#i wish i was good at designing charas bc i want a few of my ocs to be more gender neutral..

[alicenpai]

not related to my last post today . but feeling big crush on link this entire week. idk maybe im just. ill! maybe im sick!!!!!.. he my ideal guy.. exactly my type.. why link gender so ?swoon worthy......

[tae-shimura-is-my-wife]

To end my mh posts for now, i will say that i hope, very damn much that the wolf family is in the new cartoon or at least doll lines.

Let's be real, mh doesn't have a lot of blk characters, we have 7 (8 if we count Robecca), of 50+ charas, so i don't see how taking the main black characters would be a good idea.

As a blk woman, Clawdeen is so important to me, and i not only see myself in her but in her family as well, it's inexplicable the reaction of seeing yourselve in the media you love, and i know i'm not the only one!

And for Clawd, listen to me, having male dolls is hard, but having male poc dolls is EVEN HARDER, Clawd is one of the few blk characters/dolls in a line of fashion dolls (not couting barbie here, esp bc most blk dolls doesn't have personality), not only that, but he's caring, sweet, sensible and supportive and i don't need to say why is important to have blk charas with this personality, so taking him out is a huge mistake, i know a lot of blk boys would love to have him as someone to look up 💖

So i pray to them not take the wolf family from the reboot, despite mattel doing a lot of microagressions with them, they learned a lot by these years and can prevent this for happening again. Right now, Clawdeen is the protagonist, so having a big black family being the focus of the show would be amazing, like Craig and the Creek family y'know? Especially because they were secundary characters in og!

Not only them, i want Skelita, JInafire, Kiyomi, Batsy, Marisol, Gigi, Nefera, Abbey, Honey too! Just fix their sterotypes and designs and rock it! Idc if this is a reboot, if this new mh era is trying to be diverse and inclusive, they shouldn't erase asian, black, latin and north african characters who were in original, it doesn't make any sense! Mainly bc they represent and are important to a lot of people!

I highly doubt they would, but at least I sure hope they do. I won't watch it, but I wish the kids would feel happy like I did when I was watching mh, seeing a family that looks like theirs on TV.

[millennium-puzzle]

Bc it's been a while since i started s2 i want to make a charas rank based on the first season, in my s0 post i... weirdly managed to included every single characters and even more weirdly i can do it again, there aren't really many characters in this story, maybe even less than s0, so can make a more lengthy description:

1) probably Mai, i'm actually surprised that she ended up the person with the arc i loved more of all, but she was a very pleasant surprise, i didn't expect her character to be that good or consistent, specially for a girl in a shounen; but here i am, waiting for her to appear again.... and maybe win for once eh at least she has a win against Rex

2) Yami Yugi, much higher than the s0 ranking, it's ironic how despite DM!Yami Y is a way better person he actually feels much less than a Gary-Stu and more his own character, with real emotions, fear and desires; as much he sometimes makes choices that other people/characters don't like he is just a cool, nice guy at heart that just want to get along with other cool, nice people

3) Joey: i mean, i still love him for the same reasons in s0... that i didn't mention earlier, but anyway, it's so easy to like him i don't even mention why he did fell down from the top to bronze tho

4) uuuhhh Keith? He has the funniest design in the series and just like Mai he was much better than i expected, he is just absolutely, possessively, obsessed with revenge, and even if that's what consume 80% of his character (and personality) he still a enough dept to make him good, i'll tell you more, you know all those white male characters in "artsy" movies that are deeply fucked up and used as way to "criticize" american culture? Keith is infinitely better written and more interesting than all of them and wasn't even written by an american

Ok i'm done with the lengthy ones, these are my fave which are also the semi-finalist, i think the anime made a good job to make them care abt them, even as villans

5) Yugi, short king;;;;;; u know that i love you,,, but you should be more proactive sometime, and your Yami should be your magic pixie boyfriend not the reverse!!!!!

6) Mako, he appears for too few eps, but his good-natured personality and aesthetic are top notch, i appreciate his subtle mermaid theme, unlike everyone else his strategy is "remain on the beach and fish; actract opponent with food made by you, challenge them in a duel right so you can have ocean field vantage, win, take his star-chips and repeat" not too different from mermaids using their beautiful voices to actract sailors and causing shipwrecks, and he is very very hot and he is 19 just like me 0u0

7) Weevil or Bruchido in the ita ver. (why ita dubbers? Why?!): fuuuucking gremlin!!! Extremely iconic tiny bastard, he is a baby nerd bully, how can i not love him

Him trowing Exodia was one of the best defining moment of this anime and this 14yo smug kid did IT just because he couldn't find a way to beat a card game strategy, he literally defeated an ANCIENT GOD by trowing those divine piece of paper bc he didn't wait a banlist, accidental BDE

8) Rex; he is the dorky kid that is super obsessed with dinos,,, he is just "wow i like dinosaurs i wish i was one" dare i say relatable

9) Mokuba: the sweet Kaiba, whenever i think of him my brain goes :3

10) Kaiba: the edgy Kaiba, i would place him higher but he is a dick and also both me and Mokuba are waiting his redemption arc :/

[puppyenergy]

@rickenrolled​ you’re an absolute mad man i love you. here’s all my answers. long ass post beneath the cut

1. Who’s your favourite character from UT?

i love them all but if i had to pick one then chara

2. Who’s your least favourite character from UT?

asgore

3. Your opinion about UT fandon:

very sweet, lots of smart and lovely and creative and gay people. could do without all the transphobes and incest/pedo shippers tho but like, theyre kinda everywhere aren’t they. like flies! smack

4. What’s your favourite quote?

“you never gained LOVE, but you gained love. does that make sense? maybe not.“

5. What’s your favourite soundtrack?

death by glamour

6. Pacifist, neutral or genocide?

pacifist

7. Why did you decide to play UT?

when it came out, my first exposure to it was thru supporting a friend who had recently started a youtube channel and they did a playthru of undertale! i ended up being unable to wait for them to finish it and just went and bought the game myself so i could play it. i was just so invested, i couldn’t wait for them to upload asklghskl

8. Favourite battle?

undyne’s

9. Favourite scene?

GOD I CAN’T CHOOSE JUST ONE SCENE. fuck. you can’t do this to me.

10. Your first letter to Mettaton was:

“legs” probably sldkghsd i don’t remember

11. Your reaction when you saw Omega Flowey for the first time:

VERY SCARED. I LEGIT THOUGHT MY GAME WAS POSSESSED.

12. Your headcanon about Frisk’s gender:

they’re nonbinary but i specifically headcanon them as agender! i also rlly dig genderfluid frisk as well bc same.

13. Which UT character reminds you of yourself?

mostly frisk but also chara and also mettaton

oh and all the dogs

14. Which UT character reminds you of your best friend?

TEMMIE. we are dog and cat solidarity.

15. Would you smooch a ghost?

i already have!

16. Which UT character would be your best friend? Why?

all of them. i will befriend them all.

17. Do you remember your first killed character? Who was that?

toriel ;_; i reset & redid the entire game for her, i felt so bad

18. Did you do sth in game you regret?

killing toriel lmao

19. Which ending was your first?

pacifist!

20. Your favourite land in UT and why: (Snowdin, Waterfall or Hotland)

snowdin is my favorite... it’s just so home-y. i rlly love snow, it brings a lot of happy memories. the christmas aesthetic does as well. and it’s also where you meet sans & papyrus & all the dogs. it’s just such a happy place.

21. Your favourite place in UT and why: (Undyne’s house for example)

i just rlly love snowdin ok. every area in snowdin. i still remember my little gasp!! when i found out that the snow on frisk’s head is always a different shape every time you go thru that slide-y puzzle.

22. Your headcanon about River person’s gender:

“it doesn’t really matter.”

23. Your headcanon about one of the UT characters:

papyrus is nonbinary!

24. Butterscouch or cinnamon pie?

cinnamon!

25. Your opinion/headcanon about six human souls:

i always connect the deltarune characters to the six human souls for some reason. kris is the cyan soul, susie is the purple soul, ralsei is the green soul, lancer is the blue soul, noelle is the yellow soul, and then im not sure who would be the orange soul... ofc only one of them is actually human but that’s always an association i made asdlghsd

26. With who would you go on a date?

none of them tbh sdkglhskdlgha i would go on hangouts with them tho!

27. Marry, fuck, kiss and kill:

marry: napstablook fuck: mettaton kiss: all of them getting kisses from me!!! mwah kill: none :(

28. Do you wanna have a bad time?

no!! i wanna have a fun time. a sillay ol’ time.

29. Your favourite UT au:

there’s this one unfinished comic someone made a while ago i don’t even remember what it was called but it was about two charas or smth??? idek if that counts as an au but tbh that comic is the origin of my love for feral chara

30. Your least favourite UT au:

all of the ones where anyone is misgendered or there’s incest/pedo/abuse in it it just automatically makes it a bad au.

31. Would you want to fall into underground?

i mean, yeah. where’s the hole. i’m on my way.

32. Describe or draw your undersona:

the puppy is specific to dfta

my other undersona is dragon kid. he’s a human & monster fusion with a rough past. he’s also adopted. the cat is his sibling.

33. One reason why you love UT:

toby said Hello LGBT Community

34. One reasom why you hate UT:

frisk’s design is,, u kno

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

dog salads for days!

36. Your favourite amalgamate:

snowdrake’s mother & endogeny

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

i like to headcanon him as their dad

38. Your opinion about bad puns:

they’re good, ok.

39. Do you draw fanarts from UT? If yes, then what do you like the most to draw?

yes i do asklghsdkgl i could probably draw chara/frisk/asriel forever and be ok with it

40. Which of human souls fits you the most?

red, baby

41. What would be the first thing you would to show to Sans, Papyrus or the rest of characters in human world? Why?

the stars!!! they’ve been wishing on rocks for too long. time to see the real thing.

42. Which song reminds you of UT or one of the UT characters? Why?

skglhslkhg i make playlists just for this tbh. i have a playlist for mettaton, chara, frisk, asriel, undertale in general, and then one for both chara & frisk. too many songs to talk about rn so here’s the most recent one i added to chara’s playlist:

https://soundcloud.com/serious-url/last-night-on-earth-2

my favorite lyric is “we are horrible but not bad”

43. Your opinion on underloid:

i. i’m not sure what that is askdlghsdk

OH I JUST LOOKED IT UP ITS UNDERTALE VOCALOID??? i’ve never listened to it before but tbh that’s real cool

44. Do you forgive Asgore for what he’s done?

no lol

45. Did you pay for Tem’s college?

I DIDNT, IM SORRY TEM... i just dont have the patience to sell all that residue

46. Have you seen any youtube letsplay of UT?

i swear i’ve seen them all now. i watch them when i need some free serotonin. u_u

47. Do you listen to any fanmade songs? If so, then which are your favourite?

i don’t rlly listen to any but i have a few saved! i rlly love the fucking checker dance & death by glamour mashup

48. What are your favourite theories?

narra!chara if you can even CALL that a theory man it’s literally canon

i also rlly like the theory that ut sans is actually from deltarune, and also maybe a darkner.

49. Who is your favourite enemy? (Not including boss monsters)

LESSER DOG

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

i think they had some pretty shitty ppl in their life until they met the dreemurrs, probably.

51. Who is your favourite dog?

DONT DO THIS TO ME,

52. What was your reaction to true lab?

fear and a lot of emotion

53. Your fabourite voice acting:

myself sakldhgklsh

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

i always send frisk to stay with toriel bc as their player guardian i would not feel comfortable with myself if i just left a child stranded on their own. it was the same in oneshot. if i’m ur temporary game dad then i’m leaving u in a safe place before the game ends ok.

55. Who is older - Sans or Papyrus?

sans

56. Your OTP(s):

OK LISTEN. GOATBUN,,

also ALPHYNE

57. Your NOTP(s):

any of the incest/pedo ones. especially with fr4ns & ch4sriel i’m gonna get real stabby.

58. Your BROTP(s):

chara/frisk haa

59. Your favourite puzzle:

i like the shooty spaceship ones!

60. Which battle was the hardest for you?

fingers in his ass.... fingers in his ass.... asgore he likes b

61. Did you still hate Flowey after you discovered his true indentity?

i never hated flowey, ok. and also no.

62. The saddest moment:

“the next day.”

“the next day.”

“...”

“the human died.”

63. Which ending is your favourite?

true pacifist, pls

64. How old do you think Frisk is?

9, maybe? i always change my mind on this asdlghsdk. they’re just a baby. age is baby.

65. Any post pacifist run headcanons?

both chara & asriel get revived. always.

66. Your favourite NPC:

the trans woman lionness npc who mettaton gives his dress to

67. Humans or monsters?

both!

68. The funniest situation:

my brain is failing me but i fucking love the idea that frisk is just walking away from undyne during her battle sequence and she’s just CLANK CLANK CLANK in her armor stomping after but ugh has to stop and wait while frisk gets a phonecall and UGH has to check on sans who fell asleep at his post.

AND UNDYNE’S HANGOUT

UGH JUST UNDYNE IN GENERAL I LOVE HER

69. Skeletonfucker, robotfucker, goatfucker or kinkshaming?

listen i KNOW i said i’d fuck mettaton but i’m NOT a robotfucker.

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

one! i wanted to be a good boy.

but then i just went ham,

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

spare and i got emotional with how he reacted

72. If you had to be one of the main characters, which would you choose?

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

i wouldn’t kill any of them!! i love them all. i refuse.

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

HMM. i could probably pull off frisk the best.

75. Your favourite Burgerpants’ quote?

[monsterpie]

mh questionnaire by @cryptoriascollectiblog !!!

I'm on mobile so I can't do a read more sorry

1) Introduce yourself and tell us how long you’ve been collecting Monster High dolls!

call me blue! i got my first doll (gooliope jellington) in late december 2015, but i began really collecting in earnest starting in 2016, so call it about 3 years 

2) How many MH dolls do you have?

very definitely over 200 probably at this point..... most of them are on display, but a few thrifted and boxed dolls are hidden away 

3) Is Monster High your favorite doll line? Why or why not?

that.... is really hard to answer. it’s definitely the doll line i enioy collecting the most, and i can pretty much say ‘yes, it IS my favorite!’ but there’s that little voice at the back of my head that’s saying ‘but you owe your love of dolls to barbie...’

4) Who’s your favorite MH ghoul?

ohhhh man i love howleen. i love her so much she’s so wonderful. 

5) Favorite Manster?

mm..... hoodude? heath? or.... honestly i do have a huge soft spot in my heart for jackson (even tho he is. a lot. and many of the people i’ve seen who are fans of his are. even more. not everybody tho!!! just. a sad majority....)

6) Do you own any dolls of your favorite ghoul and/or manster? How many?

i own a version of every howleen doll (inlcuding the reboot doll), and it was definitely one of the proudest moments in my collecting, finally having one of each. i have also thrifted at least 3 i think? and i have 2+ repaints of her. i have one heath doll (he was my second/third doll), one jackson that was thrifted, and no hoodude since he was an sdcc exclusive :( but i don’t think hes a great looking doll anyway, like i wasnt expecting hard plastic obviously but i was hoping for more than just a stuffed doll ya feel?

7) Do you own any playsets? If so which one(s)? If not, is there a reason?

i own the school playset (my niece gave it to me when she didnt want it anymore), the catacombs playset (still in box bc i dont have room for it lol), the 13 wishes dj set i guess its called?? and 2 of the fdc playsets. also draculaura’s car and bed, both cleo and frankie’s vanities, and the cam design lab, but idk if any of those count lol 

8) Of the original main ghouls (including Ghoulia, Spectra and Abbey) which is your favorite? Got any dolls of them?

ouch, okay, just make me choose then.... uhhhh i cant really rank them? i guess i would put frankie at the top but shes more default for me than anything else honestly. i dont really care for spectra tho so shes at the bottom whoopsie. also if operetta is also included (which it doesnt say she is but.) then i dont really care for her either tbqh anyway, yea i got several dolls of each lol

9) Favorite character with only one doll release?

off the top of my head im thinkin neighthan, but honestly all of the fusions are good and also all single release doll charas are good. OH i really like cupid too tho and also finnegan 

10) Character with too many dolls (in your opinion?)

spectra. idk i just!!! really dont like her i mean she has nice dolls but i can not make myself care about her. 

11) Any character you would’ve liked to see in a doll line that didn’t make it? (i.e. Lagoona in Sweet Screams or Draculaura in Power Ghouls, etc)

ok. i HATE gil. but i think his design was super good in gsr and i would have loved to see him as a doll. 

12) Any ideas you would’ve liked to see in a doll line?

oh worm ive been thinkin on this for YEARS actually, but get this: “Boogie Fever” - a disco inspired doll line. obv has twyla in it. also what if a line where they were in famous movies - frankie and gooliope in ghostbusters, and then other classics like casablanca and breakfast at tiffanys (i actually hate that movie tbqh but it is a classic) etc 

13) Is there a “grail” MH doll for you? If so do you own it?

mmmmmm pretty much all of the sdcc dolls, but i would love to have the home ick heath some day, since that’s the closest to a sig doll they have for him. i dont have him, but i do have one sdcc exclusive doll (the ghostbusters frankie) 

14) Thoughts on the cancelled Ever After High crossover?

neutral. once upon a time i was excited about it, but honestly i could care less now. part of the problem is that i would want the crossover to go a very specifici way, and part of it is that the eah fans are rabid. 

15) Thoughts on the 2016 reboot faces?

i mean. they are cute! super cute! but. they really arent the monster high i fell in love with, you know?

16) Thoughts on the 2016 “Monster Family” line?

weak. bad. the dolls are cute enough but the line is NOTHING. they didnt even make alivia look like her movie counterpart so like, what was the point. 

17) How bout the SDCC exclusives? What was your favorite? Do you own any?

mmm i LOVE all of the sdcc exclusives but i think the deadfast ghoulia, valentine and whisp, and hexacaiah and robecca are all super good. 

18) How about Amazon exclusives?

ADULT DRACULAURA!!!! god i love her so much she really is so fucking gorgeous and i regret every day that i didnt buy her for like $50 when i got the chance. i do have like 2 of the skelita amazon exclusives tho 

19) Favorite Frankie Stein doll?

im gonna assume for all of these favorite doll questions that the sig look is out for the count bc i love the sigs so much lol. aaaanyway, her classroom look is SUPER cute. also sweet screams 

20) Favorite Draculaura doll?

sweet screams, original dead tired (her pigtails!!! so cute!!!), forbitten love/school’s out, roadster playset, i heart shoes, die-ner, art class (any time she has yellow automatically makes it a good doll), sweet screams, draculocker, monster exchange, maul monsteristas, amazon collector, gsr..... she really has so many amazing dolls 

21) Favorite Clawdeen Wolf doll?

dotd, sweet 1600, ghouls rule, 13 wishes, ghoul sports, fierce rockers

22) Favorite Cleo de Nile doll?

skull shore, student disembodied council, byby, gloom and bloom 

23) Favorite Lagoona Blue doll?

DOTD, school’s out, skull shores, 13 wishes, monster exchange

24) Favorite Ghoulia Yelps doll?

dead tired, dotd, deadfast, skull shores, dot dead gorgeous, scaris, scooter playset , sweet screams 

25) Favorite Spectra Vondergeist doll?

ghoul’s night out, maul monsteristas 

26) Favorite Abbey Bombinable doll?

ihf, sweet screams 

27) Favorite Venus McFlytrapp doll?

zombie shake, ihf, gloom and bloom, fierce rockers 

28) Favorite Rochelle Goyle doll?

DANCE CLASS, swim class, ghoul chat, haunted, fdc 

29) Favorite Operetta doll?

dot dead gorgeous, picture day, fca

30) Favorite Toralei Stripe doll?

ghoul sports, freaky field trip, fdc 

31) Favorite Jinafire Long doll?

gloom and bloom, fdc 

32) Favorite Skelita Calaveras doll?

scarnival, collector, 

33) Favorite Howleen Wolf doll?

HER ORIGINAL SIG WITH THE ORANGE AFRO!!!!! all of them are good tho, that one is just the absolute best without a doubt . 

34) Favorite Twyla Bogeyman doll?

fdc, coffin bean, new scaremester 

35) What do you do with your dolls? (Display them, take photos of them, etc)

i display them! occasionally i take pics, and sometimes i move them around, but they’re usually just displayed 

36) Is Monster High the only doll line you collect? Why or why not?

no, but it was the line that got me into collecting in the first place! i collect barbies, eah, dcshg, lalaloopsy, and so many more. basically, if i see a doll i like, i get it (if i have the funds to obviously). honestly i buy/collect anything i like ya know?

37) Do you still collect Monster High dolls? (i.e. scour the internet and/or secondhand stores?)

mmm... kind of? i thrift them when i see them, but i’m more into ooak dolls now tbqh. there are a few still on my list tho that i would love to buy, fuly complete and all that good stuff. 

38) There’s a lot of new Monster doll/toy lines out now: thoughts if any?

no real thoughts, because i cant think of any monster doll lines out rn? i mean, im sure there are some, i just cant think of them right now

39) And finally, what’s your favorite thing about Monster High? Can be past or present!

uhhhhh everywhere??? threir character designs, lore, the fact that in original preboot canon normies and monsters actually know about each other, the lore, the messages it put out about embracing your freaky flaws and all that. monster high is/was just. such a completely amazing and wonderful series. 

[coe-lilium]

Hey Lilium! Thanks for your answer, it was really informative! I’ve got myself a litte tablet atm which is really working for me. I meant to ask about character design too- what advice could you give on that?

I’m glad it was helpful! 

Here’s my experience with chara des then, bearing in mind that I’ve yet to finalize a single original charades and all I’ve done till now are redesigns, which -for me, at least?- are a lot easier since they give you a guideline, even if just to say “I’m doing the opposite”. 

1. Find a main theme for the project/piece

2. Research-research-research  

3. Bear in mind that you’re creating/altering something for you to like 

4, bonus. once you’re done, consider the audience you’ll show -or not- your work to.     

1. the main theme/idea for all my redesigns is “I love Fate, but I also love history and die a little every time a Fate design has nothing to do with the character period/culture/history. I wonder what they’ll look like with accurate clothes?”. I’m still running with it, but it needed some adjustments along the way. 

The very first attempt, Martha, was as historically accurate I could manage, which… wasn’t a lot. “low class jewish woman of the 1st century aC” was a little too specific and google gave me little to work on and I had to resort to religious depictions. I’m still happy with her, but now I can see that in my wish to make her as historically plausible as possible I ended up with a design too accurate, to the point of being, well, bland. Bland and sticking out like a sore thumb if put next to any other Fate character. If and when I’ll revamp her, I’ll add details and be careful to include something to convey her personality.  

So, 1:1 with history was out, next best thing I had was mixing history and the “Fate”/anime aesthetic. Not for every character, mind (Nitocris looks quite fine in clothes taken straight out of a Egyptian parietal painting), but now that I’ve tried, I’ve settled down for “how they’ll look like with evident historical and cultural inspirations?”, which is what I’ve done for Boudica, Jeanne and Bradamante, what I’ll keep doing for the next pieces and also for the original Servants I’m planning. 

Speaking of originals Servants, since I’m having troubles explaining things in general, I’ll use one of them as an example for the next point.

*under the cut for length*

2. Let’s say I want to design another lady from the Orlando Innamorato/Furioso, Marfisa, as a potential Servant. 

As a first step I collect info from the source material. 

She’s of noble origins, mixed race, “pagan”/muslim (it’s complicated), possibly either north African or Arabian, queen of 7 countries by the time she’s 18, devout, proud, brave, honourable and incredibly skilled as a warrior, has no magic aids or objects but win on sheer ability alone. Twin of Ruggiero (Brad’s fiancee), friend of Astolfo and Bradamante. Had an armor she cared a lot for and went to great lengths to get back when it got stolen. 

(me being me, I also went to academia.edu, found articles/PhD on her and read them to better understand the character, but there’s few chara I’m willing to research to this length for a redesign).  

Considering Servants are summoned at their peaks, physically I’ll have her look in her late teens/early twenties, brown skin and with a hijab (which will require some research by itself).  

Onto deciding the clothes/armor now: 

- the “official” time period of her life should be that of historical Charlemagne rule and life, but the works in which she features have no claims of historicity whatsoever and were published in 1483 and 1516.

- comes from the same material as the Paladins and thus should -imo- looks like she somehow belongs with them even if she’s in their enemy camp and from a different culture. 

- as they are now, the Paladins common (?) aesthetic seems to be, sorry can’t contain the snark, “random fantasy isekai reject”, with Astolfo being the best designed by miles and Charles looking fine in his alt armored skin, the rest being a disaster. This point has the highest chance not to get contemplated in the final design bc I loathe it. Being less snarky, the few positive design details point to their inspiration being rooted more in 1500 than 800 AC fashion, so I’ll keep that in mind. 

So, she’s got no reason to being accurate with a single period (or culture) but could should instead integrate bits from many places and eras. Influences from easily accessible media is welcome, both to mirror the Paladins LN influences and bc the og poems were incredibly successful and printed in spades and read in courts and less noble houses alike. 

Now that I have my guidelines it’s finally time to hunt for visual references. 

Looking for historical islamic countries armor is a obligatory step bc I personally have no idea how they looked like and if I find how they were assembled and what colors were used it will be helpful to build my own ver and know how things attach. The period and place doesn’t count, I simply go for what I like more and think this particular chara would wear. Your mileage my vary, but for me history is always the first step to start from, bc if you use only popular media or artistic depictions there’s the chance to make mistakes easily corrected when looking at how the real stuff worked and also to get more… repetitive?

Then I look for how the character’s being depicted before in art of all periods. In this case all I found was a white lady in european armor, completely useless, but usually there’s a lot more and for other characters this “spot” is where I spend most of my researching time after the historical one. 

Then I look for… video games with historical settings that fit my criteria (remember, popular media). Find something I like and keep digging into a particular game and -if lucky enough- in the deviantart pages of the artists responsible for that or that other design.                            

After I’ve collected a lot of different refs I go here on tumblr or on DA or in dedicated sites to find nice palettes and after I’ve got different options for these as well, rejoice!, research time is finally over!

Now’s time to mix all the influences and draw :D

3. Not a lot to say here, just that if you’re not working under commission then you’re doing this for fun and mostly for yourself, so put in the things you like. You like implausible fantasy/jrpg/videogame/cartoon aesthetic more than IRL/ historical aesthetic? Dang, go for it. 

My mindset got a lot better when I embraced the fact I wasn’t redesigning these characters to “make them objectively better”, there was no “mission”: I was doing this to please myself and my own tastes, and that was enough.  

 4. For example, I know I could cover all the Fate ladies in armor for no other reason than I like ladies in armor and find at least neutral reactions on this blog or my DA page, but you’ll never see me post my works in the fgo reddit, even those I’m more proud of, because I know that subreddit and I have no intention to submit myself to a river of mocking, accuses of puritanism and muh censorship!!. 

I suppose this suggestion’s useless if you want to always widen your audience and/or are looking for employment in the field and need all the recognition you can get, but as I have no intention of doing either I get to decide where to show my stuff and to avoid places where it’s likely the reactions will make me feel miserable. No one needs that noise in their life for a hobby, fuck that.          

Last but not for relevance, as a cautionary tale? Spite/anger at something can be one hell of a motivation to start working, but it’s not enough to let you finish a project unless you start enjoy what you’re creating down the road. 

In case of og chara it shouldn’t be any spite, but as soon as you get tired of your work, stop, put it on hiatus and go concentrate on something else. We’re doing this because it makes us happy, it’s no good to let it drag and become a chore.

[alterlifes-a]

tag muns you want to know better; repost - don’t reblog.

What inspired you to try/create that muse/s: well , if you’ve been with me long enough then you know that tooru started out as an AU ! o.ikawa t.ooru, where instead of attending s.eijou , he went to s.hiratorizawa ! to be honest , i kind of just wanted to try my hand at writing that kind of thing ? it was the very first time i had made a tumblr rp blog , so i had no idea that people rp different verses of the same character on one blog !! i originally rp’d on deviantart , and it was very commonplace to have different blogs for different verses ... i had over 70 rp blogs on there and most of them were literally the same 2 characters but in different AUs LMAO ... so imagine my surprise when i saw people rp’ing different AUs on one blog ... RP’ing multiple muses on one blog ... !! but i kinda just stayed with my iteration instead of playing canon ! kawa anyway , since i didn’t really see the point in starting over . as tooru developed more , though , i began to use him as a venting tool because this was a part of my life where i was really depressed . but as time grew on and i eventually made him into an OC , he became a much happier character . he really is my best friend ; he’s been there for me through it all , and even though he’s just fictional , i really owe him a lot for helping me out during rough times .

What is inspiration for that muse/s: well , currently , a lot of things ... lots of music , japanese culture + religion , and also my own experiences . in general , i have a p.interest board for him , so ... maybe you could say i draw inspiration from that , too ! i also rly enjoy the band MILI . their songs really fit tooru , like ‘ bathtub mermaid ’ . i’ve also been listening to hello , again and am planning on drawing something based on it for him ( + the song’s prequel , “ goodbye ” ) . i mainly tend to daydream while listening to songs , so ... yeah . as for characters who serve as inspiration for tooru ... well , i think that’s an artist meme , so i might just fill it in in lieu of answering this properly lol ... but two i can think of off the top of my head are leon from f.ire e.mblem e.choes and n.eferpitou from h.xh ! 

Thread/AU that made you really happy: B.NHA AU ... !! i’m hyperfixating sm on that one ... idk , a lot of planning and plotting goes into it , esp since a lot of my mutuals are in the fandom . in particular , i love love love the story i’ve created with @noquirk . i literally cannot envision a more perfect plot for tooru in this verse . heck , it’s literally my main go - to timeline when i draw / write for it . tooru is , quite literally , not very much in this AU without deck .

Something really special on your wishlist: sh ... more ships ... ships to draw and animate and make animatics to ... also i need to get my butt into gear and finish my JRPG AU group lol .

Something you are looking for in short future for your muse: blease tooru help me get thru the school year ... also i have some animatics in the back burner so i’m looking forward to getting those done !

Share something related to your muse!: his canon story , in parallel motion , deals with existentialism and alternate universes . ultimately , it’s a story that serves as a physical manifestation of my own struggle with depression , and while it’s sombre in tone , i want it to tell whoever’s reading it , “ you matter . ” it’s why tooru is placed into so many marginalized groups ; he’s fat and trans and biracial and bi and suffers from bpd + depression + anxiety but he’s a good person through it all ... his story is tragic because he’s not allowed to exist and will be forgotten when he dies , but his existence impacts so many other characters’ lives ... it’s a butterfly effect kind of thing . because you exist , you’ve made so many peoples’ lives better . and i understand it’s rough and i understand depression + sucky real life aspects try to convince you otherwise , but just ... think about it . there’s an alternate universe where , because you don’t exist , something huge was probably impacted . and even on a smaller , more intimate scale --- if you hadn’t existed in another life , then one of your friends might not be here . they might not be as happy as they are now , because you make them happy . life can be awful . but it’s wonderful and beautiful , too . that’s what i want tooru to be to others . someone to look up to and relate to , and someone who tells you , “ it’s okay ! ”

What do you think about character’s design/how do you came up with this: he’s ... kinda generic LOL mainly cause he’s based off of o.ikawa looks - wise due to his origin ... but part of his looks also derivate from an old ask blog muse i had :

i just really like that bangs - over - one - eye hairstyle ngl ... also i have no idea how / when his hair became maroon - brown since o.ikawa’s hair is chestnut brown , but ... yeah . also have no idea when he gained red eyes HDKJSFS,,,, i find fangs appealing on a character though , so that’s why he has fangs and does the :3c ... honestly i think i kinda just slapped together what i like in a design and put it on him , so even though he may look like an NPC ( lol ) , he’s still appealing in my eyes .

What your muse taught you: how to love being alive ... ( i’ve actually written an essay for a class about how he’s helped me through depression haha ... he means a lot to me , can you tell ? )

What is roleplay for you: all of you are awful and yet here i am anyway so really this says more about me than anything else .

Just say something nice about other mun!: @onfaith you are my ANGEL you mean sm to me and i wish u all the best with your studies  /  @tikkvn i love u sm cass ur an amazing person n a wonderful existence never forget that  /  @juuheart notay is my fave bleach chara also ur art is so cute  /  @wuvlite if i die all my money goes to u so u can keep drawing holy SHIZ ur art is #inspiration  /  @queznak ur very interesting and charismatic as a person  !!!  /  @uzvisen idk how to spell ur url this took me 3 tries but also ilysm  /  @conhnhaketon i also cant spell ur url but i hope ur doing well n ur eid was good , ik we’ve both been busy but i would live for u  /  @quirkthief ur one of my fave ppl i will forever tag u in shibes also i’ve supported u in u saying afo was hot even when he looked ugly n now i get to watch everyone who made fun of u writhe bc he is rly rly hot hahaha  /  @noquirk you’re so talented pls never stop what ur doing  /  @aerve you’re rly cool !!! 100% support u in everything u do ! >:0  /  @starbooms aries ur so creative ugh ... ur mind !!!!!! ik we don’t talk much but ur v fun  /  @bendsair i forget what other blogs ur on but chris ur the coolest #TalkRomania2Me  /  @creatied we don’t talk much either but ur graphics r so aesthetically appealing wowzers !!  /  @daimnas i’m wuv you amari !! also my french sucks but uhhh comment ca va ( i’m too lazy to find the accented ‘c’ dsfhi ) ??  /  @soarsun i’ve only known u for a few weeks but if anything happened to u i would kill everyone on this website n then myself  /  @quirkgifter nanners is the coolest n nana is the best grandma in town  /  @natsutodoroki im so jealous u got a canon url as ur rp url LMAO but also ur rly cool n fun even tho we dont talk too frequently !  /  @lechors​ LINNEA I WILL DIE FOR U RIGHT HERE RIGHT N---  /  @ YOU READING THIS BC I’M ABOUT TO FALL ASLEEP : YOU’RE AWESOME AND GREAT !

Tagged by: stole it from @queznak Tagging: whomstever 

[house-vestra]

fe15 thoughts (spoilers ahead!)

i just beat part 5 (not part 6 yet), but a few a lot of impressions/opinions after my first runthrough:

full disclosure: i knew nothing abt gaiden beforehand so none of this is affected by previous knowledge. i have a preference for fe6-12 but don’t dislike the 3ds games

my overall mvp was archer!tobin, though alm edged him at towards the end

on celica’s path, it was overall valbar and celica. towards the end, brave sword!jesse became a God and ended up going toe-to-toe with duma alongside alm

i beat duma’s chapter on the first go! which i’m proud of. alm basically soloed him w/ dual psychic support from genny and faye, but jesse got like one or two crits in there before being rescued out

admittedly my strat at the end was “when in doubt, throw jesse at it” and he rekt jedah

the wiki said jesse tied with grieth as the least popular gaiden chara in the heroes poll and i can kind of see why but I LOVE HIM NOW 

i’d heard a lot of criticism of map design which i went into the game thinking that meant just the maps would be boring. i wasn’t as bothered by the sludge maps as some other ppl were, but there were a lot of maps that just screamed “please cheese me with archers” which might have contributed to tobin being rly useful

i didn’t mind faye. i can see why her chara ruffled feathers, but she was relatively unobtrusive, if slightly creepy. i appreciated that she got the opportunity to confront her feelings and get turned down. less appreciative of her ending but w/e

i’m sooooo happy they did justice with fernand, even before his whole redemption thing. very refreshing from that one fe13 bishop dude who showed up to betray you for 0 reason and then immediately died

i wanted more from lukas, not bc i was disappointed w/ his character, but because i really loved it. his support with clive, where he expresses this desire to be more expressive bc he actually isn’t capable of experiencing intense emotions. that’s a rly engaging characteristic (i personally identify with) i wanted him to explore more, but instead clive is just like “nope you’re perfect” and lukas is basically like “well all right i guess”

leon looked a whole lot less emo than i thought he would, and he was so full of love

this is rly arbitrary, but the calendar system.....put like, a lot of pressure on minimizing my movement? like i didn’t want to run around completing quests bc i felt like the number of days was judging me lol

is2g, the only reason they put flour in the game was bc it looks like a bag of silvery coins + in the duma tower, you smash barrels and a bag pops out and you run over thinking ur getting mad cash and it’s fucking flour

the eating/food preferences mechanic is cute, but you end up with things like delthea, who wants to marry a noble and enjoys eating raw meat

silque and atlas enjoy eating fucking flour....flour.....i kept wanting to jump in the dungeon parts

i made faye a cleric and i still went the whole game w/o her learning the anew spell lol

rinnea is too good for berkut. sorry berkut fans he doesn’t deserve her

i could not bring myself to love tatiana. she was lovely and sweet but she hurt my entire soul and i ended up not bringing her to the endgame, and then regretted it as she was my only fortify user

there’s a whole lot of damsel in distressing/women off the front lines in this game but i’m attributing that to the original gaiden

probably the most unpopular opinion here: i didn’t like celica. i get she was going thru something terrible, but... her “i’m all alone” schtick was grating and i wanted her to be more resolute? instead of just ending up another damsel in distress for alm to save

speaking of celica idk if it was in gaiden, but i wish fe would stop doing the “start the game off with one mc killing the other” and then like......”jk they’re still alive”

i knew going in almxcelica was canon, and also it was pretty obvious immediately, but i didn’t like it. i thought it detracted from the game’s themes a lot, because both of them would immediately throw away all other concerns at even 1 (however dubious) hint the other was in danger. like.....they kept hearing mysterious voices and running away from all their friends straight into enemies gdi there was so much more at stake

i didn’t mind alm as a chara but i was disappointed with his arc. i actually have a lot to say about it lol maybe i’ll make another post but idk if anyone cares

basically i felt they tried to combine two archetypes (noble chosen one vs common everyman dogooder) and it just ended up clashing/really dissonant. i don’t have a problem with either/or (a good example of chosen one is micaiah, and then the everyman is ike, whom i both love) but PICK ONE

idk if it was the dungeoneering or the format of the chapters (some of the battles kind of felt...pointless? like they were just in the way but didn’t really progress the plot/shed light on charas or issues or anything) but this game was - not boring, for per se, but a lot more difficult for me to finish than first run thrus generally are? like, i didn’t ever want to stop playing but there were moments where i looked at the next battle on the map and was like, ugh don’t want to do this rn

this seems really negative lol but i did enjoy the game and i’d love more remakes! i may draw something if i can figure out how to fix the pressure sensitivity on my tablet...