#ive changed a lot of things in my style and i have a whole new art program so

[lvrtwn]

venus if she was awesome

speedpaint and more thoughts under the cut

venus has always been one of my favorite characters, though i feel her design is pretty underwhelming with a lot of wasted potential. this is kind of a redesign, kind of my own personal headcannon, and kind of how i imagined venus in my head as a kid.

this is supposed to be my version of g1 venus, more similar in facial features and keeping the straight hair. i absolutely love her new hair and face in g3 but im hesitant to call the new outfit an improvement. both g1s outfit and g3s outfit are bad in their own ways. i dont want it to seem like im shitting on the new design. again i think the face sculpts, hair, and body types of g3 are so awesome. its great to see more diversity being included in the designs. i just decided to go with g1 venuses look because thats the venus i grew up with

i definitely took some inspiration from g3s outfit for this design. i like the idea of it but the execution is just not great, not to say her original outfit is any better. i feel like out of all of tge original monsters she was the one with the most waisted potential. i love her personality and the abilities she has but the way she was styled has always bothered me.

in the movies shes described as “eco-punk” which is SUCH a cool style to go with a plant monster character. i just feel like the “punk” in “eco-punk” was never really represented in her outfits. i personally love punk music and clothing; ive been an active member in my local diy scene for many years and i love seeing all the outfits people put together.

i thought i would give her an outfit that shows off a couple of my personal favorite staples of punk style. big chunky leather boots with lots of straps and buckles. kept the shoe mouths from the original because they cool as hell. lots of leather, studs, spikes. i gave her denim cutoff shorts inspired by her gen 3 outfit, same with the torn black top. punk style has a big focus on comfort, practicality, and making things yourself. i imagine she cut a pair of old pants into shorts, roughly cut her “undead kennedys”band shirt tank into a crop top, and probably repurposed the remaining fabric. i also totally didnt draw this whole thing as an excuse to use that pun. i included asymmetrical leg accessories, with one fishnet stocking and one torn up sock. i also feel like she repurposed these, continuing to wear her old torn up socks instead of just throwing them out. i gave her a big chunky studded belt matching one of her cuffs with a recycling symbol belt buckle. i feel like it communicates an important aspect of her personality just at a glance, plus i just love big belt buckles. lastly i added piercings because 1. theyre cool and 2. i for some reason remembered her having an eyebrow piercing but i guess she never had one.

i mostly kept her body and hair the same. changed her ears and hair color slightly but thats just personal preference. i decided to make the vines on her body look more like tattoos instead of being 3d. i imagine she can make them grow into real vines, but when shes not using her powers theyre just flat against her skin. gave her a facial expression that made her look a little more unhinged. she might only do things for the good of the earth but she can still mind control people at will.

i wish i leaned a little bit more into the plant theming but im overall still super happy with how this came out. maybe ill made more monster high redesigns in the future

[chifuyusun]

Negai no Astro Chapter One: Thoughts

I am late, in 3 days we will have chapter two, life has been too busy but I planned to share my thoughts on every chapter as the manga goes, so i will write them down here anyway

I have not read chapter 2 leaks nor do i plan to so these are all based on whatever info we got from chapter 1

Overall, Wakui never fails to intrigue me with his concepts. A lot of people online who enjoy hating on his works just because they didn’t like Tokyo Revengers and wanted to board the hate train kept calling it tr 2.0, but to me, it is a unique concept, the only thing it shares with tr is its art style (obviously, both are drawn by Wakui, he was not going to magically change his art just because it is a new work, besides, his art is precious and comforting to see, why would we want it to change?) + the concept of gangs and brotherhood which are prevalent in Tokyo Revengers. Other than that, this story is set out to be different. I love space, supernatural elements, family stories, angst and drama, and this story seems to blend all together. With a family of adopted siblings and a biological son, it makes me wonder, do any of the adopted ones harbor any hatred in their hearts for Hibaru? Who is close to whom? Who hates whom? There seems to be a lot of tension, like royal family children fighting for the throne, they would fight for succeeding their father.

Starting with Shio, could he be the main antagonist of the story? The panels seemed to focus on him whenever they were mentioning the succession. It seemed he had his eye on it, considering he is the first adopted son, he most likely expected he would be the next leader. In the second panel, his rage is apparent when Hibaru announced that Terasu was chosen. Perhaps he would try to “dethrone” the two, to speak in kingdom terms. Also, Kou did tell them to stay out of Shio’s way, it seems to me each siblings will have their own squad, and it will be a family feud. I am expecting lots of battle, and knowing Wakui, angst and bloodshed.

Hibaru my beloved! I am so attached to him already. Wholesome mc with a brave heart, count me in! Like Takemichi, he is dedicated to his goal, and to looking after his loved ones, as it was his will to save Terasu that gave him strength (+ the memory of his Father guiding him) I can’t say much about him, but he seems to be a golden retriever type of boy, with a pure soul and a strong will, and he most likely does not want the family to fight, as he does his best to avoid that. (but he also does not take sh*t from anyone, as he almost attacked Kou and had the cutest little angry face) Hibaru was always shown to be excited when his father brought new siblings home, and I do not think he dislikes any of them. But anyway, I will support my son’s rights and wrongs.

And these two seem to be the gossipers of the family who attend to talk sh*t about everyone else lol. The pretty boy with the colored hair gives me Hanma vibes, he seems to be quite chill, just wanting to see how it all goes down (or not, just an impression based on his vibe, but either way, I love his energy.) as for blondie with the scar, he caught my attention the most out of all the siblings, aside being beautiful design wise and looking like Kokonui, his sarcastic personality and just overall aura definitely interested me. He also never opened his eyes once during the whole chapter, and his scar goes through his eyes, could he be blind? I need to know more about him and his backstory, how he got this scar..and can he see..perhaps, his new power could make him see? (If he is blind)

What made me love Tokyo Revengers so much was not its plot (yes, Wakui cooked, he is a good author, Tenjiku arc’s plot was phenomenal and one of the most memorable in all works of fiction Ive read), but what engraved tr into my heart, making it something so dear to me, a story I’m way too attached to, is the bond between its characters, and the relationships between them, whether i saw it in a platonic or romantic sense, and all the various sibling relations, how Shinichiro changed the course of destiny itself for his brother, how Mitsuya raised two little sisters on his own and protected them, how Naoto loved his sister so much he meddled in time for her, how Yuzuha put her own safety on the line and endured endless abuse for her brother, etc. Wakui writes all types of relationships so beautifully it moved me to tears so many times, and that is why the sibling bond between Terasu and Hibaru is so dear to me.

Like?? Absolutely precious. Their love for each other is already so evident only from one chapter. Cant wait to see more of them and hopefully it stays pure and untainted…(Wakui im looking at you.)

However..I can't help but think of this. Terasu's parents were defeated (k*lled) by Hibaru's dad, and Wakui never adds details for no reason. Everything in tr was carefully planned since day one even if it was rushed at the end, so, could this turn into a "Judas" sort of situation, where Terasu is faced with a difficult choice to make? Could he betray Hibaru? They are so dear to me, I would hope not, but also...angst...

Random thought: Code Geass is my all time favorite anime, and this part reminded me of the very first episode of Code Geass, where CC speaks to Lelouch, giving him the power of Geass, which brings me to..her

Again, i have not seen leaks, idk if it is revealed who she is in chapter two, but we have not seen her yet in chapter one..is she part of the family, or could she be similar to CC in a way, related to the "astro" power? I am keen to know more about her

Another random thought: I am obsessed with her and I don't even know her name yet, but she is gorgeous. All the girls Wakui drew in tr are stunning but she just..stands out, her design is unique to all ladies Wakui drew before, she reminds me of a femme Manjiro mixed with Koko, and Betty Boop

Lastly, the whole adopted siblings, each with a unique super power, is reminding me of The Umbrella Academy, and I'm sat. I'm a sucker for such stories lol, I am excited to learn more about what each power does and what each sibling got, especially that which looks like a third eye. Since astro grants the heart's desire and what they wish for, I am curious to see what each of them wants the most, and to learn more about their character. Can't wait for my new journey with Negai no Astro, it is a promising start! (Won't ever leave TR behind though)

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

Tell me something Miller gave up

Do you ever think about media and stories reflecting the anxieties of the cultures that create them? Or how sci-fi sometimes predicts or inspires technology? Do you ever think about Halo and Aliens and Starship Troopers and disaster movies and real life and

I poured my brain out onto a page stream of consciousness style so it's a mess, but a fun, terrifying one I hope

hi

-

There's a lot of buzzwords people throw around. People saying one thing but meaning seven different things. The difference between sacrificing and giving up. Victory at any cost, pyrrhic, hollow. A play for time.

Sacrificing something is good and noble and for the greater need of the many. Giving up is cowardly and shameful. These words are black and white, most of the time. Other words like risk, are more complicated. A risk can pay off or it can put everyone in danger. A risk can be a sacrifice or it can be worse than giving up.

Miller's from a generation that doesn't know what it's like to live without war. To live without the threat of surveillance, both foreign and domestic, enemies listening in or sacrificing privacy for the greater good. Some planets get labelled with the words too, once they're glassed. As a kid, Jared thought it was strange to think anyone gave up their planet, their home, or that somehow the planet gave up. It was the bad guys.

The bad guys are scary and if they find you they will kill you. They destroy your homes and your way of life. They might eat you! They speak a different language and have technology that can kill you before you can blink. That's why you need to be careful and a good citizen. The UNSC is doing its best to keep the colonies safe, but if they would just listen then the bad guys wouldn't get them. That's why you can help be a good citizen and fight the bad guys. All you have to do is sign up when you're 16! You can be a marine or a pilot or drive a tank or maybe even meet one of them. The UNSC needs you, but also it is doing great on its own! The war effort requires everyone! But do not panic, panicking is weak and cowardly and helps the bad guys.

The bad guys are unstoppable, but also weak and stupid. They can't stop the UNSC's greatest weapon.

The Master Chief is a hero and he stops the bad guys. There are other Spartans too and they always win. They never give up. They never die.

Miller enlists. He works hard. He's an asset, not a drain. He won't give up.

The war ends. The news around Master Chief quiets. Miller becomes a Spartan IV. There's always still more work to be done. There are different bad guys now. Some of them look like him.

Miller learns that not every alien is a bad guy. There are asylum seekers on multiple worlds, even Earth. Refugee is another word for asylum seeker.

Miller's in an early enough class of IVs to become a mission handler. He works intelligence and planning. He keeps his head down and ears open. He learns more than he wanted. Sacrificing children. Giving up homes? Childhoods? Giving up requires a choice in the matter. He thinks about it. Sacrificing also implies a choice.

IVs have a choice. He was an adult when he signed on. To be a Spartan. He was still under 18 when he joined the UNSC but that's okay. He knows other Spartans who are in the same boat. Other IVs are older. They have even more skin in the game, they've been fighting the bad guys longer.

The bad guys have changed but that's okay because while they're strong they're weaker than Spartans and Spartans never die. Except Miller has lost Spartans. He's seen whole Fireteams wiped out in an instant. He's heard people dying on worlds a million miles from home for no clear reason.

The bad guys are there because the good guys- the UNSC - are there. Spartans are the UNSC's gun they point at the bad guys. Some of the bad guys are humans again. Some of the aliens are good guys. Why is there still a war? Why do they need Spartans for this? Manufactured conflict.

Sacrifice or giving up? Wasted or Spent?

[why-is-thinking-so-hard]

more superhero cadina au

this time its regina, once again it gets long, but this time because I got distracted while researching sharks and decided to add so many shark facts

⚠️spoilers for mean girls as always⚠️

I feel like vampire regina has been done a lot and I wanted to try something different so after throwing some stuff around with my friend, we've come to the conclusion of: siren!regina.

I wanted her to have an influential power over people like she does in canon, but, like I said, I didn't want to make her a vampire. this also removes the immortality problem.

general regina superhero cadina au details:

so, regina is a siren from a family of sirens on her dads side, Kylie exists in this au and is also a siren, her mother is not a siren(clearly). she has the classic hypnotizing siren voice, shriek, water breathing, human/mermaid physiology(especially when she touches water, so like she has internal fish stuff all the time but when she wants to have external fish stuff/touches water she can get it h2o style), and manipulation of water

in her h2o mermaid form, Reginas fishform is shark. shark regina. because of apex predator and also because I like sharks and I wants regina to have electroreceptors which sharks do have but we can leave that for a different essay/post

false actually, I cannot keep my mouth shut when ive learned new things and as I said above, I spent an entire afternoon researching sharks. I know that the point of her powers in this au is that she's a siren, but part of that is the whole mermaid physiology bit, so hear we go: ive decided regina would be a bull shark because I realized that if she was a shark, she would need to be near saltwater so she wouldn't fucking die UNLESS her shark part was euryhaline, which bull sharks are, and they've actually been spotted as far as Illinois when going up the Mississippi.

bite force of 5,914 newtons, jaws aren't attached to the cranium so imagine the shenanigans regina pulls to freak people out by moving her jaw in weird ass ways and snatching food without moving her head. sharks have multiple rows of teeth and regularly shed and replace their teeth with no rhyme or reason, so regina will randomly lose teeth with the new ones just immediately popping right up behind it, sometimes she spit them at people who annoy her(Gretchen secretly collects them). her scales reduce drag when swimming so when rubbed the wrong way they're extremely rough so she can literally rub people the wrong way. shark siren form regina is 13ft long. less fun, when food is scarce, sharks can slow their digestion, regina would do this when her mother makes comments about her body. bull sharks are more likely to bite humans than most sharks. extremely good sense of smell, like some sharks can smell one part per million of blood in water and they can determine the direction of a smell the way we can with sound and they're more attracted to the chemicals in the intestines of many species and shark hearing is extremely sharp and they can hear prey from miles away(their hearing sensitivity is in the range of 20 to 1000 Hz), so I can only imagine the migraines regina gets from being around teenagers,

night vision, nictating membrane, sharks have the greatest electrical sensitivity of any animal as they have electroreceptor organs numbering in the thousands that allow them to sense the electromagnetic field of their prey as well as orient and navigate using the magnetic field of the earth and the ocean currents moving within it and creating electrical fields, lateral line tactile sensory system allows sharks to detect changes in water speed and pressure nearby and frequencies in the range of 25 to 50 Hz and lets them distinguish the currents around them, obstacles in their periphery, and struggling prey out of view.

im not sure how some of those would help regina, maybe they help her rule the school, they'd definitely help in superhero situations, but they'd definitely end up with her being hella overstimulated at school and might be why she's so frustrated with people all the time. I get that. anyway, sharks that need to continuously swim in order to breathe do something called sleep swimming, in order for them to actually get some sleep, its their spinal cord that controls the action, not their brain, seeing as regina would be able to breathe like a human and not need to constantly move she wouldn't need to do this, but I think she would have this habit of sleep walking and sometimes she does end up in the pool and sleep swims.

while she's not proud of it because it was prompted by her mothers comments, regina has used her siren powers to curate her popularity at school but no one knows she's a siren so they dont realize that

recurring h2o jokes with regina getting pelted with water and running off screaming "DONT LOOK AT ME" while you hear the h2o theme play faintly in the distance along with a splash will happen be warned. like. the homecoming scene where she gets the water sprayed on her is the same, she does the hair flip and everything and then. realizes. so she runs off screaming DONT LOOK AT ME and in the distance you can hear the h2o theme playing faintly

Regina's "janitor caught cady with a mouse in her mouth" was back in middle school, she, janis, Gretchen, and Karen went to the aquarium and she got distracted at one tank because she was listening to fish gossip and then later they went to the dolphin show and regina had to be forcibly removed from the premises after she started picking a fight with one of the dolphins(it called her 3 different slurs and insulted her clothing) and is no longer allowed at the Chicago aquarium. luckily her mother has a friend that was able to keep, "middle schooler has mad beef with dolphin," out of the headlines.

is regina a superhero herself before cady shows up in Evanston? yes actually. I did think about making her a villain but I want to have faith in regina having even a a molecule of a soul before cady shows up, she does have a younger sister after all and how can regina not have a soul when even my older sister does? just usual sisters giving each other, shit you know, I love her tho 🫶

I may have just written miraculous ladybug minus the bullshit love triangle, so um, there's that... but it's a superHERO cadina au and I wanted them to both be heroes.

Reginas dad runs some shady shit, ive yet to figure out exactly what it is, but the point is it's shady enough that even regina takes issue with it and decides to do something about it(little does she know, her dad is not directly involved in what happened to cadys dad but he has connections and that's how cady eventually gets involved with regina). so she adopts the hero persona of shark girl, it was gonna be a placeholder until I came up with the lore that she was inspired by the classic movie shark boy and lava girl, so as shark girl she fucks with her dads criminal shit and if she's extra pissed off, she will beat people within an inch of their life because she's not a saint. she focuses mainly on her dads business, feels guilty when she watches the news and sees things she could've easily stopped and maybe she helps where she can if she has time but she doesn't make a habit of it, not til cady comes around.

this got extremely long because of the shark facts, which I hope you enjoyed, so um, have some all over the place hcs as a reward for making it this far, even though these make it even longer

because sharks are hunted not only for their fins and meat, but also for the oil in their livers(not exactly a fun fact, but a true one nonetheless), I think regina would joke about just how much her liver would go for on the black market

regina has tried to break back into the aquarium to kill that dolphin, she had the sense to do it with her shark girl suit on so the "shark girl has major beef with Chicago aquarium dolphin" headline did make it to print this time

bull sharks will also hunt birds and terrestrial animals they can get too, as they are opportunistic feeders, so I can see cady and regina going after birds and small animals together while their friends regret not bringing leashes

regina tells cady she's a siren by asking, "would you still love me if I was a fish?" on a random Tuesday morning

I just know that bitch reenacts little mermaid any chance she gets

if you read this far, thank you for indulging all of. this. you've probably just learned more about sharks than you ever thought you would. and I did this for fun. anyway, so these posts were just to get the basic details of their powers out there, the next post should be getting into where the actual canon starts. keep reading, dont, either way, I will be writing more of this and I think the spidey au will be separate from this one. goodnight, y'all

[unlimitedtrees]

making character sprites as a one-person indie game developer

(huh. turns out this post on cohost didnt have a “read me” section”. o well. i will put the read me section Here,  before any of da actual text. click it if u dare !!)

so, i've been meaning on making a Big post talkin all about how i actually Make my games and my processes n such ,but also ive been procrastinating on making it for so long that i thought i might as well just make One part of that post now .. and its about making the Character Sprites for my games .

So. these images are the (mostly) full sprite sheets of the three characters from my game UNITRES Dreams, taken directly from the big giant 'charactersprites.png' image that i used for nearly every sprite for Most of the game's development. some quick things to make note of: First off, Trees (the first one) was one of the earliest things i made for the game, and had their sprite sheet redone Twice since then.. this first picture doesnt contain the latest sprite sheet as the new sprites were done on aesprite and im too lazy to make a sprite sheet out of them right now.

Secondly, the Second character (the pink one), had two different designs, being completely redesigned as i didnt like their first design all too much. their redesign's animations was done in aesprite, but i made a sprite sheet out of em before so i was able to just put them here. Lastly, the Third character (the blue one with the big silly hat) remained mostly unchanged as their original sprites and design were pretty good, but they needed to be cleaned up and given better colors so i ended up polishing all of their sprites.

Anyways. it's going to be hard for me to explain my actual process, as i am Bad With Words, but i will try my best.. So. for Most of my time as a game dev, I've used Paint.NET for Everything. This includes backgrounds, tilesets, and every animation ever in all of my games. For my character sprites specifically, i usually start with making the color palette (which is a whole different process where i mess around with the RGB values until i get a specific color that i think looks pretty ... its hard to describe). When making a new character, i usaully start with an Idle animation, just so i have a good base to make all the other sprites on. I just make a sketch of the character, then i do the flat colors (as my games dont have line art), and once i have the colors i start doing the rendering , where i try to pull off a sort of Sonic CD-esque , celshaded style while Also including a bit of anti-aliasing and other modern pixel art techniques to give the sprites more Depth and make them look Sharp. Idk. it's hard to describe my process in words ... i Did make a video Years ago showing off my process, but its old and my editing in that video isnt the Greatest.

So., that's my process Lol . the only thing thats really changed is that Now i use Aesprite for making the Actual Animations , as making animations with Paint.NET is Really Difficult and Annoying , as i have No Idea how the animation will Look until it actually appears ingame .. which results in the early versions of each character's animations looking a little weird (such as Trees' first two versions, the first version of the Pink character, and the Blue character's animations.. .though the blue character isnt as bad as the other two and i kept their animations mostly the same in the final game LOL).

Something that people have kind of criticized about UNITRES Dreams' animations is that some of em dont exactly ... Look Good. a lot of animations are pretty Inconsistent , with characters like Trees having inconsistent sizes in some animations and the movement in animations such as the Pink character's walking animation and various other animations (Especially the ones made in Paint.NET) looking Unnatural.

And Well .. here's the thing about making animations and sprites for something like this. When you're the Main person making an indie game, you have Tons of different parts of the game that need to be worked on while having Very little time to work on others. On Top of making every single animation for UNITRES , i had to make every single Tileset and background for every single level, On Top of making the Level Layouts , Programming , and even making sprites for things like the UI. And you have to constantly Test the game to make sure everything works and things Look good.

So. i had very little time to work on the sprites, and i Knew this. Something you have to consider is that, not only are you making the animations for the main character , you Also have to make Tons of animations and sprites for Literally Every Other Aspect of The Game . this includes Enemies , Level Gimmicks , NPCs, And the UI .. so you end up having to work on Thousands of sprites by yourself in such a short time.

I ain't the best animator , nor the best sprite artist . But , for this game I chose an art style which is Kinda simple and comfortable for me, which made making things like tilesets and backgrounds so much easier for me. The character sprites specificially only use a few amount of colors ,but also i tried my best to give them as much depth and make them as Colorful looking as i could. Also , something you might notice is that all of the playable characters dont actually have a whole lot of animations .. each of the characters only have the Exact amount of frames and animations necessary for them to Look Good moving around the levels. Aside from a few Gimmick Specific animations that arent in the sprite sheets i posted , there arent many Extra animations or animations with Tons of Frames that i wish i could have added .. and it Kind Of Sucks . Having to split my time across Three Different Characters , i had no time to make any animations Too Crazy or Too Smooth , and i couldnt include any extra animations that could add a bit of personality to the characters ... In Fact ,the Idle "animation" isnt an animation , its just a still frame. I didnt have time to even make a simple waiting animation !!

It Is What It Is. For what its worth , Ithink Im pretty proud of the animations i did for UNITRES Dreams. while i think ive become a much better artist and animator since then, i still think some animations and some of the frames look really good ..just looking at some of the still frames is really nice .. so i think i did a good job, especially for a game that was made in 2 years and is Free. And Hey, while the animations in UNITRES Dreams may not be the best or have the most smooth animations , i Did get to experiment with making more smooth animations for TREES' ADVENTURE. while ,now, i think some stuff could use some work, i am Really Proud of how some of the animations look .. ididnt get to make Too Many extra animations (there still isnt even an Idle animation), i Did get to make some cool extra animations , such as individual animations for your Jump that are based on how fast you're moving . (the original post on cohost had a buncha gifs of da animations but im Too Fuckin Tired 2 post em here LOL !!!)

So Yea . the moral of the story: making video games is kind of hard and time consuming , Especially when you're like , the Only one working on them. just make sure to plan ahead and try not to overwork urself .. make what you can and do it when you can. Thats what i think , anyways.

[kurenwe]

I’d love to hear more about him actually

sorry for replying like 3? days later i have no excuse i just literally forgot 😭

also im sorry for yapping so much

Anyways yeah so his name is Ilya Morozov — previously Matthias Lyon (a whole lotta running away from your old life and creating a new identity going on with him), when he was younger his mother died from illness so he grew up with his father for his teen years. If we’re continuing with the basic information and stuff then he’s 27, believe it or not, he works as an attorney despite literally just being bad at his job he’s somehow not fired (money) (wow… such a cruel society we live in am i right), he is a bisexual man with no preference, and he likes the scent of apples! How fun! That’s not really related to anything nor basic information because i doubt people add their favourite scent in profiles but we ball 😼

When he was younger he was super into rock bands and loved the whole style and music in general, thus, his first ever crush was someone who fit into that style specifically, anyways that not really anything important. All of this just inspired him and eventually, he had this huge dream to be in a band and become some big musician! Which seems nice! If only he was actually good at music. Which he was not. Cleary. But that didn’t stop him from joining some whole ass band with his friends, which they didn’t exactly mind as long as he was just standing there. Doing nothing. Which really defeats the whole purpose of being in a band!

Anyways im kinda yapping a bit so yada yada or whatever stuff progresses he falls in and out of love, like a lot, he had a really rocky love life like falling in love with a buncha people so he could probably make a whole page of a list of his exes which is super fun amiright yeah. wow. Also besides the point, actually one of the, was actually one of the band members — Katheryn Byers, which isn’t really important right now but I’ll come back to her later.

Since I’m sort of speaking wayyyyy too mcuh ill skip to about like after he (barely) graduated, despite everything he showed no signs of backing down from his (unlikely) dreams as a musician all of this and other factors, not gonna go into too much detail about how it all happened but he got into a huge fight with his father, and reallllyy injured him in the process, (kudos to the glass bottle), long story short the father developed memory loss, he used this to basically disown himself by just making his father completely forget him which i dont know how to explain but he did it…

Long long long story short again, he got bailed out for attempted murder, with the help of this guy which i am not going to go into detail about because ive spoken enough, helped him literally move away, proclaim his old identity as dead and create a new one!! Also thanks to him he got a job!! how kind!! (which explains why hes so bad at it)

When he was younger he used to be this kind of pushy, determined but also kind of meek in a way, as time went on, based on the people around him (since he felt he had to change his entire persona to be liked) he became a whole lot more like some typical angsty teen like he grew to be a lot more aggressive and had a lot of bad influences, did bad things, all that stuff. This attitude pretty much remained until he had pretty much gotten a whole new identity, new year new me, you know :3 Now he’s sort of some loser man who really wants to give back for all of the things he’s done, like he just feels super guilty. My man even turned to god, all he wants to do is be forgiven. And tell people corny jokes. Fun!

Actually something pretty ironic is that he ended up really wanting to raise a child for his own, like as some sort of way to give back or something, kinda just funny cuz he literally has a child he doesn’t know about (throwback to Katheryn Byers) (Who is currently a single mother, resents Matthias/‘Ilya’ and the only thing she knows about him is that hes proclaimed dead. Which he clearly isnt.)

jesus christ ive actually written si much im sorry 😭

he was inspired by a lot of people to be honest, design wise and personality wise, not really backstory wise i kinda just made wthat one w him if its not obvious enough. But yeah grew up in france, currently residing in russia, works as an attorney and would have been fired already if it werent for certain sources, failed musician, stupi didiot, makes stupid jokes

the fur parts he wears on his wrists arent actually even apart of his coat they’re just bracelets, he really likes fur. Wearing it. I guess i could say he does like it too but yeah. On his fingers he wears a buncha rings, one having initials of both Katheryn and him, mattias era, because that was pretty much his onky serious relationship (literally all of them broke up with him since he was too clingy or just annoying), he also has this stupid gold head band thing on his head 👍👍 i dont really have any inspiration for that i just thought his head was too plain and didnt want to add a hat

Anyways yeah I’m not sure what else to say about him I’ve said enough… hopefully… hes also a proud husband of my friend @/avendingmachine (/j) But yeah hes just a loser who regrets everything hes done and wants to forget his past life!! silly

goodbye freak nation im sorry for writing so much

[stellarunimoon]

im so scared right now. this is the first time ive posted on here in a WHILE so my artstyle is :skull: completely different. i plan on revamping this whole uhh profile. ill still keep up the artwork though so my growth can be visible :- )

so this is a part of my blue diamond au i was doodling. i dont plan on making any comics or anything just some little silly pictures cause i like that kind of thing.

so i kind of felt like keeping all their previous personalities, i dont like when they take after the one that they were replacing, but thats just a personal preference. im just gonna infodump lmao

yellow - since shes more of an easily aggrivated one and has a superiority complex, i thought instead of controlling gems like white does, she could paralyze them, so the finale keeps its effect while still being in character. her pearl is still the same, likely a different outfit or form though, i havent decided yet.

pink - she's still childish and tempermental, but it's more forgiven due to her rank, and it's less because of her responsibilities. her old pearl, pink pearl, was still given to white, however white also already had a pearl. she just has two now. ( it is not our regular pearl, its a new one with a new design ill give. ), she's probably the one who needs them the most, and they will NOT be controlled, pink pearl will just be rejuvinated and given a new form <3 more on that later. our pearl does not exist in this au, or she does, i guess, but since our pearl is just the "default" settings, i feel like THIS pink would give her a form that actually matches her, and due to the different style of her being raised, she felt less remorse for damaging pink pearl. still remorse, just less so due to her desensitization and her having to shatter gems with her role.

white - this was mentioned in the artwork but my handwriting is sloppy so ill repeat it. she controls all the gems in her court, because she wants perfection. this includes the gems of different colors, for example.. our peridot, our peridot WILL be a different gem, and she'll probably be a light pink naturally, white when controlled. during future all of whites court will be freed. these gems are controlled from screens, like the ones in yellows room in SU:F. most of her gems remain idle until necessary, but her pearls would assist her in controlling them because. That's a lotta work. she likely has a lot of different gadgets to figure this out cause, yeah, the gempire is big but . . i made this up like an hour ago so cut me some slack.

blue - blue will still be emotional, and that's likely a causation of her rebellion. her pearl is the same as hers in the canon, she did not hit her like pink did. their relationship is still toxic, and like rose in canon, she was trying to change. she just failed. while pink affected the gems because she didn't realize the power she held, and never finished what she started ( spinel being abandoned... she's a little freak for that honestly. also commanding pearl to stay silent, (i don't think that was intentional, i think she just felt like it was a normal request, and didn't realize how much power she still held. that could be debated though cause "for my last order to you as a diamond"..) i think blue affected them emotionally. guilt tripping, self pity, and 2-D thinking. blue was probably more prone to shattering, but would also be very hypocritical. she could not see from the rebel gems perspective EVEN THOUGh she's trying to recruit them. to her, she just wants to win.

anyways that was what i was thinking lmao i kinda just made this up #Sorry

i only drew banded white agate because i did "random steven universe character generator" and it was like "holly blue agate" and i was like Yea Sure im down.

thanks for listening if you did. if not i dont really care i mighjt just add do this IDK WHAT IM DOING!!! this is probably just gonna be a doodle account for my different fixations. (except saw i dont like drawing real people. yet.)

[delulluart]

could you post some work in progress stages of you're drawings and paintings? i am trying to improve my art and i like you're style but i don't really know how to get there. and many tutorials are for digital art only or there very anime style so it dos not very help in what i want to draw :(

but only if it is not to much work of course!

have a good day :-)

thank you, anon!

starting is really tough, i get you, and yes, i finding the tutorial for a style that you want to work in is often a struggle, but often you can apply the general rules to any style!

the most important thing is to not stop drawing! just keep going, a little bit every day/every few days and you WILL see the improvement! its super frustrating when you dont get the results you want immediately, i know that - ive been doing this for so many years now and i still produce pics that i dont like, where im disappointed in myself. but you cant let this drag you down too much, because everytime you fuck something up you learn something, too! you know then that this thing doesnt work - in a way failures are actually way more helpful. (still sucks a lot...)

as for wips: i found a few photos i took of two recent paintings; i dont know if it will help you, though. generally i just do some outlines roughly, then clean them up and then just...fill it either with paints or pencil. i dont do the whole grid method or assisting lines thing or something like that. before i start the proper drawing i often make a small quick sketch to know where everything has to go (see: first pic; youll notice its mirrored - i decided to change the entire orientation last second; i kinda wish i kept it, but its too late now) and then i just...idk? put it on the paper in a way that would make every art teacher cringe in pain (i know that, because it happened multiple times).

as for water colours its the basic rules: start with the bright parts and then go darker; make sure to use good paper, let the stuff dry before going for a new layer etc. add fine details/highlights at the end,

(hello no-hair-papa-anons, have some food here)

if you have any specific questions dont hesitate to ask, ill try to help! if you can afford it i recommend going to a proper class of an artist in your area, that can be lots of fun and really helpful. in 1st grade i was for a few weeks in a free weekly thing of a local artist and she introduced me to oil paints and taught me to just let GO sometimes of the perfectionism and the control of paints (yes, even tiny 5-6 year old me was already a control freak). the things she taught me are still with me.

[cal-writes]

I FINALLY GOT AROUND TO CHECKING OUT THOSE WRITER ASKS, so excuse me, I'm going to disturb your schedule now with some things I want to ask. For 2023 review asks: 1, 3, 9, 23, 24, and 30 please. For the AO3 wrapped asks: 3, 5, 20, and 30, if you'd be so kind. Hope you are having an excellent time and lots of rest, Cal!

at least this time im at my computer and not on mobile so it will be infitely easier to reply! thank you <3

What’s something new that you tried in a fic this year? How did it turn out and would you do it again?

writing present tense actually! my dear beta has been suggesting it for years bc i mostly wrote past tense (or both i would switch in the middle of a work constantly, sorry @vaguelyreferential) so i dont even know what made me do it one piece fic just had the vibes for it i guess

What’s something you learned about yourself as a writer?

i write best at night and unfortunately like it best to write on my laptop. unfortunately bc i got an ergonomic keyboard for reasons and with the laptop thats not really compatible (i can of course conntect it but i like the vibe of the laptop yknow) i think it might have something to do with my double monitor setup on my main computer which tends to distract me so. fun things about being creative with adhd

What fic meant the most to you to write?

woof. thats a tough one. i mean to a certain degree they all mean something to me yknow. or i wouldnt write them. but i think meaningful to me personally is probably Salt of Midgar its the first long ongoing fic ive done in a while and i really tried to be consistent with uploads and stuff and try to hone the whole "done is better than perfect" with it. i sadly lost the consisitency with putting out chapters with it but i am still very dedicated to finishing it and plan to do it next year.

also have to say one of my unfinished 00Q fics has a soft spot in my heart bc i met my beta through it and got back into writing in the first place bc of the james bond fandom. i have planned to "reboot it" of sorts aka rewrite and actually finish it (bc its so old at this point my style wouldnt really work with it anymore and i also have no idea where i was going). it got shelved bc i got swallowed up my one piece fandom but yknow

Share the final version of a sentence or paragraph you struggled with. What about it was challenging? Are you happy with how it turned out?

“You don’t have to have all the answers for him right now, you know that right?” Kazuha told him gently and he glanced up, feeling small and terrified at the gulf that was opening in his chest. She smiled and nudged their joined hands. “Just talk to him and tell him the truth. Left to your own devices you two just reach the worst conclusions possible.” She added teasingly and Heiji felt himself snort. She had them there. “Communication.” She stressed in a tone of voice Heiji was too familiar with from their time as a couple.  With a final squeeze, he extracted his hands and groaned, letting his head hang over the back of the chair. “Why do I have to be the mature one? Why can’t he come talk to me?” He whined.  “Because Shinichi is emotionally stunted and you are better at interpersonal relationships than him.” She said placatingly and Heiji gaped at her. He narrowed his eyes at her. Kazuha grinned as innocently as possible. Oh, she was goading him.

this whole conversation from the third chapter of One Trick Pony probably. i struggled with that whole chapter in general a whole lot. this conversation originally took place on the train before i scrapped that location change so to speak and had them stay in kazuha's place. what was difficult at the time with that chapter is how miserable the characters were and i got really into that headspace which kinda made writing hard. but im glad with how it turned out in the end!

What's something that surprised you while you were working on a fic? Did it change the story?

i think i have a lot of my "oho" moments when im not actively writing. such as kaito working for the friend of heijis mom. that was like a "yknow what would be funny" and then i implemented that and from that alone came The Simple Life of Kaito. otherwise my writing process is often just getting possessed by ideas and getting them out of my head the way they want it

What’s something that you want to write in 2024?

as said above i want to finish up Salt of Midgar which i think are 2-3 chapters by my last count.

i also had another one piece thing thats basically done that i need to polish up which is in universe and two other things that i might finish up ive been trucking away at those for a while. one is a sequel to laws eleven and the other is a new AU. also of course lucky charm. that reminds me i have to finish up the next chapter for that whoops

i'll post this now just so i dont lose it all but will reply to the other questions in a reblog!!

[jenoutof10]

Hi.... If you don't mind me asking, can I ask, what are your top 10 (or top 7) favorite media (can be books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before.....

hi! i definitely dont mind, this is such a fun ask so i'm SO SORRY ive only answered now 😭 also im horrible at explaining my thoughts so please bear with me...

1. jujutsu kaisen

i can go on and on about jjk but I'm trying to keep this short so I don't go on an endless rant. OKAY. i love the power system of jujutsu, it's simple but also pretty flexible and creative, i love the historical and traditional aspect of it + how it ties into clan culture, i love how it branches into barrier techniques, reverse cursed technique, binding vows, etc. for characters like gojo in particular i love how he's pictured as the strongest and how akutami shows the gap between him vs all other sorcerers, like he was in a whole different league and how his birth changed/tipped the balance of the world of jujutsu. i love the whole "saving others" thing like how yuuji wants to save everyone, megumi wants to save good people, nobara wants to save the people who mean alot to her, gojo thinking abt how he can only save people who want to be saved, geto wanting to save sorcerers from non sorcerers, etc. i like how the series has aspects of history (like how sugawara no michizane was a sorcerer and how his descendants include the gojo clan is ⅓ of the three main clans of the series, and basically the entirety of tengen (lol)). i love the anime adaptation and how crazy the animation is (when s1 came out i was alr baffled but after watching s2 and looking back at s1 im even more impressed at their development), the manga's artstyle i was a big fan of but now not so much (the scratchyness and alternating thick and thin rough lines around the time of shibuya arc were PEAK). besides that as a buddhist myself, the multiple buddhism references in the series really cemented my love for it as it felt familiar and it feels like ur getting a shout out esp since most shows feature themes of catholicism and christianity.

2. blue lock

i'm honestly unathletic af idk why im here. i think what hooked me was the whole individualistic + egoist concept and the elimination setting (like squid game) 🙏 for me blue lock's prime is [2nd selection, 4v4] until the end of [u20 arc], i really liked the art style during that period! sadly, i feel blue lock has fallen off ever since the current NEL arc, it feels as if theyve deviated from the original ego concept (fuck this whole "protagonism" thing man wtf) and the artstyle has undergone changes im not particular to. also the anime wack af.

3. bungou stray dogs

im going to be honest. i did NOT like bsd. s1-s3 was too all over the place for me and i really did not get the series at all, i actually thought it ended but then they released s4 & s5 in 2023. almost a year since s4 came out, i came around to watching it and i got HOOKED, i think a big factor was that there was less fillers and a lot more action scenes, plus the detective vs mastermind thing truly popped off in s4 + s5. besides that, i enjoyed the introduction of new cast and the return of previous ones (now as allies). sure, there's plot holes and the anime cuts off a handful of scenes but it WAS an incredibly enjoyable watch. plus i'd say bsd has mountains of content (atleast in comparison with other serieses) because besides your usual manga, anime, and occasionally stage play adaptation. you have the alt univ. BEAST, light novels like stormbringer or 55 minutes, wan!, and even bsd gaiden (which has nothing to do w the main series)

4. haikyuu

THE classic. it was the first anime i got into when i started quarantine and it brought back my animanga phase. i love how the characters all have interesting stories to tell, their own motivations and personalities. lots of teamwork, teambuilding, found family(?) aspects, plus all the themes have their own specific themes which i dig a lot (ex. inarizaki and their foxes + shrines). plus i love how this series captures the thrill of watching sports, it MIGHT be overexaggerated to some but i get lightheaded when theyre at match-point and on the verge of losing so it does provide some kind of high. OH and i like that they show realistic wins and losses.

5. hunter x hunter

i have not read the manga but this show was serious to me. i'm a sucker for meta and power systems, and nen is like... actually insane. i love the characters SO MUCH, the variety of designs and appearances, how the series shows the way they grow throughout their adventures and experiences, the way they show a character's relationship with the rest of the cast, etc. it also gives a somewhat nostalgic vibe? i love the opening, endings, OSTs + narrator. it truly does feel like ur tagging along on their adventures, it was a real tearjerker for me tbh.

6. avatar: the last airbender + the legend of korra

i think atla is an amazing show bcs 1. cool setting and world building 2. the cultural references 3. cool dynamics 4. character personalities and development 5. cool power system and fighting styles 6. found family etc etc... ITS A COMPLETE PACKAGE. im p sure not much are fond of tlok but i love it. i think some reasons include the fact that korra isnt like aang, but i think thats what makes tlok interesting, korra is 17 when the show starts and the show continues to follow how she grows and develops into a fully realized avatar both physically and spiritually. i also think its bcs of how they modernized bending and how lots of the cultural aspect is lost but i think its an incredible and interesting way to showcase real life modernization.

7. jojo's bizarre adventure

jjba CHANGED ME 😭 this series is actually insane like if it was a person please get it to a mental ward. i think as an artist, it holds a very dear place in my heart. the show itself is absurd and unbelievable so it keeps you on your toes (dont mind the plot holes and inconsistencies, at some point you're just gonna have to live with it). but the selling point for me is the characters, everyone has amazing, colorful and distinct designs that match well with their personalities and overall air. not to mention the artstyle and references in everything to everything? lol. the show's different parts also feature different main casts, dynamics and storylines, sometimes they do a callback to a previous part.

okay! it was very hard choosing between the 7 of them but i think they actually were the ones that truly left an impact on me. thank you so much for the ask i finally got the chance to ramble about the stuff i consume 😭😭😭 there's a lot of media I'd love to talk about and mention so maybe one day ill make a post on hopefully all the media ive consumed.

honorable mentions:

genshin impact

i started genshin in 2021 when 1.3 came out, i was dead serious about this game during quarantine. i love liyue so much its what truly got me hooked (everything from the music, the sights, etc. for me liyue/pre inazuma was prime genshin), i enjoyed building characters and doing showcases too. started losing interest when sumeru came out and slowly stopped logging in/playing daily. the reason i wont put this in the actual list is bcs im pretty clueless about the new characters and story, nor do i have much interest in them. (i came back to do the lantern rite event, love the new liyue regions!)

detective comics

i love action and fights, especially when they feature powers, so liking superheroes makes sense 🤷 DC gets shit on alot bcs of the DCEU but the films aside i like DC better than marvel. im particular to gotham and the batfam, it's just more dark and gritty, plus there's lotsa drama going on LOL. the gotham knights cast also branches alot like to young justice (I LOVE YOUNG JUSTICE 😭), teen titans, titans, birds of prey, and ofc justice league.

chainsaw man, mob psycho 100, code geass, assassination classroom, neon genesis evangelion, trigun, fairy tail

[i-sveikata]

Hello author Just wanted to say that I am really enjoying the relationship dynamic between Vegas and Pete in your story. I somehow feel that in spite of how the whole relationship began, they both are on equal footing now. They both really respect the other truly. You also mentioned this whole idea in your story too when Pete confronted Kinn about his relationship with Porsche. I am really looking forward to how they are going to navigate their relationship, now that it will truly be out in the open. while Vegas has never hidden or shied away from his feelings since the beginning (kind of like when he was confronted by his father in the safehouse), it will become real for Pete once he comes out to his grandmother. Sure, he has admitted his feelings to other people especially ones in the Main family, but I am really looking forward to how he will deal with everything once his Yaai is involved While we're waiting for the new chapter, there is something I have been meaning to ask about your story. Since you have been so actively interacting with readers of your work and getting feedback, are there any parts which you have altered from the original direction you planning to go to.

Just wanted to add that I am in awe of the way you have just dealt with these characters. Yours is one of the first few fanfics that I came across ever, and it has made me appreciate fanfic writers in a way I never knew I could.

hello anon!!! thank you so much!! yes they are much closer to equal footing than they ever have been before and they are finally beginning to understand one another a hell of a lot better!

ah anon im sorry but dont get too far ahead of yourself there!! you are forgetting how deeply in denial of his own feelings pete has been so as annoying as it might be his grandmother knowing about them isn't going to be the final push he needs to fully face what they are to each other (though that is coming soon!!). Pete is still very much in the denial phase. but yes part of the russian deal will be them standing out in the open with their relationship and navigating everything that comes with that and im looking forward to playing around with the new dynamic bringing pete out into the spotlight for once!!

oh that's a great question!!!! tbh i wouldnt say that ive drastically changed the trajectory of things based off reader feedback because that would imply i had a step by step plan in the first place (lol nope) whereas it was more like vibes and the emotional journey along with a general basic outline ive been following all along. but yes i definitely have been influenced by people's takes or observations on vegas and pete's dynamic in the comments or even just based off characters readers ended up enjoying (for example i hadnt actually planned for dr kunakorn to be a recurring kind of character but everyone seemed delighted with him and then it just worked out having a medical professional around that pete actually trusted and one theyd need cause they keep getting half killed all the time lol) so it's probably been minor things like that. nothing has really been set in stone from the get go (besides me refusing to kill Chan and sort of vaguely following the events of the show) which is more of my preferred style tbh since im writing free of rigid plans so that leaves a lot of room for ideas to shift the story along as they come in tbh.

ahhh thank you so much that's really kind of you to say!! oh wow im so honoured to be one of the first fanfics under your belt! so glad to hear that!!! we really are just a community of writing nerds over here its amazing!

[musiclover2732]

@zexalmonth Day 8: Dress-Up Day

so for today i wanted to assign Eras Tour outfits to different characters. this will just be a list because that is way too many outfits to try and draw.

gonna limit this to one outfit per Era otherwise it might get confusing since there are some variants and she adds things to the base outfits like jackets and shirts and idk if those count as a separate outfit or not. there will be a bias towards the dresses from my show.

Lover Era bodysuit w/ blazer - Rio Kamishiro: the blazer that Taylor wears during The Man (and just that song itself) fits Rio so well. it’s sparkly and fun, but still has an aura of power. and Rio would definitely enjoy flexing her muscles in front of over 70,000 people! the Lover Era in general fits her very well. trying to be confident but still visibly insecure and unsure. there are less love songs on Lover than Rep and it shows. all color variants of the outfit work well with her too honestly.

Fearless Era dress - Mizael: it’s too perfect. specifically the variant that looks like a flapper dress. like, can you imagine him doing the little twirls that Taylor does while she sings Fearless. it’s an Era about discovery and embracing new changes, so that can be compared to how Mizael has his whole sense of self shaken when he finds out he was once human. the outfit also just generally fits the aesthetic we see from him in the show.

evermore Era orange dress - Thomas Arclight: the depressed and forgotten middle child. am i talking about IV or evermore? the world may never know. the orange dress specifically because it’s for ‘Tis The Damn Season since the No Body No Crime dress was too sparkly and badass for him.

Reputation Era asymmetrical bodysuit - Vector: my second favorite Era goes to my second favorite character. i almost wore this Rep-inspired top that i have but remembered that it’s a three hour concert and decided to prioritize comfort. he is Rep Era to a T however. the black and red suit him as do the snakes. the bridge of Don’t Blame Me takes us swifties to church which is incidentally how i feel watching Vector duel. vaguely sexual but clearly the focus is on being bitchy. Taylor mocking and flipping off the other Eras during LWYMMD is very Vector.

Speak Now Era ballgown - Michael Arclight: this one is obvious but so fitting. fairytale era for the history nerd. he is so the Speak Now Era with his sword and sweetness but also with his deep longing for the last which has been lost and a ruined childhood you can never get back, but still you must move forward with optimism tainted with fear. he also just deserves a big, beautiful, sparkly dress. honorable mention to Durbe in the one long sleeved SN dress that i don’t particularly care for at all.

Red Era 22 outfit - Yuma Tsukumo: ah yes the playful t-shirt that will say “A LOT GOING ON AT THE MOMENT”, “WHO’S TAYLOR SWIFT ANYWAY, EW”, or “WE ARE NEVER EVER GETTING BACK TOGETHER. LIKE EVER” alongside the famous black hat that is handed to one lucky fan each night. this is just so Yuma. joyful and fun, but still very kind and generous. the energy from 22 is very much his style, spending time with friends as a way to let got and distract yourself from the scary and sad stuff.

folklore Era green dress - Astral: first and foremost Astral would look amazing in green. but more importantly, folklore is an Era that involves a lot of self reflection and having wisdom from experience. there’s the playful sassiness and joy of betty, the 1, tlgad, and even august. those long sleeves were clearly a lot of fun to move around in; very gentle and floaty like Astral. but then there’s the pain and anguish of the illicit affairs bridge (which calls to mind Yuma’s betrayal at the Sargasso duel). the quiet acceptance and sorrow of my tears ricochet. and finally the knowledge and looking back while also looking forward while loving someone not quite as mature as you in cardigan. (the white dress could also work here, but not the purple one)

1989 Era orange two-piece - Anna Kozuki: the fun and peppy pop Era, my favorite Era! cheerful, yet destructive. i could so see Anna wearing this while destroying a man’s possessions with a golf club. still a hint of romance, but also this is where Taylor shows the Lover house being burned so y’know how it is. i actually debated putting Anna as my favorite girl on Day 4 but i had felt bad about not liking Rio before and she tied into the OC i talked about. i’ve loved Anna since the beginning tho and she is so underrated much like 1989. they would both kill a man with a smile on their face. Anna uses a bright pink cannon and Taylor has a light-up golf club so you can see the similarities. (the pink variant would also apply here but not the green one)

the Surprise Song dresses - Kaito Tenjo: because the surprise song is different every night there really is no theme or deeper reason. i just think he would look cute in them. he also has acoustic guitar vibes.

Midnights Era t-shirt - Ryoga Kamishiro: the depression shirt. i could fill a book with characters that fit the lyrics of Anti-Hero (my self-insert OC included) but not only does Shark fit that song (along with some of Midnight Rain, which is sung for part of when Taylor wears this outfit), he also would look the best in the outfit. we see the leggings for the rest of the set, but they aren’t the focus. the oversized and sparkly shirt is very Shark in a way i can’t quite explain. i actually drew inspiration for this by dressing my doll custom (who i still need to do the eye-swap for) in a similar outfit. it also kind of parallels the Lover outfit which i already assigned to Rio. (bonus: Kyoji Yagumo in the outfit for Vigilante Shit would kill. it already reminds me of his canon outfit anyway. i think he deserves to do a sexy chair dance after all his trauma. plus he likes getting dirt on corrupt people and making them pay!)

so that’s my list. i may draw these one day, but today is not that day.

[nyxofdemons]

OHHHHKAY I FINALLY WATCHED THE FIRST EPISODE OF HAZBIN ON YOUTUBE AND . HM. HM. MANY MANY THOUGHTS HEAD FULL

okay okay. please dont hate me. i was underwhelmed

LISTEN I CAN EXPLAIN. the first thing that stuck out to me was the,,,, dialogue? in some scenes its GREAT but initially i was sort of jarred by it, i feel like it's going wayyy too hard on the exposition at the cost of immersion. it just feels noticeably clunky in scenes

the SECOND thing, i both LOVE and dislike the music. i love like 65% of happy day in hell but vaggie's sudden interjection, plus the sequence where the background changes and charlie is like rolling along with all the random sinners singing felt. aghhhh i don't have a new word a lot of it just feels CLUNKY to me !! help !!!

i DO enjoy the characterization, from the get go a lot of it seems very very clear and tightly written. alastor remains my favorite character and the implications of vaggie making a deal with him have me MAJORLY intrigued i am SO curious about their dynamic in particular .

i. fucking. LOVE. ADAM. OH MY GOD HES GREAT. his speech style his outrageous personality HIS TAKEOVER OF HAPPY DAY IN HELL MADE ME SOOO EXCITED, THAT WAS THE BEST PART OF THE EPISODE TO ME. ive seen criticism of him as 'uhh the writing is so dumb and lazy if the angels behave just like the sinners' but i literally dont give a fuck he is ENTERTAINING (and if i wanted to be serious about it i COULD say something about the juxtaposition between the angels and sinners seemingly having the same brand of humor but being WILDLY different in terms of worldview and philosophy. the angels who are self-obsessed and think theyre the greatest things to ever exist vs the sinners fully embracing themselves as the WORST things to ever exist, and charlie somewhere in the middle. oooooh i just KNOW this is gonna be a whole thing for my brain to chew on)

okay okay im sure theres more i could say but . hhhh. brainworms only. i think my official stance, for right now, is that i am fully optimistic that the rest of the show is gonna be awesome, but, as for right now... i think i actually preferred the youtube pilot to this first episode. i enjoyed the set design more, the character animation more (it feels stiffer in this one?? hazbin pilot and helluva boss both have a way more BOUNCY feel to them, i think, and i just adore it; i felt like it was missing from this one a bit), and most ESPECIALLY the dialogue. i way preferred the dialogue in the pilot than in here.

i DID absolutely love the expectation subversion of adam and lilith, though. that they eagerly wanted to share the gift of free will with humanity, rather than trying to orchestrate a cataclysm on purpose. i really enjoyed that.

(also, my final note: the voice acting is... okay. to me. i feel like some of the voices are sort of forced, and no matter how good he is, i am sorry, but i can NOT reconcile that voice with husk's face and design. it just feels so jarring every time he opens his mouth like my brain is struggling to connect that that's where this voice is coming from. im sorry mr david)

[its5amandimstillawake]

I started watching Wednesday on Netflix and... I think this video is great and sums up what I think,

But yeah so far I like the show (granted ive only finished episode one so my thoughts might change but so far) Thats my main problem of the show so far, like it's fine as its own thing but as a Addams family adaptation? It's atrocious. Cause it's main thing in EVERY adaptation (minus the animated ones cause I haven't seen those so I can't really talk about those) the very core of the Addams family is that family is important. Like you can change things here and there in every adaptation in fact you should, that's fine, and there's been so many adaptations all with different details, different styles, different tones etc, and that makes sense cause theirs so many we would get bored if it was always the same and everyone has their own ideas of what an Addams family movie/show should be, that's fine, but no matter the details changed, the tone or style changed,

the core, the main idea, the whole focus of the story shouldn't change. I mean it's like if I remade Cinderella. The time period can change, the style can change, the tone can change, that's all fine, but at the end of the day there has to be someone who is being abused by their family, wants to escape, gets a chance to for at least one night, meets someone who changes their life, until they're forced to separate and then after one of them tries super hard to find the other, they reunite. If I changed that's it's no longer Cinderella. It's a different movie. Because that's the main thing of Cinderella. Now I can change the settings, the time period, make it platonic instead of romantic, no magic godmother, I can change a shit ton of things, as long as I don't change that main point, the main story that's being told, it's still Cinderella that's all fine. But Wednesday did change that main point. The main point of Addams family is "they love and support each other NO. MATTER. WHAT". They can disagree. They can absolutely hate that lifestyle their kids have chosen. But it doesn't matter. They stick together.

They don't have regular mother daughter strained relationships cause the whole point of the Addams family is they're weird. And Wednesday took that "they're weird" thing and went with very surface level weird. "She has a pet Scorpion that's weird" "she wears all black that's weird" yes the Addams family were weird in that sense but they were also weird because they didn't have regular family problems. Wednesday and Morticia in this show have a very typical mother daughter relationship. The word typical should not be used when describing anything about the Addams family! Yes they had conflict but it wasn't regular conflict any other family would have, cause they're the Addams! They're weird in EVERY sense of the word and the Wednesday show is just way to surface level with it's weirdness.

So Addams family had two main points

1. The Addams are weird in every sense of the word. They are not normal in any way shape or form including In their family dynamic

2. The Addams stick together and love each other and support each other no matter

Like I said with my Cinderella example you can make a lot of changes to make your adaptation your own and make it new, but you can't change the main points otherwise it's no longer an adaptation it's a whole new concept. And the Wednesday show no longer makes them weird in every way, they're just...odd. misfits. They're goth and that annoys the people around them and that's about it.

And they no longer support each other and stick together no matter what. Literally the first episode they're shipping their kid away to some boarding school against her will and Wednesday is threatening to run away and theirs some arguments with morticia and Wednesday about Morticia forcing Wednesday to be like her.

So both points are no longer being followed meaning this is no longer the Addams family. Meaning this is not an adaptation of the Addams family meaning this should be a different thing. If they had renamed their characters and not advertised it as the Addams family, most people wouldn't have thought it had literally anything to do with the Addams family.

So, again my thoughts could change as I keep watching, I've only finished the first episode, and so far I genuinely enjoy the show I just don't like it as a Addams family project

[explosionshark]

do u have any metal bands/songs recs?? ive been wanting to get into metal but idk where to start

the ONLY thing that makes this tough is that there are legitimately so many different subgenres and sounds within metal that it's hard to pick some stuff any random person might like. i usually ask folks a bit about what music they DO like before i offer up some recs. but okay - i'lll suggest a couple of my faves from across the board - see if anything sticks

(this got really long so i put it under a cut)

"the number of the beast" by iron maiden (heavy metal) - CLASSIC. maiden are def my all-time fave from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene of the 80s. this song typifies everything that makes them such a good band. a strong narrative in the lyrics, KILLER riffs, steve harris' galloping bass playing, bruce dickinson's acrobatic vocal style.

"clayman" by in flames (melodic death metal) - life changing shit for me. melo-death was my first love. the combination of harsh vocals with catchy choruses and really strong guitar harmonies opened a lot of doors for me. this was my jumping off into other styles of metal. i still really love it.

"electric crown" by testament (thrash metal) - slayer and metallica might be the biggest thrash bands in the world, but testament has always been my favorite. really good riffs, great shredding flourishes and solos from alex skolnick and a typically killer vocal performance from chuck billy. tbh this album is divisive among the fanbase for being less thrash and more heavy metal than their usual fare, but that's part of what i like about it. testament are a band not afraid to try stuff out or evolve - it's why they've stayed consistently good while their contemporaries have floundered in their 30 - 40 year careers.

"snap your fingers, snap your neck" by prong (groove metal) - groove is absolute 90s shit. incredible hook, pissed off lyrics, a rhythm you can really headbang to. great for blasting in the car on a drive to or from work.

"apocalypse" by lacuna coil (gothic metal) - i'm biased with these guys. cristina scabbia was a formative crush. their last two albums have been great, but their breakout record was comalies (2002) which cemented their style - dramatic, sweeping instrumentals paired with clean female vocals and a harsher male vocal counterpart. REALLY fun, catchy stuff to listen to, but still with a bit of edge.

"so you die" by bloodbath (death metal) - this is just a nasty, gross death metal song in the classic swedish style. killer buzzsaw guitars, low death growl vocals, a rhythm section that just won't quit. i heard this on a metal compilation CD i got for free at my local record store when i was like 14. literally reshaped my brain.

"matriarch" by unleash the archers (power metal) - POWER METAL. the real nerdy shit (affectionate). this isn't my favorite subgenre, but there's some great musicianship and many talented bands in this arena. you get a lot of fast, complicated guitar parts and soaring, higher pitched vocals. lyrical themes are usually fantasy or sci-fi themed, so often not as dark as some of the other subgenres.

"wretched abyss" by noctule (black metal) - okay, black metal is a big complicated mess. this is the subgenre where i'd say you have to be most careful of running into fascists (they have a whole subgenre of their own - national socialist black metal (NSBM). there's a whole history around this stuff that ties into that but that's another essay and you're here for tunes. black metal means lots of fast tremolo picking and blast beats on the drums, usually with higher pitched screaming vocals. noctule is a recent band, the side project of serena cherry (more on her in a minute). all the songs on this record are skyrim themed. fun!

"listen to someone" by svalbard (blackgaze) - another serena cherry band. this is a style that's fairly new - the combination of black metal elements and shoegaze. typically you get a lot of really pretty atmospheric wall of sound stuff punctuated by harsh bursts of black metal (or vice versa). great if you like songs with a lot of build up.

"they fear us" by ithaca (metalcore) - okay so metalcore is kind of a convoluted term because it can be applied to lots of bands with a variation of sounds, but what it literally comes from is the intersection of metal and hardcore. typically i'd say you can expect a combination of harsh and clean vocals, chuggy guitars, and hopefully a good breakdown.

"woodbine" by windhand (doom / stoner metal) - BIG FUCK OFF RIFF HELL YES. doom tends to be a littler slower than i like - firmly mid tempo, songs on the longer side, and big BIG riffs like this. it's a stlye that plays well with others, you'll see it blending with other subgenres fairly often. this song rips. this whole album tbh. i love windhand.

"invasion" by haken (progressive metal) - like when shit is really technical and trippy but not super into harsh vocals? check out prog! there's lots of stuff in weird time signatures and there's plenty of other subgenres prog bleeds into but i'm trying to keep things simple.

"death to the holy" by zeal and ardor (progressive? blues? black metal?) - there's really no one else in league with this project. inspired by crossing delta blues with different metal styles. tbh most of this list is me trying to present a big, vast subgenre and give an example so you can find out what you like but this shit is singular and it just rules. check it out.

"rotoscope" by spiritbox (prog / metalcore / nu metal) - big spiritbox fan tbh. i've followed the members of this band through a bunch of projects, but that's neither here nor there. this song has a really strong nu metal influence, though i'd say this band usually keeps things in the "djent" progressive metalcore scene. GREAT grooves though and a really fun riff. killer vocals. one of my fave songs of the year.

"the end to a brief moment of lasting intimacy" by seeyouspacecowboy (screamo/mathcore) - yeah i know the subgenres are getting sillier and sillier. idk what to tell you. the "math" in mathcore refers to when bands fuck around with time signatures in a way that generally produces a lot of chaotic sounds (though tbh you don't get a ton of that in this song - check out the bands carbomb, or frontierers for better examples). BUT what we lack in math here, you get back with some great emo hooks and sick instrumentals.

"alkaline" by sleep token (??? idk. prog. who cares) - these guys are fun. anonymous little collective - they perform in masks and stuff, their identities are a big mystery. there's a fun, goofy mythos to the whole band you can dig into if you're curious. mostly, i put them here bc they fuck hard. vessel has a great voice, the riffs are catchy and heavy, but there's a strong pop sensibility to it all. great stuff, if you're looking for something a little less extreme to help you get into the genre.

"无双" by black kirin (folk metal) - so what you've GOTTA know about folk metal is that it can actually sound like a lot of different things. the thing that puts the "folk" in folk metal is the use of traditional instruments from the native culture of the band. black kirin is a chinese band that uses traditional chinese instruments combined with a black metal style. european folk metal bands tend to go in harder on the power metal style + flutes and hurdy-gurdy or what the fuck ever. latin american folk metal sees... well, also a lot of flutes. there are some SICK mongolian folk metal bands (the hu, tengger cavalry) which utilize tuvan throat singing to really cool effect. you gotta shop around to see what's interesting for you.

i could literally keep going and going. there are SO many cool metal bands out there all over the world, making all kinds of sick music in different styles. tbh, that's one of my favorite things about metal - it's a big, big tent.

look, it's not a perfect community - there are problems with elitism, gatekeeping, the fact that the US and European metal scenes are very white male dominated. BUT - this is the shit that saved my life. it's something i've loved for years and years, it's enabled some of the deepest connections i've ever had with people. it keeps me going. for me, getting into metal was a truly empowering and fulfilling experience and many, many people i've met in the scene feel the same way.

try these songs out! feel free to come back and let me know what you like! i'll offer more recs, if you ever need them

[spiderziege]

3. What are your favorite subjects to draw? (OCs, your fan faves, etc.)

10. How do you deal with art block?

19. What's your biggest insecurity when it comes to your artwork?

3 and 19 were already answered!

for dealing with artblock, it kinda depends on what kind of artblock! if its a 'im just not feeling inspired lately' kind of thing, i usually just accept it and take a break from drawing for a while. my art only really turns out well when i genuinely want to draw, so theres no point in forcing it when im not :P

the other kind of artblock is 'im very inspired and i want to draw, but its just not working right now and everything i do comes out wrong', which unfortunately i have a lot more often than the first one lol. in that case i usually just. try to push through? sometimes ill try to do style studies of other artists, or try out new brushes, or anything else that makes me change up my usual art process

another thing that helps me in that case is REALLY figuring out what i wanna draw before i even start, because otherwise ill just sit in front of an empty canvas forever. so instead of sketching ill just write everything down (what do i wanna show, whats the focus gonna be, which colours do i use, what kind of atmosphere do i wanna convey, which important details do i wanna include etc). and i dont start actually drawing anything until ive figured all that out. this way i have an actual goal and it makes the whole process more methodical, which then helps to get started with drawing. and usually once i have an actual starting point, everything else becomes a lot easier (and usually the end drawing doesnt even end up exactly how i planned it out but thats fine, thats not the point anyway)