#the art style is so amazing i'm in awe and all of the characters are so interesting

[anantaru]

yoru from gokurakugai is approved by yoru (me)🎐

[raining-dreams]

Best Underrated Shows

Saving Me 

Saving Me is about a lonely old guy who invents a time machine so he can go back to his child self and fix all his past mistakes. I learned about this show from this video titled Watch THIS instead of Hailey's On It by M!n!mal M!ss Art. Despite this video, I was still very excited to watch Hailey's On It. It seemed like a story with a cool premise and cute art style (and ultimately I do really like the show) But Hailey's On It wasn't gonna be out for weeks when I came across this video and this video really sold me on giving Saving Me a try. I never would have even heard of this show without that youtube video which would have been a real shame because Saving Me is fantastic! I hope this show reaches more people and I'm dying for a season 3!!!!!

House of Anubis

Mystery is my favorite genre and House of Anubis is chuck full of it. I used to be obsessed with this show back in high school. I had so much fun coming up with theories and live-blogging my thoughts and opinions about each new episode. Some of the acting & dialogue could be a little cringe sometimes but the story is just so good that it doesn't matter. I've heard that Het Huis Anubis (the Dutch version of the show that House of Anubis is based on) is even better, though I haven't gotten around to watching it yet.

Over the Garden Wall

Those of us who have seen Over the Garden Wall seem to agree that this show is amazing! Which makes it feel a little weird to call it underrated. But it seems like so few people have actually seen it. Maybe because it was a mini series, it couldn't reach the same level of popularity as other shows of similar quality. If you like Gravity Falls, you'll likely enjoy Over the Garden Wall as well. (Wirt is even voiced by the same guy who voiced Dipper!) I would highly recommend anyone that hasn't seen it already.

Dead End: Paranormal Park

I feel like it's pretty rare for animated series to exist in the horror genre for some reason. It truly is an untapped market. But if you love horror and animation, Dead End is the show for you! (Of course it's kid friendly horror since the target audience is children) The two main characters, Barney and Norma get jobs at a haunted park and work together to fight ghosts and demons. Dead End has a super cute animation style, in my opinion, and a very diverse set of characters. I encourage everyone to watch it!

Just Add Magic

Just Add Magic is based on a children's book by the same name. It's a show about three girls who love to cook and basically discover that they can use cooking to do magic. It's a pretty interesting take on how magic works in their universe. It's very fun to watch. All of the actors are also so talented! And one of those actors is Zach Callison (the voice of Steven Universe)!

The friendship between the trio is awe-inspiring! They have so much chemistry. It's a pretty fun watch.

The Last Kids On Earth

Based on a comic of the same name, this show is about a group of kids who have to survive on their own when a zombie apocalypse breaks out. And other various creatures start to threaten them (or even become their allies) It's basically a cute found family story. The premise is pretty simplistic but that's what I love about it. The animation style of The Last Kids On Earth is so beautiful as well!

I'm still waiting for a season 3!!!!!

Code Lyoko

I remember as a kid being aware of this show and thinking it looked kind of interesting (and I always loved the theme song!!) but I never ended up watching it back then because I let peer pressure get the better of me. I remember I met someone who brought up how much they loved the show. When I heard them express that interest, I was at first excited to ask them more but before I had the chance, everyone else started making fun of him for liking Code Lyoko.

I guess it was like the nerd show or something? I don't really know why it was considered cringe to like Code Lyoko but upon seeing my peers act this way, I decided I can't like Code Lyoko if I want to fit in. So, I avoided watching it. But earlier this year, when I was flipping through channels, they were showing old episodes of Code Lyoko! I was intrigued since I remembered it from childhood and thought I'd actually give it a chance this time. And it's actually a pretty good show! It can be slow at times but overall I enjoy it.

If you're like me and avoided watching this back then due to peer pressure, I highly recommend leaving that in the past and just letting yourself enjoy this show!!

Slugterra

Slugterra is honestly pretty similar to Pokemon, except it's slugs! And the entire series takes place underground. Basically, there's a whole underground world called Slugterra, home to slugs, trolls, moles, etc. And all the slugs have cool powers so the people collect & befriend slugs so they can use them as weapons ("slugslinging"). If you like Pokemon, you're sure to like Slugterra!

Detentionaire

I discovered Detentionaire randomly while I was searching through Amazon's library of cartoons. I was looking for a new show to watch and just stumbled upon this one. It looked pretty interesting and I was surprised to see it was a show from 2011. I don't know how I missed this show back then. Idk if maybe it only aired in Canada or something? (cuz it's a Canadian show) But anyways, Detentionaire is such an intriguing show where the main character, Lee, discovers some grand conspiracy and has to try to expose it to prove his innocence so he can get out of detention. It's such an interesting concept. And, as I mentioned earlier, mystery is my favor genre, so I had a lot of fun with this one.

The only problem though is, of course, it ends on a cliffhanger. The show got canceled before they had the chance to conclude the story in a satisfying way (or any type of way) so watch at your own risk.

Catscratch

I honestly don't even remember what this show was about but I do remember enjoying this show and being excited when I saw a new episode was out. I remember thinking it was so funny. I just don't think enough people know about this show.

[ya-boi-haru]

I'm going to put all my thoughts and feelings (as coherent as I can) into this post then I'll spam individual posts with my headcannons lol

Spoilers for the fable smp finale

I don't know when I last cried that hard over a series.

And I'm not talking the way tears over spill in my eyes cause I got so emotional about a moment. I'm talking full blown crying, choking on my sobs until my throat hurt and my chest felt full of emotions.

Rae was the first pov I watched...

Seeing that "Several years later" epilogue is what got me.

Not only was I crying happiness over this boy finally getting a beautiful happy ending, but it really hit then I think, it's over. This is the finale episode.

Once I was done I rinsed and repeated with Icarus, only this time I was stuck in awe.

It wasn't a "happy" ending, but it was a good one for them. And if you follow my page, you can probably guess how much I was "normal" about Quixis Midas. I can finally start cooking that cmv now /lh/silly

I cried at every epilogue.

Seeing what happens to them on their journey, all the freaking effort and art that went into the cutscenes in all their unique styles.

Truly a beautiful ending.

I'm still crying now, hours later, as, again, I'm feeling all the emotions.

I feel sad to see this series end, but so happy for the characters ending. I find myself wondering, what's next? And I'm excited to see what we get up to

This truly has been a time and I feel words can't describe the overwhelming emotions I feel.

But thank you cast members for this amazing story.

Thank you, fandom, for making this a niche place

Thank you to the mutuals who I nerd out with (and will do so in the future)

Thank you, Fable SMP

[ouroborosorder]

what do you think the most stellar examples of arknights' vfx are?

Okay so there are a lot of examples, so I'm going to try to keep my description of each one short. Unsurprisingly, most of my favorite effects are on more recent, paid skins for fan-favorite/meta 6* operators, since those are the ones they put their whole ass into.

Executor the Ex Foedere. The way that it weaves blasts of light and the shapes of Sankta wings into his shotgun blasts is absurdly creative. Perfect for a saint of Laterano.

Passenger's Skin. Specifically his S3. Stellar lightning is a weird pitch, but it's so fucking beautiful that it works. This is the effect that convinced me that I might enjoy being a VFX artist after all, not fucking kidding.

Jessica Alter. Look. Her skills are underwhelming as fuck, they're all the same shot effects every time. But. Do you genuinely understand how amazing these gunshots look? Do you know how hard it is to make a stylized gunshot that doesn't just look like magic? These are breathtakingly good. The glass shattering on hit genuinely made my jaw drop when I first saw it.

Eyjafjalla the Hvit Aska. It's hard to make a healer that genuinely looks unique, but Eyjalter's dreamlike colors and flat effects manage to bring the visual style of So Long Adele into every map and make it look reasonable with the artstyle.

Kirin R Yato. Monster Hunter's effects are extremely distinct, and seeing them recreate MH's style in Arknights' is really lovely. My one sorrow is that I wish there was more lightning, since like. Kirin.

Lin. Glass is a legitamately hard thing to pull off because it so often just looks like crystal, but leaning more into glass dust and shards makes it work perfectly. Her skin is also quite pretty, but it loses the glass look that made me love Lin to begin with.

Reed the Flame Shadow. Holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit holy fucking shit fire made of flowers?? The way the fire looks secondary to the whole thing while being undeniably present is stunning. Her skin is nowhere near as good tho.

Penance. Penance has such a stunning aesthetic that it immediately endeared me to her. Her vibe of gilded thorny chains carries to her effects and it works.

Texas the Omertosa. Fucking. Duh. It's hard to make a normal sword swipe look unqiue but Texas nails it. Her skin's effects are even more stunning, even if the animations are awful.

Minimalist. It's hard to make effects that are minimalist and still look good.

Specter the Unchained + Skin. I need to specificially call out her skin. Her skin may be one of my favorite pieces of effects at all time. The colors, the aegirian poetry as part of the visuals, the stellar water, it's all practically perfect.

Kazemaru. A sleeper hit!! She's got a lot going on with the "paper-controlling ninja whose clone has a completely unique aesthetic" thing so it seems like she might be too busy, but it manages to pull it off. Shoutouts to her clone's spawn, which actually does the slash mesh slightly wrong intentionally because the ring look actually helps a lot.

Goldenglow. It's rare that I see a lightning character and say "I have never seen anything like that before in my life" and Goldenglow's pink and blue stylized lightning genuinely shocked me.

Ling (Does it Wash The Strings). If you want my choice for best VFX in the game, this would at least be in running for first. It's flashy as hell, but manages to not be overbearing. The S3 dragon attacking with mountains rising from the earth alone is stunning, but the normal attack impact is my favorite part of the entire thing. It's so simple and elegant and stylish.

Amiya Guard. Amiya's Guard form is the combination of Amiya's Arts, Sarkaz Arts, Ch'en's swordfighting, the normal AK Arts and sword design languages, and a tiny bit of weird space tech to represent the Precursors. And it manages to come together to something that feels really cohesive while still drawing attention to how incongruous these elements are. The effects actively tell the story of Amiya - a girl with big shoes to fill, carrying the legacy of so many.

Ceobe, and her Unfettered Freedom skin. At this point in Arknights' lifespan, they had a much more defined visual language for how Casters look compared to melee units. Ceobe, being a Caster who throws fucking enchanted melee weapons instead of casting spells? So she combines their languages, with the buildup and trails of Arts casters and impacts of melee units, it's subtle and I love it. Unfettered Freedom deserves a special shoutout because I love geometric magic so fucking much.

Conviction's Skin. Why is this so good they're a joke operator.

Dorothy's Skin. I may have mixed opinions on this skin, but the effects are objectively stunning. I am personally heartbroken that she doesn't have the sand anymore, but that's a personal thing. I also don't like that her S3's range is obfuscated by the explosion but again that's nitpicking.

There's probably WAY more that I've missed and even more I cut for time, but those are my favorites after browsing the list of operators and skins for like, two hours straight. If there are a few I missed... Look, this list is this long already.

Also note that I didn't really list enemies or anything other than playable operators. Their enemy effects are usually... servicable, with a few standout exceptions with Talulah and Frostnova.

[morningstarwrites]

i just want to say that OSAS has me by a chokehold. i can’t even list everything i love about it, but maybe the thing i love most is how creative and impressive it is how you use the written medium to your advantage to do incredible things with formatting. the way it manipulates the way us readers actually read and understand and feel the content of a scene is absolutely breathtaking and i constantly think about it. i have sung its praises to every one of my fellow fic readers and it’s even working as incentive to get my friend to actually *watch* hazbin hotel, especially when i sung the praises of how amazing your characterization is to. i am so envious of how well you have nailed character voices, esp with someone as complex and mysterious as alastor, without anything feeling clunky or unaligned with their personality. i have been waiting all week for the newest update and was so invested that i read it all during my lunch break and forgot to actually eat (dw i’m still going to eat but i was just amazed that i completely blanked on eating bc i was far too invested in OSAS). i want to constantly go back to the beginning and reread everything bc it’s so detailed that i forget the little things and i want to be awed by your sentences and formatting all over again. i feel very lucky i saw one (1) art piece from you that encouraged me to read it because your fic is the first in a long time to give me those gooey warm feelings again after several really stressful months and i really needed that. thank you ♥️

OHHHHH thank you!!!! I'm so happy you like my writing style. Wait - you got your friends to watch Hazbin so that they can read my fic?? That's really cute!

Oh HAHA this whole message is like really sweet I love it. (Which art piece was it btw?)

I hope you got to eat in the end, and I'm so pleased that my writing could help you feel better in any way. It's just really nice that something I made can be comforting for someone. Thanks and I hope you'll like my updates in the future!

[storyofmychoices]

For @choicesfandomappreciation's Countdown to 2024.

There are so many talented artists in this fandom. I could never pick only four. I am seriously in awe of all of you and your talents. You truly make this fandom a more beautiful place. We are lucky to have you all.

In no particular order

💛 @hydn-jpg: I absolutely adore you and your talent. I can't thank you enough for the beautiful creations you've made for me. I just adore your style. I'm glad you are doing better. I've loved seeing your art on my dash again. Thank you for sharing all of your beautiful visions with us.

💛 @cashweasel: What can I say?! I absolutely adore you and your art. You've created some of my favorite Mal pieces and you gifted the world Valen. How can we ever thank you enough for that?! Valen is everything, but I adore Gideon too!

💛 @oh-so-youre-a-nerd: I've only been following you for a few months but ohmygosh you are so freaking talented. Like how?!!! I absolutely adore seeing your art on my dash, no matter the subject matter, each piece is just stunning. Your use of light is unlike anything I've seen. You are amazing.

💛 @artbyalz: Your art is so much fun! I LOVED your 12 days of Christmas art series. You gifted the fandom so many beautiful and unique pieces. I absolutely adore all you've created, and ohmygosh how can I even thank you for this gift you've given me?!!!

💛 @cassie-thorne: GAH your art!!! The recent art with Astrid is still living rent free in my head. She is so gorgeous! I truly admire and adore all of your work, though I'm a little biased toward your CoP art! I can't wait for the next book to see how you tackle all the new content we get!

💛 @baldwinboy5ive: I've absolutely enjoyed all of your art and memes from Blades. They were simply fantastic. Your work always puts a smile on my face!

💛 @fairymatchmaker : JOY!!! You are just so so lovely and amazing, and your art is brilliant. I know you haven't been able to draw as much as you'd like to have recently, but please know we are here waiting patiently for when you can. Your art is just brilliant.

💛 @violentinecrl: I am still absolutely in love with this gorgeous gift you made for me. I never expected anything like this and genuinely treasure it. It lives rent free in my head always.

💛 @callmebeem: I only discovered your art this year, but I am so in love with it. I love the 3 commissions you've made for me so far (even if I'm still holding on to one of them) but I absolutely treasure each and know I will be back for more soon! Thank you for them!

💛 @rosefuckinggenius: what can I say about you and your art besides you actually are a fucking genius. Your talent is amazing and I'm grateful for all the times we've worked together!

💛 @bayleedraws-sometimesx: you are an absolute delight! You are a sweetheart who creates such lovely art for the fandom. I love your minimalist style. You bring so much love to your work and it shows.

💛 @erixafleur: I've loved seeing all your gorgeous Blades art throughout book two. I can't wait to see more. Your style is lovely whether it's fully rendered or the sketchy style.

💛 @sazanes : Your art is so beautiful! I love seeing all the gorgeous stuff you create for the various appreciation weeks. I truly look forward to seeing all your works. You can see your care for each piece in every stroke.

💛 @twinkleallnight: you write, you do art, what don't you do? Thank you for sharing all of your many talents with the Choices fandom

💛 @mydemonsdrivealimo: Jensen is an amazing character and your OH art is so lovely. Thank you for the Valentine's doodles you made for my Bryce and Olivia. I truly treasure it!

💛 @gaiuskamilah / @talasintahan: your art is simply brilliant. I haven't been following you long, but I'm loving seeing all your gorgeous work.

💛 @weetlebeetle: You're technically not in our fandom, but you've created so many amazing pieces for me and so many others, you might as well be. Thank you for sharing your talent with us! We are so lucky to have you

💛 @hashiedraws (I know you're no longer active in the fandom, but I will always adore and treasure your art!

There are so so many amazing artists in this fandom, just mentioning a few more:

@somewillwin , @garlickk , @myautumnrose , @rainesenator , @ellezelindraws, @totojo2 , @choices-ceri , @crowlion ; @gremmiie ; @cpt-indigo , @mavidraws , @javsarts

This list is by no means exhaustive, please know that it was not intentional if you were left off!

[sha-biest]

Hi Sha,

Regarding your art style, was it inspired by anything? A separate fandom or another artist? I feel like I always gravitate towards your art style whenever I try to imagine “turtley” turtles, (if that even makes sense 🤔), especially Raph and Donnie’s spikes which I genuinely love so much. (And the SNOOTS, completely unparalleled, fantastic, adorable, amazing, i wish to boop the snoots) Just the other day, I was studying your art and was awed by all the volumes and shapes used, absolutely wowed.

In a separate side note, what’s your favorite wintertime drink? Are you a hot chocolate drinker and if so, do you make any modifications from the base drink ? Best well wishes and I hope you’re always cozy with the winter months rolling in.

Me studying your art:

Hey Bonnie!! Well, when it comes to my artstyle it just developed over time! Whenever I start out drawing something I typically end up sketching it a few times to figure out my own flow and it keeps on adjusting from there. I also like to always give characters more animalistic features because I've always loved to draw creature type characters a lot more! I'm a strong believer that styles develop through so many different factors and inspiration the artist has. I will look at other people's art and I see little things I love about it and I'll implement it into my own style, be it as a conscious effort or subconsciously. On top of all that, I've been drawing my whole life and that ultimately comes with experience As for drinks: I really like Chai latte and some teas! I typically drink them as is (or tea depending on the type, with milk and/or sugar)

[yamujiburo]

Hi! I just wanted to say thanks for continuing to post so much Pokémon art, especially for Team Rocket (specifically Jessie and James). Every so often, I come across your art again, and it just reminds me of some of my happier memories from when I was a tween (back when I was so heavily into the world of Pokémon). I'm 18 now, but I'm sure if past me got to see this art, she'd be thrilled. I've always admired your style, and your art is absolutely amazing.

The progress you've made is great. You truly are so talented. I'm so happy I came across your art and your blog. Thanks so much for continuing to post once more. Sorry if this is a bit long. Have a great day/night, and thanks for letting me relive some good times :)

aw of course! i don't talk about it a lot but team rocket genuinely mean a lot to me! as characters, they really shaped my artistic taste and how i like to tell stories. not to mention them being queer-coded helped me come to terms with my own sexuality. so drawing them all the time truly makes me happy and it's why i haven't stopped drawing them since 2011!

thanks so much for the kind words~

[barrenclan]

i just found this blog (and by extension the series), and, omg, IM IN LOVE WITH EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS!!!! there’s so much i want to say, from how much i appreciate your character writing, and like, super realistic traits, fears, and interests, as well as how amazing your art is, and how well you incorporate things like shape language, color theory, and family heritage with each design. it’s really clear that the effort you put into this series has so much passion and love in it. each of these characters are so well done, and i can’t wait to see where you take each of them!! also, the whole concept that you’ve made, and the style you’ve done this story in, is super fascinating!! from a mix of experience of my own, and stories from friends of mine and some creators i know, it’s not hard to see the frustration that can come from writing stories or writing AND drawing comics. seeing you so seamlessly blend the two mediums is both impressive and inspiring! i really, really like how you organize pages, and your clean lines and colors really allow for the characters to communicate things that are hard to visualize, whereas your writing (which is great, by the way) really helps describe things that can be harder to understand from just one picture and really blends into the story nicely. alongside that, your dialogue is done in a really nice way, so that it feels both realistic and it also helps to keep the story going, well!! your portrayals of moral grayness is both accurate and digestible. you have made characters both be in the wrong, and incredibly likable, which can be really difficult!

sorry for my rambling, but this series is just amazing, and i can’t wait to see more of it! i hope you like this little pie paw doodle i did very quickly (please forgive how messy it is i was rushing so i could send in this ask 😖)

Aw my gosh this is all so kind of you to say!! :,D I'm really really glad you've enjoyed the story, I've had a wonderful time working on it. Your words really mean a lot to me, I'm always thrilled when someone likes something I've made so much, it makes the hours I put in more than worth it. And I hope you keep liking it going forward!

Also, thank you for the Pinepaw drawing! He's so cute!!

[silenzahra]

@silenzahra Do you have any idea how much your comments touched me? When I was winding down, I was so surprised to find more comments in my Ao3 inbox when I was browsing for more SMB stories to read. You NEVER fail to give such detailed feedback by pointing out which details endeared you and giving me such praise and adulation which at times I need to pinch myself how my stories touched you and others who took time and care into read and provide comments…being called one of your favourite writers on Tumblr and Ao3 truly made me tear up and my heart pound with warmth…am I truly worthy of that title? There are surely others waaay better and more skilled than I am?! You are just so sweet and kind, my dear.

I have probably said it over and over again but I feel that it’s appropriate and well deserved: You are a wonderful writer and your writing and research skills truly astound me. I’m still coming back to your musicians and Luigi’s passion for books lore posts and they are some of the best I ever read and give me connection to these boys we adore. Your stories are amazing whether they’re complete or WIP. And the fact you took the time to translate them for us to read, I still can’t get over your dedication.

You may have recalled how I was so physically and mentally exhausted in yesterday’s post. And you and also many others like @keakruiser @itsavee4117 @peaches2217 @pepperycar @sourour-rl have been so kind to me and telling me to take it easy. It really makes me see how valued and loved I am in this community…so thank you to all my dears…

I am feeling a bit better and have managed to actually finish a drawing I wanted to do, play a game, sneak in a long deserved nap and revel in my husband’s and son’s loving affections…

I can’t thank you and our mutuals over and over again for finding my place of belonging here and all of your support and love to my stories and art. May we prosper and continue to love the SMB fandom, my dear.

AW, dear friend, finding this message in my inbox has filled my heart with so much joy! 💖💖💖 As I told you on AO3, you deserve all the praise and support in the world, as your writing style is definitely one of the sweetest, most detailed and touching I've ever read 🥹🥹🥹 You always move me to the core with your words and how you portray the characters' relationships, be it a romantic one or the brotherly bond between Mario and Luigi. So yes, of course you're one of my favorite writers!!! You ARE more than worthy of that title, dear friend 🫂🫂🫂💖💖💖

And oh my God, you're making me blush 😭😭😭 I feel so honored!!! I couldn't be happier to know that you've enjoyed my headcanon posts so much as to continue reading them from time to time, that's seriously one of the highest compliments I've ever received 😭😭😭😭😭 And again, thank you so much for appreciating the fact that I translate my stories so I can share them with you all 🥹🥹🥹 You make me feel so validated!!! 🫂🫂🫂💖💖💖

Also, I have to say I needed to hear that you also love my stories, as I've been feeling a bit insecure about them as of lately. Sometimes I feel like my writing could be much better, as some of my fics end up not getting the feedback that I expected them to 😅 I'm obviously thankful for you and our common friends as you never fail to show me that you love my stories and want to read more of me, and it makes me feel so touched 😭😭😭

But yes, this is something I've been struggling with as of lately, and it's stopped me a bit from trying to write fanfiction again, but I just have so many stories I wanna write! And knowing that you and the others will be there to read them is motivation enough to keep going 🥰🥰🥰 So thank you, dear friend, because you just can't imagine how much your words have helped me 🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂

I'm so happy to know you're feeling better and doing activities that you enjoy! You can always count on all of us to support you, and we were obviously not exaggerating when we said we loved you first for who you are 🥰🥰🥰 I'm also so happy that you have your husband and your son by your side to show you how important and special you are! Just like the rest of us will never stop doing, dear friend 💖💖💖

And of course! May we prosper and continue to love this amazing and wholesome fandom! I love you soooo much, my dear friend! Thank you again for such a beautiful and loving message 🥹🫂💖 My heart feels so warm right now!!! 💖💖💖

[pippastrelle]

Bulletpoint liveblog of C3E91 let's go!

Second half: Crown Keepers

Oh, is this where the Crownkeepers come in? I heard that. Haha I always wonder what it's like at the studio hiding the fact that, like, Robbie is there.

AABRIA! God, I want to know how her hair and makeup is done. It's so different and so cool nearly every time I see her. She's got such style.

Moment to appreciate the music they play during the art reel at the end of the break.

CROWNKEEPERSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! I actually never fully watched Kymal so the bunny woman was a surprise XD

The collaborativeness is nice, asking Anjali about her sister.

ahahaha god this platform. DON'T WHIPLASH MY EMOTIONS LIKE THIS! I'M CRYING OVER ORYM AND ALL!

….Me not having watched Kymal might confuse me for the next two hours.

Black lipstick will never not get me. Aimee.

Is Dorian going to reply to Orym's message??????

Good on Matt for starting off.

(Pleeeeease may they say this woman's name). Her character's Morrighan. Whoa, a champion of the Matron of Ravens.

The Crownkeepers have been having a real swell time.

(Fy'ra Rai has always been a great name to say). So, sent by the Wildmother to protect them.

Aww, Dorian feeling some consequences of his avoidance.

From an above-table perspective, I'm surprised they're all feeling so lost? I wonder if it was planned and if Aabria's going to suddenly give them a direction, or if they're reticent to set too much in stone?

OPAL'S BETRAYER GOD CHAMPION DESIGN IS SO SICK; I LOVE IT!

Sleep as an exhausting void… Creepy.

"Can I hear him?" "Make a wisdom save." Terrifying. "Shouting at you while running backwards." What a description.

I do love Opal, too. Such a situation but still trying to retain that image of her.

"We gotta get these chuckles out not." Whimper in terrified player.

I love Aabria's GM-ing in a lot of other things (ACOFAF is S-tier), but I think this highlights why I found EXU Prime harder to get into. The Crownkeepers tend to lack a motivating goal from the off-set, making it a bit hard for me to figure what they're trying to do and why.

Still, starting off with PVP might be the wakeup!

HA! Matt Mercer doing the ad read. Love it.

Spider Queen is intimidating and poor, poor Opal.

Holy shit, Opal's raising into the air and burning the forest. Hahaha make Aimee choose which friend to destroy. Awwww forcing her into PvP!

Goddddddd Aabria is the Betrayer God here.

Black eyessssssss. Magic second set of arms.

God, imagine being Aimee rn.

27 on initiative??????

THE DARIAX ROLLS RETURN!

At least Opal can communicate her panic.

HASTE ON OPAL???? HA! VENMO TO HASTE THE ENEMY!

The Dariax rolls balance Morrighan's.

Aw, sweet with Morrighan and Opal whispering telepathically.

Amazing image of stone cold Opal in contrast.

I like how Matt and Aabria pop in with lessons for the others. Nice to see players propping each other up.

CRYSTAL RAPIER? NICE!

"She's just a little guy."

Absolutely fair, seeing weird shit for your Betrayer God Champion friend and just wanting to knock her the fuck out.

Kind of Anjali to tally up the numbers as they roll.

Eeeeeek, ripping a rapier down her thigh.

OPAL DOESN'T TAKE THE DAMAGE????? IS THAT A REACTION OR????

TED!

Hahaha "if Opal did crossfit".

(I googled it. Morrighan is played Erica.)

Oh christ Ted's helping. I wonder how much Morrighan knows about Ted.

"NONONO STOP!" as verbal component for Shield is fantastic.

I don't trust that this is Ted?? Does Ted know Opal's fucked right now??

"Why's the first thing you do drawing blood?" Well, because it's D&D.

Haste lets you go get a hotdog from Arby's. Vax knew this well.

Aabria's English accent is so American-version-of-English but I like how it sounds anyway.

Let the ashhole return, cowards!

Yeah, Robbie, this is a weird situation. Dorian's just choking on his flute. Yeah, trying to restrain Opal is a good plan. NO! NAT 20 minus 1 + 4 plus 13. Aimee/Opal, go! Get! It!

Nice, Aabria, failing forward is a lesson we can all incorporate.

NAT ONE PLUS 13?? ROBBIE! Cannot catch a break.

T_T Fy'ra being betrayyyyyed again. Ooh, very very cool from Anjali calling for a flashback.

(We still never got the response to Orym. Has that happened yet or it that going to be the bookend? I'm curious what this is going to mean for the actual campaign. It's a really fun idea to bring in another GM for a section. Sure, more Actual PlayTM than homegame but Matt at least gets to play.)

Haha Anjali welcome to the DM club! I know about this from the Ginny Di video. Anjali DMed an official lego game.

Can they free Opal?

Ohhh. The Wildmother wants this? Am I misunderstanding? Shit.

They can't separate Opal from the crown.

Love how different people set their dice.

Never take advice from GM Aabria :P

Holy shit these guys roll high.

I hardly ever see people take the dodge action.

I do like Opal a lot.

So the Spider Queen is just trying to full take over Opal. I wonder if Teven or the other Betrayer God Champion had this sort of thing happen.

GO AWAY FOREVER??? THEIR MOTHER DID THIS TO OPAL AND TED?? Evalux? A splinter group? I'M SO CONFUSED AND INTRIGUED! THE BEACON'S INVOLVED??? How tf did they get it in Byroden? So there's a splinter of Luxon followers who split themselves in one life instead? God, I hope the main cast get to watch this.

…..And Opal has no memory of it. Will we ever get this information?

Erica continues to roll like a god.

The turns have felt both long and fast. I've still got, like, an hour and a half.

I love how Matt describes/contextualises things, even as a player.

HA! CYRUS IS HERE?!

ROLL PERFORMANCE FOR HANDJOB

A 7!!!!!

Bless is good. Dariax panicking is great.

XD God initiative takes a long time in a big group.

THE ROLLS! THE DARIAX ROLLS!

Ah! Dariax is a bard! Yeah! So cuuuute for the Double Ds. "THE PERFORMING ARTS IS WORTH IT!"

So. All of them are blind in the darkness. Awesome, awesome move, Aimee.

Hahhahahahaha right. Warlock. No spell slots.

XD It's such a long game. No loo breaks.

SQUIRREL SPIDER FTW

Gotta love Cyrus. "NO DON'T SHOOT!" The himbo persists.

….Matt, what did you get for the WIS save?

PALADIN COMES IN FOR THE SAVE!

Hahahaha "that could can see". Okay. Blind mistystep? …..I'm sure 8 will get it.

Aww, attacking your friend's going to leave a bad taste in your mouth. Lay on Hands is good.

I appreciate Aabria's helpfulness as a GM.

Fy'ra good teammate.

Opal, again, is amazing. I love how she tackles such complex things in her very Her way. Preserves drama and humour in her self-absorbtion.

I wonder how Opal washes her hair under that crown?

Well, some allowance for fighting when Opal attacked them? Obvs harder emotionally than logically.

Aww everyone got to see the memory of Opal and Morrighan bonding.

HA! LOVE FY'RA BEING COMMANDER!

Dorian is forever clanking with all the instruments he carries. T_T 9 to dispel fails. Good plan though. Until back into the darkness he goes.

I like the idea of going back to the Crownkeepers, especially as a perspective on Opal and Dorian, but I'm two hours into this section and still don't quite get the full significance of it. Which is a shame. I still have faith, but I think this encounter would be more enjoyable if I understood better why we were seeing it in the Bell's Hells campaign.

I've always respected Opal/Aimee going in on being the asshole sister. Getting to see that perspective.

The gem flashbacks are cool.

"We can both be coins." "And we're richer for it!" Amazing. Great pun. Love Fy'ra. Love Ted coaching Opal.

Max offering blind Dariax up on a plate. Respect.

I LOVE MATT AS DARIAX! SO FUNNY!

Con sorcerer is smart.

Aabria has no luck against Dariax.

I'm sure that 9 WIS will help perception.

BARDIC COMES IN CLUTCH!

DIMENSION DOOR IS A BONUS ACTION?!

I. Love. Opal. Aimee plays her and her struggles and her relationships with everyone so well and nuanced. Dariax is a well-done character too. Real even behind the humour.

I leapt too, Aimee. Holy shit what the fuck, Spider Queen?

(Fuck you, Twitch, for skipping, my god).

Oh god, Cyrus, don't die.

Nooooo, Dariax. Living nightmares. Him and Dorian seeing their nightmares.

Spider Queen Opal wtf.

Pick up next week? Huh. I… am confused by this. Interesting encounter. I liked the drama between the Crown Keepers. But, again, I don't understand the significance for the Bell's Hells? So I reckon next week will be first half Crown Keepers, second half Bell's Hells. Huh. Interesting episode. It was fun, though I really don't deny still being on the edge of my seat to find out what's happening with the BH.

[v-67]

I think Bleach is just, so, emphasis on SO good.

Everything within it, I like.

The art style, the characters, the storyline, the plot, every thing.

When I told my friend who introduced me to anime, that I may start watching Bleach, he recommended strongly against it because it's slow and stuff.

But idk whyyyy I really had a strong feeling that I'll like it.

And, i don't read any description or watch any trailers because I want to not know anything priorly. So it really was just this feeling.

And I started watching it, and I ended up loving it.

Everything about this anime is just so beautiful.

It's something I truly love.

Every minute thing. Every small detail. Every character. The Bankai, shikai. Every damn thing.

It's so well thought, and so well written and so well crafted.

And with it's come back of The thousand year blood war arc. It has made me feel the feelings I carry for it continue.

The soundtrack, the animation

The personalities. The Captains, the fights. The looks of the characters when they're on a rampage/and a special mention to the Kenpachi fight because WOW.

The fight between Genryusai, the Bankai of Genryusai.

Oh my god.

It's absolutely thrilling, I could not blink my eyes.

It makes me stare, and appreciate it with awe.

I can watch it so many times, and still dicover so many things about the characters.

Specially the audiotracks. They're so perfect.

And they're not scared of showing bloodshed/idk why but it's just so.....thrilling? The way the deaths/attacks are so in detail, the cutting off of heads, the random holes in the body, the shoulder/body just gone....and it's somehow dark but not so disturbing, like the portrayal isn't super disturbing? Idk if you get that, but it's just perfectly balanced.

I love this anime.

And I love love love Ichigo Kurosaki.

He has such a distinct personality, and his vibe is jussttttt so (cool, happy, warm, kind, and so much more, makes my pupils go all big like a cat)

He's really just amazing.

I'll make a separate post for the Separation part after I complete it, this i wrote because I'm Re-watching the first part to remember the minor details before watching the second part and I'm just reminded of how much I love this anime. It's just really really good.

[themuse-if]

Another 20 (or so) Questions with Jo Nielsen

Interviewer: Welcome to another installment of our character interviews, where we dive deep into the lives and minds of our favorite cast members of The Muse. Today, we have Jo Nielsen with us, the drummer of The Rebel Rejects. Jo, thank you for joining us. Could you start by telling us what made you want to pursue music?

Jo: Hey, thanks for having me. Music has always been my refuge, especially after the tumultuous experiences of my upbringing. The drums, in particular, spoke to me – they're like my voice, expressing all the emotions I couldn't put into words.

Interviewer: How would you describe your music?

Jo: My drumming style is raw and energetic, I really feed off of Ro and De's energy. I tend to really let loose and leave it all on the kit. We have a blend of punk and post-punk, with slight influences from other genres thanks to De's eclectic taste.

Interviewer: How do you want to be seen by others?

Jo: I want to be seen as someone who's genuine and empathetic, who's been through struggles but still finds joy in life's simple pleasures.

Interviewer: How do you want your art to be seen by others?

Jo: I want my drumming to resonate with people, to be a source of comfort and empowerment. I want it to inspire others to find their own voice, just like music did for me.

Interviewer: What is your latest obsession?

Jo: I've been obsessed with hiking! I really love being outdoors, so I've been trying to hit all my favorite trails at home this summer before the move to university.

Interviewer: Describe your best friend(s).

Jo: De and Ro are literally the most amazing people I’ve ever met. When I first transitioned into normal life I wasn’t really sure what types of relationships I would form, but they showed up in my life and made me feel so seen and secure. They show me so many types of beauty in everything and truly keep me grounded when I’m feeling…lost. I know it’s cheesy but I would definitely say we’re soulmates.

Interviewer: Wow it sounds like you found true kindred spirits in De and Ro, that’s lovely. Could you describe your ideal partner?

Jo: Someone who's understanding and patient, who accepts me for who I am and supports my passions. Someone who's willing to go on adventures and explore the world with me. Also they have to get along with my friends, it’s an automatic deal breaker if they don’t.

Interviewer: What was your first kiss like?

Jo: I don’t really like to talk about it…it was a bit traumatic… I will tell you about what I like to think of as my first kiss. It was actually with Ro. *chuckles* I know, I know what you’re thinking, but it was actually really sweet. I had just finished opening up to them about my past and they asked me if I wanted a redo. It was nice…soft and gentle. Ro can actually be really sweet.   

Interviewer: Aw that's so cute! Ad I'm sorry but I have to ask, have you kissed since?

Jo: *starts to blush furiously* I uh…maybe once or twice…I mean did Ro say anything?

Interviewer: *stifles a laugh* Mmm I think I’ll let you ask them yourself. Moving on, have you ever been in love?

Jo: Not yet, but I believe in love and all its complexities. I think when it happens, it'll be a beautiful and transformative experience.

Interviewer: When was your last relationship, and why did it end?

Jo: I haven't been in a serious relationship yet. Honestly I had never even had real friends before Jo and De. I've been so focused on my music and my friends that I hadn’t really thought about dating. 

Interviewer: What’s your ideal Friday night?

Jo: I love just hanging out with the band, whether it’s practice, a gig, or just staying in. It’s alway super fun when we’re together.

Interviewer: What’s the last song you listened to?

Jo: "Love Will Tear Us Apart" by Joy Division. It's a classic that always hits me right in the feels.

Interviewer: How do you behave in a relationship?

Jo: I think I'd be a supportive partner, someone who's always there for their significant other no matter what. I believe in mutual respect and understanding in a relationship. I like to do little things for the people I love to show them I care.

Interviewer: Do you approach those you’re interested in or let them come to you?

Jo: I think it depends on the situation. I'm not afraid to make the first move if I feel a connection, but I also believe in letting things happen naturally.

Interviewer: What is your biggest pet peeve?

Jo: People who are closed-minded or judgmental. I believe in acceptance and understanding, so it frustrates me when others can't see things from different perspectives.

Interviewer: What do you notice first about a person?

Jo: Their energy. I believe in vibes, and I can usually tell right away if someone is genuine and authentic.

Interviewer: What did you dream about last night?

Jo: I think it was more of a nightmare…*gets comically serious* I dreamt I was on stage completely naked, with just me and my drum kit. And I was using bananas instead of drumsticks. AND even worse the audience was throwing bananas at me! *hides face in hands* That’ll teach me to eat a banana before bed.

Interviewer: *doubles over laughing* Alright Jo...not to suddenly get serious but... This is the final question, and I know this is a sensitive subject for you, but I have to ask. What's "the incident" that caused you and you mother to transition back into normal life?

Jo: *sighs so deeply* I... honestly... I still don't think that I'm ready to share that just yet. It's very personal and I only feel comfortable sharing that information with someone who has thoroughly earned my trust.

Interviewer: I understand, I'm sure it takes a lot for you to even open up this much. Thank you for today. It's been wonderful getting to learn more about you.

[amerricanartwork]

9. and 20. please.

Also love the new lil scugsona. Very fitting for you.

@scavworld's Rain World Questionnaire

Thanks for the ask! Just a quick note, that little character was actually meant to be a scug-ified version of my regular avatar, which I should probably make a ref for soon. I've always just liked the idea that it can "transform" into a different creature to match whatever fandom I'm dealing with, so I thought I'd portray it as a slugcat in this case!

Anyway though, onto the actual questions...

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

9. What are your opinions on Five Pebbles (character)?

Ohhh, now that's a very interesting matter! I really like characters like him because they're so fascinating to me! For now I will disregard the fantastical element of him being a massive supercomputer, because even though in-and-of-itself I think that's such a unique concept even in fiction, especially after I realized that Five Pebbles and Looks to the Moon really are the core of not just the "story" of Rain World but even the in-game environment itself, I imagine I'll have another chance to touch up on this so I'll save my longer thoughts on that for later.

That being said, I'll start by saying I love thinking about characters from a psychological perspective, trying to figure out why they are the way they are, why they do what they do, what they really want vs. what they think they want, how they really perceive themselves vs. how they present themselves publicly, etc. Characters like Five Pebbles are always an especially interesting choice for this kind of pondering, because, as flawed as they may be, so much of the situation around them also contributed to their downfall that I refuse to let everyone else off the hook too. And since I also don't believe anyone is inherently a "bad" person, it's really fun to ponder just how these characters go from being alright people to doing such terrible things and meeting such tragic ends.

To put it shortly, Five Pebbles (and other characters like him) is in my interpretation a great example of karma in the more real-life meaning, and the "you attract more of what you think about the most" idea. Five Pebbles always seemed to feel trapped by and at arms with his surroundings, from the great opposition to his very existence from the True Anointed Citadel, to him literally being physically stuck to Looks to the Moon, to the fear of opposition he must have had as a Sliverist, to him being stuck dealing with the rot, and finally with his collapse, left as a tiny fraction of himself buried in the cold, lifeless remains of his superstructure, with truly no way out on his own. Because he was so focused on escaping the perceived confines around him, all he did, albeit unknowingly, was end up finding more nets to get trapped in.

And again, while I think everyone around him did contribute to his awful end in some way, stories like these are still pretty sad to me because, in the end, I think these characters themselves need to learn to change their thinking, yet all the harshness they face can so easily lead them to create a vicious cycle. Five Pebbles isn't the first character I've enjoyed strongly whose story seemed to play out this way, and as sad as it is, it's also very intriguing.

And besides, it opens up plenty of potential for redemption arc AU stories—!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

20. What is something you think the game could improve on?

The short answer: incentive.

The long answer: Let me start off by saying Rain World, to me, is fascinating largely as more of an art project than a normal video game. It's amazing how a relatively simple concept of a small animal in an urban environment they can't understand morphed into something so vast and extensive, combining nature with technology, science with religion, sci-fi with fantasy, and dunking it all in a super unique aesthetic that fuses urban street style with fancy ancient artwork, it's amazing!

BUT so much of this is lost to players because the game does, in my opinion, a pretty bad job of conveying it all. It's very confusing , especially to new players, and the only means of discovering the greater context of the story, besides just hearing it from other players/fans, is if not downright frustrating at least very tedious. And that's just getting the story itself. I think most people who have played this game haven't even made it that far, because the gameplay alone is so difficult the first time playing that if you aren't captivated by the mystery factor of the environment (or like me and also stubbornly dedicated to getting the bragging rights of having beat such a difficult game), you're too busy just trying to not die every other cycle to bother really exploring and ferrying the pearls to Moon, much less making sense of what you uncover.

I think the blank stare of the slugcats looking up at Five Pebbles perfectly encapsulates what I'm getting at here. You've got this absolutely fascinating story about a mechanical god who flew too close to the sun in a desperate attempt to escape the confines of his life, meanwhile the little slugcat is just all "...'kay", because what does this little animal care about the crazy religious hubris of some long-gone existence-hating people and their sad crumbling calculator robots when all it wants its is to just find more food and not get eaten again?

For a bit of devil's advocate, I will say that I think the difficulty of just playing the game and then figuring out its story, first of all is pretty "realistic" from the perspective of simulating a real-life ecosystem and having an animal discover complex lore in a way that they'd be physically capable of, but secondly has led the Rain World fandom to be really tight-knit compared to other fandoms I've seen. It seems like everyone I've come across is at least in the process of playing through all the campaigns, if not having already completed them and established some level of their own interpretation of the story, because they are all genuinely interested in the game, its characters, world, story, and themes enough to persevere through all the struggles of gameplay and lore confusion to enjoy it. However, it's also the same thing that makes this fandom rather small, which is also fine by me; I think there's lots of value in quality niche content!

With all that said though, I can't deny that I think this game isn't very good at getting players geuninely interested in all it has to offer. For evidence, consider how few players have even met Five Pebbles, who is perhaps the most important character in the entire game story-wise (Steam achievements has the "The Journey" Achievement at 12.0% of players as of posting this). Even from my experiences, I didn't even know what "Sliverist" actually meant until a couple weeks ago, and I've been playing this game and involved in the fandom for months at this point!

So yeah. To sumarize, in my opinion, Rain World is a fascinating and very inspiring art project, but most of what it has to offer is lost to most players because it's terrible at giving you a reason to care about it all. Thus, the main thing I think it could improve upon is giving players a reason to care about its worldbuilding and story enough to continue playing.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Well, that was long, but pretty fun! I hope these answers suffice! Keep the questions coming!

[qdkdraws]

Hi!

So I recently downloaded Webtoon and of course the first thing I searched for was your adaptation of the fic, ‘A Horrific Fantasy’! I didn’t realise it was a fanfic, so I might wait until Alastor is introduced in the comic before reading as I really don’t want to be spoiled on what he’ll be like in it.

So, I started reading the webcomic and I was just in absolute awe of every single thing about it. I’ve reread it multiple times now because I just love your art style so much. The colors, the linework, the beautiful detailing on the text boxes, all the textures in the backgrounds, the composition (I especially love the start of the Prologue and how the text box drips into the present day), the amazing human designs of all the characters — IT’S ALL AMAZING!!! 🌟

I loved it so much that the first thing I did when I saw my friend today was show the comic to him, and then I did the same thing when I called my family from home today — I was just showing them all like LOOK AT HOW AMAZING THIS IS!!

Besides me being an art student who loves to fangirl about these things, I also wanted to ask if you have any art advice for people who want to make comics or just any general advice that helped you improve as an artist? No worries at all if not, though!

I also always like to ask people who their favorite artists are as I find it interesting to learn about other people’s inspirations, so if you’re happy to share about that as well I’d love to know!

I hope this ask wasn’t too long, but I’ll finish it off by saying I’m really looking forward to future chapters (no rush at all, though — I understand these things take a lottt of time and effort to make) as well as all the artwork you post here on Tumblr because it’s all incredible! Hope you have a nice weekend! :D 💖

I don't think it's worth waiting for the comic to check out the fanfic, because it will take me a long time to get to the chapter with his first appearance (and my work schedule + additional art for the soul is not helping with this, haha)

Well, considering that I'm just self-taught, I can only advise a lot of watching and practicing. This is how I learned: I didn’t have any special courses or training (although that’s obvious, I guess xD), I just found cool guys and tried to adapt some their details to my art - sometimes it worked, sometimes not, and in the end we have what we have now.

Favorite artists… Pixmilk (his Inktober art is absolute gold), Piсolo-kun (or rather his challenge 365), Thomas Fischbach and his comic "Twokinds" (love how simple and harmonious his style looks), Nicholas Kole, Glen Keane and his sketches. I also really adore the old stylized cartoons like "My Life as a Teenage Robot" and how the designs don't even try to be realistic but are still expressive.

Aaaand thanks for the feedback! ~<3 This is my first comic where I do both the storyboard and the art myself (in my previous comics I was just an artist, the layout was done by the author), and such a high rating motivates me to continue trying (◕‿◕)

[snowmist-hashira]

Your oc is cool........ Can you do an appreciation post? If you don't want to just delete this then byeeee!!!!!!!!

//Oh boy... Here we go again, cracks neck and knuckles-

I will try to keep it as concise as possible~

Thank you though! I would ask which OC, but then again I think it's my profile(?)

@aeolia18; As you all know, we talk to each other frequently and share things, she spoils me with her smut fanfictions- You should check it out HAHA!

@theyslaydemons; I simp, HAHA. Who wouldn't-?! Got inspired to post my work here because of her~ We interact everyday, fangirling about our boys- HAHA

@valartsstuff; Ah yes. The cute cat that I adopted- kidnapped. Also holds a special place in my heart. Lala had just opened her commission so check it out~

@xaeoism; Adorable innocent-fluffy-precious creature. Amazing writer and a shy individual, but a chance to evolve into a bundle of chaos. Waiting for it.

@demonslayeranimex; Checks in on me frequently, we mostly converse unless I'm too busy to reply. Which is like majority of my time.

@sakurasunkiss; Precious artist that draws and spoil me with artworks, her style is cute!~ I have it all saved up in my gallery.

@cloudymistedskies; Another precious artist, I love the plot and details of her character that's shipped with Mui~ Rooting for the two, or I'll just smack them together

@ta-ni-ya; Her art style is so good! To think that my OC would be drawn by these amazing artists, I'm still in awe of it

@kurumi-igarashi; Commissioned artworks and emotes belongs to her, also spoils us with lots of artworks~ Kuru does commissions as well, if you're interested, check her profile

@muikitoo; Fellow writer~ Does both twins and other characters, supportive with all my works too~ Adorable writing style!

@mistymxxn; Speaking of, also a supportive fellow writer! I really love that fic that involves both twins!

@unofficialmuilover; Another supportive fellow writer, her ideas are intriguing and interesting! Kudos for being able to juggle work and your hobby!

@naramaiz; The snake is quite adorable HAHA! I've never encountered an OC like that, consistent supportive of my works too~

@yuichiroleftarm; The remnants of Yuichiro's body- HAHA. A bundle of chaotic ball, her personality is so chaotic, I love it.

Even among those not specifically mentioned here, there are a considerable number of individuals who support my work. I truly value and appreciate each and every one of them!