic. Another way his autism affects him is making him mostly nonverbal/selectively mute. I'm making the assumption that they eventually do get his voice back, but at that point he can adequately communicate without his voice, using chirps and gestures. He knows now that if he needs to talk (talking to a stranger, needing to explain something more complicated, etc) he usually can. Usually. If he's stressed or uncomfortable in any way, he often finds that he can't talk. Thankfully he's been learning sign language for a few years now and can get across simple ideas and feelings just fine in a pinch. And sometimes, he doesn't even feel bad. And yet still, he can't find it in himself to speak. In those cases, if he needs to explain something complicated, he can write it down. He's gotten a lot better! And if he ever trips up, he can always look it up or use autocorrect if it's over text.

Another thing his trama definitely made a lot worse is that he has episodes of hypersensitivity. An analogy I once heard is that most minds are like doors, and most people can choose to shut the door on small pieces of information that are deemed unnecessary. Like the ticking of a clock, or the scratching of pencils around a classroom. But people with adhd can’t choose to closes those doors, and the flood of information can easily overstimulate us. With his super hearing this definitely becomes a problem, and I can only imagine it gets worse when in crowds. I actually already talked about this, with bad textures. Often we can ignore the extra sensory input and go on with our day, but when faced with something that agitates us, it opens the floodgates to make everything agitate us. The sounds of dinner don't usually annoy Danny, but with the extra bad sensory input that he just couldn't ignore, it made it so he couldn't ignore other pieces of input like usual, and it became too much for him. I usually counteract overstimulation by wearing headphones or earbuds, and while I know Danny definitely has noise canceling devices made for the supers with him 24/7 just in case, I think he deals with it, again, by controlling the texture of the cloths he’s wearing and using it to fidget. He counteracts the negative input by surrounding himself with positive input. If he's not in public or that doesnt work, he’ll curl up into himself and rock back and forth, countering the input with a soothing motion and clenching onto his skin like a stress ball. Of course, that's if Cujo, his service dog, isn't there to help him through it.

One thing that carries over into the future is his short attention span. curse you ADHD! He has trouble sitting still and concentrating on a task that doesn't interest him. However he still LOVES space, and often hyperfixates on it. He’ll sit in front of the tv or a tablet and watch documentaries for hours without moving an inch. The first time this happened the batfam where scared something was wrong, maybe he's having an episode and can't move? But when they approached him to see if he was alright he started wildly flapping his arms and letting out excited chirps, till he noticed the look on their face and got out his phone. An hour later he sent them a poorly written, excited and long text about his favorite star in the galaxy to the family group chat. Suffice it to say, space is his special interest. Since then they started using it as a way to get him to sit still or to distract him. Often it helps to play a documentary in the background while he does a task that doesn't interest him so he won't get so bored he up and leaves.

Last but not least, he has trouble understanding social cues. This is absolutely not helped by how sheltered he is in the social department. Danny's part ghost, and ghosts don’t really lie. It's just not a thing they do. They are loud and honest with their intentions, no beating around the bush. Danny just doesn't understand why people aren't straightforward as well. Danny is very honest and says exactly what he means. I always find this ironic when reading the actual story, that the one person in the family (minus Alfred) that's good at communicating can't talk. This is something that becomes an issue with Bruce and his habit of not using his words to talk. I'd like to imagine that, in trying to set a good example for his youngest son yet, he’d realize the importance of communication, and how he communicates.

You could argue that a lot of these traits come from his trauma, and you're absolutely right. It definitely contributes to making some of these traits a lot stronger than before in this au as well. However, I don't want to just make it all a trauma response because then it sort of implies something is… wrong with him. That there's something to fix. And I don't want him to be treated like that. There's nothing wrong with him liking hoodies. There's nothing wrong with him not wanting to talk. There's nothing wrong with him loving space so much. Those are just a part of who he is. Everyone has quirks, and those are his. I don't want the batfamily to obsess with fixing him, or try to make him “normal.” I want them to accommodate his needs like they do for everyone else in the family. I want them to accept him, and his flaws, like a normal person. Not look at him like he's broken. After everything, he deserves a family who accepts him, chirps and all.

Tldr of the last paragraph: making everything a trama thing makes people sad and want to help “fix” him instead of treating him like a normal person. I aint having that in my au so even if he wasn't hurt the way he was, he would still act like this. There's nothing wrong with Danny, he just needs to be accommodated for and treated like a normal person.

Bonus: close up and flat colors (idk if you can even see them but I am way more proud of those eyelashes than I have any right to be)

[meruz]

Aforementioned long ask post please excuse me while i try to figure out tumblr's new text editor. I’ll get into the art meme questions first and then the rest at the end.

Ok first of all thank you all for sending in questions! Giving me an excuse to talk hehe. I’ll address these in number order. Here’s a link to the ask meme for reference but also I’ll restate the question for ease of reading.

1. When did you get into art?

Super cliche answer but I don’t remember a time where I WASN’T the weird art kid! I started keeping a dedicated sketchbook when I was about 12? But here’s a page from my kindergarten journal about what I want to be when I grow up.

2. What art-related sites have you ever signed up for? 

LOL this is a weird question. Not sure why so many people want to know. Anyways I definitely had a dA. more than one dA account. I used to browse oekakis when I was a kid but I think I was only signed up to some small ones that internet friends owned. What else...? Mangabullet,Tegakie, Paintberri, iscribble back when that was a thing, instagram if that COUNTs, I used to post art on livejournal and dreamwidth too. Patreon, I guess. Gumroad, inprnt, bigcartel, storenvy all for selling stuff.

In terms of resources.. I have a schoolism account that I’m sharing with friends. Used to take classes on coursera for free. I signed up to textures.com for work recently haha. I can’t remember if I ever had an account on posemaniacs. Did they have accounts...? I definitely used to visit all the time.

3. Show us your oldest piece of art you have on hand.

Alright here’s me actually logging into my old deviantart account. These are from September 2008 So I was 13 years old. I don’t have a deviantart account from before then because 13 was the required age for having an account and I didn’t want to lie about my age because I wanted people to be impressed by how young yet clearly incredible at art I was LOL.

4. What defines your artistic style?

You guys are probably more equipped to answer this than me but uh... I wanna say... Focus on colors. And... a slightly heavy hand? Like confident... not always well-considered mark making HAH...

Also I think I have a pretty healthy mix of american comics/manga influences. I feel like people who are into american comics always think my art is too manga and people who are into anime/manga always think my art is too american. And I’m taking that as a good sign.

5. Do you practice other styles/have you tried other styles in the past?

I like to think I switch it up a bunch! I mean, these are pretty different, right?

I think I’ve mentioned this before but one thing I really took away from art school is that, for an illustrator at least, art style shouldn’t be consistent. Your greatest weapon is changing the aspects of your style based on the task, the emotions and message you want to illustrate etc. So depending on the project I’m working on, the fandom I’m drawing for, whether I want something to be funny or serious or dramatic, I’ll change things about my style all the time.

One thing I don’t rly post on here is really tight polished work and that’s because I do that for my day job haha. If you’re not paying me... I’m probably not gonna color in the lines.

6. What levels of artistic education have you had?

I have a whole ass diploma LOL. Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. from the Rhode Island School of Design. And I had a great college experience tbh. Besides the student loans. If any of you guys are thinking about art school feel free to e-mail or message me questions or concerns, I’ll be happy to help. Be as honest as I can be.

7. Show us at least one picture you drew or sketched recently that you did not put on a public site.

heres the wandavision kids. Uhh what else do I have...I feel like I’m rummaging for loose change here...

assorted valentines prep doodles

8. What is your favourite piece that you have done?

Well, obviously this is gonna change all the time and generally it’s gonna be my most recent piece LOL. So yeah, why the hell not. I’ll say it’s this one. I have a pretty short memory which I count as a blessing for an artist. I don’t dwell that long on older work and it keeps me moving forward.

10. What do you like most about your art?

I like that it’s something that only I would make! I had this thought fairly recently and I wrote it down in my sketchbook, it’s pretty cheesy and rambling but it felt revolutionary at the time:

So yeah. I like my art best when it’s the most me and for me. And I like it least when it feels like I’m just making something for social media or for other people’s expectations or whatever.

14. What do you like drawing the most?

Kids in baggy clothing are like my go-to LOL idk if that’s obvious. but also I like being challenged so lately I’ve really loved drawing multi-character compositions, environments, weird angles, etc.

oh i LOVE drawing the underside of shoes lol. And bandages. People that are kinda beat up.. I think it comes from getting a bunch of cuts all the time. I’m always patching myself up and I want to patch characters up too.

15. What do you like drawing the least?

mmm I try to find something to like in every drawing but lets see... I don’t like doing commissions of people’s dogs. Just because it’s normally like... a family friend and my mom volunteered me without my consent and I don’t even really know what they’re expecting me to draw and I don’t even get to meet the dog. Also I’m not that great at dog anatomy. Trying to learn though.

18. What is your purpose for drawing?

This could have a million answers! Uhhh to GIT GOOD??? But also to express myself... and also to make money... I mean it depends on what the drawing IS. I draw fanart mostly to connect to people in the fandom so if you ever see me drawing fanart please take it as like an open invitation to talk to me about the character haha. 

20. How would you rank your art? (poor, mediocre, good, etc.)

Good!!! I have a lot of self-confidence primarily born out of ignorance and a short attention span. If I don’t think too hard about how many other artists are mindblowingly unfathombly good... its easy to think I’m good too! LOL

In all seriousness though, I think the opinion a person has of their art is like a crazy balancing act, right? Like you have to think you suck enough to want to get better but also you have to think you’re good enough to not want to give up. I think we’re all walking that line, I know I am! But also I’m a glass half-full type of person so. Most of the time I feel good about it.

22. List at least one of your “artspirations.”

This is a good question because I’ve been trying and failing to put together one of those “influence map” memes for like a full month now. What’s giving me a hard time is I feel like none of these are actually really obvious “““influences”““ in my art? Like it’s hard to see a lot of them in the work I make...? But idk maybe you guys’ll see what I can’t.

And these are just a couple! God there’s so many more. I could talk about other artists for ages, from all different genres of art. Daumier, Rockwell like every illustrator out there, Dana Gibson, Alex Toth, Hiroshi Yoshida, a lot of the Brandywine School. Lots of current working artists too, Karl Kerschl, frikkin Masashi Kishimoto lol, Jake Wyatt, Richie Pope, Edouard Caplain, Matt Cook, Sachin Teng, - lots of big internet artists, Sophie Li, Freddy Carrasco, Milliofish, Angela Sung... like all my friends from art school too. I could just keep going but I’ll stop for now lol.

24. Do you have a shameful art past? (recolour sprite comics, tracing art, etc.)

I mean if that’s how we’re defining shameful?? sure LOL. It’s not sprite comics but I used to do pokemon sprite recolors all the time. And I used to trace manga panels and color them... Granted this was all when I was like under 12 yrs old so it’s not even embarrassing. Can you really call it shameful when a 7 year old wets the bed or whatever? Not really. In fact some of these are cool as fuck. Look

25. Draw a picture!

Man I’m so tired now but here.

I used to get a lot of compliments for drawing people smiling lol but I don’t think I’ve drawn a lot of smiling lately.. here’s proof I’ve still got it.

OK MEME DONE. onto the rest.

I read this ask first thing when i opened my computer in the morning and it made me really emotional.. I’m so glad my sketches could help you!!

I think a lot of artists on social media talk about the struggle of making art but imo not enough people talk about the joy! Like I know it’s corny but. I really meant what I said at the beginning of that sketchbook about re-contextualizing art around process and progress > product and perfection. I think its super important..! The strength of messy, unfinished, and energetic art! For the feeling of it, for the love it!

That's crazy!!! I hope you like 'em. The whole line of x-books is really good rn imo.

Hi! I totally have the answer for digital stuff on my faq lol. But in terms of drawing on paper.. it varies! I tend to use sketchbooking and any on-paper doodling I do as a way to loosen up/warm-up or experiment. But right now my go-to aresenal is:

from top > bottom

- kuretake no.55 doublesided brush pen

- tombow fudenosuke

- muji 0.38 ballpoint

- medium size poscas

- grey tombow double brush pens

- good ol bic mechanical pencil

not EXACTly sure which inking you referring to from my sketchbook but if I had to take a guess it'd probably be the kuretake no55. That's been my main inker, lately. Great for sketching with the thin end too.

You can print out and eat my art if you like. Just please don't mass produce or re-sell. <3

Thanks! I've come to accept that my art is always gonna be sort of gestural and painty naturally. It's getting it to tighten up enough to be legible that's hard lol...

uh yeah lol I agree actually. I think yolei is great.

I assume these asks are related? LOL

1) Yeah totally true. I love David.

2) I don’t take requests, sorry! But if you want to commission me to draw Legion i would be MORE than happy to. Just e-mail me at isellhotdogs@gmail.com.

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[thealexxa123]

Calming Winds - a Venti x Xiangling fanfiction

Third-person POV

Venti starred at Aether and Paimon talking about a certain restaurant he's never heard of.

"And the food there is amazing! Paimon likes that restaurant!" Paimon yelled in an excited tone.

"Me too Paimon." Aether said in a calm tone, unlike Paimon.

"Uhhh...guys? What are you talking about?" asked a really confused Venti.

"There's this restaurant in Liyue and it's AWESOME!" Paimon explained.

"Do they serve dandelion wine there?" asked Venti.

"They don't have it on the menu" Aether explained calmly. Venti sighed.

"But wait!" Aether screamed loudly which confused Venti more.

"What?" asked Venti. Aether smiled smugly.

"The main chef will prepare you anything even if it's not on the menu!". Venti gasped when he heard those words which made Paimon giggle.

"So...are you gonna come with us when we visit Liyue, Tone-deaf Bard?" Paimon asked smugly.

Venti suddenly lifted himself up. Aether and Paimon stared at him in confusion. Venti smirked at them and whispered softly.

"I'll be going on my own right now.". Hearing those words, Aether and Paimon starred at each other while having the most "what the fuck" looks on their faces.

Venti then proceeded to run away to a teleporting waypoint so he could teleport to Liyue. As soon as he teleported he realized he forgot to ask Aether and Paimon where the restaurant is located. He decided to ask people where the restaurant is.

"It's close! I'll show you!" a random man said and showed Venti around. As soon as they reached the restaurant Venti thanked the man and went inside the restaurant.

Venti saw a cute waitress giving out food to people and blushed. He sat at a table and the waitress approached him.

"Oh look a new face in my restaurant! What do you want to order?" the waitress asked Venti who took a look at the menu.

"Uhm.....I would like a bowl of spicy ramen please!" Venti said. The waitress nodded and quickly went to the kitchen.

Venti waited for 4 minutes and as soon as he was about to lift himself up to go outside, the waitress returned with a big bowl of ramen. Venti drooled while looking at the ramen.

"Enjoy your meal!" The waitress said and ran away quickly to take other people's orders.

Venti started slurping the ramen. Because he was used to eating spicy food he didn't flinch when he felt the spicy feeling on his tongue. After finishing the bowl the waitress came to his table again.

"Want anything else, sir?" the waitress asked. Venti then wanted to ask for a glass of dandelion wine but he was left out of cash. He could only pay for the ramen.

"I wanted some dandelion wine but I'm out of money." Venti explained and sighed sadly.

"Dandelion wine?" the waitress asked confused. "That's a thing?"

"Yes, it is. In Mondstadt, my hometown." Venti told her and then decided to show her how to prepare some. "I'll show you how to prepare this wine!"

"Thank you, sir! That's kind of you!" the waitress thanked.

"Oh, by the way, my name is Venti! Getting called sir is.....weird." Venti said, a bit uncomfortable.

"And my name is Xiangling! Nice to meet you!" Xiangling said in a cheerful voice.

Xiangling then dragged Venti to the kitchen. She had lots of dandelions there that she used for decorating food. Venti started preparing the wine while explaining to Xiangling how to do it.

"So, did you get it?" asked Venti. Xiangling nodded while writing the recipe in a book.

"So can we taste it now?" Xiangling wondered. Venti nodded and put some of the wine in a small glass. Xiangling took a sip then drank the remaining wine from the glass.

"IT'S SO TASTY!" she yelled which made Venti chuckle.

Venti looked out the window and saw that the sky started to get darker. Before he went away Xiangling gave him a bottle of wine as a thanks.

"Thanks a lot!" Venti said while holding the bottle in his hands. Xiangling giggled and hugged him then quickly let him go.

"Bye Venti!" Xiangling said in a cute tone. Venti waved and went outside. He's never had so much fun ever since he got to help Aether and Paimon fight off monsters, which happened about a year ago.

He quickly went to a teleporting waypoint and teleported back to Mondstadt. He found his way to the tavern where he lived and got greeted by Diluc.

"Hey there Venti! Where have you been?" Diluc asked. Venti explained everything while blushing.

"And then she gave me this!" Venti said, showing Diluc the bottle of wine. Diluc chuckled, which really confused Venti.

"She seems to like you." Diluc said to which Venti blushed.

"B-BUT WE BARELY MET!" Venti screamed, his face red as Diluc's hair.

"All lovey-dovey things aside...you should go to sleep. It's late." Diluc said while giving Venti the key to his room.

"Goodnight, master Diluc!" Venti said loudly. Diluc waved at Venti and then went to sleep. Venti did the same and fell asleep quite easily.

The next morning Venti woke up feeling really rested. He went downstairs so he could ask Diluc to make breakfast for the both of them but noticed Diluc was still sleeping.

"Guess I'll go somewhere else to eat..." Venti said disappointingly while sighing.

He went outside and ate some food from "Good Hunter". After eating his food he decided to pay Xiangling a visit. He went to a teleporting waypoint and teleported near the restaurant. He went inside and as immediately as Xiangling saw him she ran to him to hug him tightly.

"Hi Venti!" she said while hugging him tightly.

"Hey, Xiangling!" Venti said back while hugging Xiangling back.

Their friendship went like this for a few months, until Venti and Xiangling actually started having feelings for each other. Venti fell in love with her after she saved him during a fight against a horde of Hilichurls and Xiangling fell in love with Venti after he defended her from Dvalin, who tried to attack her.

A few customers of the restaurant noticed the close friendship and decided to make a ship cult. They called it the "VenLing cult" (which they created by mixing their names together) and they would gather at the restaurant once a week and plan stuff like fanart and fanfiction.

One of the members was Diluc. Since he knew Venti would hang out for about 2 hours at Xiangling's, he would write fanfiction while Venti was gone, as he couldn't draw.

The whole cult thing has been going on for months, and for some reason, Xiangling and Venti didn't know anything about it, even if almost 90% of Liyue shipped it.

One day, Venti and Xiangling had a fight because Xiangling wanted to "improve" the dandelion wine recipe by adding slime condensate, which angered Venti.

"You're not adding slime in the dandelion wine! Understood!?" Venti screamed furiously.

"But I'm a chef that improvises! I have to try my idea!" Xiangling tried to defend herself.

Venti's anger made him slap Xiangling's face. He gasped after he did it and tried to excuse himself but Xiangling had enough of him.

"Out! Out of my chicken! I MEAN KITCHEN! OUT!" Xiangling screamed while crying a river of tears. Venti immediately went outside, without looking at Xiangling or caring about her feelings. That really hurt Xiangling's feelings and it made her cry more.

Venti started regretting it but he decided to go home and cry to himself. He teleported near the tavern and as soon as he went inside the tavern, Diluc put down something he was writing.

"What's that, master Diluc?" Venti asked curiously. Diluc hid the paper and grinned.

"It's nothing Venti!" Diluc said, trying to hide the fact that he was writing Venti x Xiangling smut.

Venti took the paper in his hands and read what was written on it. He blushed at the details and then broke the paper in pieces. Diluc wanted to say something to Venti but Venti rushed outside and, without teleporting, went to Liyue on feet, by gliding and by swimming. He entered in the Wanmin restaurant all wet and tired. Xiangling saw him and asked him politely to go outside, because he was getting the floor wet. He dragged Xiangling with him outside and explained the whole thing to Xiangling.

"I already know of this thing.....Now leave and never look at me!" Xiangling screamed at Venti and pushed him away. Venti was about to leave but Diluc came in, hiccuping from the alcohol he drank.

"Master Diluc, what are you doing here?" asked Xiangling, confused by the man's sudden appearence.

Diluc didn't say anything and just pushed Venti, making him kiss Xiangling's soft lips. Venti gasped but before he kissed Xiangling she broke the kiss and ran inside. Venti regretted making her sad and started crying. Diluc hugged his friend and pat his back.

"Wait I got an idea!" Venti screamed with an excited tone and then ran to someone selling flowers from Mondstadt.

He brought a few flowers and waited behind a bush for the closing hour at the Wanmin restaurant.

As soon as Xiangling got out, Venti got out and surprised Xiangling with the flowers.

"I just want to say that I'm sorry for being rude to you and that...I love you Xiangling!" and as soon as he said that, he kissed her. Xiangling's eyes widened but then she closed her eyes, and started kissing Venti back.

Xiangling broke the kiss and teared up. She hugged Venti tightly and cried on his chest.

"I love you too you idiot!" she said between sobs.

Venti kissed Xiangling's hair and started crying as well. They sat there like that for a few minutes before breaking the hug.

"You know what? You can add as much condensate in the dandelion wine as you wish! I bet it will taste good!" Venti said while smiling dorkly.

Xiangling took him back to Mondstadt and when they reached the tavern, Xiangling kissed Venti's cheek as a goodnight then left to a teleporting waypoint that was nearby. Venti then went to sleep and he sighed as he took a stone off his chest by confessing to Xiangling.

And that's how Venti and Xiangling got together!

The end!

[wackygoofball]

Can you tell us why you’re so positive? I’m having a hard time imagining any positive scenario with Jaime being dead now but I wasn’t wondering what you’re hoping for in the last episode that we can hope for

Well, my positivity comes from the very fact that no matter what, I have an awesome fandom experience. I made the most amazing friends with whom I now share connections reaching beyond the shipping material of my choice, JB. I’ve had and continue to have illuminating and interesting discussions, share in crazy theories, make fun edits and enjoy my wacky life. I never had that until I was guided to the beacon of hope of the JB fandom, and now that I am a part of it, I wouldn’t want to miss a single thing.

So I don’t really see why I would be feeling negatively? Why I would lose all hope, fall into despair, curl in on myself ino a tiny wacky ball, and never dip my toes into the JB fandom again… I can’t see it because I have those things and literally no one other than myself can take them away from me again.

It’s actually the exact opposite for me. I may have come to the fandom because of JB, but I stayed for the whole package. I stayed for the social and emotional connections I made with fellow shippers. I stayed for the debates, not just about JB but all kinds of things. I stayed for the fun and the fanfic, for the gift challenges and roundrobins, for the fanvids and latenight chats.

And so I continue to stay for my friends, I continue to stay for what we canonically have and what can otherwise be explored within the realms of fanon, fanfiction, fanart, and the like.

Because, to me, being part of the JB fandom grew to be so much more than being a fan of Jaime Lannister and Brienne of Tarth, it was becoming a part of a community I don’t want to lose ever again.

But now, I guess your question is more aimed towards what gives me hope for show *canon* turning out satisfactory for JB in any so such way, considering the current… brick odds. Since that post turned out longer than it should (it’s currently 3.00 a.m. and I should be sleeping… so please excuse additonal rambling), I will put this below the cut:

I mean… let’s go through the scenarios from worst case to best case (at least some, there are too many variants to list, really), but for the sake of the argument, let’s roll with the following selection:

1) Even if show canon now ends with Jaime having died last episode and that being the end of it, I have all the opportunity in the world to read and write fix it fanfic and theorize about those what ifs canon would then have left unexplored. So I don’t see why I would be angsting about it. I’ve been to other fandoms before, I shipped pairings I either knew would never become canon or was iffed about when they did not. However, that then leaves me with the sometimes hard but productive task of going back over my earlier theories and see where I went wrong, perhaps, in my analyses to draw the wrong conclusions, where I may have led my shipper goggles distort the source material too much. That can be a kind of painful experience, but it can also be greatly rewarding as it can help me sharpen my views for future analyses of other source materials I may come to enjoy. However, even if we stick to the in-canon expectations here. JB have made love to each other, more than once. They had a beautiful journey together and unless Bran sets it all back in time and we start over somewhere else, no one can take that away from us ever again. And that is amazing.

2) A more hopeful scenario: Jaime still stays dead but either through Tyrion or Bran we at least get the in-canon acknowledgement that Jaime *was* in love with Brienne and also went off to King’s Landing to protect her. Imagine, for instance, a scenario whereby he was being told that Brienne bears his child now. Jaime may have felt like he was a danger to that child (considering the Bronn situation) and/or may have found himself unworthy of that kind of life and may have wished to remove himself from the equation. He may even have been pushed into it by Bran in a number of ways. That would at least give us some kind of closure. It may stil hurt as hell, but the one thing that lies in the air in the narrative at present is that neither Jaime nor Tyrion, in any fashion, addressed his relationship with Brienne. Tyrion didn’t even bring it up during their conversation in the tent, which I would have fully expected as the show bothered to have Tyrion in the know about Jaime’s relationship with Brienne. Why didn’t he ask him something along the lines of “Why do you want to die with Cersei now? You had something good there with Brienne, it made you happy. Why did you just leave that behind?” But no such conversaion took place. Why? I don’t know. I remain puzzled about it. And that is where I am curious to know whether there is something else to that other than “we didn’t have the time to address that” or “we forgot/didn’t bother” storytelling-wise.

3) Jaime may still die but he is not dead as per status of episode 5. He will die of the injuries, but not until Brienne held him in her arms (”to die in the arms of the woman I love” as opposed to holding his sister in what I truly found a way of him acting like a brother to her who was trying to console a hysteric woman who knew she was close to dying and became younger and younger inside her mind the deeper they went). Still all the more tragic, still would suck ass for Brienne as she would have the Renly scenario almost exactly as before, but she held Jaime before he died. They made love before that. So this may at least be the acknowledgement that by the end of the day, Jaime and she had something true, but that circumstances kept them apart and that Jaime would have liked to stay with her in another life, if only life hadn’t made him make certain choices that led down this road.

Now we dig into the really more hopeful scenarios that suggest he is not dead. There are reasons that support this thesis (I don’t call authority to them as, per Occam’s razor, the simplest solutions are ofentimes those that hold the greatest truth). So again, I am not holding my breath for any of those options, all that is to say is that the options *exist*. That is not to fall into hopeful hyping, only to be disappointed if it does not come around, but plainly pointing out arguments that support the thesis.

Reasons that may be used in support of the hypothesis:

a) the show’s really outdone itself to stick a letter to Jaime’s back reading “dead man walking”: Brienne assumed he’d ride to KL to die with his sister, Tyrion said he’d die, Jaime said he’d die, Euron said he’s the one who killed Jaime Lannister, Cersei saw his wounds and kind of implied “you ded”, and then bricks ex machina. Like. Say it one time, foreshadowing, perhaps. Say it two times to make sure. But 4 fuckin’ times is like beating us with a stick.

b) This show has had characters survive despite greater injuries, and now I am not even pointing to Jonesus or Daenerys being fireproof in the show. Remember how Arya got stabbed repeatedly, fell into the water and bled out fast and still she did fine and later on did parkour with the Waif and killed her? Good times. Jon, even after the Julius Caesar stabbination, had it a lot of times when he he should have been dead of injuries and/or pneumonia (see Suicide Squad Beyond the Wall). Arya had buildings drop on her and fire spew at her the whole episode and she got the pale horse showing he the way out (I still hope the horse is Jaqen H’ghar). Tyrion had a ship’s mast drop on him and he did not die. List goes on and on and on. Also, Euron brought a long ice pick to a sword fight. Dude may have missed some major arteries, is all I’m saying.

c) Speaking of injuries, what was the point of having him gravely injured, for what looked and sounded like at least 1 collapsed lung and his kidneys likely looking like a pincushion? The guy still made it all the way up to the map room and then all the way down again without breaking down just once. While Cersei had a sudden unexpected surge of caring for the dude she sent an assassin after not long ago (seriously, let’s never forget that tidbit), the blood on his shirt was not as much as I would have expected from the injuries he’s received. But more to the point: Why have him so gravely injured if the upshot was, all along, he gets there, they get trapped, and then they die together. Why go through the lengths of having Jaime so greatly injured if there is no pay off for him dying of those injuries? Why is it then death by bricks? Why the overkill? I find it odd, is all.

d) There was no single verbal or otherwise recognition by either Jaime or Tyrion about the JB relationship. There was no “tell her I am sorry” or “Could you send her a raven on my behalf?” Nothing. They didn’t even mention her.

e) Jaime seemed awfully jumpy with his reasoning for being there. First he says the odds are even and Cersei may win, implying that he’d want to support Cersei against Daenerys in some way, or rather, keep damage at a minimum by trying to ensure his sister doesn’t pull anything that puts the people in danger. Then Tyrion goes on about how Daenerys will win and Cersei will die. Jaime switches back to Tyrion’s (and Brienne’s) suggestion of him wanting to die by Cersei’s side, which is contrary to his first statement. Then Tyrion points to the people. He says he doesn’t care. Which directly contradicts what he did to save the people of King’s Landing when he slew Aerys. For the sake of that argument, let’s just never forget that Jaime Lannister is one of those characters who builds on “say one thing, mean the other” many, many times. Why am I to assume that there is no hint of that in this cryptic converstaion he’s having with his brother?

f) Why does Tyrion try to get a promise out of Jaime to get Cersei and himself out of KL with the boat? Why does he make him swear? Shouldn’t pointing out the opportunity be enough to convince Jaime to go with it?

g) Others have theorized about it before, I also came back to it. There still is the BATB trope that JB have been following *a lot*. And by that I mean their trajectories were largely reliant on it. Now of course, just because characters are inspired by a trope doesn’t mean the author/writer is obligated to continue it till the very end, but it’s odd how we’ve been following almost all beats, only to stop at what would now be the fakeout death of Beast for Beast to be reborn.

h) Outside of what’s going on within the show’s narrative - NCW’s been all kinds of excited about his arc in season 8, and he’s expressed frustration before, which nearly always related to Jaime staying with his sister for longer than is necessary. This scenario, as it stands right now… does that sound like something NCW would be totally hyped about? I don’t really know. Also, the guy’s been seemingly gagged by HBO in some basement full of free T-shirts since there are no goodbye interviews as we have seen them for Conleth, Pilou and Lena. We only got a couple of instagram posts, but other than that? Am I the only one getting the “Jon Snow is totally dead, guys!” vibes? Perhaps to throw us off, but again, it is something that would support the hypothesis.

i) While we now got a MUCH darker Daenerys *ahem*, and it may well be that she will be wiped off the slate next episode, but that’s another topic… isn’t it AWFULLY neat how that basically removed “all the bad guys” from the narrative? Gregor dead, Euron dead, Qyburn dead, Cersei dead (furthermore, look at all the other baddies we put in the ground, and even those with redemption like Theon are now biting the dust). And then we have Jaime. A character who’s been hated by most for what he did to Bran and for the incesting, a character who continued to be hated by many parts of the viewership based on that, no matter the deeds he did thereafter. The point being, it seems awfully convenient if all the “good guys” lived and all the “bad guys” of varying degrees were to die. GRRM aimed for that bit of dramatic fantasy realism where we have morally gray characters, some grayer than others. Odd enough that this would leave much of the so-perceived morally more or less sound members of the clan right where they are. If I were writing such a thing, I’d keep some of those ambivalent characters, if only to show that the good vs. bad dichotomy does not hold in the real world and that in the real world, sometimes, do not only good guys die but also not-always-good-guys live.

j) What was Jaime’s plan? While he came back to “I am the stupidest Lannister”, Jaime is… not. He outsmarted Tyrion in terms of battle tactics. He is a gifted commander. He certainly is not as dumb as Cersei claimed him to be as she herself was not always the brightest pebble with an evil T’Pol haircut. He’s covered his hand with the glove when he rode away from King’s Landing at the end of season 7. He covered it again until he came back into King’s Landing and then took it off, for what it seems in the hope to use it as a VIP card to get the soldiers’ attention and thus entry into the Red Keep. That means he was in possession of the glove by the time he was captured by Daenerys’s forces. Why would he not wear it, then? Did he want to be caught? Why would he? Was he told by someone with the power of foresight that he needed to be there, that he needed to learn what signal was to be given (the bells) in order to give order to have them ring? We don’t know if he gave the order, but it’s not unlikely. Did he have a plan he didn’t let on even in front of his brother? Was there information Jaime protected and was that the reason why he seemed somewhat off? Who knows. Only the next episode will tell.

k) We are still due some kind of a reaction from Brienne.

l) Where the fuck is Widow’s Wail?

m) Why did the show bother giving us JB making love and playing house if the entire idea was to have him run back to his sister and just die by bricks? Why wait with this till the very last episode, to make it, for all it seems, the literal FINAL big bang of the series?

n) There is something to be said about how realism is not just “everyone dies and all is terrible”. Right now… everything is. We are in worst case scenario land for basically everyone. Jon became complicit in a mass murder, he could not prevent what Jaime did when he slew Aerys before he could nuke the city. Daenerys… committed a mass murder (she lost everyone safe for angry Greyworm and and is now a Queen of the Ashes). Cersei was cast down. Jaime coudln’t make his happiness with Brienne, for all it seems. Varys, for now, it seems, is proven right in that he hoped to be proven wrong and that shit would not go down like it did. Tormund won’t ever get his Emobear back. Bran is an emotional vegetable. Arya just had houses drop on her. Sandor died in fire, aka his worst enemy. Sansa may just have helped put Jon and/or Arya in danger if Daenerys continues to be crazypants. Hundreds and thousands of people got burned, injured, raped, murdered, kabloomed. Tyrion may just have lost his entire family, may still face the wrath of his Queen and continues to be kind of a stupid idiot. This is not some balanced kind of scenario of good and bad, this is just… bad.

o) If we only consider POV characters from the books, there are only three pairings where they are both major POV characters, the three Jays: JC, JD, and JB. And of those two… two are varying degrees of incest, as Varys would otherwise point out to you, and the other barely left the ground before bricks came raining from the sky. The point being… am I to believe that no single 2-POV-romance has any kind of a future? I find it odd.

The list could probably be longer but I am getting tired here. Suffice to say there are a number of reasons that *support* such a hypothesis.

Back on target of scenarios that give me hope - the Jaime lives somehow edition:

4) We may still be in for a Branception. He may pull back time and try to right things (he may also turn out the ultimate villain whose only goal, from the beginning, was to obtain the IT for all we know). He may have seen the worst case scenario unfold as we saw it now, and we may go back to him trying to make it right this time. But those are scenarios that involve a kind of mojo that continues to leave me far too baffled to dive into further. Suffice to say, he may have his hands in that somehow. 

5) Suppose both of them survive somehow. Further imagine a scene of someone waking up on a boat, blinded for a moment, only to come around and look at a very scowling Brienne of Tarth, only to realize that yup, we are seeing things through Jaime’s eyes. And as he turns around he sees a dishevelled but alive sister in the boat, and a very pissed off sellsword turned assassin who complains about how he did not sign up for nearly getting buried alive in those tunnels if not for that warrior woman forcing him to wait out there and pull Jaime and Cersei to safety in the skulls or whatever else when it mattered. Evidently, this would have to be followed by some kind of trial for Cersei as she remains a shitshow of a person who held a city hostage, kabloomed a sept because she could and smirkily drank wine while doing so and gettting helluva murderboners over this. AKA her ending with Jaime still sounds to me as far too nice for a woman who’s done so much horrible when there was no need for it and did nothing really other than supposedly being pregnant with a child (will continue to believe that it is/was a tumor until I’m proven otherwise… even then I will stick to it because history parallels are awesome!) to deserve a “nice” and somewhat comforting exit with her brother by her side, without a single sign of acknowledgement of her being a shitshow of a person. Anyway, that leads too far astray. The point remains on the idea that I wouldn’t even exclude Cersei living at least for a longer while (end of episode 6), but ultimately proving that Jiame will outlive her (as was kind of hinted at by the book’s weirwood dream).

6) Since we have Davos and Tyrion in place as well as a body that conveniently is deposited near the Red Keep now and maches in height and so and such, and since Daenerys would not want to see Jaime Lannister alive right now… how about the good old switch game? Demolish Euron’s dead face a bit more, cut off a hand, stick the golden one on, maybe crispy him a bit more and present that to Daenerys. Would she ask questions beyond that? The point being, I can perfectly see a scenario whereby Jaime will emerge from the rubble (either by sheer luck or by having dived or been pulled into one of the dragon skulls) or will be pulled ou of it, and everyone has to be quick to get rid of him to hide him from Daenerys’s wrath. Off into a boat and let him be brought somewhere to heal and live a silent life where nobody knows what became of him. Tarth is supposed to be beautiful around the season, hm? 

7) Brienne pulls Jaime from the rubble. He explains himself to her, believing he is about to die, just that he isn’t. Maybe he will ogle at her, going on about how Bran even told him how he was destined to die and how there was no future beyond (for him). Only for Brienne to drop it on him that there is, if he decides to live at last because sure as hell she won’t be taking care of a kid they both made and have responsibility to. Perhaps Jaime recognizing that Bran hinted at that the baby he was referring to was not Cersei’s (if there is) but Brienne’s. And that all that needed to happen so he could be reborn.

8) Jaime being the one to ring the bells becoming some kind of unsung hero alongside Brienne if she has any part in getting rid of the current usurper. Imagine Brienne badass-single-handedly getting rid of the living nuke aka dragon.

9) In a scneario whereby Jon offs Daenerys or Daenerys offs off to Essos and Jon does not push the claim… and if we hopefully overlook Gendry because the guy should not be assigned manager jobs he does no have the expertise for (*eye roll*) - I mean, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Gendry but he is by no means a politician or anything close to it… just briefly imagine of the reborn Jaime Lannister, the former Kingslayer, suddenly being confronted with the reality that he is heir to the Iron Throne. Just for funsies. Hm?

10) All ends with Jaime waking up next to Brienne, dozing in bed with their ten kids sleeping in the other rooms of Evenfall Hall, going like “Brienne, honey, I just had the shittiest dream ever.” And then the two cuddle.

Yeah no, for real now though. I can spin myself more scenarios than that, all of which bear hope in some capacity, both within the canon as well as how I have set up my shipping habits. Which means I basically feel invincible right now. The worst that can happen is that I am dissatisfied with how their arcs will conclude, in which case I still have my community and fanfic to fix it. If it ends tragically but at least with recognition of feelings for one another, I will be sad but satisfied. If Jaime survives at least long enough to see Brienne one more time, I will cry like a baby but I will be okay because it will make clear where his heart was at last. and how it will always be hers. If it’s one of the more and most positive scenarios, I will be a happy customer and may gloat more than I should.

My most basic hope is that we get coherence where I currently find myself confused as to where the narrative is heading. There are things I don’t understand or can’t currently, based on the limited information we have, make sense of. I would hope for the show to clear up that much.

My more elaborate hope is that we get the confirmation of their mutual feelings for one another. That can go a multitude of ways, as outlined above, but that’s something I would really want/need to feel like their arcs came full circle, even if Jaime winds up dead.

My HYPE hopes are of course the rebirth scenarios. I don’ find them unlikely, but I don’t hold my breath for them to happen. If they do, I am happy. If they don’t, I won’t be disappointed enough to be sadder than I ought to be. I will try my best to use it as inspiration for fanart, fanfic, and editing.

So yeah… how can I go wrong? How can I be anything but hopeful? I hope for the best, accept the worst if it comes, and simply go on with my fandom life because that is the important aspect about it for me personally. I have amazing friends in this fandom and I can look back on years of one of the best shipping rides I ever undertook. We are canon in every sense of the term and that can’t be taken away from us (as someone once said so elegantly: you can’t unfuck someone). So my hopes are that I simply get to go on enjoying my fandom life in this fandom, then waiting for the books and taking the liberty to dissect the narrative in the light of its full context instead of only ever theorizing based on limited information. My hope is to continue to have awesome, inspiring, and productive discussions and theories and headcanons.

Those are my hopes, and I don’t see how they will ever be disappointed, no matter what may happen in the show next week, or in the infinity and beyond it will take for GRRM to finish those books. And I think that’s not just wishful thinking because the power to remain hopeful actually lies with me. I am the master of my shipping experience, of my fandom life, and as such, I can have all the positivity no matter the canon outcomes.

So yeah, I am a happy Wacky right now and I will continue to be.

And I do hope that some of that positivity will reach you, anon, and anyone else currently feeling like… a bunch of bricks are raining down on them. Sorry, I have to cut back on those puns, I know.

Anyway. To close now.

I am hopeful because I put my hope in my fandom experience, and in that way I cannot possibly lose - and anyone who decides to follow down the same path, you can’t lose either! So how about we continue to win together? I’d very much like that.

[green-makakas]

Cosplay, Fanart and Plagiarism

(gif curtesy to Mel)

TL;DR: An artist traced (!) my cosplay photo without permission, gave me zero credits, sold the prints at a con and denied she’s ever seen my photo. First, both of us, the cosplayer and the photographer, want to say that it would never have come to this if the artist would have immediately apologized to us in person, instead of being extremely rude to us and letting things escalate. A simple sorry and taking down the prints would’ve sufficed. In the beginning of January, being hyped with the new SU episodes, I immediately fell in love with Blue Diamond and cosplayed her. Two months ago, a friend let me know that an artist she saw drew a fanart based on my photo. I was extremely flattered and happy, but also kinda sad the artist gave me zero credits. Us cosplayers and photographers work really hard to get a nice result, and everyone is happy when their photo serves as an inspiration for another artwork. I wrote a letter to her stating that I love her art, but I’d like her to credit me as a source of inspiration (adding the screen shot). For two months, there was silence. I tried it again a few weeks ago, but again, no response. Okay, what can you do…

Last weekend we had a big con in Germany with a huge artist alley and both of us, the photographer and the cosplayer, attended. Suddenly, a friend came to us and said that there’s a girl selling this exact drawing. We were puzzled and decided to go to her booth and look at it ourselves.

Now, I added a gif our friend Mel made of her drawing and my photo overlapping. She didn’t really use me as a reference or an source of inspiration: she simply TRACED my photo. The changes she added to it are minimal! We went to her booth, showed her the photo and asked her to explain this: Why didn’t she ask us if it was okay? Why didn’t she answer two of my messages? And finally, why was she selling it? The artist answered that she’d never seen this photo in her life and she had no idea what we were talking about. Now, dumbfounded by the obvious lie, we asked her to cut it out and to explain herself honestly. She was very rude, didn’t even look us in the eyes and repeated numerous times that she’d never seen this photo, never seen my message and that she wants us to leave right now. We asked her how it could be then, that our photo and her picture were identical down to the folds on the fabric. She avoided answering, flatout refused to continue the discussion and told us to contact her via e-mail instead. No, we said, we are standing right in front of you, so please talk to us now, especially since we had already tried to contact her online. 

Then she changed her story and admitted that she HAD seen my message after all, but was too busy preparing for this convention and thus couldn’t answer. Please note: she was contacted TWO whole months before the convention, so naturally we were having none of it. Later on, she changed her story once again and said that she didn’t understand my message bc it was in English and that’s why she hadn’t answered. This whole time, she continued to state that SHE HAD NEVER SEEN MY PHOTO IN HER LIFE. And by god, she was so rude… all in all, the whole thing was very disappointing and disheartening. Seeing as we had no chance to even have a constructive dialogue, we went to con helpers, who were so, so, so kind to us! They looked at the photo and asked us what we wanted to happen. We told them we just wanted her to stop selling this exact print here. That it wasn’t okay doing it and it wasn’t okay lying about it.

Now, the con helper responsible for the artist alley went to the artist’s booth, talked to her and asked us to talk it out in their presence. They looked at our photo and the artist’s picture and immediately took our side. Now, it was THE FIRST TIME the artist admitted that, indeed, our photo MAY have been used to for this picture, but not by her. Supposedly, it now was „a collab with a friend“ who did the drawing, while the artist in question only did the coloring, so she wouldn’t know anything about tracing our picture. Since her story has already changed a few times during our first attempt to talk to her, we were rather sceptical of this new excuse, but then again, shit happens, right? And it would explain her denying the absolutely obvious fact of tracing, wouldn’t it? Well, as we found out a few hours later on her twitter (thanks to another friend), back in January, when she posted the picture, she stated in no uncertain terms that she was the one who drew it.

Translation: „I watched the new Steven Universe episodes a few days ago and since then I’ve got „What’s The Use Of Feeling, Blue?“ stuck in my head“ „And that’s why I drew Blue Diamond today in the morning!“ Notice her claiming credit for DRAWING the picture alone (”ich habe gezeichnet” – “I drew”), without mentioning any colab friends. And needless to say, without mentioning us. Now, either she was lying to us about having a colab partner or she’s snubbing not one, but two parties of credit here. We do heavily lean towards the first option, due to the way this excuse emerged only after she had time to come up with one, but the second option doesn’t make her look much better either. But back to the story. Not having seen this tweet at that point, we relucantly bought the story of the colab partner being the one at fault here. The con helpers asked her how much was selling the print for. 12€ per print, people, and of course she’s already sold a few. We ourselves don’t even sell this photo and meanwhile someone was profiting of our hard work like this :( The story ended with the con helper taking ALL of her prints of Blue Diamond and giving them to me so she can’t sell them again (at least, not at this con). I shook the artist’s hand and told her that her drawings were beautiful, she was obviously very talented and SHE DIDN’T HAVE TO DO THIS. She could have asked and I would’ve said yes! I told her I wished her no harm and that I wished her good luck, but this was not okay and as an artist, she should understand this. I really wish the message came through, but, sadly, she showed zero remorse. She didn’t even apologize, but whatever. * Now. There are a lot of people who have used our photos as references in the past, but they usually ask beforehand and ALWAYS credit us properly. Nothing makes me happier than to inspire other people with my art. It’s a huge compliment to us as cosplayers and photographers. All the person has to do is to simply ask! It is NOT okay to TRACE a photo and to SELL the result with minimal changes… especially not witout permission. It’s just not. My artwork may be used as a reference, but it’s NOT A STOCK PHOTO and not „just“ a reference for art students or aspiring artists. Cosplay and cosplay photpgraphy are also an artform and there’s a lot of effort and money that goes into it! For this Blue Diamond shoot, we:

1) Put effort into developing the idea 2) Bought fabric and made the costume 3) Styled the wig 4) Did the make up 5) Worked on the studio set up 6) Worked on the lightning set up 7) Put thought into compostion and expression of the photo 8) Took the photo 9) Edited the photo

It is NOT A SIMPLE „CLICK“ OF THE CAMERA. We put sweat and blood into this because, same as fanartists, we are huge SU fans and we wanted to honor the amazing new episodes. In no way did I think someone would simply trace my photo and make profit of it without asking me. Of course, I do not own BD, her design or whatever. But this doesn’t mean that what I created isn’t an artwork within its own right and can be freely traced and sold without permission! The changes the artist made in her „drawing“ were minimal and nothing was changed in the concept, the composition, the idea or the artistic expression of the shot.

There’s always a shit storm in the community when someone reposts an artwork without crediting the artist or when people are reposting without credits for internet points, and rightfully so. Here it’s not just about internet recognition, it’s about actual monetary profit. So I do think it’s understandable that we’re deeply upset about this. This is not, in any way or form, some „Cosplayers vs Fanaritsts” discussion, it’s an „Artist vs Plagiarism“ problem. So please, please, PLEASE, just ask if you want to use someone’s photo, give them credit, show them your work! They’ll be so happy, flattered and proud! Don’t be like this artist… the situation here was entirely avoidable and caused unnecessary pain for everyone involved.

Regardless of the upsetting situation, we really want to thank all friends (and strangers) who showed us support! It was incredibly important and reassuring. Biggest thanks go, of course, to Mel who first notified us of the situation and helped us greatly in solving it! And so many props to convention helpers! We’re thankful beyond words!

[itsafoolmoon]

celestiyale here~ all of the oc questions because I'm an ass like that

I can’t believe you’ve done this to me 

1. Your first OC ever?

Technically my sonic oc I made when I was like what, 8?  

In all seriousness, I think it’s Kara. She’s can shapeshift into a wolf. 

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?

I’d gotta say it’s probably Chase. He’s pretty upbeat and I think about what stupid things he’d get into. 

3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?

Nah

4. A character you rarely talk about?

I barley talk about most of my OCs, you’ll just have to ask to see them 

(｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

Kara. She’s apart of a story i’m trying to make and therefore if she’s popular than my other characters would be by association. 

6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?

Chase and Mike. When I first did their designs freshman year of highschool they looked almost the same, thankfully I’ve fixed that a bit. Just in case though it gave me an excuse to pretend they’re brothers of sorts.

7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories?

Kara, Jasper, Bellona, and a couple others i’ve yet to name. They’re the ones that actually have a kind of story going on. still working on the others

8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!

I haven’t RP’ed since elementary school @whimsicalsnail can vouch for me

9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?

No, they’re all my children and I love them.

10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design?

None of them are very complicated actually...a bit too simple if you ask me...

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”?

Chase or Kara

12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lot

There are too many webcomics I’ve read for me to pick one

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs?

Elliot, he’s in college and he’s a punk

14. Introduce an OC with a tragic backstory

Kara and Jasper. Their family and possibly clan were wiped out by a witch and wizard. Jasper takes care of Kara like a little sister and feels responsible for both their families fallen because he could have given a better warning. Since the attack, Kara has nightmares and if she get’s too emotional (anger, fear, sadness) something else takes over.... talk about cliche 

15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?

Only ones that promise not to judge how terrible they all are 

16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)?

Mia

17. Any OC OTPs?

I don’t really ship any of my OCs together. I’ve tried making someone for Chase and Mike but...relationships are complicated and so is OC making

18. Any OC crackships?

Nah

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)

I can’t say there’s one that “means a lot” to me...guess I don’t bond with them enough hehe

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

Chase is a singer. He’s the lead singer of a little rock band he make called Rising Phoenixes (It’s a work in progress people). I made him when I first heard the song The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy. So his voice would be something like Patrick Stump with maybe a bit of Chester Bennington from Linkin Park and Michael Barnes from Red.  Obviously he’s really into rock music and he likes rap as well as some pop. 

21. Your most artistic OC

Technically Chase. The rest of em are goons. Elliot doodles somewhat but that’d when he’s not paying attention in class or procrastinating

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?

I wouldn’t know since not many people know about them 

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?

With complete honesty, none of my OCs have really changes much since I’ve made them. Design, yeah, but they have the same personality and goals and stuff. 

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

Elliot or Chase. They’re both dumb and I love them. 

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)

Kara. When I made her in elementary I was basically trying to make myself seem more interesting...

26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will?

Nope. All the changes I’ve done are my own choices.

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song?

Buddy, a lot of my OCs are based on songs. My problem is that I don’t remember most of them...

Mike - Basketcase by Green Day

Chase - The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy

Mia - Titanium by David Guetta ft. Sia

Bonnie - Cake by Melanie Martinez

28. Your most dangerous OC?

Realistically, Mia. She’s a spy and analyzes all situations with caution. 

Fantasy wise, Bellona and her brother. They use their magic with little to no regard for other life. 

29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going?

I would say Elliot but he’s a little turd so he’d tell everyone just to act like a tough guy.

30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection?

Mia. The semi stoic ones always have a soft side.

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

Chase would have a social blog that probably promotes his band and there’s a bunch of selfies with him and his bandmates along with audio posts of their songs. Some grumpy Mike pictures are included.

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why?

Mia. Since she’s a spy she’s got all the training to survive and she’s been trained mentally to adapt to situations. There’s a chance she’ll scream at some point though. 

33. Your shyest OC?

Elliot. He’s very socially awkward.

34. Do you have any twin characters?

Debating wether to give Kara a twin brother. I dabbled in wether I wanted a girl or boy and I can have both if they’re siblings. Still indecisive about it though. 

Might be repetitive though since Bellona and her brother are twins as well.

35. Any sibling characters?

Mike and Chase aren’t related by blood, but they have a sort of bond like siblings.

36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)?

I’m not sure I understand the question. 

37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human

Kara and Jasper are both shapeshifters. Kara originally turned into a black wolf but after the attack on her family, her fur is black and white. Jasper can turn into a red wolf. Bellona and her brother know magic and are able to turn into dragons. 

38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?

I’m thinking that Mike was sent to ballet or some sort of fancy dance classes. Meanwhile I have another OC that GETS DOWN AT THE CLUB. 

39. Introduce any character you want

Jasper isn’t talked about much so uh. Yeah he’s a shapeshifter and acts much like a protective older brother towards Kara. He’s got a hint of Jakob from Fire Emblem Fates to his personality when it comes to Kara. He’s a typically polite young man and he tried to hide his emotions a lot of the time. He can be very caring and kind depending on the person though. 

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!

When I first drew Mike, my friend said he was hot. It was during theatre my freshman year. 

41. Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!)

@whimsicalsnail has, but they’re buried deep in our tumblr convo

42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods?

hmm probably Chase

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess

I’m gonna be honest, I consider all of my OCs attractive and I would probably date the dudes. I’m guily of same face syndrome too probably. 

44. Something you like about your OCs in general

I like that i’m able to make them and that I don’t always have to draw fanart to feel satisfied

45. A character you no longer use?

I use all of them...in due time...some more than others...

46. Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?

I DON’T TELL PEOPLE ABOUT MY OCS SO NO....

47. Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child?

I don’t tell people enough...@whimsicalsnail probably has

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure

Either Chase or Kara

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes

Elliot. He’s a college student, of course he’d be too into memes.

50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you want

I usually create OCs based on songs, even if I can’t remember them all. There are a few songs that i’d relate to my OCs and think of them when listening to them. Kara is basically my self insert into the fiction world and I am ashamed but it’s too late now. I hope they all don’t have the same kind of personality too....

If you’re interested in any of my OCs, I’ll gladly do some doodles of them to show you what they look like!

@axioms-sassiest this took me almost an hour to do....why.....

[sshadelyne]

I got bored

[SPOILERS!]

1. Who’s your favourite character from UT? -Papyrus, Undyne or Chara

2. Who’s your least favourite character from UT? -Asgore, maybe? (Jerry is the default so...)

3. Your opinion about UT fandon: -It's trash, but it's good trash

4. What’s your favourite quote? -"SCREW IT! WHY SHOULD I TELL THAT STORY... WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO DIE!?! NGAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

5. What’s your favourite soundtrack? -Finale, Respite, and Waterfall

6. Pacifist, neutral or genocide? -Pacifist

7. Why did you decide to play UT? -I was in the fandom for a while before that, and I just felt like actually playing it

8. Favourite battle? -Asgore or Undyne the Undying

9. Favourite scene? -Undyne/Alphys date

10. Your first letter to Mettaton was: -legs

11. Your reaction when you saw Omega Flowey for the first time: -Well shit I'm screwed.

12. Your headcanon about Frisk’s gender: -Gender neutral (but gender-fluid makes a bit more sense if you think about it)

13. Which UT character reminds you of yourself -Papyrus or Toriel (I'm a mom friend)

14. Which UT character reminds you of your best friend? -Alphys or Undyne

15. Would you smooch a ghost? - heck yeah

16. Which UT character would be your best friend? Why? -Probably Papyrus, since I can do stupid shit with him and do cooking sessions.

17. Do you remember your first killed character? Who was that? -I went straight from Pacifist to Genocide, so it was the first Froggit.

18. Did you do sth in game you regret? -Killing Papyrus and Undyne in Genocide

19. Which ending was your first? -Pacifist

20. Your favourite land in UT and why: (Snowdin, Waterfall or Hotland) -Waterfall because the soundtrack gives me life

21. Your favourite place in UT and why: (Undyne’s house for example) -The True Lab because it's creepy af and has a lot of Undertale's secrets

22. Your headcanon about River person’s gender: -gender neutral

23. Your headcanon about one of the UT characters: -Papyrus remembers RESETs and knows a hell of a lot more than he lets on

24. Butterscouch or cinnamon pie? -Butterscotch

25. Your opinion/headcanon about six human souls: -idk

26. With who would you go on a date? -Idk. Undyne?

27. Marry, fuck, kiss and kill: -How about no?

28. Do you wanna have a bad time? -maybe later

29. Your favourite UT au: -Swapfell, Dusttale, or Reapertale

30. Your least favourite UT au: -Undertail

31. Would you want to fall into underground? -to break the barrier and make friends with everyone

32. Describe or draw your undersona: -Vael-- dragon monster who lives in a remote part of Waterfall. Has dark blue and silver scales, black wings, and a spiked tail. Eyes are silver. Bullet pattern: flames (idk I pulled this out of my ass)

33. One reason why you love UT: -The soundtrack

34. One reason why you hate UT: -when people ridiculously sexualize the characters and do shitty genderbent/creepy kink-indulging AUs

35. If you could choose one type of food from UT, what would it be? -Nice cream

36. Your favourite amalgamate: -Endogeny

37. Your headcanon about Gaster: who do you think Gaster is to Sans and Papyrus? (Father, brother, uncle etc) -Father

38. Your opinion about bad puns: -Yes

39. Do you draw fanarts from UT? If yes, then what do you like the most to draw? -I've drawn one Sans picture because he's the easiest to draw

40. Which of human souls fits you the most? -Justice

41. What would be the first thing you would to show to Sans, Papyrus or the rest of characters in human world? Why? -The beach (because Undyne)

42. Which song reminds you of UT or one of the UT characters? Why? -Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Genocide)

43. Your opinion on underloid: -uhh what?

44. Do you forgive Asgore for what he’s done? -I can see why but it doesn't excuse what he did. Asriel was killed for going to the Surface, the fallen humans were killed got falling Underground.

45. Did you pay for Tem’s college? -Yes

46. Have you seen any youtube letsplay of UT? -Yep

47. Do you listen to any fanmade songs? If so, then which are your favourite? -A few. Milkychan's stronger than you than you chara response was pretty cool

48. What are your favourite theories? -Papyrus remembers RESETs, Chara isn't evil (idk if that counts as a theory)

49. Who is your favourite enemy? (Not including boss monsters) -Greater Dog and Shyren

50. Do you have any headcanons about Chara’s past? (Why they hate humanity, why did they fell to the underground etc) -child abuse

51. Who is your favourite dog? -Greater Dog

52. What was your reaction to true lab? -Holy fuck this is cool

53. Your fabourite voice acting: -idk

54. At the end of pacifist run did you stay with your friends or did you come back to your family -stayed with toriel

55. Who is older - Sans or Papyrus? -Sans

56. Your OTP(s): Alphys/Undyne (duh), not really gonna go into AU ships because that would take a while

57. Your NOTP(s): Asgore/Toriel (I always saw Toriel as that single mom kind of person, and her getting back together with Asgore is unrealistic), Frans, Soriel (goddammit Kamari333 made me ship it a little and I'm dying inside), Asriel/Frisk

58. Your BROTP(s): Sans and Papyrus, Papyrus and Flowey, Papyrus and Undyne, Sans and Toriel

59. Your favourite puzzle: -the laser puzzles in Hotland

60. Which battle was the hardest for you? -Mettaton EX (fuck his stupid battle)

61. Did you still hate Flowey after you discovered his true indentity? -I never hated Flowey to begin with

62. The saddest moment: -Undyne's death in the Neutral Ending or Muffet's Genocide death

63. Which ending is your favourite? -Genocide because Chara

64. How old do you think Frisk is? -10

65. Any post pacifist run headcanons? -Sans takes to the Surface very quickly (if there aren't any RESETs), while Papyrus is just super awkward about it. Toriel becomes a single mom to Frisk.

66. Your favourite NPC -Burgerpants

67. Humans or monsters? -Monsters. Humans suck.

68. The funniest situation -when Papyrus jumps out the window

69. Skeletonfucker, robotfucker, goatfucker or kinkshaming? -kinkshaming

70. When playing for the first time how many candies did you take? -3

71. Did you kill or spare Flowey at the end of the game? -spare

72. If you had to be one of the main characters, which would you choose? -Undyne because she's a badass

73. If you had to kill one of the main characters which would you choose? -Asgore

74. Which character(s) would you like to cosplay? -Undyne?

75. Your favourite Burgerpants’ quote? -"I can't go to hell. I'm all out of vacation days."

I know these were supposed to be asks, but I'm literally lying on the couch with nothing to do and I saw this and I was like "Fuck it."