#i may redraw a proper design for this since i like the idea

[authoramalgam]

I really should have fucked them up more, but I'm tired Shattered/Ruined Bon

[kheprriverse]

Ballad's new design! Can't wait to design every other forms he has as well. But that'll come later. Regardless, I really like how the design looks now compared to the others.

Masterpost | Lineup | Ko-fi - Extra details/thoughts under the cut.

The sword sheathe is a little crunchy, its part of a redesign idea I had that I scrapped. But the sheathe itself I liked, so I pasted it into his ref page before blocking in the new details. But it's crunchy because I had to resize it and didn't want to redraw the whole thing <- ultimately just laziness on my part.

Green cloth is totally optional, so here's a look underneath in case it's needed.

No colors for this version tho. I didn't really plan for it to be in the ref. Maybe some other day.

Regarding other forms. I may include either some of his mask forms but that'll require some thinking and concept art. I WILL be making a proper fullbody of his Fierce Deity form tho along with Forest (oot) getting a good ref as well. (Forest does have a ref I just don't like it so I never posted it lol.) And ofc once that's all done they'll get their own lineup page. Feel free to probe me for any details till then. It'll be kind of a long process since I'm also working on FD's origin.

[quibbs126]

Heck I don’t actually remember if Pure Vanilla/Dark Cacao was a request or if it was something I just planned to do on my own. I know it started out as my own idea, but sometimes that happens and then before I get to doing it, someone requests it and I just make it a request, and I don’t remember if that happened here

But regardless, this was a drawing I made of the idea for a purecacao fankid on it’s own, and I’m posting it as such

Now you’ll notice that this isn’t my usual format. This is because this isn’t her official design, it’s just that last night, I had this idea for a design of her as a young child with Dark Cacaoian clothing, and so I just wanted to make a quick doodle to show you

It was just going to be that picture in the middle, as it’s more sketchy and rough, and clearly not how I usually do these fankid requests. However when I finished, I realized that I made her too small. See, if I may explain some things, for my poorly drawn comics and other things that use that particular brush (it’s the Narinder Pencil if you want to know), and I don’t like enlarging pictures drawn with it because the lines get all blurry and it loses its texture. Prior to the Charcoal Cheese comic, for my poorly drawn comics I tended to enlarge the sketch to fit the screen, and then I’d completely redraw the lines. But here, I had already colored the whole thing, plus it was multiple layers to redraw, so I didn’t want to. But I couldn’t just crop down the canvas to fit it because my square canvases are already 500x500 pixels, they’re very small (and also I think the small size might account for why they may not show up in the best quality, but I’ve been using this size for over 2 years and I’m set with it, and I feel like changing would be too much effort). And I feel like making it even smaller would just tank the quality even more

Though to be honest, I’m glad I made a second version with my proper sketching process, as I was better able to figure out her colors and design

Speaking of her design, yeah this is sort of what I’m thinking for her look, at least in terms of hair, dough and eye color. She’s not gonna keep the braid though, that’s just a kid thing

I feel like maybe I should give her streaks, but I’m not sure where to put them or what color

Also I realize that I forgot to put KitKats on her design. I wasn’t planning to originally since this is a little kid’s outfit, but also in some of the artbook drawings, young Dark Choco had small Oreo shoulderpads, so maybe she should have something similar. I had an idea for her wearing tiny KitKat shoulderpads, but I forgot them. Ah well

Hmm, does she look like a purecacao kid? I’m looking at her and I feel like she looks more like her own character than related to them. Maybe it’s the lack of streaks

Oh yeah, and one more thing I want to add, I’ve decided she’s a post-canon kid, as in Pure Vanilla and Dark Cacao got together after the events of the Dark Flour War and canon in general. The story in my head goes that Dark Cacao developed feelings for Pure Vanilla, but was hesitant to tell him about it, maybe because he’s socially awkward and wasn’t sure how to, maybe because Pure Vanilla and White Lily had something going on and he didn’t want to stir up drama between them. But regardless, Dark Cacao felt that it wasn’t so much of a big deal since they were immortal, he could tell him when he felt it was right. But then the Dark Flour War happened and Pure Vanilla seemingly died, with Dark Cacao never telling him how he felt. But then years later, Pure Vanilla came back, and while Dark Cacao was of course overjoyed, it also caused him to realize that even being immortal, they don’t have all the time in the world, and he needed to tell Pure Vanilla how he felt, and so during the events of Odyssey, he confessed to Pure Vanilla, and then likely sometime after Dark Enchantress’s defeat, they got together, and later had this girl

Also this means she has a (probably) 30+ year older brother in Dark Choco, but it’s all good

I feel bad just keeping her unnamed, but I don’t know what to call her. *sigh*

Any suggestions?

But yeah, I just wanted to show y’all this idea. Don’t know when I’ll be finishing her, but I’ll draw her officially at some point

[superwingscentral]

Pirate AU Masterpost (AU name pending)

since im a person who like to make aus that does not fit with the canon at all, im gonna go all batshit with this one lets go. i havent made proper aus in a long time hhhh

my english went scrawny all over in some places so im sorry for that :'D this post is also extremely messy so buckle up yall

They're gonna be humans in this AU, because I have no idea how to incorporate planes in a setting like this. (also i think it may or may not fit since 'advanced tech'...does not really exist. it isn't set during old times though, it doesn't have a clear time period because it isn't set in our earth.)

The characters don't have clear designs, but FYI, I'm personally going to use my own gijinka designs for visuals like 'screenshot redraws' in this.

Anyway...if you have questions or suggestions, you can ask away! (they help a lot to build my art/stories geniunely + also i think this post is all over the place oh god)

Some parts were inspired from the suggestions given by @stormvanari , ty so much!!!✨️✨️

■■■

This world is filled with islands, but without a clear bridge between them. So the only and the safest way of transportation is with, well, ships. This includes supplies too.

Pist, one of the small islands, took charge of transferring supplies to the other islands due to its location, under the name of "World Delivery". "WD" in short. (the reason for that is the amount of way to the other islands are pretty much same. Although visitors are not really common in the island, even if it's in the center of the whole ocean. It's not a touristic place. People prefer going to Gire, or Dimdi.)

Jimbo-Sky-Storm are 3 of the residents in Pist, and they are in the charge of this delivering organization. Jimbo is the head of it, Sky and Storm are second-hands.

A client sends a letter to WD about what they want, and boom. If there are smaller orders, they'll be sent by small ships. If the order clashes with a supply delivery, it'll be sent with a big delivery ship. Still fast. (residents of pist usually go to there themselves to order. its close)

There is a factory in Pist to produce the supplies (although rumors say the trio uses an extra deal to make their delivery items because there are almost no workers in the factory...)

Storm manages the factory, Sky is in the charge of managing the delivery ships.

There are many ships that work directly for World Delivery HQ (most of them being Pist residents), but there are freelancer ships that come to help them from time to time.

(I divided them in a quite strange way honestly, because I didn't want to seperate the s1 quartet or some 'squads' sorry xP Also FYI: there are many ships. So they don't only consist SW characters. Think of them as...extras? yeah that. i wanna make them go on a long trip once and i dont wanna put wd out of business)

●●●●

The main ships in the AU (not all of them work in Pist but when they pass by they do work for them sometimes. i was gonna put them all under the same workplace but then scrapped that)

Speedy (they're still working on the name. the other three teases the hell out of jett because of this): Consists of only Jett, Dizzy, Donnie, Jerome. Smallest ship with a crew of only 4 people. They reside in Pist, and they're the only ship out of all the SW ships that is actively working for WD.

(well, except for the time they all suddenly disappeared one day on a journey. Turns out they sneaked out.)

Neptune: Mira, Bello, Swampy, Wily, Sparky, Neo. They never stay on islands, instead they live in their ship. It's bigger than Jett's, so it has extra rooms for other things like a greenroom. Speaking of, the crew has a reputation of making herbs and medicines due to their master use of plants (thanks to the captain and her first mate.) They pass Pist by all the time, and help them deliver things, mainly medicine.

Goldstar: Paul, Kim, Badge, and numerous other officers. They're a security ship, and Blackbird is number 1 on their hit list. They're usually sent by Miz, to catch thieves and sometimes to hunt monsters. (But the crew of Goldstar has no idea about what Miz is doing after they hand over the criminals or the monsters, because they're constantly on missions.)

Although their beef with Blackbird's captain is a personal case, not Miz's (mostly for Paul).

Loyalty: Grand Albert's restored historical ship. He travels between islands, along with his students (the top student being Narae) He used to be a famous adventurer that fought thieves who stole artifacts and returned them to their homeland, but now he retired and in prefarence of a slow, peaceful life. He's now sailing a ship-library and is open to visitors. Somehow pirates don't get too close to him.

He also has a granddaughter named Ellie (who is also his student) but she left due to her wish to sail to adventure with her own friends.

Galacti: The most mysterious ship possible. Nothing much is known about them, except for one thing: They're seen during the night. Their morals and goals are also unknown. They're also known as the ones who only know the safe ways to the North. And they home several magical artifacts: ancient spell books, weapons, mystic plants, etc. All of them are wanted by Miz, especially the captain.

Blackbird: The most notorious ship, with the crew of ruthless thieves. They love to mess with the other ships, they ambush the delivery ships while on their way, steal their goods, and scatter the 'useless' ones to the ocean for ships to crash on and sink.

Rumor say the captain Phantom used to navigate a security ship, and people wonder what led him down this path.

No one knows which islands are the crew is from, but they know for a fact that they can sail to the waters in South effortlessly. (The waters in South are also violent, so majority of security ships sunk in hopes of investigate the island.)

●●●

Tech is a bit weird in this AU. It does not exist, but it does at the same time. Phones, internet, or holograms, those stuff doesn't exist, for example.

There's a thing. It's not a common thing, it's a rumor in some islands, it's forbidden to use or even speak of it in some islands–

It's magic. Yep.

Big islands like Miz forbid anyone to ever talk about. Ironically, the most powerful professional magic user is from Miz.

Small islands like Pist though, it's mostly a rumor in there.

Anyway, the magic in this AU mostly relies on spells. Only some certain people can do it. For example, rumor say the mysterious ship Galacti can use magic effortlessly (especially the captain). But the island of Miz, the island the captain is from, can't catch them because the ship is literally invisible.

There's also another type of magic. It's not like a 'wizard-y' type, or done with spells. It affects the physical appearence, like 'monsters'.

Sea creatures are the only known 'monsters' at the moment but there are some research for other possible 'monsters' alive.

There are 3 different sea 'monsters' rn:

The 1st type: Your good ol' cliche sea creatures. They live underwater all the time, cannot go up to surface. Some of them look like a giant squid but some of them have humanoid appearence (like sirens). They're the most common.

The 2nd is: Luca-style. They appear as humans when dry. One of the main ship captains is this. No wonder she rescues people so swiftly from the water? Also the new lackey in Blackbird too, but with the addition of a siren voice.

The third type is a curse that turns the person into a fish, then a bubble. They start to appear as scales under eyes, then ears start to look like fins. At the end of two days they will turn into a full fish, then foam (curse you little mermaid /j). It has a solution though, but it can only be found in the north side of the ocean. Sadly, most people who got cursed end up meeting their demise because the North is even harder to reach than South. The ones who do would still have some side effects like: constant need for hydration and the transformation into a mer-person when dove into water.

(this is completely inspired by that one episode where jett and jerome turn into mer...planes???)

〔 There is also another type of magic, but not a third-type. Instead it's a sub-category, because this one also relies on spells. But instead of performing with bare hands, an object like a wand is needed. 〕

●●●

That's all! For now. I didn't write character introductions, because i didn't know where to put them in (alao the post would be way too long + i haven't written all of them yet.)

Idk if I write a fic based on this. Maybe I'll write snippets?

When I make the outfits, I'll maybe draw 'fake' screenshots?

[gamebunny-advance]

NSR + OCs Doodle Dumps

Some bad sketches from before *that* happened.

Notes under the cut.

Puella Mayday: Mayday dressed as Madoka Kaname + Kliffby. Just a silly doodle. Don't expect anymore characters in the crossover.

UPA B2J: The pose is based on some official keyart (I think it's the boxart). I wanted to finish this, but I'm just not feeling it anymore.

E.G. Sketch: I couldn't remember what he looked like, so I tried to draw him again. It looks off.

Young Kliff: Another idea for a younger Kliff. It's a lot different from my earliest interpretations of that prompt. This version is based more on some early concept sketches of him. I imagine young!Kliff as someone who was drawn to rock because he found belonging in the subculture, so he took it pretty badly when his "home" essentially crumbled around him the same way his "real" home did.

System & White: System is a "character" in Desynchronized that I've alluded to several times (especially in the Headcanons series), but has never made a proper appearance. In short, System (aka Orca) is the literal system which controls the 1010s thought process without being filtered through their individual personality cores. As such, it doesn't technically have its own body and exists in every 1010. If I ever needed to show it visually, it would manifest as a black haired version of whichever 1010 it was currently possessing.

DDMC Redraw: I started a sketch of a redraw of my Doki Doki Mermaid Club title screen. I lost interest in it at some point. I think the composition could be a lot more interesting.

[The original piece]

Kun3h0's Eye: Originally for that poll about Kun3h0's eye, I was just going to use a base and draw all the different answers before I eventually decided to do a unique drawing for each. Some unused sketches included a tentacle, a glitch, an invert colored eye, and an alternate design for the bunny eye patch.

Kun3h0's Things: I was trying to fill the page with various things that are important to Kun3h0, but I never quite finished it. There are more things I could have added, but these are the things I drew:

The GAB Nano: Kun3h0's transformation trinket, storage device, and remote to contact GAB. It's capable of producing various things including power-ups, snacks, toys, etc., granted that Kun3h0 has enough "credits" to purchase them.

Various Keychains (GAB, UFO, Octopus, Strawberry, and Bead Chain): Rather than save her credits for more useful things, Kun3h0 has a habit of cashing in her credits for various trinkets and keychains. The sailor octopus is of course a reference to E.G. while the rest are either in-universe references or based on real keychains I own.

Alien Mascot: The mascot of Kun3h0's favorite discontinued soda brand: Cosmic Caffeinators

White Rabbit Batteries: Kun3h0's preferred brand of batteries. They're modeled after white rabbit milk candies, a childhood favorite of mine.

Cosmic Caffeinators (Raspberry flavor): A soda so unfit for human consumption that it works better as coolant fluid. This is the pink stuff that colors Kun3h0's ears. Despite supposedly being discontinued, this stuff is available in abundance at the arcade Kun3h0 works for.

Detective Floats: Revisiting an old concept for a soda themed OC. He used to run a soda fountain, but I've tried reimagining him as a private investigator from a Strawberry Shortcake-esque world who teams up with a demon slaying bounty hunter from a Doom-esque world. He's cute, but I'm not totally sold on this design. I've got too many string-bean characters (and he is in fact my proto-string bean, but he's since been displaced by the likes of Kun3h0 and The Prince Formerly Known as Frog), so I may experiment with his body type a little more down the line.

[factual-fantasy]

Answering 14 Asks. Ranging from advice, to my characters, to the rules for drawing fanart. (I’m allowing it now btw)

..You know? Since the last time this has ben mentioned I started thinking.

I would love to see fan art of my characters, and now I know you guys want to draw them. Originally I didn’t want anyone to draw my OCs for my own safety. This post goes into detail on that. But I’ve been thinking.. and I think I might’ve found a way to let people draw fan art of my ocs without exposing anything. With rules. If what you plan to draw “breaks the rules” that means that its one of those “exposing things” I talked about.

Man I am such a sissy. I just don’t want to be bashed for anything. But okay look, here are the “rules” for my fan art.

You absolutely are allowed to draw my characters in one of these categories.

Draw a character that you like posing or smiling to show them off.

Cool action scenes! Most of them are soldiers after all.

Interacting with some of the real team prime members is 100% okay. Especially Volvo and Ratchet because they're supposed to be friends.

Drawing Brown Suburban and Bash Buggy hanging out with the other Wreckers!

Drawing two or more established friends goofing around and having innocent fun. 

Drawing a character with an established sad backstory being sad or crying it out. With or without someone that has been established as their friend.

Redrawing scenes that I have already drawn to see it in your style.

If I have mentioned a character likes something, you could draw them with it. An example would be Ranger looking out over a river because she loves water.

You’re allowed to draw me with the characters, although I am kiiiinda a fourth wall break? I’m not really supposed to exist in their world.. So, if you really wanna, you can draw me, but I wouldn't encourage it.

Ones I would not be okay with though..

Drawing my characters getting drunk/drinking. <:/ Not on board with that..

Drawing any of my characters, wearing, talking about or supporting anything political or controversial.. Whether it be over the top or subtle.

No uh.. no ships please, Red Van and Suburban are okay but nothing overly sexual please. :}

No fourth wall breaks please. I know I have had my slip ups but I would like to keep a wall up in between their world and ours. I.E no drawing yourself with them..

Well uh.. that’s about it I suppose. You can basically draw anything, Just no ships, nothing overly sexual or political and keep the fourth wall breaks to a minimum. I myself need to work on not breaking the fourth wall.

I guess that’s it. So if you want to draw fanart for me, and it “follows the rules”? I am bouncing off the walls excited to see what you make for me! Link to their character sheets is here, keep in mind it may be edited now and then.

I am officially giving my fans permission to draw my OCs as long as it “follows the rules”, Have fun drawing!!

Escort would be like, 

When it comes to digital, I use a small Intuos pro Wacom tablet. The model is PHT-451. I’m just reading things off the back of it here. It looks like this.

When it comes to traditional drawing, I use nothing but the finest Walmart mechanical pencils and sketch books. I also usually have a standard pink school eraser on hand as well. :}

Hmm.. If they could use a bouncy castle.. Well,

Brown Suburban and Suburban wouldn’t use it for the same reasons. They’re both too big and it would just make them tired. However, if the the kiddos wanted him to, Suburban would just shrug and hop on.

Miata would be on it before its even fully blown up. She’d love bounce houses.

Escort wouldn’t use it because he’s old and weak. Trying to jump up and down like that would tire him out super fast and would just make him ache probably. Poor baby, he’d probably want to though.🥺

U.M.Dragster would be hopping on it before it was fully blown up along side Miata.

A.T.Dragster would like it but would pretend not to.

Green Truck and Vega wouldn’t do it because they’re old and that would really tire them out. But Vega would want to even though he really shouldn’t.

Red Van would like to jump with the kids, but she cant. After what those cons did to her knees.. she can barley walk, let alone jump. repeatedly.

White Truck would love to jump on a bounce house and would have a ton of fun with it. Although due to his size and strength he would probably get tired faster than Miata and U.M. would.

Beluga and Jeepy would love to, and they would. But just like White Truck, they’re big and would get tired pretty quickly I feel.

With enough coaxing, Honda would like to jump on the bounce house too. And she would have a decent amount of energy left over.

Ranger would say she doesn’t want to and wouldn’t go on it. But she lowkey actually wants to join, she just doesn’t want to seem silly.

Volvo: No.

Bash Buggy would probably want to, but would shy away. He cant see people all that well and parts tend to fall off of him. He imagines he’s not all that clean either so he wouldn’t want to get the bounce house dirty and covered in bolts and screws.

A Decepticon.. that one ugly one.? And I know which one?? 

I actually don’t know which one. I know its not one of mine, because I’ve never drawn them before.

I know its not Knock Out, because he was designed to look attractive. Its not Break Down because he’s not ugly and he’s..... uh, dead..... Its not Soundwave because you cant see his face. Its not Shockwave because.. well, I don't think he’s ugly. Is it Megatron? Starscream?

Who are you talking about???

Its weird how Bash is the idiot when Bulkhead was the one who asked, “Were you killed??” and ALL FOUR OF THEM were relieved when he said he lived.

Isaac sounds so cool! I really like how you structured his character, he sounds like a really fun guy, and yeah, I bet they would really get along swell XD

Well here’s the thing, I can only really tell you the age of the real cars and how old I imagined them being in Transformer years. The reason why is because I don't know how long Cybertronians live and cant use any of the other characters as a reference.

Bumblebee is seen as the youngest, and Ratchet I think is seen as the oldest. Like Teenager vs elder kind'a thing. If I knew how old they were, I could compare them to my OCs and give you a proper age.. but I cant find any info, so this’ll just have to do for now. <:{

Now, normally I have a rule of thumb that I follow. The characters Cybertronian age should at least match up a little with their car age. 40 years is really old for a car, so the character should be really old in robot years. 40 years would translate to like 50 or 60 in Cybertronian years if you get what I’m saying. So, Here’s the age of the real life cars and how old I imagined them to be in Cybertronian years. From oldest to youngest.

Green Truck was made in 1972, he is 48 years old. I pictured him being in his late 50s, coming on 60 years old in Cybertronian years.

Vega was made in 1974, he is 46 years old. I pictured him being in his mid 50s somewhere, in Cybertronian years of course.

Brown Suburban was made in 1978, he is 42 years old. Despite him not being that old in real life, I thought of him being ancient in Cybertronian years. Like, he’s closing up on 90 or something and yet he’s still super strong and in fighting condition. The idea was that Bulkhead and Wheeljack were surprised to see him on Earth, they both kind’a though he had died of age by then. 

Escort was made in 1986, he is 34 years old. Not too old, but I portray him as if he’s reaching his 50s in Cybertronian years.

Suburban was made in 1988, he is 32 years old. I always pictured him being somewhere in his mid forty's in Cybertronian years.

Bash Buggy was made in 1990, he is 30 years old. I kind’a pictured him being somewhere in his 30s actually, so that works out.

Red Van was made in 1993, she is 27 years old. I thought she could be in her very early 40s. Like 41 or maybe 42 years old.

Miata was made in 1994, she is 26 years old. I always pictured her being like in her early twenties. Think 22 to 23.

I haven’t talked about him yet, but Duck Truck was made in 1996, and is 24 years old. He’s one of the Decepticons, his year was written down so I figured I’d add him in too. I always pictured him as a younger Cybertronian, like in his 20s somewhere.

Jeepy was made in 1996, he is 24 years old. Which is actually how old I always pictured him being. Young and full of spirit, probably about 24 years old in Cybertronian years.

Ranger was also made in 1996, she is also 24 years old. But I pictured her being somewhere in her late 30s, closing in in 40.

White Truck was also made in 1996, he also is 24 years old. But I pictured him being rather young, maybe just getting to 20 or a tiny bit older. Not quite at 24 I feel.

Volvo was made in 1998, he is 22 years old. But I feel this old crank pot would fit being around 30 to 35 years old better.

Honda was made in 2000, she is 20 years old. That’s just about how old I imagined her being, maybe a little older though? Maybe 23 to 24 or something.

Beluga was made in 2004, she is 16 years old. I always pictured her being closer to her big sisters age though, so maybe about 20 to 22 years old.

Then... there’s the Dragsters.. and here’s the thing.. U.M.Dragster was made in 2006, so he is 14 years old.. he is our youngest car. Then there’s A.T.Dragster, she was made in 1969, which makes her a whopping 51 years old and our oldest car to date.

This is where I broke that age rule.. I wanted these two to be twins for a multitude of reasons. But how could they be? One is 14 and one is 51, how can they be twins? So I thought okay, they cant be twins, period. ...but they at least need to be siblings, their history demands it. But how would that work?

There are 37 years of age in between them. If they were siblings they couldn’t have grown up together because of the age difference, so there wouldn't be that sibling bond.. But that’s what I want for them at least, is for them to be siblings that grew up together.

So I figured I had two options. I could either follow the age rule that I had structured for everyone else, and just either make them related in some other way other than siblings, or make them not related at all..

Or.. I could completely break the rule so that these two could be siblings.

I’m sure you know which one I went with. I couldn't justify them being twins though because the age difference still bugged me, so they’re just siblings.

A.T is supposed to be in her late 20s, and her little brother U.M is in his early 20s.

When it comes to the real team prime?

I imagined Optimus was like.. in his 40s or something?

I imagined Ratchet is in his 50s somewhere, maybe closing in on 60?

Bulkhead might be somewhere in his 30s.

Wheeljack could be in his 30s too, but I always saw him being a little older than the others.. maybe closing in on 40?

Bumblebee always came off as like a teen, but realistically he might just be early 20s.

Arcee seems like she might be in her late 20s somewhere.

Smokescreen seems to be early 20s, not sure if he’s older or younger than Bumblebee though.

I felt like Ultra Magnus could be in his 40s, but he’d be younger than Optimus I’d guess.

Ohh! That’s a clever one! :DD Well lets see, let me go through the list. XD

Suburban would probably tell you about the war itself, not really about his past specifically. Like, he’d tell you how the war started and what his job was as a medic. But he wouldn't tell you any of the gruesome stuff or much else, for his own sake and yours.

As far as Miata’s story has developed, she hasn’t experienced anything particularly traumatic. So she’d probably fill you in on all that she can remember.

Escort would tell you some stuff, but he wouldn’t tell you anything about what happened after the war on Cybertron. If you asked him he’d get pretty fidgety and would probably get upset.

Brown Suburban would tell you all the wrecker stories in the book, but would try and avoid the stories he thought you couldn’t handle. When it comes to his story specifically though.. he doesn’t want to talk about it.

Both Dragsters wouldn’t want to share their pasts, but might talk about their childhoods if you were nice enough.

Green Truck would probably tell you his whole life story, but would sugar coat it and gloss over the gruesome and traumatic details.

Vega would tell you everything he remembers. He would tell you about his life story, his family and his friends.. but then the story would abruptly cut, and Vega would kind’a get this.. strange look on his face. You’d ask, “What happens next?” And he would just quietly go, “..I.. I don’t know. Everything just.. goes black there. It was dark for a long time.. and then I just.. woke up.. thousands of years older than I was when I went to sleep.” 

Red Van and Beluga would tell you the happy parts of their pasts and gloss over or sugar coat the gruesome parts. 

If you coaxed him enough, White Truck would tell you everything, good and bad. But he’d be nervous or uncomfortable through most of it and it would put him in a weird mood for the rest of the day.

Honda would tell you in great detail about everything she remembers. But she would clam up when she got to the part of the story that talks about her first mission.

Ranger would tell you everything, good and bad, but would lighten it up a little bit as to not freak you out too much.

It would take some convincing, but Volvo would probably share a few interesting stories here and there. His past is not a pretty one, and he feels no reason to share it with anyone, unless its for educational reasons.

Jeepy wouldn’t tell you much. He doesn’t like to think about his past. But he would boast all day to anyone about that one time he saved someone's life or that time he got away from a dangerous situation unscathed.

Bash Buggy doesn’t like to talk about it much, but he would give you a general timeline of sorts. Like, “This happened, and then this, and then this guy came and this happened, and then this big thing happened, and a couple thousand years later I’m here.” kind’a thing.

It was redraw of that one meme from Ice age XD

But in all honesty, he probably has suffered enough damage at several points in his life that shut him down or at least should’ve, but he somehow got back up and kept moving.

The first thing he did when he woke up and really processed it, was he went to go wake up Suburban and show him.

I.. think you’re talking about this one? Haven’t seen the movie but it seems fun XD. My taste in movies is 𝒟𝒾𝓈𝓃𝑒𝓎.

You think what you’ve seen is cute? Boi you haven’t seen what he’s like when he’s trying to comfort someone. XD

First off, how dare you make me cry with your sickly sweet and heart felt words. Second off, thank you so much! And third, I can go over the process of how the 16 of them came to be if it’ll help. Don’t worry I’ll try and sum it up. 

So, with other types of characters all this unique personality stuff would be pretty hard.. but with these real life cars turned into Transformers stuff? It was kind’a easy for me to do this.

For one, I based the cars personalities off of the vibe that the cars always gave off to me, and their drivers personalities. The best example being Honda. I always saw the car having this sweet and gentle vibe, and her driver is the same way. So as a character, I just gave her what felt most familiar when looking at that car.

Brown Suburban has always gave off the vibe that I designed him with. The strong and silent type, but with a big heart for kids and family. *cough cough* the wreckers *cough cough*.

With Volvo I didn’t really have either things to base him off of, so I just basically copied Ratchet and shifted his personality around a bit.

With Bash Buggy though, he’s a new edition to the family. We got him this year I believe. So I just designed a bot that could match how his car looks, and a personality came with it. He could have an adventurous personality, which is why he’d be in dangerous situations and always get hurt. And then I think, “Hey! He could be a Wrecker! A really tiny one!”. The personality stuff was just kind’a there already or was easy to imagine.

Now.. their bodies.. uh.. well, I started with the same thing every time If I remember right. I would take the front of the car, take it apart or split it and rearrange it on the chest of the transformer.

With Red Van, I took the face of the car, split it down the center and spread them apart to make the breast plates.

I basically did this with everyone else too. Just cut up the face of the car and rearranged them and put them on the chest of the transformers. Here’s Green Truck, Volvo and Vega as some more examples.

Well, I notice now my mistake now.. You see Optimus, Ratchet, Bumblebee and Arcee have windows on their bodies. The glass parts of their forms don't just shatter and disappear, the glass windows either rest on their chests or back wings. I should have put windows on some of their chests, and not put the tires or their back so much. But eh, you live and you learn. I’ll do better with the cons.

Now, when it comes to the arms and legs of the transformers, I just drew what felt right.. I don’t know what to tell you.. I can try to show you my thought process maybe?

Red Van is square, but round, not sharp like Suburban. She is more hollow than she is dense and she is not very complicated. In looks, and in functionality. I also wanted key features of hers to be present on her body to help identify her. Such as her silver trim, her hood ornament, etc. 

So, with all these things in mind, I drew a character that matched the car and had all the mentioned features.

The face is more complicated.. but here’s what I remember thinking.

Its complicated.. uhg, I don’t even know if this is helping.

But basically, I based the characters off of the cars they are, the history they have, and the people who drive them. For personality and looks. 

By taking the car, deconstructing some parts of it and rearranging them on the body of the character, it makes things a little easier. And if the character is modelled after someone that already exists, it makes constructing their personality a lot easier.

Overall, this is all I can really tell you. Most of their designing was just stuff I pulled out of my aft and slapped on the paper. I have no idea how I thought of these things but I did, and now they’re here.

I hope this was somewhat informative, I know I probably didn’t explain it well or even answer your question.. If I didn’t, please. ask me again so I can actually try to help you.

Anyway, thank you for the ask. I took it as a huge compliment and it got me all giddy, XD I hope I was at least a little help in your artistic adventures. :} ♡

[littlemisssquiggles]

Hey squiggle meister. What're your thoughts on the flood of people on YouTube who are constantly ranting about the series. And how it's dead after Monty died, and how it's so much worst than before. Etc etc

Tobe honest with you Key, I really don't want to answer this question.I mean it's alright that you asked and I'm going to answer you however I'mgetting a strange sense of deja vu here. Wasn't it not too long ago that youasked me to give my opinion on a similar condition that was happening pre-V6?

Thiswas the issue back then and yet here we are again. You may wanna grab yourselfa snack and settle in because this is going to be one long response post. Let’s just say,this squiggle meister had a lot to let off her chest regarding this particulartopic in the FNDM:

Ihave actually had a small listen to some of these critiques on YouTube and toput it bluntly, I couldn't bring myself to finish most of them. I am a RWBY fan whoalways advocates respecting each other’s opinions regardless of whether or notwe share the same sentiments about the series. I am also a RWBY fan whounderstands that the series is not a flawless show and has suffered more than its fairshare of shortcomings throughout its last arc trilogy. 

Nevertheless, in spiteof this, I’ve also acknowledged some noteworthy improvements in the quality of the show that honestly deserves more praise.As someone who has been with this series since its humble beginnings, I have beenthere for each transformation the show has undergone and in doing so, I haveseen RWBY evolve.

Whilesome of the show’s changes haven’t entirely been welcomed by its fandom (withits main change being something completely out of the showrunners’ control) I’dbe lying if I said these changes didn’t contribute to the show’s success insome shape or form.

Speakingfor myself, initially RWBY earned my attention because, like most RWBY stans, Iwas a fan of Monty Oum before and when I discovered that he had his own seriesproduced by RoosterTeeth, I was interested. I didn’t care what the story wasabout or what it looked like. All that mattered to be me back then was that itwas something from the creative mind of Monty Oum so I expected somethingepically action-packed.

At the start, I joinedthe RWBY fandom becauseof Monty however as the seriesprogressed, my reasoning for sticking with it and staying loyal to the showtranscended my past loyalty to the franchise as a by-product of anartist/animator I admired so much.

Thisbrings me to my main point. You want my honest thoughts onthe YouTube RWBY Rants, Key? To be frank, I’m tired of it. It is exhausting listeningto the tirades of these proclaimed RWBY YouTube reviewers who do nothing butgripe and express their disdain for everything the show does wrong according totheir standards. I am so fed up of seeing this happen time and time again.

Andwhat’s sad is that I don’t think part of this is even due to the show or theCRWBY’s fault. Do you know you are more likely to find a video shitting on RWBYas opposed to one that genuinely outlines its positive elements or at leastpresents a fair and just constructive argument of the good and bad of the show?Do you know how many RWBY hate videos the YouTube algorithm has recommended to mesince V6 concluded? It’s ridiculous.

ButI also know I can’t do anything to stop it. So long as RWBY exists, there willalways be these so-called ---I guess we can call them the ‘hate parade’ type of fans who wait like vultures to a carcass to pick apartthe show whenever a new season comes out.

Anddo you know what the sadder part about watching these videos is?

Thesevideos try to give the allusion thatthey are coming from a practical standpoint---as if the things they’repointing out in their reviews are genuine problems with theshow and that their personal advice to the showrunners are valid enough torectify these problems they indicated about RWBY.

Herein, lies my personal peeve with these types of reviews. The best kind of criticto me is one who can point out a flaw in something, justify why they believesaid thing is a clear flaw and then use their own understanding to outlinetheir concept for a possible solution to that flaw that they respectfully leaveopen to the creators of said property to take their advice or not.

However,this is not the case with these YouTube RWBY Rants; at least from the few I’veviewed. I’ll admit, there are some genuinely good RWBY Reviewers on YouTube. Ofthe top of my head, Thatkaitodan, MurderofBirds are two and believeit or not, I actually like some of EruptionFang’s reviews from time to time. Imay not always agree 100% with everything he says in his breakdowns but in myopinion, I can’t get too mad at the things he says in his reviews/video essaysbecause he’s able to justify it in a manner that I’m able to see where he’scoming from. Even if that justification comes from a place of unbridled rage.Referring to EF, I know he’s been receiving flak from FNDM members regardinghis recent views on Adam’s conclusion and Bumblebee; however if I’m beingcompletely honest here, I feel some of that bashing is unwarranted.

Inall fairness to EF, at least I’m able stomach his opinions a lot better than thatof other RWBY Youtubers. As I said, EF is able to properly defend his pointswell enough for me to grasp the validity of his statements which is the least Ican say for some of the others I’ve listened to.

Oftenat times, on the adverse side of RWBY YouTube, I find myself listening toYoutubers who spend more time outright bashing everypersonal gripe they have with the show as opposed to presenting a good argumentthan gives hindsight to why these problems are such an issue to them. 

Theworst kind are the ones where this Youtubers point out flaws in the show andtry to give solutions to what the showrunners can do to fix these problems. Butmost of the time it’s done so rudely that it comes off more obnoxious thanhelpful. As if these Youtubers are proclaiming to know and understand moreabout the animation production process than the actual people running the showwho have the qualifications and past industry experience

I’llgive you two examples. Not naming names but I recently watched two videos fromtwo RWBY Youtubers---one critiquing the shows character designs while anotherwas a Youtuber’s final video explaining why they were quitting the RWBY FNDMfor good.

 Inthe characterdesign critique, the individualexpressed their disappointment in the recent designs for the RWBY girls and thevillains as of the Mistral Arc. They then proceeded to offer their own tips for how the show could have helped to spruce up someof these designs. However rather than attempting to make their own alternatedesigns to the character outfits, this Youtuber just slapped some rather poorlylaid out flat base colours on top of screenshots of the characters in question.Which from a digital art perspective is…admittedly…lazy.

Iunderstand that not everyone in the world is a designer, much less is a characterdesigner or at least knows how to draw. However…if that is the case then whyare you, as the individual who clearly doesn’t appear to have the design skills,commenting on the work of a studio with a full production team of artists whodo have those required skills and experience and can probably rationalize theirreasons for going with the final designs presented in the show. You get whatI’m saying?

Ifone is going to critique the show’s overall character design then the least youcan do is make the effort to back up your claims. Illustrate your own designsfor RWBY character outfits. Create a mock-up 2D/3D screenshot illustration withproper lighting and atmosphere to see how your design ideas holds up againstthose elements of a scene and then compare that to the actual show’s productionwork. This reviewer didn’t even bother to attempt to maketheir own original designs or even redraw the current designs in their ownstyle and test out their suggested colourpalettes to see if it would fit with the overall design aesthetic of thecharacter.

Youmight be asking now: But Squiggles are you saying I need to know how to draw tocomment about RWBY?

To which I say: No.Being an artist is not a requirement that you as a fan need to really have inorder to comment about something you love. HOWEVER, if you are the type of individualwho has the massive chops to try and dictate a production studio with a team ofeducated and/or industry seasoned artists on how they should handle designingtheir characters without you yourself having the design knowledge to supportyour critiques then… you wonder why the CRWBY often get upset with these typesof fans and don’t take their comments seriously?

Contraryto what others might say, I am not a believer that RWBY is dictated by thedesires of its fandom community. That’s a comment I’ve been hearing buzzingabout since V6 ironically in the face of the recent hate crowd to gather fromwhat transpired with the Bumblebee pairing in the recent season.

Iunderstand that there are fans making the argument that the showrunners onlymade this pairing canon because its popular with its shipping community. Thesame can be said about Neo’s return to become Cinder’s protégé.

Admittedlywhile I might find the CRWBY’s decisions to be questionable at times, this still doesn’t prove that they are run by theirFNDM. If something happens in the show, it’s because it’s something theshowrunners and has wanted to do for some time and picked that current volumeto do so. The mere fact that that thing just so happened to correlate withsomething the fans wanted to see is just a matter of coincidence.

Thatbeing said, I will admit that I’ve noticed one or two members of the CRWBY castwho are guilty of encouraging certain ideas without the show itself officially confirming it in its narrative as yet.

In light of that, Iwill admit this. Regardless of whether or not you as a member of the CRWBY teamsupport a particular ship with all your heart, if other fandoms have taught meanything is that as a cast member you should NEVER encourage anything within yourown fan community. It never ends well and I’m seeing this repeated in RWBY. Butthis is not what I’m here to talk about right now. Moving on.

Inrespect to the video from the individual who was leaving the FNDM, I actually didn’tfinish watching their video because the instant they mentioned Monty Oum and their disdain for the CRWBY not living up to hislegacy and all that stuff, I couldn’t.

Ahyes, the classic ‘RWBY Animation hasn’t been the best since Monty passed away and the RWBYAnimation team are terrible because they can’t replicate Monty’s animation’ debate.How many times is this dead horse going to be beaten?  According to this RWBY Youtuber, ‘replicatingMonty’s style of animation is easy andit is appalling the RWBY Animation Team can’t replicate Monty’s style afterfour seasons’.

Thiscomment not only annoyed me as a fan but also as someone who has studiedanimation before. Again, how many times will this poor dead horse be dug up tobe bludgeoned?  Will these fans everallow Monty’s name to rest peacefully without bringing it up to tarnish theefforts made by the CRWBY to finish the story he started with them?

Iget it. MontyOum was a good animator.He wasn’t the best animator. He wasn’t some genius animation prodigy. He was a creative mind who had his own way of thinking and doing things andfrom that, he established a style about hisanimation that shined through his work. If you were to show me an animatedpiece done by Monty and the same piece animated by another person, I caninstantly tell you which one is Monty’s because Monty had his own style.

That’sthe appeal of Monty’s work, on my opinion. That’s what he became known for by hisfans. However, even though Monty was great at animating fight scenes, his way---hisstyle is NOT the only wayto animate a fight.

Recently,I took the time to go back and count the number of fights that happened overthe volumes. I did this because as of V6, I couldn’t help but feel as if theCRWBY might be shying away including moments where the characters areactually engaged in combat. I omitted the character shorts because onemandatory element of the Character Shorts is a fight scene. I just wanted tohighlight the individual seasons alone.  

Someof this numbers might be a little iffy depending on what I counted as a fight,but here’s what I gathered.

THE VALE TRILOGY

RWBY V1C1:2C2:0C3:0C4:0C5:0C6:3C7:0C8:2C9:0C10:1C11:1C12:0C13:0C14:1C15:0C16:2

Totalfights = 12 Fights

RWBY V2:C1:1C2:0C3:0C4:1C5:3C6:0C7:1C8:0C9:4C10:0C11:4C12:4

TotalFights= 18 Fights

RWBY V3:C1:1C2:2C3:1C4:1C5:2C6:1C7:1C8:0C9:1C10:2C11:2C12:2

TotalFights = 16 Fights  

THE MISTRALTRILOGY

RWBY V4:C1:1C2:0C3:1C4:0C5:0C6:1C7:1C8:0C9:2C10:0C11:0C12:1 

TotalFights = 7 Fights

RWBY V5C1:0C2:1C3:0C4:2C5:0C6:0C7:0C8:0C9:1C10:3C11:5C12:1C13:1C14:0

TotalFights = 14 Fights

RWBY V6:C1:3C2:0C3:0C4:0C5:1C6:0C7:1C8:0C9:0C10:1C11:3C12:1C13:0

 TotalFights = 10 Fights

Why I bring this upis throughout V4 and V6’s runtime I’ve seen one or two all-stars inthe new CRWBY animation team. While not all the fight scenes from the MistralArc were the best, there were definitely some good ones that I stood out to me.

OneV4 fight that keeps being overly praised is the Tyrian vs. Qrow dual. Many fanstend to vouch that fight as the best fight of V4. The only reason that fight isso popular is because it was one of the more important fights of thatrespective season.

However,I’m being completely honest, the Qrow vs. Tyrian one on one was good but itwasn’t the only good fight of V4.

PersonallyI took enjoyment in the small sparring match between Yang and Tai Yang.Believe it or not, I felt like that moment, though small, was well animated andI’d actually give props to the animator behind that small scene. There was a nicesense of rhythm to that small fight that I quite liked.

Notmany folks will agree with little ole me regarding that scene but this just goesto show, we all have our own personal preferences with what we consider to be agood fight sequence vs a not so good one.

Often at times, Ifeel really sorry for the series animators cherry picked to handle the combatmoments for the current seasons because I feel like those animators suffer the most pressure and scrutiny in the eyes of the FNDM. I feel like some FNDM members are sofocused on nagging atthe current CRWBY to capture Monty’s old style of animating fights that they aren’t really giving these new animatorswith their own styles a fair chance toshine outside of Monty’s shadow.

Again.I get it. RWBY was Monty’s brainchild. He’s the creator andno matter how far the current CRWBY takes the series, he will always becredited as its creator.

HoweverRWBY has come a long way since Monty’s days. The show haschanged.The overall look and visual style of the series has changed.Even the production pipeline and the software used to animate the series has changed.The CRWBY hasgrown allowing a greater mix of artistslending their talents to breathe life into the series.

Butwhat seems to kind of still be stuck in the past are some members of the FNDMcommunity. The ones who only watch the show because they are waiting to see thecurrent RWBY recapture that essence of Monty thatthey claimed the show lost after he died.

RWBY is dead after Monty passed away? In some ways, this isboth true and false. The truth is that RWBY did die. The old style that the show was being produced on was laid to restafter its creator unfortunately passed. The false is that RWBY didn’t end withMonty because it’s being continued in its current new style by the people whohelped bring it to life in the first place alongside Monty. The same people whoare diligently carrying on Monty’s project in his place. RWBY isn’t dead. It’sstill breathing. Still going. Because a story still needs to be told.

Ratherthan being judged for how well they can interpret a good fight sequence, theseanimators are judged for how well they can replicate Monty’s style. And when theseanimators don’t live up to that expectation, that’s when the shit storm begins.I myself have been found guilty of comparing the past animation to the present.However now I realized that I was wrong in doing that.

Ithink it’s high time some of these fans let go of the past and accept that theaction fight scenes of RWBY are never going to reflect Monty’s style anymore.

Montyis unfortunately not around to guide the current team with this. And they are doingtheir best to find their own style. To some extent, they found it in V6 becausethe fights in this last season were a tremendous improvement from V4 and V5.

Ifeel like there are some genuinely talented animators workingnow on RWBY who know how to create and sell a great fight and if left to theirown devices, they could really dazzle the audience with their own way of doingthings. I feel like since V4, the CRWBY have been experimenting with how they craftout their fights especially in the new Maya pipeline but it wasn’t until V6where I feel they finally found their footing again.

I think most fanscould agree that the fights in V6 were much better compared to theirpredecessors. One of the best one on one fights was the Neo vs Cinder clash. Whoever was the animator responsible for thatscene should honestly be given more opportunities like thatwhere their work can shine through because that fight was well done. Thesame can be said for the Maria vs. Tok oneon one fight despite how short it was. But the thing is, none of those fightsfelt like Monty’s style to me. It didn’t feel like someone was trying to copyMonty but rather it was someone who probably took a little inspiration Monty’soriginal work and the rest was them bringing their own unique spin to it.

Ifthe CRWBY have been trying to replicatethat Monty style in their fights for the past arc then I’m starting to thinkthat that is what’s been holding them back ratherthan aiding them to move forward.

Thisis why I find the whole point about replicating Monty’s style being easy to be ludicrous. Replicating someone else’s style,depending on the medium is not something you can just do on a fly. It’s noteven something you can perfect in a matter of years. It’s something that takes adeep understanding of the art form you’re using (in this case being animation),time, strict discipline and most importantly of all, guidance and critique from theperson who’s style your copying or someone else who is a master of said style and/orhas a great understanding of it themselves.

That’swhy sometimes you might hear behind the scenes tales about animation studiostaking sometime during their production pipeline to train theiranimators on the style or quality of animation they are trying to emulate in acurrent project. DidMonty do that with the CRWBY? Did Montyget the chance to pass his knowledge and technique onto otheranimators? Did Monty even get to see his story grow to what it is now?

Sadly,no.  Monty was a creator who didn’t evenlive long enough to see his own idea flourish for the six seasons it’s beenrunning; now moving onto its seventh season. As far as I know, Monty passedaway as early as V2. Most people don’t even get the chance to see their ideascome to life but Monty was among those fortunate few who was given the shot tomake his idea a reality.

RoosterTeethgave Monty that chance after he worked with them on some of their otherprojects like RvB. He had made himself a household name within their companyand among that, he had made friends and had formed an in-house family with thecolleagues he worked with both on RvB and RWBY.

Saywhat you will about RoosterTeeth and the CRWBY. The original CRWBY who workedwith Monty between V1 and V2 were the people who knew Montythe most. They were his friends. His family. This is all the more reason why itdoesn’t give us, as fans looking in from the outside, the right to use Monty’sname to disrespect the people who knew him better.

Imay not always like what the CRWBY Writers do with the story but I respect themboth as writers. I respect Miles and Kerry because they are the showrunners. RWBY’s plotstarted with Monty, Miles and Kerry.

TheRWBY hate parade need to stop acting as if RWBY was made by Monty alone.Monty did not make RWBY by himself. Shit, he didn’t even create the plot byhimself.

Montyis credited as its creator because RWBY was his brain child and he will foreverbe remembered as the man who conceptualized this idea. But Monty did not writethe story of RWBY himself. He wrote this story with Miles and Kerry. 

Whatfolks seems to be misunderstanding or downrightneglecting is that Miles and Kerryhave been with RWBY since its start. They are the two people who worked withMonty in developing the story of RWBY

Itis depressing that Monty only got to live long enough to see two seasons of hisbrainchild come to life.

Insteadof honouring Monty’s legacy by showing support to the people who worked with himto make RWBY happen, folks instead use Monty’s name to slander the CRWBY.

Tothe people who are guilty of this, how can you call yourself a fan? Howcan you call yourself decent human beings witha legit conscience by using a dead man’s name to disrespect the people who werehis colleagues and friends just because you were displeased with something theychose for the show? How is mouthing off the CRWBY and claiming that Montywouldn’t have consented to the direction they’re taking RWBY in a definition ofyour loyalty to Monty?

Howwould you know what Monty would have consented to? How would you know whatMonty would have wanted in general?

Didyou know him personally? I doubt any of you did. So why claim that in yourhateful comments?

RWBYis not the Monty Oum show. I've mentioned this before and I will say it again. RWBY is acollaborative effort. Monty may have conceived RWBY on his own buthe birthed this series through cooperation with RoosterTeeth and the talentedpeople who formed the creative team that made this show with him.

Andit’s those same people who are busting their asses volume after volume to keepthe show going. The CRWBY could have easily cancelled RWBYafter V2. It’s not the first time RoosterTeeth has cancelled a series undertheir name. They could have hung up the towel after V2 and called it quits. Butthey didn’t because they wanted tocontinue the show. They wanted to keep moving forward and finish the story theymade together with their friend Monty.

RWBY’sproduction takes time,thought, passion and effort. If the RWBY YouTube Critics community wishto be the type of people who want to tell the showrunners how to properlyhandle their IP, then at least back up your points with the same level of time,thought, passion and effort that is put into the show. 

Andbefore anyone jumps at me and is all like, Squiggles, do you know how long it takes to makea YouTube video essay on my own time? To which I answer with, do you know howlong it takes to produce a full season of an animated production on a studiobudget and a strict deadline within a studio that is juggling multiple IPs?

Anyone can point out a flaw insomething or rather what they perceive to be a flaw in something. But it takes morework to point out that flaw, justify why it’s a flaw by your standards and thentake the time to suggest how it could be improved while throwing in your own workto help boast your claims. But no RWBY Youtuber Critics, at least from the onesI’ve seen, wants to do that. They just want to run their mouths and what’sunfortunate is that they will gather an audience of individuals who do the samewhen it comes to the series.

It’salright if you give your opinion but where it crosses a line is when a fantries to tell the showrunners how they should run their show. It’s even worsewhen they try to do it WITHOUT backing up their claims. You want to downplaythe effort and thought that someone else made without producing your own toargue against theirs?

You want totell the CRWBY how they should write the show? Where are your own retellingsof the show? Where are your own plot breakdowns? Your own scripts possibly accompaniedby storyboards and/or animatics to give others a taste of how your ideas wouldplay out?

You want totell the CRWBY that their character designs are terrible and need rework? Where your own conceptsheets containing dozens about dozens of drafts of redesigns that could betaken?

You want totell the CRWBY that their animation is terrible, that animating like Monty iseasy and the animation of CRWBY would look 100x better if they did x, y, z and123?

WellSkippy, why don’t you prove it? Where is your rendered animation that youpersonally modelled, rigged, textured and animated in your own spare time to backup your proclaimed assessments.

Youmight be telling yourselves, Squiggles why do all of that? That sounds like a whole lotof extra work just to prove points for a critique where I’m trying to tell theCRWBY what to do?

Towhich my response will be, EXACTLY.

Ifthe RWBY Hate Parade wish to make a mockery of the extra efforts the CRWBYmembers put into RWBY, then where is their extra effort? If they at least dothat then maybe I can respect them a little more as people who know whatthey’re talking about because they have the skills and knowledge to back uptheir arguments. 

But how am I as the outsider listening in on some of theseYouTube rants supposed to take any of these people seriously when all they’redoing is making lengthy diatribes slandering the work of others and trying topass off as someone who knows more about animation and how it’s done thansomeone who does.

Dothese fans believe that makes them seem witty?It doesn’t. It makes them seem very disrespectful.

Idon’t understand the fans that are like this and I’m not sure if I want tounderstand. I don’t even wish to discuss them furthermore because at the end ofthe day, I can’t speak for these fans. I can only speak for myself and I knowwhere I stand as a fan of RWBY. If there is one advice I can give to my fellow FNDMfam is that weneed to stop drawing attention to the hate parade. Too often do Ihear more about the negative side of the RWBY community and their opinions ofthe series than the actual good that show and its FNDM has spawned. 

Weas the people who still love RWBY and are willing to accept and stand by it andits showrunners, flaws and all, need to become more vocal aboutshedding light on the positives of RWBY

Eitherthat or just ignorethe haters. Seriously, we need to stop giving these guys anaudience. Similar to how the RWBY Hate Parade spend their time mostly pointingout the negative in the show, we the FNDM often at times draw too much attentionto these folks.

Ina sad way, we’re kind of sending traffic over to them. Giving them moreattention that they don’t deserve.

Thesetypes of fans can talk but we don’t need to listen to them. Because for all theflak they give the series and its showrunners, the RWBY train is still moving;strong and unaffected.

Why?Because I’d like to believe the CRWBY don’t pay attention to the hate paradebut more focus on what they wish to do with the series while looking out to thesmiling fans who help spread good word about their show. And really, isn’t thegood still that’s very much there all that really matters? 

Soto conclude finally, this answer took me way too long to write. Sorry to haveyou wait so long Key. This answer took me some time to put together. Apologiesif it’s a very long-winded answer. I really don’t like discussing any negativestuff in the FNDM. 

I acknowledge that it exists and it’s pretty much alwaysgoing to be there but that doesn’t mean I should give it any attention. But forwhat it’s worth, I hope I said enough to make my full peace with this topic.Cheerios!

~LittleMissSquiggles(2019)

[shock777archive]

I got this question on deviantart, and I felt like reposting my answer here, in case anyone is interested :P 

THIS IS GONNA BE A LONG REPLY BUT BEAR WITH ME LOL When I first started drawing/am I self taught : I've been drawing since kindergarten. Anime specifically, since I was about 8 years old. so that's been uh...18 years since I've started drawing in the anime-esque style? I am self taught on these areas. I picked up a digital artist tablet at the age of 13 or so, (it was a wacom Graphire 4 4x5 in) so it's been 13 years of digital art practice i've gotten in. I have picked up several how to draw books over the years until i surpassed some of them. But even now i'm constantly referencing tutorials and poses, looking for ideas and color palettes, etc. I have taken some schooling in college for art. I took beginner's drawing and color theory and maybe a little of art history but that's about it before i quit lmao What inspired me to draw in the first place/what I first drew: The thing that inspired me to draw in the first place was my favorite cartoons. from a very young age i knew that cartoons weren't real, but it fascinated me that actual people could create almost living people. I related to cartoons, and even though they were fake characters, I just loved the idea of creating a whole world of my own. So I took up drawing in kindergarten. First things I drew were flowers, rainbows, trees, etc. But My first biggest undertaking was powerpuffgirls. lol This was the series that started it all. Began drawing tons of powerpuffgirls stories and oc's. For the next few years I would watch different things like all the standard cartoon network shows. But I watched yugioh and dbz and other anime things too. What also got me into anime art style was the online game neopets lol Their faeries designs ( http://images.neopets.com/games/pages/icons/screenshots/586/4.jpg ) kind of had an anime resemblance, so I started drawing those for a while. When I was 8 or 9 years old my father bought me my first how to draw manga book (this one in particular: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Drawing-Manga-Ben-Krefta/dp/1841931713  ) looking back on it, this book is terrible and the anime in it is so ugly looking lol. However, i used that thing religiously and began making my own characters like a blue elf girl and a human friend of hers. ( in fact, here's the post. i tried redrawing them recently lol: https://shock777.tumblr.com/post/145898896143/finding-old-art-is-the-best-cause-you-can-redraw ) ...Then the real transformation began once I started watching Teen Titans when it aired in 2003. I was 10 at the time. That show started my love for japan. The language interested me and I began researching Japanese songs and trying to sing along to them. I didn't know what the words meant, but the artistic style and meshing of western cartoons and anime of the show really piqued my interest. My earliest drawings of them suckedddd XD; As Teen Titans drew to a close near 2006-2007 ish, I picked up Naruto and then it was all over since then lol my anime style and weeb days really came into full force lol I thank naruto though. I learned how to draw more realistic anatomy as opposed to cartoony anatomy. It was a very wild ride, but it's all documented here on my deviantart page as I got this exact account around the same time! I started posting my work in 2008, so you can go back far enough into my gallery and see the progress XD; I keep the old cringe up because it just motivates me and hopefully others, to keep drawing and keep going farther! :) PHEW lol long history there XD I do have some of my old art!!! If you wanna see some, I've posted a little here: https://shock777.tumblr.com/tagged/old-art plus I already said there's a few still on my dA gallery haha Tips I can give to you: 1. And I think this is most important, JUST KEEP GOING. It's soooo tempting to quit drawing when things aren't going right and when you're not happy with how your art looks. Trust me, every artist I've ever known including myself have gone through this. It's so easy to compare your work to someone else's. The thing is, we're all in this together. No one expects a newborn to be able to file taxes or drive a car lol. We all have to evolve and change, and that change comes from consistent work. Art isn't an inherent talent, it is hard work that is honed over several years of blood, sweat and tears lmao JUST KEEP GOING. as I've mentioned, my old cringe art is still on my dA page. Back then when I was younger I was less concerned with things being perfect and I spam posted almost every doodle. And I began a "fanbase" i guess because of those days and my consistent posting. I've had this freaking deviantart page for 11 freakin years. If I had stopped drawing whenever I felt my art was imperfect or not good enough, I would have stopped posting around 2009. so...just keep going. And I'd even dare you to post your "shitty doodles" that you think aren't that great. Because you never know what someone else will see in it that you don't. Be confident, and never give up! 2. Soak up any tutorial and really focus on studying your favorite artist's styles. If there's something you want to replicate in your art that someone else is drawing, try to see how they do it. sometimes artists have tutorials posted and sometimes they don't. I have a few posted on my youtube channel ( https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRB9xQBsGpfetNJbmXWZ1fL9d5IlqQs1w ) and some in my gallery. Don't exactly copy some things stroke for stroke, but try to add your little spin to something. Like sometimes I will see art senpai drawing a specific eye style I wanna replicate, but I don't like one part of the process. So sometimes I'll just add my own little addition, or just omit that process completely. Usually though, if the art style isn't necessarily super unique, you can copy a lot of mainstream styles without anyone really griping saying "oh you're just copying so and so's art style". It's important to look up to art senpais i think. They make me want to try harder lol 3. Take an art class if you're able. Color theory really helped me grasp things that I never had before. LIKE REFLECTIVE LIGHT FOR INSTANCE. I never drew that shit but now I do because DUH it's so freaking obvious lol It also helps to learn what colors neutralize others, complementary colors, analogous ones, etc. It's nice to have an eye for what matches together and to know the principles of art. I still have a lot of work to do when it comes to perspective, which we did cover a little in class lol but work on your own pace. If your college near you offers a class for beginners, take it if you're able. it will help you view things differently. 4. Copy realistically. Like, I'm talking look at a freaking object in your room and try to draw it. Once you can draw it semi realistically, you can then add your own little stylistic choices to it. Like so many artists who draw chibis or cartoony things, they more than likely know the proper proportions of people and anatomy. But they draw the proportions all whacky and it creates their own style. However it does help to know how they work in reality lol 5. TRACE OVER POSES. Sometimes I do this. I'm not saying to trace someone's art, but if you see some kind of pose on say a google image, or a stock photo, try sketching over it to get a feel for where the joints connect if you're working on anatomy. It reaaaallly helps you memorize where the arm would end, or where the torso connects to the hips. 6. Take advice and criticism well. If someone sees something you don't about your art, they may be on to something. It's not wrong if someone gives you a heads up that a proportion seems lacking or something seems too big or out of place. It will actually help you to see what others see. Sometimes we get in the habit of drawing something a certain way and it's hard to break that habit especially if you've drawn the same thing several hundred times. It will help you in the long run to just accept that you're always going to be improving. You'll never be perfect at drawing, so what do you have to lose? Just keep walking forward and learn what you can. 7. Flip the canvas. This is more or less a digital art tip, but please flip the canvas to make sure the proportions are not off. lol A lot of professionals have to flip the canvas until they get a feel for where things are placed. Another good tip is to use a stabilizer of some kind to draw straight lines. Paint tool sai has one at the very top of the window. It helps tremendously. 8. Draw what you like and don't feel bad for not drawing everything everyone else likes. Don't sacrifice your morals or your personal desires for something everyone else likes. If you're paid to draw something you don't like, thats another thing. but don't let people pressure you to draw stuff that you don't want to. You'll be much happier, and build an audience that is much like-minded to you. Be considerate of what your audience likes, sure, but remember at the end of the day, art is something to express one's self. Art is not and should not be a job. Even if you get paid money to draw or design things, it's important to take a break and draw something for yourself every once in a while. Be self indulgent, and treat yo self from time to time :) And uhhh...that's all I can think of for the time being. :') let me know if you have any further questions or if I need to clarify anything :) Thanks again!

[featherlinnea]

Nother Update

Lol always writing these when I am not home.

So last update wasn't to long ago. But eh I like writing.

First things first: Like I said I am in my first semester of my Bachelor of Science so a large chunk of my time involves studying. Despite that there is still plenty of time to do work on other stuff!

Second: Journey of a Wott will be back next month! Once chapter two is done I may rework the design. I will at the earliest upload a page on the 3rd(Don't want to upload on April fools, + time zones) but at the latest between 3rd and 15th of April. Pages will not follow a strict upload schedule, there will be one every other week.

Third: My own projects, there are plenty from fanfiction, videos to animations etc. For now I am easing into things, I afterall get overwhelmed quickly. My shiny hunting channel is my way to ease into it, learning some things along the way.

Some projects that I am working on seperately are:

-> Fanfiction(Unlucky is the stranger) which I'll only upload when the first version gets its rewrite lol. Currently taking a break in favour of school and making a proper plot and worldbuilding. I write for hours so I can only work on this on days I know I have no obligations. (I lost track of everything around me last time, so I am a bit scared of losing track again, therefore I am more cautious on how and when I'll work on it)

-> 2.)Plushies! Working on the Finneon plushies, I was a bit discouraged since I said I would work on the next ones of Batch 1, but from the get go I wanted to finish the next 3 Finneon plushies first. So that is what I am going to do! Due to colour variations it will be 4 in the end. After the next one(number 2) I intend to redraw the pattern entirely, just had a few issues, but also want to make a pattern that everyone can freely use. I work on the plush whenever I feel like it or need a break from other stuff.

-> Youtube, generally I'd love to do all my projects at once, but I know how badly I'd fail if I did that. So the shiny hunt channel is up. Like I mentioned it is like a test run and to ease more into work, editing etc. It also serves as my archive for my catches. I use a tumblr blog for archiving my shiny hunts as well. My plan is to animate my intros/outros for all of my planned channels, even if I won't do anything with the channels until I am certain that I won't be overwhelmed. I do plan to do an animation, gaming and commentary/story telling channel, but that would be too much on me right now. But that said Main channel would consist of stories/commentary of stuff that interest me and shorts similar to the comic I mention later. The animation channel would be Map parts, practices, animated songs and animation memes. Then there is also the gaming channel, which I thought about doing silent playthrough and stream re-uploads(my twitch streams). But that is all dreaming big and for now unrealistic to approach.(Unlike the Shiny channel obviously none of the channels would have daily uploads lol)

->Comics, like mentioned JoaW will come back soon. Even if I did not practice as much as I would have liked, I feel a lot more confident about my art! My backgrounds still suck though lol. Anyway I do plan to do a comic series of my own, but more of one-shots, like these 4 panel comics. Which is what I want to use my 6 legged characters for. But! I'm not ready to do that yet lol. I still have to design 6, maybe even more characters since geez I have plenty of different hobbies and fields and they represent a field each. Relateable comics/or simple jokes. That way I get to draw them and make some comics afterall. All my other comic projects which I surely mentioned before are cancelled or better said on hold until I actually manage to work on them. Just don't expect anything but JoaW(Kilian bless your patience with me, really) and that new comic.(that said no idea when I do that comic series, I'll take my time with JoaW and ease back into a healthy workschedule and mindset first)

->On the otherhand when I do have the time I'll go ahead and study/learn to make my own music as well as 3D modelling. In general I want my own music to use and make my own remixes and so forth, just always interested, but never took the time to properly study. 3D Modelling is too aid me in plush making as well.

-> I pushed back my plans in Game development and book writing. Fanfictions themselves right now are for preparing me for writing books in the next couple of years. That and I don't want to publish anything under my current name. I want to transition first, specifically change my name first. I just hate the thought about publishing anything under my deadname, bad enough that I am a closet case everywhere but online and my closest family. I am currently slowly easing i to a proper work/healthy schedule and work load. Which consists of 3 things lol, School, Shiny channel, soon comic again. That and boosting my self esteem. Since at the moment social anxiety is pretty unmanageable. (the point of need a therapist but like I have too much anxiety to go/find one) So... slowly I'm building up my confidence to find a therapist for that (I obviously need one after all). Granted I am no where near as bad as like 1-2 years ago, but dang. I'm adult, can't always asked family to help me out. Not that they(some) take this struggle seriously. :/ But that is just me venting. I found some ways to cope which improved lots for me as well as giving myself talks to boost my confidence/self esteem. Just need to remind myself of a specific goal of myself really, and viola I am motivated again hehe. That and the reminder that I stress myself over nothing all the time. Ah but I rambled enough.

Tldr: JoaW is coming back in April, I have a shiny hunt channel to ease into (youtube)work, and I am doing my bachelor meaning spent lots of time studying. I have lots of stuff planned, but until I can manage it won't even be started.

[web1995]

the above image, while working well enough standalone, actually requires quite a bit of context, unlike many posts on this site. it is a screenshot of the sexy characters category page on the parody wiki, which is a site for articles about crossovers, spoofs, and parody scripts written in wiki-page format. it seems to function as a type of fanfiction and creative writing space, and to be curated informally. anyway, of the characters above, soleil spacebot is the only one that seemed totally unrecognizable 

clicking her parody wiki page is where things begin to get truly strange 

Soleil Spacebot is one the main characters in Nelvana's 1986 Animated Television Series, The Spacebots. She is the eldest of three sisters and has a crush on Sam Spacebot.

this information seems reasonable enough, and like it might be about an obscure but existing cartoon. soleils page has some basic information about her and some miscellaneous, confusing crossover information, like every page on the parody wiki. it lists her in various other categories, including “capable characters” and characters who are 19. at the time of beginning this post (early 2017), there were three drawings of her, with a similar style, and no screenshots. 

beneath these drawings are two pictures made in dollmakers. 

there were no other pictures on the page. visiting the spacebots page itself reveals the following: 

The Spacebots is a Canadian animated series produced by Nelvana. It ran from September 13, 1986 to November 28, 1992 and ran for 91 episodes. It features fictional characters including heroes and villains. The background music from The Care Bears Family is used in all episodes of the TV Series.

it also lists a cast of several characters, with credited voice actors:

the other characters have pages of varying complexity, with pictures in the same style. at this point the spacebots cartoon still seems like something that could exist, but googling it turns up only results from this wiki and similar wikis.

spacebots is mentioned on numerous cartoon, parody, spoof, movie idea, and similar fan wikis. 

if the spacebots cartoon never existed, it begins to raise questions. someone putting their original character in the sexy characters category on a spoof wiki isnt so startling. neither is someone framing this character as someone from an existing show-- this wiki and similar have pages about non-existing media

however, the level of detail and specificity is alarming. these characters have voice actors (some who turn up google results, some who dont) linked to them, with lists of other voice-acting work theyve done (including cartoons that dont seem to exist either). looking for more information on the spacebots turns up a page on a very badly organized nelvana wiki with more elaborate airing dates information. 

The Spacebots is a Canadian animated television series produced by Nelvana, which aired between 1986 and 1992 in syndication; on the ABC network, The CBN Family Channel from 1988 to 1992 and The Family Channel from 1992 to 1998.

by the way, this list of nelvanas programs has no mention of spacebots. 

at this time, on revisiting her page on the parody wiki some months after finding the information detailed in the first part of this post, several new pictures had been added— like this screenshot of soleil in the sims 4: 

there are various other tracings, redraws, or dressup game pictures of her: 

one of the new images is labeled “soleil spacebot in the reboot” and there are reboot designs for soleil’s siblings elsewhere on the parody wiki, as well as this image (from the youtubescratch wiki page for the spacebots) of a reboot poster: 

this is completely new— the person or people responsible for spacebots is actively working on the spacebots worldbuilding, creating new promotional materials for a nonexistent 2015 reboot (”The Spacebots (Reboot) 2015″) of a nonexistent 80s-90s cartoon. 

there are multiple spacebots reboot posters, but no information about the reboot itself yet, other than a page mentioning it being from 2015. this raises the question of whether soleil’s creator will continue adding to the worldbuilding surrounding their fictional show by citing more information about the reboot, or whether more information about the show’s plot and characters will be revealed (still no wiki pages or pictures for the character named “sour venus” which is disappointing!) or whether the additions will end here. 

spacebots’ storytelling medium and its metafiction layers are fascinating. the fiction here is as much the show’s premise, and the original characters existing within the cartoon’s story at all, as it is the circumstances of this show’s existence— voice actors, animation companies, airing dates, a reboot, and proper “credits” for nonexistent in-show music. 

so much more information is offered about the show’s production than about the actual plot and characters of the show. the fictional production may be the creator’s area of interest, rather than their original characters (though soleil IS listed as a sexy character and many painstakingly created images of her exist). 

the mode of publication is interesting too. spacebots doesn’t seem to be advertised anywhere else, only on these wikis, which have their own fanbases. the youtubescratch page says it was created by a “Miss-Trina-Mouse” (edited by others occasionally) which is also the username on an empty deviantart account created 9 months ago, by someone who says she is female and canadian. “trina mouse” seems to be a fan character for tom and jerry (apologies if trina mouse is an existing character; i do not remember every character of tom and jerry). 

(picture from the ideas wiki) this may be the closest thing to an avatar of the creator of the spacebots that currently exists, if Miss-Trina-Mouse is indeed the creator and not a new collaborator. Miss-Trina-Mouse is the creator of trina mouse’s page, and evidently the person currently updating spacebots pages with new or “corrected” information. on this page, the airing dates have been changed to other particular airing dates:  

(from this page’s edit history, for easier reading) the first page version is from august 25, 2016. the second edit was finished on march 30th, 2017. Miss-Trina-Mouse has evidently been working on spacebots for some time, and has continued to do so. the page itself was created on june 13th, 2015, by an IP address that may or may not belong to Miss-Trina-Mouse. 

Miss-Trina-Mouse does not seem to be the only person working on pages related to the spacebots, however. the edit history for a page about a nonexistent spacebots animated film, “operation system shutdown” reveals it was created by a Sarah61, edited by a Tobina the Tomboy (who has a detailed profile page on the animalcrossing wiki) and eventually edited by Miss-Trina-Mouse as well: 

whether these are aliases belonging to the same person, a group of friends, a group of acquaintances, fans of another person’s work, totally spontaneous or planned privately in detail all remains unclear. 

Tobina the Tomboy’s profile has pictures in a similar art style to the original soleil drawings, and says she is female, and canadian (like Miss-Trina-Mouse, which makes me wonder whether they are friends or perhaps alternate accounts of the same person). Tobina also lists her favorite animal crossing characters and overall seems to be an ordinary real profile. she has a similar profile on the mysims wiki, listing favorite and least favorite characters from that. i am not screencapping it, because it seems to simply be someone’s self-created public profile without any particularly unusual elements. Tobina and/or Miss-Trina-Mouse could be the spacebots’ creator(s), though, while Sarah61 is too common of a username to search easily, despite being the page’s creator. 

(i have little interest in seeking out more information about these contributors beyond what they make immediately available on their profiles, since it appears that they are ordinary nonfictional people with an interesting fictional hobby) 

perhaps it is silly to look so deeply into this project, and to want to know more about it so badly when it seems like it is something its creator(s) made for fun, and doesnt seem sinister in any way. however, the format is not like anything i have come across before, and the level of detail startles me almost as much as the difficulty in finding those details. the spacebots can only be sort-of understood by reading fragmented pages across many different wikis and every wiki reveals more information, some which can be searched to discover more about, and some which turns up no other results. there is even a 1987 NES video game mentioned on at least one wiki: 

everything about the spacebots, its presentation, and its continued existence is fascinating. looking into it has been a wild ride to say the least, and the amount of meticulous creative energy put into it is nothing short of admirable. 

if spacebots has been created in this way, how many similar unreal shows are out there, in the same format? i know little about wikis of this type, so is this a common creative method on them? is spacebots the creation of one person, or is it collaborative? does the original creator still have control of the concept or is a fan— fans?— permitted to update freely? is the initial creator still working on spacebots wiki pages at all? will more information about the spacebots reboot become available? how long has this been going on? is spacebots more like an art project, an ARG, informal original storytelling (like someone explaining their deviantart OCs), or something else entirely? 

i will close this post with a synopsis of the spacebots, found on the youtubescratch wiki page: 

The six Spacebots and their allies live in a sci-fi futuristic city called Spaceland. They have their magic powers, magical stars and magical hearts and they have to stop Commander Zurg and The Freakalien brothers from wrecking havoc and planning to destroy Spaceland. 

i hope that reading about my attempts at putting them together has been as interesting as i found making those attempts in the first place, and that the spacebots wiki pages will continue updating