#probably incredibly questionable art advice

[aloralika]

Main four X a insecure painter reader

English is not my first language!

Gon (⁠づ⁠｡⁠◕⁠‿⁠‿⁠◕⁠｡⁠)⁠づ

★Gon won't really be interested in your profession at first, he will probably ask you a few questions but that's it. But as you get closer he will become more and more curious, and then he noticed that he had never seen one of your works.

★So he naturally came to you and asked if you could show him one of your paintings or drawings.

★He was a little confused when you were so reluctant to show him your paintings/drawing.It's not like he would judge (he couldn't do better anyway) and he was sure your art was magnificent.

★So when you finally decided to show him he was really impressed and started complimenting you in every way he could. He doesn't really understand why you're so shy about it since for him it's beautiful, but from now on he will compliment you more and more on it.

Killua *⁠\⁠0⁠/⁠*

‡Another one who isn't really interested in your profession, he's just not really interested in art in general.

‡He won't really notice it at first, it's only when your relationship evolves that he notices, how come your paintings/drawings are an important part of your life but he's never seen you hold a brush or a pencil?

‡He always notices some paintbrushes, pencils and canvases here and there but he never sees you hold a pencil.

‡He won't really think about it much, but it's when he finally sees you painting that he will suddenly be curious about your talent.Like Gon he doesn't really understand why you're so insecure about it, it's objectively beautiful and he doesn't even say it to flatter you.

‡He won't give you as many compliments as Gon but he will tell you that he sincerely likes your painting and that you have nothing to envy of other artists

Kurapika (⁠✷⁠‿⁠✷⁠)

★From the start he would already be more interested than Gon and Killua, he will ask you if you went to an art school, if you sell your paintings..

★He watches you paint at every chance he gets, he loves seeing you exercise your passion with so much love. Even if at first you were REALLY hesitant. to let him attend your painting sessions.

★He tries to reassure you as best he can by telling you that your paintings are incredible and that you have nothing to envy of other people.

★He often offers you new painting materials, it's just that every time a material that you don't have catches his eye he can't get it out of his head until he gives it to you

Leorio (⁠・⁠∀⁠・⁠)

‡He tries to give you advice here and there but it's isn't very useful...

‡Would start screaming like crazy at everyone who makes fun of your painting or makes you insecure about it.

‡From time to time he will ask you if he could paint with you. Except that most of the time his paintings are not really.."artistic" compared to you. He keeps complaining about it, wondering how this can happen while he copies your movements as best he can.

‡Once he managed to make a pretty good painting! You could hear him yapping about it miles away...

[enteringdullsville]

So, here’s an old team of Total Drama OC’s I never got around to posting. Mostly because as much as my art style is based on Total Drama’s, actually replicating it is incredibly hard for me. I might make the remaining nine if I get enough positive feedback.

Lucas, the Go-Getter, looks like the season’s voice of reason…for all of five seconds. He’s joined TD with the express purpose of preventing such world ending threats as Max, so while he’s got the physical and mental training necessary for such an undertaking, he’s clearly a little bonkers.

Jane, the Wallflower, was forced to sign up by her parents solely to help her socialize. In many respects she’s a girl version of Cameron, exchanging some mechanical expertise with a little extra social awareness and physical strength. Probably the season’s pain-magnet.

Kevin, the Hotshot, is ostensibly the leader of his team since he’s the biggest and most “popular”. He’s a good person, but he’s also an oblivious moron so he relies on the advice of less stupid teammates for guidance. This makes him immediately susceptible to manipulation from…

Raymond, the Snitch, is what happens if you take Courtney, cross her with Dave, and give him MK’s subterfuge. Knowing his snobby attitude will immediately put a target on his back, he gains the approval of the team’s leader early on while digging up dirt on everyone else.

Molly, the Rising Star, is the star of every play at her school, so she can be something of a drama queen. She’s willing to share the limelight, but her positivity goes sailing out the window if you ruin her moment or make her look bad. If she looks familiar, she should.

Jamie, the Preppie, is here primarily on holiday. He’s at least trying in challenges, but he doesn’t really do the outdoors. He’s also fairly oblivious to hints that should be obvious, which is a shame because he’s actually pretty intellectual. Probably gonna be the first boot.

Summer, the Artistic Spirit, likes to live in the moment. She’s probably one of the weirder cast members, like Izzy without the energy levels. She tends to spout vaguely cosmic sounding hippie advice that quickly devolves into gibberish, and in general gives the vibes that she’s high off a substance that doesn’t even exist.

Bobby, the Slacker, is weirdly chill about the show in a way that you have to question if he’s even trying to survive. He’s more likely to shirk than to work, and he’ll go out of his way to make it look like he’s done his job. Usually, he ends up doing more work this way than he would have otherwise.

Marcie, the Charmer, is a less latent threat than Raymond, but she’s better at the social aspect of the game. She’s a regular sweet talker who can take the heat off of any tense situation. Possibly her only weakness is the fact she secretly hates all the extra attention and peering eyes on her.

[comicaurora]

As someone who’s thinking about creating a webcomic (largely for myself but may potentially make it public), can you provide advice on outlining and panelling? Those are the things I think I’d need some of the most help with other than backgrounds which… I can figure that out myself. Probably.

Good question! I've answered a similar one about paneling in depth here.

Outlining/storyboarding is a different animal, and depends strongly on your personal writing style and how your brain works.

There are a few ways you're "supposed" to write/outline comics, but pretty much all of them start as a script, similar to a screenplay. You note down character dialogue, the panel it takes place in, what the character is doing at the time.

You describe the panel like a shot in a movie - establishing shot, long shot, close up - and contain within that panel the script for what you'll put in the word bubbles. You might also include a thumbnail for what the page layout you're envisioning would look like.

This is because most comics are made by teams of more than one person, and the person who writes the plot/dialogue is not the person who does the layout and sketches - and usually that's not the same person who does the inking, the coloring or the lettering. So each stage of the process needs to be clearly laid out.

This is not how things work for comics made by a single person, and this is also not how my brain works in specific. If I try to write a script first, the characters inevitably end up being incredibly wordy and go off on philosophical tangents, and the dialogue doesn't fit right on the panels. And once I start drawing the actions I've choreographed, half the time I'll only get a few panels in before a character wants to do something unexpected but much more interesting that completely derails all my best-laid plans. None of my scripts ever survived contact with the page.

Fortunately, because I make art digitally, I can do things like "write all the dialogue straight onto the blank page" and then move/edit the text however I want. So the process I've developed that works for me specifically involves me storyboarding out the dialogue and paneling straight on the page rather than starting with a screenplay or script.

That's not to say it goes straight from my brain onto the page. If I'm stuck on a scene I'll usually crack open a little notes file and write out things like "what just happened, what is this character feeling, what do they want to do next" or just spitball possible dialogue options or write out a little mini-timeline of events in linear order. This gives me a guideline to reference when I sit down to storyboard, and it can help me work through a little knot of writer's block. Even then, the dialogue I hash out there isn't going to be as well-paced or as good as what I end up putting on the final page. It's a first draft of a scene - translating it onto the page, it'll play out differently.

This works well for my storytelling approach, which is flexible and character-driven. I like to give myself a lot of options - a toolbox to play with - and that means my outlines are often very loose, and can change a lot before I put them on the page. But this is a strategy I developed for myself through trial and error - it's not going to work for everybody.

I recommend you start off by reading a wide array of comics with an eye for how they were laid out and scripted, and test a few methods for yourself to see what works best for you. And also read Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, it's an incredibly valuable crash course!

[clonesuperiority]

You're art is incredible!!

What digital medium do you use? How are you so good at shading and body composition!? Did you go to school and/or are just naturally so gifted? Any advice for someone who is garbo at drawing anatomy and facial profiles?

Sorry for such an influx of questions, you just have my absolute amazement focused on your talented work!

If I could possibly be on a tag list for if you ever open commissions I would appreciate it 🙏❤️

Thank you 😊

I mainly use Paint Tool Sai - for blurry stuff CSP.

I have been drawing for a long time, though for way too long I used to only draw anime stuff bc it was comfortable and did click well (at the time I earned my money with my instagram account "yourdrawingpineapple") but I never felt like I could try different stuff and therefore didnt improve as much as I probably could've. For more realistic faces and muscles the best tip I can give is references. A lot of references. (And confidence ;))

I never went to any kind of school, but my twinsister is an artist too so she helps a lot by giving constructive criticism e.g. ❤️

Its fine dont worry 😉 I added you

[that-ari-blogger]

Simple Answers

Who is Luz Noceda?

If I was to ask you this question after only seeing a scene or two from the Owl House, your answer would probably be very different to if you had watched the entire series.

This isn't groundbreaking, it's what happens when you spend time around any person or character, they start to appear more complex to you as you get to know them more.

But that's kind of the point here, because the Owl House is a series about embracing your weirdness and individuality in contrast to first impressions. A single question like "who is x person" is inadequate, and others should be added to understand the nuance there.

The First Day asks two more questions. "Who does everyone else think Luz is?" and "Who does Luz herself think she is?"

Let me explain.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The Owl House has a thing for introductions. Luz gets so many over the course of the series, and it's fascinating to see how she changes just by the way in which she gives her title. She is the good witch, or the human, or hero, whatever she decides.

The opening scene to The First Day is interesting to me, because it's an audition. Luz is being asked to present her skills, but I don't think that's what she is being tested on.

"Spells cast with paper, I've never heard of such a thing. But is it enough to pass the exam?"

Bump deliberately leans into the theatricality here, messing with Luz's confidence to see what she does. The series has established that all Luz needs to do to pass the exam is cast two spells, so why is there a stage? And why does Bump ask this question?

Because Bump wants to know who Luz is. His first impression of her has been a troublemaker, and he has seen some skill, but what else? He wants is to see how she reacts to stress, is she resourceful? Is she imaginative? In my reading, Luz had already passed the test and Bump wanted to know more about the student.

This is an episode about breaking moulds and meeting expectations, and so we are introduced to the primary conflict of the episode, that being the track system. Students can only learn one kind of magic, or they are branded as troublemakers and can't learn magic at all. You have to colour within the lines, and make what kind of art will get points.

That works backwards into the test as well. Where at first glance, it is a test about skill, it is actually more complex, just like the students undertaking it.

The school is also trying to appeal to a perception as well, with the inspector. The school only shows its best and brightest, who have achieved exactly the point of their classes. This is what the school teaches, isn't it so perfect?

The basilisk scene is also interesting on a side note because it is why I like Bump so much. For all of his flaws, the second there is a student in danger, Bump interposes himself between the student and that danger. It doesn't work, but it's an attempt, and it kind of foreshadows later on in the episode, which I will get to in a bit.

If you are studying creative writing at a High School level, you have probably been told that first impressions are everything. You need to introduce your characters well, you need to open in the action, or with a question. And this isn't wrong, I literally opened this post with a question to grab your attention.

But if you are familiar with my blog, you will probably have guessed that I take issue with this advice. Write a story how you like, it doesn't have to be good, you just have to tell it. There are rules of art, yes, but they are more like guidelines, and often the way you make something incredible is by doing your own thing. Maybe what you want coincides with the rules, maybe it doesn't. It's art, do what you want.

I can't speak for other countries, but the Australian system for teaching literary studies is seriously lacking. You get told themes to analyse your texts with, instead of forming your own reasoning. I distinctly remember a teacher telling me that "your personal voice will be shown by how you write what the HSC wants." And this is understandable as a system. It's not agreeable, but I understand why it is what it is. The HSC is designed for evaluating thousands of students quickly and efficiently. It doesn't do personability because it can't.

This carries over into creative writing. If you want to do well in that area, you need to write from your own experience. The story has to open with action. It needs to be realism, so no weird fantastical elements. The marker needs to be able to check of elements of the story. It is draconian, but from what I have heard, it is somehow a more efficient system to certain other countries.

So, why am I ranting about school? Because The Owl House is a fantasy, and the fantasy it is exploring is "what if you could change the system?" And part of that is Bump, because Bump is a character who fundamentally has the students' best interests at heart. So when he clocks on to the system being unsuited, he changes it.

"I'm smart enough to know when I'm wrong"

But perceptions go both ways, and Luz has spent the series so far battling her own preconceived notions about what the story is about. When she enters the detention track, she immediately dismisses it as boring and that comes back to bite her later.

Viney keeps coming up when people mention first impressions, and I will mention her again when that happens. Her character design actually has a cool little detail that hints at that, and its her earring. It's quirky and weird, a fishhook through her ear. But its only on one ear, meaning that when she is introduced and she is leaning on her hand, it isn't visible. But when Luz makes her smile, she turns her head and the audience can see that earring and reveal something interesting that Luz missed.

Where the coven system stands for actively restricting people into areas, the track system stands for refining people into those boxes. Its a parody of the house system in a certain book series that I am dodging around the name of. In said book series, there are four houses that students are sorted into based on core personality traits - brave, clever, evil, and boring - and that system is scuffed as all hell, because not only does it not account for the fact that the character traits aren't mutually exclusive, it forms a self fulfilling prophecy.

Evil house students are assumed as villainous unless proven otherwise, so naturally they are outcasts who want to shake up the system, some are genuinely terrible folks, but at least one is only mean because he is expected to be. And the headmaster of that school explicitly notes that its a problem and doesn't make any attempt to change it.

So, what happens when you find a person who is both brainy and brave? Or a student who shows a skill for both healing and beast magic? What do you do?

Well, you stop relegating people who are complex as "troublemakers" for one, but you also stop forming stereotypes of people.

Final Thoughts

The First Day is a sound episode of the Owl House. It's fun and engages with the themes of the series in a neat way. This is the episode when then story makes itself clear about how it is engaging with archetypal storytelling, that being how actively it subverts it. This is also the episode with some of the funniest references in it, specifically the choosy hat is a favourite of mine.

Bump is a fan favourite character for a reason. He listens, and he adapts. This is an authority figure who gets called a dingus and his immediate reaction is "maybe I am a dingus."

Also, Basilisks are extinct. Remember this, this will come up again. The basilisks were dead to begin with, as dead as a doornail.

Anyway, next week I will be looking at Very Small Problems, so stick around if that interests you.

Previous - Next

[mrghostrat]

Hello Mr ghost rat! I apologise if this is an incredibly stupid question and if this is an inconvenience to answer, please don’t feel pressured to even look at it! I was just wondering, how do you feel comfortable writing fan fiction for a tv show you have started more recently. (And by recently I mean less then 6 years since starting it and rewatching it a million times) like- and I’m so sorry if this makes no sense but I desperately want to write good omens fan fiction, and fan fiction for other fandoms I am immensely interested in, but I feel as though I am unworthy of writing these characters who I have only just met and may not understand to the best of my abilities. When I watch a tv show and I like it I go into a frenzy and by about a month since watching it I could tell you everything there is to know about the show the production the storyline the hidden meanings what happens and any time stamps during the film but I feel very guilty writing the characters even though I probably won’t ever know them better then I do now. The only thing I’ve ever felt comfortable writing fan fiction about is a tv show I started watching when I was 8 and have literally (and I’m not exaggerating) watched over 300 times since then I have merged with the characters and so I feel justified writing them. I have so many ideas for fics but don’t feel as though I have known anyone long enough to write them. Either way my question is, how do you do it? You write so brilliantly (and so much) for characters who you seem to have only met within a few years of writing? It’s incredible and I would love some advice! I’m sorry that this is so long but I would appreciate anything you would be able to tell me! Thank you so much 💛🐝

honestly you sound more than equipped enough to write good omens fan fiction! i think reading a lot of other fic helps, because you get a feel for how other people capture their likenesses in prose-- kind of in the way that it's easier to learn to draw people by looking at someone's art of them, to see how another artist interprets their face in a two dimensional way.

i guess i was a little terrified to write and release my first fic, but when you inhale the characters like we do, it's not the end of the world to simply try. writing for a live action series is a godsend actually, because you can close your eyes and picture the words coming out of david & michael's mouths and test if it sounds natural or not. that's also why i enjoy linking in so many lines and moments from the show (good lord + that's my point + etc) because it brings you back to their reality and keeps you grounded in canon characterisation.

at the end of the day, you can't do any worse than people renaming aziraphale to ezra/zira/az/avery.

[kottekonst]

Hello! I hope this ask is coherent because I am quite sleepy but I wanted to say that I am absolutely blown away by your coffee art, particularly by the hair and the texture of fabric. It looks so so so real and, not being much of an artist myself, I just cannot for the life of me figure out how you've managed it, especially the effect where there are lighter strands of hair on top and darker ones beneath. This probably sounds like a silly question to someone who this is probably second-nature to, but would you have any advice on how to paint with coffee/create these kind of effects, or be able to point me in the right direction towards something that would help me learn? Thank you! Once again your paintings are incredible!!!

Hi! Thank you very much for the high praise 🤗

To be able to capture different textures realistically you need to either study them endlessly, or be able to paint from a reference with perfect accuracy, or preferably a mix of both 😅

To learn how to draw from a reference photo/item, you have to learn to draw what you see, and not what your brain thinks it sees. The brain tends to trick us and say: "Yeah yeah, I know what an eye looks like" and you end up drawing what your brain thinks an eye should look like, but not the eye that's actually in the reference photo. A good exercise, to start forcing your brain to focus on the actual shape, is to turn the image upside down and draw that instead. You can start out easy by using a pokemon, or a cartoon character. It's all about copying the shape rather than what your brain thinks it should look like 😛

As for painting lighter strands over dark hair, that can be accomplished in many different ways. Coffee is quite a forgiving medium, so if I paint an area, I can dip the brush in water and go over it and "erase" the coffee to create a brighter strand. It can't remove all the coffee, so if the strand of hair needs to be the absolute brightest part of the painting, I either paint "around" that strand, or I can use masking fluid. I only started working with that recently, though, and it isn't fool-proof. Before I use any paint/coffee, I'll cover the brightest area with the masking fluid, and when it's dry I can paint over it. Then when I rub off the dry fluid, I'm left with perfectly bright areas, but that requires a lot of blending at the edges to making it look natural.

You can start experimenting with coffee no matter what "level" you are, but the most important part for that type of painting is to learn how to work with only one colour. It's all about contrast, light and dark, shading, etc. You can start with pencil or charcoal, or just grab one colour of pencil/paint and make a picture with that. Before I started with coffee, I made a few paintings using only a scarlet red acrylic paint. It's a fun challenge, and you quickly learn to identify the absolute brightest and darkest area of the reference photo (if you're using one).

Painting with coffee is fun, no matter what sort of art you want to produce, so I say; just go nuts and experiment - there is no right or wrong 😁

[starsurface]

Do you have Nightwolf age regressor headcanons too? I loved your Caregiver one and would be sooo curious to see the flip side of the coin! Poor baby has trauma in his lore that makes him seem so lil’ and precious! 😭❤️

I don't know much about his lore, but if you'd like more hcs focused on what he's been through, I can make that post!!! :D These are just some Regression Nightwolf hcs that I have for him but I'd love to do more if you'd like focusing more on what he's been through!!

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Regressor Nightwolf Hcs

🐺 Regresses to about 3-5

🐺 Also had a middlespace headspace of about 11/12

🐺 (^ My personal hc is that he had a HUGE emo/metal phase in middle school and so when he regresses, he becomes a moody 12 year old that knows everything)

🐺 Fujin thinks this headspace is adorable and it makes Nightwolf so pouty because psh, come on! He isn't some baby! >:/

🐺 Has this very certain jacket he wears when hes in that headspace and very specific makeup (cried the ONE time Fujin laughed, Fujin felt so terrible and offered to let himself get decked in emo just to make up for it)

🐺 Fujin normally watches him when he's small

🐺 Very rarely has a babysitter but if he did, it'd probably be his Momma or Auntie (they're all incredibly close and very supportive)

🐺 Very energetic toddler

🐺 I'm not exactly sure how his green spirit animals work (i don't have him as a playable character yet), but if he can summon them at will, this man's cuddling the bear

🐺 Has little toys he's made for himself, like a set of blocks and a wooden toy boat

🐺 Adores his hair brushed but you've gotta ask and you need to be close to him!!

🐺 Can and Will try to play with his ax (you gotta tell him it's not safe and he'll normally let it go)

🐺 Nature baby 100% of the way

🐺 Likes going on little walks and giving you pinecone or rocks he found cool

🐺 (^ You better keep them, he might cry if you try to get rid of them)

🐺 Likes sitting outside and just rumbling and tumbling in the grass

🐺 Adores bath time!!!

🐺 Will splash everywhere if he still has energy though

🐺 But if it's bathtime, he's normally pretty tuckered and mellowed out

🐺 Likes naptime on certain days, like when he's feeling sleepy

🐺 But will dodge it like a plague if he still wants to run around and have fun

🐺 Very good on the rules, normally always sticks to them

🐺 But does have hissy fits, especially if he has to go inside and doesn't wanna

🐺 Pouting, stomping, laying on the ground, he doesn't wanna go inside just yet!! >:(

🐺 If you let him throw his little hissy fit he'll eventually sit up and look at you like ‘🥺’ because now he thinks he's in trouble and doesn't wanna get punished

🐺 Just remind him that just because he lashed out doesn't make him naughty, and that he's a very good boy

🐺 If he's still a bit stubborn about going inside, remind him of bathtime and how cozy naptime is and that usually does the trick

🐺 If you don't like outside? He'll get really pouty, but won't force you to come cuddle him in the grass

🐺 Just watch him from the window, he should he okay

🐺 Or plan some fun arts and crafts inside, he likes those

🐺 Cuddles and storytime work too, n

🐺 I could see him asking a million and one questions about everything and anything

🐺 Not cause he wants to bug you, but because he likes to learn :3

🐺 Ugh, I could totally see him as that one kid that will bring bugs inside the house cause ‘They're cold!! 🥺’

🐺 If you like bugs, that's great!! You two get to make the bug feel very comfy until it has to go back outside

🐺 If you don't, he might pout a bit but is rather understanding

🐺 He'd rather make you happy than a bug, plus the bug can hurry itself ungrounded so he'll be okay in the end

🐺 Wants to help out with everything you do but is also too small to do anything and he'll watch over your shoulder and give advice

🐺 The advice is either surprisingly good or really really childish

🐺 ‘Can we add extra salt?’ The food taste better already

🐺 ‘Can we put in glitter to make it shiny?’ Erm, no kiddo, we gotta make sure it's still edible

🐺 Favorite little nicknames are Kidda, Bub, ‘Hun, Moony, Sunshine, Bug, Baby Bear

🐺 But any nickname will make him squirm happily and bkush

🐺 I'm not saying anything, but he'd make you a mud pie like Max from Max and Ruby and be SO proud of it!!

🐺 Just tell him it looks amazing!! But don't throw it out until he's big because he'll have the most destroyed face watching you attempt it throw it out

🐺 Doesn't watch many cartoons, but if you want him to stay inside so that his bath can fill or dinner will be ready in a few minutes, he'll watch some shows

🐺 Probably also a Studio Ghibli fan

🐺 (^ I'm projecting, his favorite movie is Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind)

🐺 If he regresses because of big negative feelings or scary, scary thoughts, he'll run to you and hide in your arms

🐺 He knows he's a pretty buff dude, but just letting him hurry his head in your shoulder while you scratch his scalp and rub his back really helps him

🐺 If he starts crying, kids his forehead and rock him gently

🐺 Man's been through a ton, he just wants someone there to be there and love him

🐺 Learnt of age regression through Fujin when he came to Fujin about his memories as a reverant and how he didn't know how to handle them

🐺 Maybe a wolf regressor but I dunno

🐺 I know one of his victories has him howling at the moon, so he'll do that and then giggle when you cross his arms

🐺 Not a chewer or a biter, but will sometimes knaw your arm or hand out of love, almost like he's giving you a kiss

🐺 (^ Will do this in his little headpace too, not just wolf)

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I love Nightwolf, he's so Dad but even Dad's deserve a break (and I really need to buy MK11 Aftermath)

[Also I did get your second ask, and don't worry!! You asked anymousely!!]

[ask-baldiandhiseducatingfriends]

question to everyone! but if you had the chance to give out your best piece of advice, what would it be?

Baldi: "As long as you're trying your best, That's all that matters!"

Pensarah: "No need to stress on the little things in life!"

Doug: "Anyone can make food. As long as you know what you're doin'."

Hazcard: "Sometimes all that's needed to make someone smile is a good joke!"

Mrs. Pomp: "My best piece of advice would probably have to be... Just keep on hoppin' through this thing called life!"

Principal: "Just make sure to follow the rules."

Spella: "I dunno, Just bee yourse-"

Hazcard: "Nice one."

Spella: "Gosh, I hate you."

>BAL_Chrselect.png

Baldi poster: "Great math teacher and owner of Here town due to his incredible hearing abilities! Not only can he hear where a sound came from, but who made it too! 'Oh, Hi!' "

Pensarah poster: "Amazing hire for an art teacher due to her track record. 'Even a squiggle can be art!' "

Doug poster: "Best chef we have at Here school, but a bit of a hot-head. 'It's barely cooked!' "

Hazcard poster: "Quite a punny biology teacher using jokes to teach his students! 'I tell the set-up. They guess the punch-line.' "

Pomp poster: "With her magical high-heeled shoe, she hops around the halls and time, making her the best history teacher ever! 'There's no place like school!' "

Spella poster: "After an accidental step into baldi's secret machine, this bee was hired to BEE our spelling teacher. 'You want a quote? How about 'BUZZ off' ?' "

Principal poster: " 'No one will break a rule on my watch in school or not!' "

Gym_test: "Keep running."

[my-castles-crumbling]

hi cas!!

im gonna rant at you for a bit if you dont mind :)

Im a minor that lives in a super tight night, close minded community. Super religious, super homophobic transphobic ect. Seeing as im a teenage girl whose questioning their gender and is definitely attracted to women thats kinda problematic lols. Honestly idek how to explain the situation without a bunch of details, but basically, theres a fifty-fifty chance of me being sent to conversion therapy or just cut off from any internet access (and i mean ANY. i have a flip phone for fucks sake.)if my fam finds out im queer, i have no support system outside of some internet friends who know nothing about my situation, and within the next few years(so like once i turn 20ish, thats in like 4 years but whatever) my family is going to expect me to get married to a man and start popping out babies asap. Btw thats whats expected of me in this community, marriage under the age of 25, have like as many kids as physically possible and god forbid higher education. And im not okay with that . Ffs i want to go to college, major in fine arts, meet a person i like and fall desperately in love or maybe not just have a bunch of close platonic relationships i want cats and a dog and a cute studio in a big city where i can dye my hair whatever color i want aand get an obsene amount of piercings, i want to wear pants!! I just want to live. Without expectations or limits or people who love me hating everything they dont know about me. Is that truly so much to ask for?

And im incredibly dramatic cuz i literally have the dream life. My family loves me, my parents are upper middle class, theyve never hurt me before(besides for all the anti everything rants haha) i literally have a full sized bed, which for some reason i see as the peak of being spoiled idk why. I go to school, not even public, a private religious school that prob costs thousands of dollars, i have friends(who are all part of this community btw and id bet my entire savings that most of them think gay is only a word that ppl use to mean happy lol) close ones even!! I have adorable neices and nephews(my 3 sisters all were married by the age of 20, so i have 11 niecesand nephews while my oldest sister is 31) im living the dream life. But i hate it and i have no way out. No hope of college to get on my feet and find someway out, no people that'll help me fucking run away or some bullshit like that, hell ive considered it and then felt like shit, cuz what am i even running from? Im probably attracted to men it wont kill me to marry one. And i like kids, i wouldnt mind having any either. But.... i dont want to be trapped anymore. Cuz ill be honest thats what i am.if some one asked me to run away with them rn i would, no hesitation.

God im a mess😭😭 anyway this was me ranting in my notes app, im just apologizing for dumping this on a complete stranger(we're moots actually!!) albeit a very kind one :) i dont know what im looking for, but ill take whatever your comfortable giving ig.

I love and appreciate you<333

And hey this has been oddly cathartic so lmk if its okay for me to do this again sometime :))

"im living the dream life. But i hate it and i have no way out."

Hon, you're not living the dream life...there's a difference between financial privilege and being happy, you know? It's pretty clear that this isn't what you want.

I'm not sure if you're asking for my advice here, or if you just want to vent. But I care about you, and if you want me to research some things to try to help you, I'm more than willing to (that way it's not on your search history.) Just say the word!

Until then, you are ALWAYS allowed to vent to me.

I'm naming you venting anon in case you write again!

[bluiex]

i put it in google docs to check the word count it’s a bit over 1000 words so that’s fun, but without further ado, i present:

funny things i have read in smut:

“Then he hit the bundle of nerves that fanfic readers are all too familiar with.”

“Luckily he is also a slippery motherfucker.”

“inexperienced in the art of giving giant people hand jobs.”

“Getting cock blocked my a church!”

“I’m not a food (name)”

“unsure why (name) was treating him like he was at the dentist”

“Also when they arrived (name) threw a plushie at them, hitting (name) square in the face.”

“I-uh I wh-uhm I”

“Breed! Breed! Breed! Mate! Mate! Mate!”

“(name) smiled “sure just don’t kill me””

“(name) would probably just scold them and then offer some advice and (name) would probably just laugh and offer to punch (name)’s stomach or some bullshit. “

“She then sauntered her way back to the over-eager man laying in an idiotic position on the bed, probably trying to be mock-seductive.”

“"What? Don't you like what you see?"”

“he let out a shaky breath and stood up straight(gay)”

“(name) finds out where all the missing orphans went, and no, it’s not Technoblade.”

“(very unimaginative for a nonhuman, what were his parents thinking?)”

“it was at that moment that (name) had internally asked himself three questions: am I really considering sex with a dragon? Is this really what my life has come to? Dragon fucking?”

“" Sorry gang I have to take the fattest piss in the whole year."”

“"I just don't think you are gonna be screaming pickles in the middle of fucking-"”

“Angry at (name) for even having the audacity to be alive and breathing.”

““Look, I’m your chambermaid not your chambertherapist,””

““I saw a man purchasing cocaine from another man.” He mentioned offhandedly.”

“"Fuck you" he responded, lowering himself to lay on the monsters chest and stomach.

'That's what your doing'”

“Author: Am eating cucumber”

“(name” smirked with delight, reaching down to poke at his cloaca”

“he got so many new experiences (yes, even beans on toast)”

“”did you just.. call me dude in a romantic way?”

““Were you expecting me to say ‘it’s dishonourable to attack when not ready!’?””

“(names) hands are shaking so much that he might actually shoot one of them in the foot. Which would seriously kill the mood.”

“Is he not also deserving of being a sexy pirate with huge tits?”

“He doesn’t know what he’ll do if (name) pulls away and starts talking again. Cry, probably.”

“sorry i was possessed by an evil spirit called homosexuality writing this”

“im normal *paces around my cage*”

“i need to fuck this himbo.”

“am I saying that gay sex is the solution to relationship problems? Absolutel- *dies*”

“and precisely nothing changes between Pearl and Scott.”

“the real fantasy here is having a shower that's big enough for more than one person lmao”

“not like he was thinking of boneing (name) or (name) anytime soon.”

“(name) has eaten (name) out (wow that's really a sentence I just typed)”

“Tea anon *shakes you like a maraca*”

“because holy hell (name) has got to have some absolutely incredible thighs”

“I know that we all universally agree that (name) has the biggest dick on the server”

“I just think they should fuck and it would solve all their problems. Or make them worse, but at least they’d have fucked <3”

““tiddies plz? May I have a face full of them?””

“(especially after he's been fucked into the next century by her-)”

“When he is satisfyied and (name) is a right mess and a little hard- (name) just leaves lmao”

“You have my utmost respect and love person who suggested it I will give you a handshake”

“Hi I have a headache the size of Texas but that doesn’t stop the Headcanons from plaguing me like visions.”

“(name) just walkin around butt ass naked, dick out :sobs: /pos”

“getting the fucked and bred into the next century-“

“"he's a fucking dumbass jesus christ i want to bear his children"”

“(name) lingered, because he was a simple man, and couldn’t turn down a chance to look at (name)’s ass. In his defence, it was not a bad choice. Man.”

“Not that burying his face in (name)’s tits was a bad time,”

“(name) slurred out a grumbling complaint, so far from any word that (name) was almost impressed.”

“(name), I am going to set you on fire, please.”

“(name) raised his eyebrows at (name)’ choice to not wear underwear. The man was truly feral sometimes.”

“This goes even harder (hehe)”

“Why do school work when imaginary men can fuck in our heads *gets run over*”

“Unfortunately, it covered all of (name)’s actual ass,”

“his eyes relaxing and focusing in on the much nicer view of (name)’s chest.”

““Are you saying that to me, or my boobs?””

“little panting sounds as he tried to remember how to breathe.”

“He needed to scream into a pillow, like, now. And then do other things with that pillow”

“She could talk to him however the fuck she wanted after riding him like that.”

“And my god if anyone saw his back they'd think he got attacked by a bear or something “

“(name)’s sense of time is a little – hah! – fucked right now.”

“resisted that dang mouth”

“(name) has two tits!”

“a worker is giving him a weird look for clearly having boner while staring at some bell peppers.”

“He really was a friend shaped nugget”

““If it's not a booty call I'm not interested,” “

“(name) bussy canonically has the power to unlock peoples closeted inner fruit”

“the glass was so fragile that gay sex was enough to shatter it”

“just waiting for (name) to calm down. (name) also waits for (name) to calm down.”

“and enjoy the ride””

“nor does (name) actually get off on being commanded to fuck. (well, he might. i've never asked.)”

““I’m at a vulnerable time in my species transition and you’re making sex slave jokes?””

““Well, stop being horny for five seconds and let me finish explaining.””

“Gotta have a weird gay thing going with at least one of your friends at all times.””

““Oh no, your dick is broken! I’m prescribing you blow jobs~””

“trying to look calm and collected. like a cucumber.”

“giving it the sloppiest toppy he could in his state.”

-🍞

“Breed! Breed! Breed! Mate! Mate! Mate!” I felt that. LOL

““Are you saying that to me, or my boobs?”” FAVE FAVE FAVE

[comicaurora]

This is probably a weird question, but what are some tips you could give on character design? I've been trying to feel confident with my own designs, but they feel kind of bland... what kinds of things would you suggest to help make designs stand out more?

Hoo boy. Hm. I feel like I am not the right person to ask about this because objectively I do almost nothing you're "supposed" to, but if it's working I guess that means I might be onto something?

A lot of my design considerations are practical. I don't want to give anybody a design that's going to be a nightmare to draw over and over again. I've done enough commissions in my time to know when somebody is overdesigned and therefore hugely annoying to draw, and that's a no-no. So I tend to stick with simple patterns at most, not too many layers, no need for five million belts, no need for incredibly intricate hairstyles, etc. This is a practical consideration for the medium of comic art, but other mediums have different considerations - 3D-modeled art, for instance, can overdesign the characters as much as they want because they only need to model them once, and a lot of visual novel characters are limited to a very small handful of poses and some interchangeable expressions, meaning it isn't prohibitively complicated to make them a little Extra. The most time-consuming and frustrating commissions I've ever done were for characters who were frankly never designed to be drawn more than once. A quick sampling of highlights for the design features I swore to myself I would never deal with again-

So on a basic level, if you're designing a character to draw over and over again, it needs to be something you're willing and able to draw over again. Intricate patterns, a lot of interlocking plates, anything with lace - those are all things I try to avoid.

I've often seen the advice that character silhouettes should be super visually distinct, that characters should be very strongly shaped like different things. I think that's great if your style is that flexible, but if you kind of want everybody to be shaped like a human being with a skeleton, this advice is not very useful.

I think a diversity of body shapes is great, but the style I favor requires the anatomy to at least sort of makes sense, which means while there can still be a lot of variation in the distribution of muscle and fat, everyone's bones are gonna be in roughly the same place. I can't just draw a square and fill it with a dude. So instead I try and distinguish my character silhouettes in other ways.

Everyone's hair is different, and because most characters have big hair, this plays a large part in their silhouette. Falst and Erin both have short hair, but Falst's is a bristling mane while Erin's is usually more swept and soft-looking. Dainix and Kendal both have long hair, but even when Dainix's hair is loose it doesn't hang or flow the same way Kendal's does - it gets in the way, drapes in front of his face and overall doesn't move the same. Alinua's hair is bouncy curls. On top of that, everyone's outfits are fairly simple, but no two of them are exactly the same - Erin has a monopoly on poofy sleeves, Kendal has cuffed boots and the back-slung sword, Dainix has the poncho and the poofier pants, Alinua has the v-neck top with slightly pauldron-y shoulders and the slippers, Falst's clothing is ragged at the edges, etc. Even without getting into their distinct color palettes, everyone's at least a little bit distinct.

And this is another place where I purposefully try to avoid overdesigning. If everyone has too much going on it can circle around to being hard to tell the characters apart, because too much is happening. Who can pay attention to the fact that one character is sleeveless and one has asymmetrical boots and one has a mullet when everybody is wearing eight layers of embroidered fabric with four belts and half a breastplate on top?

Avoiding same-face is hard, and I'm not very good at it. But I do try to make sure everyone's face shape, nose and eyes are at least slightly different from everyone else's. It might not show from a distance and it might not be as extreme as a pixar design sheet, but it's something.

Ultimately the main consideration I keep in mind when designing characters is - perhaps a bit redundantly - their character. Who they are as people, and how that will impact the way they look. Everybody stands differently, and shifts their weight differently when a situation is changing.

Despite both being short, lightweight guys with short hair, Falst and Erin are wildly different people and are not going to dress the same, make the same facial expressions or hold themselves the same way. Despite both being tall, long-haired, generally friendly warrior badasses, Kendal and Dainix carry themselves very differently and react to things in very distinct ways. Tess and Erin have the exact same haircut and nobody noticed for ages because of everything else.

The designs aren't complicated, and compared to some, they aren't even that distinct. But I try to make sure that their personality is visible in every aspect of their design. Every "why?" in their design has an in-character answer, and since they're all quite different on the inside, keeping things simple means that starts showing through on the outside.

This is also how I can visually distinguish between Vash and Kendal, who have the exact same body and clothes.

we can never underestimate the importance of ✨body language✨

[whumping-valentine]

@augusnippets Day 2: Haircare + Makeup 

Content: Sibling dynamics, extremely dramatic femboy drama prince, well-meaning yet disapproving family, moth racism yes moth racism also a bit of accidental infantalization.

Characters used: Valentina, Giovanni, and Arianna

I talk a lot about Val's sister, Ludovica, in the upcoming story I'll be doing here, but I never really talk about the other two. So let's do something quick with Gio and Ari. Well, mostly Giovanni. Beware, he is the most dramatic character ever. I have a love-hate relationship with him lol

Also if you think the dialogue is weird it's supposed to be like that. The royal heirfi just talk like this. Also I think I should say that these characters are royals as well as lesser gods, and an "heirfix" is a butterfly-like (or moth-like) creature that I came up with. I'll have art of these guys soon so you can see what they look like. There's a crap ton of lore but that's for the actual story to tackle.

~~~

“OH, SWEET SAVIOR OF LIGHT.” Giovanni cursed from his exasperated stress. “This is the worst thing to ever happen! Nothing has ever been or ever will be a travesty such as this!”

Arianna pinched the bridge of her nose, “Gio… it is not that large of a problem.”

Giovanni gasped in horror, “What kind of sister are you?! What am I supposed to do without it?! It is missing! Missing, Arianna! It is missing and I shall never be graced by the beauty of it for the rest of time itself! What is a royal without their crown?! I AM THE GOD OF BEAUTY!! WHAT AM I WITHOUT THE BEAUTY?!”

"Okay..." Arianna questioned how to approach the situation, "I understand that you are the god of beauty, and as such, want to be beautiful. However, it is important to find a balance in life, is it not? As the god of music, I do not cry when one of my instruments gets damaged, nor do I think of myself as lesser if my voice is not up to standard some days."

"You do not understand!"

"I understand perfectly. You see, Giovanni, what you need to do is learn to let go. It is okay to not always be up to what is expected of you, and you most certainly will not be taken any less seriously if anyone sees you without your crown. It is not the lavish gold which sits on our brow that makes us special, it is merely a cosmetic."

"Again, you do not understand! Cosmetics are my entire thing!"

A meek knock came from the door. Their sister, Valentina, entered, “Hey, um, Gio, did you misplace your crown?” She asked, presenting it up to him.

Giovanni squealed in delight, "OH MY SWEET LITTLE SISTER, YOU HAVE SAVED MY LIFE!"

"I- I am older than you..."

Giovanni ignored her, rushing to a vanity mirror to admire his restored reflection, fanning his tears with two of his arms. "Oh, Valentina, what is it that I can do to repay you?"

"Oh, well, I have just found it sitting around. It was not any trouble at all, there is no need to repay the deed."

"Nonsense!" He said, "You have mentioned early this day that you have plans, no? Let me doll you up! Who better than the god of beauty?"

"Oh, no, it is quite alright. Rosa is not one to care much for looks."

"Oh, yes, the moth."

"Yeah, my fiancée?"

“Yes, that. DARLING! Let me help you.” He said moving the subject along, “At least one of my sisters cares enough to help me!”

"Yes, yes, I can see when my advice is not wanted." Arianna said. "Have fun with him, he is your problem now." She said to Valentina, exiting the room while giving her a pat on the head like she was a child.

Valentina let her brother ramble and talk while he did her makeup. It was something he did often for their many family members. He was the organizer, the decorator, and the one with an eye for details. Though that fact is probably due to his incredible eyesight. Every god gets a power, and his was his amazing eye.

"Annnnnnd, done!" He said, and handed Valentina a heart-shaped mirror to see.

"It looks great, Giovanni."

"Of course it does, I am an expert." He said, and directed her to sit elsewhere so he could tackle her hair.

While Giovanni combed through her long hair, she stared down at the red and white checkerboard floors. She fidgeted with the ring on her finger, and kicked her tiny legs. She felt so stuck.

She had known Rosa since they were kids, and now they were engaged, yet she knew not one of her family members approved. Rosa was a moth heirfix, and the only one who had ever lived with the butterflies. Valentina loved her family, but she also loved Rosa. And her mother was the one who invented marriage! They probably think she's some kind of disgrace... and that's not even mentioning how everyone clearly still views her as a kid despite how much they insist otherwise. It isn't her fault she hasn't metamorphosed yet...

She shook the thoughts from her head. After this she will go and see Rosa, and it will all be okay. She smiled as she thought of her, closing her eyes as the brushed breezed through her hair.

Everything will be alright.

●●●

●●●

Narrator: Everything was not, in fact, alright.

[pretensesoup]

How to Publish a Book, pt 2

Q: I'd like to do a print book too, not just an ebook. A: Do you realize that if you do a print book, your mom is going to read it? And the book has sex in there? Like, explicit gay sex? Like it says the word "cock" right there on the page.

Q: Yeah, she's like 77, she knows that sex exists. I've made my peace with this. A: All right, here we go. Publish on Demand books in some number of easy-ish steps.

There are a bunch of options for POD publishing now. IngramSpark, KDP, Draft2Digital, Lulu, etc. Other websites like Barnes & Noble will let you set up paperback publishing but outsource the actual printing to IngramSpark (IS). I think a bunch of these services do. IS is also slightly better if you want to have bookstores sell your book, have it in libraries, etc., because most bookstores won't order from Amazon, for obvious reasons. For Dionysus in Wisconsin, I've done both IS and Amazon, letting IS distribute to anywhere that isn't the Zon.

OH, IS allows preorders for paperbacks while the Zon doesn't.

First, you're going to need to write and edit the book. We went over this in pt. 1. Please refer there if you have any questions on this step. Okay, here is the exhaustive list of what to do once you're ready.

1. Decide what size the physical book should be. Look around your house at books in your genre and select the size that is most pleasing to you. This is called the trim size.

2. If you uploaded your text into a typesetting program like Atticus, tell it your trim size, preferred typeface size, line spacing, and margins and have it spit out a pdf. Otherwise, set Word up with those specifications. KDP has a helpful site where you can calculate the correct inner margins for your number of pages, while I think somehow IS just requires a .5" or .625" margin for all sizes (this doesn't make sense; I assume you just have to fix it after seeing a proof?). The book's gonna be exactly the same, so just do the same thing in both places.

Okay, one thing I couldn't find any guidance on is what size to make the typeface and line spacing. I wound up going with 11 pt typeface and 1.4 spacing. I figured this out by printing out the first page of my book, cutting it out at the correct size (5"x8") and comparing it to pages in similar books until I found one that looked readable and pretty. Anything from 10-12 is probably fine, also 1.1-1.4 spacing, but keep in mind that small/densely spaced typefaces will make your text look more intimidating. Someone on Mastodon said 1.5 spacing looks like a student paper, which I also agree with.

There are loads of websites that detail what typefaces to use for what types of books. "Look at your genre and try to match" is reasonable advice here too.

3. You need not just a cover, but a spine and a back cover. Books are three dimensional objects!

If you hire an artist, they should just be able to provide a wrap-around cover that is appropriate dimensions (again, KDP and IS both have templates), but if you're doing it yourself, I suggest laying out the entire cover on one large sheet of paper/canvas and doing your art like that rather than trying to photoshop together various pieces, unless you are really, really good at color leveling etc. You're gonna want to make sure that you have at least 300 dpi. Make sure you use open access typefaces or that you have rights to use them, ditto for any images you collage into stuff.

GIMP is a great free photoshop alternative. ImageMagick is a free image manipulation program that is incredibly powerful. I had to use ImageMagick to flip my cover file into CMYK and create a PDF. The command you want is this:

magick "inputfile.png" -colorspace sRGB -colorspace CMYK "outputfile.pdf"

4. Submitting your file for stuff: copyright here, LCCN (Library of Congress Control Number) here. Neither of these is obligatory, but both are cool in their own way. LCCN is a way for Library of Congress to pre-catalog your data (creating a stub record in OCLC) so that if a library acquires your book, it's easier for them to get it on the shelf. You need to submit your request for this PRIOR TO THE MONTH OF PUBLICATION. However, you don't need a final manuscript to submit, just a summary of the book. Also, note that you can only retroactively submit your MS for copyright registration for THREE MONTHS after publication, so decide now if you want it. And yes, everything you write in the US is automatically copyrighted, but having a certificate to prove it is nice in a court battle. Also also, you WILL want a finished copy of the text to submit when you make this request, or else you will have to submit two printed copies. By MAIL. So you have to GO OUT OF YOUR HOUSE TO THE POST OFFICE. UGH. (Technically, you are requested to send in a print copy for the LCCN program too. I don't think that's obligatory, but am I gonna pass up a chance to have my book fully cataloged by LOC? Fuck no.)

5. OKAY, assuming you got everything done, now you need an ISBN.

Do you really? Kind of. If you're only publishing on KDP, they'll give you a free one. But you can't reuse it if you try to also publish on IS. The reverse is also true. Technically, the entity that assigns the ISBN is the publisher, so this makes Amazon/IS the publisher of your book. Also, it makes editions slightly weird (technically, it's supposed to be one ISBN per edition). ANYWAY, in the US you buy ISBNs through Bowkers. Don't let them sell you barcodes or any of that garbage. Just buy your ISBN(s).

Sometimes, people report putting in information in KDP and then having the ISBN rejected as "in use" when inputting it into IS, so do this next part all at once. First, assign your ISBN to your book in the Bowkers database. Then assign it to your book at IS and save as draft. Then assign it to your book at KDP and save as draft.

One other note. If you have set up a business to be your press name (mine is Winnowing Fan Press, because the main character's name is Ulysses and I am a GIANT NERD), that will be set up as your publishing house in Bowkers. You won't have an imprint unless you specify one. (An imprint is like a special line of books, so Harlequin has a "digital-first" imprint called Carina Press that specializes in LGBT+ romance, because why would you publish LGBT+ romance in paperback first, ugh.) BUT Amazon will ask what the imprint is for your ISBN and it will be THE NAME OF THE PUBLISHING HOUSE. Why is Amazon using the term differently from everyone else? I DON'T KNOW. JUST GO WITH IT.

6. Upload all your files. Look at the previewers/e-proofs to make sure everything looks okay. Panic and reupload them five times with minute changes.

7. Set a price.

For real at this point I hope you're done making changes, because you suddenly have at least three versions across two different sites to update if you suddenly decide to add a credit for your author photo or something. (cough)

How to set a price the easy way: look at other similar books in your genre (your comps) and just set your book to that price (hopefully you aren't losing money that way).

8. You can order a physical proof at this stage. But if you want author copies, you're going to have to publish your book, meaning it becomes publicly available. I think that if you get through the KDP screens and hit "publish book," it goes live. So...save it as a draft; don't hit the go button until you're ready. IS meanwhile lets you make it available for preorder.

Deadlines: Try to get everything done and uploaded by five days before your planned publication date.

@tryxyhijinks I think that's everything. Wow, I'm tired now.

[decamarks]

Hey there! First off I want to say I *adore* your art, you absolutely 1000% perfectly tap into the vibe and style of late 90's/early 00's 3D models in a way literally no one else does. I think about your art of your fake games' glitches (especially the forum post!!! it's. *perfect.*) all the time :)

And I've noticed how you're always very insightful and kind whenever you answer asks, so thank you for that!

If it's not too intrusive to ask, I was wondering how you went about finding a doctor to get your autism diagnosis? I've been pretty sure for a few years now that I'm on the spectrum, but I've never had a clue how to actually get tested/diagnosed. Especially since I'm an adult female too, and I've heard a ton about how autism is really overlooked/underdiagnosed for people like us.

But seeing that you were able to find someone who avoided all the common pitfalls and was able to actually help you made me want to reach out. I had been wanting to ask you this for a while (as you can probably tell based on what the question was haha) but I was too anxious to actually do it (still am, a bit ><). Again, feel free to ignore this part if it's too personal or you don't want to answer it for any reason!

It feels awkward to end an ask with that, so I'll bookend it with something I think you'll like: have you ever heard of trsrockin.com? It's an old fansite I used to visit religiously as a kid that talked about early Pokemon and Super Mario games and collectibles from them, as well as oddities like glitches from the aforementioned games, forgotten weird one-off SNES games, documenting fake/trick fanmade "cheats" for games, and bootleg merchandise.

It's one of if not the first public place (afaik) that MissingNo. and pals were discovered/talked about, and a little community came together to try and figure out why the glitch happened and what all the effects and variants of it were. Even you've been to trsrockin before and none of this is new info, I thought it would at least be a nice trip down memory lane :)

It's an old site that has since been taken down, and for some reason archive.org can't properly archive the full site/all its links. But luckily someone created a complete mirror of it! You can find it here: http://catfish.it.cx/trsrockin/trsrockin.com/index.html

AHH THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! ;__; you're too kind... i know i haven't posted too much of my 3d work recently, but trust me, i have a LOT more of those faux-retro aesthetics in store with the game i've been working on... >=) i'm always so so happy to see other people appreciate janky ol' 3d graphics, LMFAO

also!! i've definitely heard of trsrockin eheehee... i was a bit too young to use it when it was in its prime (and also more of a bulbapedia enthusiast), but i've perused some archived pages before! old internet forums & fansites are just the best thing in the world...

ANYWAY: regarding your question! Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm the best person to give advice about this, because I feel like I kind of got my diagnosis by chance... Essentially: I started seeing a new therapist; she suggested I might be on the spectrum, I said, "Yeah maybe IDK"; I got a referral to an evaluator—and then an incredibly expensive diagnosis after a few months of waiting and testing.

My case differs in that I didn't really suspect being on the spectrum myself. Which seems a bit silly, considering I now realize I am... observably autistic. In abundance. But it was genuinely hard to puzzle out, what with all my other problems (particularly, severe misophonia, which can be REALLY hard to differentiate from general sensory sensitivity.) So about specifically seeking out a diagnosis, I unfortunately can't give a good answer. But I'm willing to talk about the rest, on the off-chance it ends up helpful! (Under the cut at least.)

I don't like to be too open about my Issues™ online—but I got a whole lot of them, and they used to be a lot worse than they are now, so I was stuck in that perpetual "adolescent with treatment-resistant depression" purgatory for, like... my entire adolescence! Because no one knew what the hell was wrong with me. I'm barely in adulthood now, but I'm extremely thankful to be broken out of that. Both the 'treatment-resistant depression' diagnoses AND the adolescence. Being told with authority that I, indeed, have an untreated case of mega-autism—and not an irreparably broken brain whose electrical activities zap SSRIs straight out of existence—is definitely relieving. And now I can confidently say shit like 'mega-autism', so like, wins all around.

About getting a diagnosis in general: in my case, I kind of needed one, because it would be not be feasible for me to go to school/work/exist without accommodations of some kind. (The evaluation I had was, in part, just to get a psychological report of any kind, since I desperately needed supporting documentation to request accommodations anywhere.) Otherwise, I'm honestly not sure if I'd bother?

On one hand, an official diagnosis is an incredibly affirming thing to have—especially if you didn't even suspect it before; things start making a lot of sense afterwards, LOL—but on the other hand, it is a tedious and kind of humiliating process. And possibly expensive.

And then, like you mentioned, there's the problem of some doctors being biased or plainly godawful at their job/poorly designed systems ruining everything for everyone. It's probably for incompetency on those ends that a diagnosis managed to elude me for nineteen years straight. (Vividly recalling the time my school had a counselor give me an impromptu autism evaluation, in which she concluded that I "didn't seem to have autism, but would probably get along really well with autistic people." WHATEVER THAT MEANT.) But! It's not impossible to get someone who knows what they're doing! I'd love to say otherwise, but I really did just stumble into a decent doctor... There's a lot of luck involved, and man. I did not get good RNG at first. (← I'M SORRY FOR BEING A GAMER.)

I went into the evaluation doubting I had it, and heavily doubting that I'd be diagnosed, but like... Hold on let me reach across your desk and slide you the answers to the autism test. The trick is to not even try to be normal, I think. Intermittently talk about CRT monitors, and how you like learning ciphers, and Pokemon glitches—or whatever else you're into. But those specifically worked for me! "Don't mask", is what I'm saying. (Really though, I think if you're answering everything to the best of your ability, properly administered tests done by a doctor who doesn't suck should be able to diagnosis you. If they don't, then the problem is something systemic, and far beyond anything I could reasonably give advice about...)

ANYWAY! (x2) I'm honestly not sure if any of this is particularly helpful, but if you decide to pursue it, I wish you luck with getting your diagnosis!! It's definitely a bit of a hellish thing to do—but dammit, if it's worth it to you, then it's definitely worth doing.

YOUR REWARD FOR READING THIS WHOLE POST IS: "Kinesin_walking.gif"

YEEEEEAAAAAAHHHH

[taehyungfirst]

So I am a new fan of Tae, I find him extremely talented and unique and I am thoroughly enjoying his new project. But I've been stumbling across a lot of posts about him, saying some really mean and nasty things which I find really awkward and confusing. Is there something specific he has done to make some people dislike him so much because so far he just seems like a quirky individual who clearly loves music a whole lot and seems to be having the time of his life with his new solo era.

I also have noticed that he is really selfless about sharing the spotlight with the people he works with and everyone around him seems genuinely happy and in good spirits to be working with him which means he is probably a genuinely nice guy.

I know every celebrity has people who criticize and hate on them and we don't all need to like his music. But the kind of hate V gets is so random and uncalled for because so far he just seems like a really a fun and likeable artist who is trying to stay true to himself.

Also he is constantly talking about how important it was for him to show people who he genuinely is with this project. Which makes these comments even more mean-spirited because what's wrong with being a chill, laid back guy who loves his dog dearly and makes the kinda music and art he likes instead of what's going to bring in the highest numbers?

Hi anon! First of all, welcome to the Taehyungie world I hope you’re having fun and enjoying yourself with the big amount of contents we are getting.

Regarding your question, Taehyung became the kpop punching bag for a while now, I think it started in 2021? Or maybe 2020 when people claimed he changed when he just was going through a hard period (that he also opened up about);

Taehyung is one of the most genuine people in the industry, he got friends everywhere and everyone always says how much comfortable is being around him. He also got an incredible emotional intelligence that allows him to react in the best ways to situations, this is why he never took any shit from anyone and always knew how to protect what was important to him. And this bothers people, the fact that he’s so unbothered that he’s just out there enjoying his jazz music and his puppy, that he protects his peace and just wants to create create create as an artist and nothing else, that he doesn’t give in to provocation but he’s still the same passionate, happy, introspective man.

He’s also quite literally undraggable and I’m not saying it because I’m biased, but he’s an excellent singer (got the most unique voice and is the best baritone in the whole kpop industry), he can flawlessly dance, he can act, he can write his songs, he can do anything he wants and this also bothers people so they try to fight ghosts and you see dumb posts about him (like some €xo stan tried to drag him for freestyling on slow dancing or because he’s friend with Bada Lee)… My sincere advice is to ignore everything you see because Taehyung never did anything to get all this hate, I wish his company would protect him more but that’s a topic for another day, just keep supporting him and his music and enjoy everything you get I’m sure we will get lots of funny contents soon! 💖