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lostelfwriting · 3 months

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Bury Me with a Rose, We Both Have Thorns (Prologue)

Rating: Explicit

AO3 Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Death & Dream, Dream & Hob, Dream/Hob Gadling

Characters: Dream of the Endless | Morpheus, Death of the Endless, Hob Gadling, Jessamy, Matthew, Corinthian, Lucienne

Additional Tags: NO Major Character Death, Hanahaki Disease, Terminal Illnesses, Thoughts about death and dying, Decaying Health, Refusing Treatment, Strong Language, Unrequited Love, Enemies to ?, Past Minor Characters Death(s), Protective Death of the Endless, Doctor Human!Death of the Endless, Alternate Universe - Human, Tattoo Artist Dream of the Endless | Morpheus, Flower Shop Owner Hob Gadling, Blood, Angst with a Happy Ending

Word count: 32k

I'm posting the whole work here on the 1st of March, but I strongly reccommend you read it on AO3, where I will be posting one chapter per day. Either way, click Read More or go to AO3 to read the Prologue!

Written for the event @the-centennial-husbands-bigbang. With beautiful art by @five-and-dimes!

It is a slow day at the studio, so while he is waiting for his next appointment, Dream is – like he does almost all of his free time – sketching new tattoo designs to add to his portfolio and listening to music loud enough to completely shut out his own thoughts. He is sketching a snake, having no doubt that it will catch someone’s eye. There is always someone who wants a tattoo of a snake. He pauses to look at his progress and ends up snorting in disbelief.

The drawing is truly a snake, but the reptile is weaving among the stems of flowers instead of a dead branch like Dream had intended. And they are ugly flowers at that. He is pretty sure that he gave a pot of those flowers to his secondary school teacher, who always called him Murphy, even though he hated that nickname. He can’t resist snapping a picture of the flowers with his phone and trying to look up what they are, but once he finds the name – cyclamen – he refuses to look up their meaning. It would surely be something stupid, like forbidden love, or maybe hopelessness.

Even the snake’s scales seem to actually be made of flower petals, and Dream rolls his eyes as he flips the page of his sketchbook. The downside to trying to tune his mind out is that he doesn’t notice when his subconsciousness begins to interfere with his process, and it has led to many flowery paintings in the past months. With a sigh, he starts copying the usable parts of the design onto another page until an insistent thought makes him pause mid-movement.

Just a few weeks ago, he would have been furious if this had happened. He used to tear those ruined sketches to pieces and then go outside into the late winter chill and glare at every passing person who dared to look his way. He wished they all felt as bad as he did, and most of all, his neighbour with his shop opposite Dream’s studio, with its bright, flowery logo.

Today’s drawing incident feels like just a small inconvenience. He feels zero anger, though he might still opt to destroy the sketch later, just for the miniscule satisfaction that the action will bring him. Or maybe he will keep it. Pin it to the wall next to his bed and look at it every night. He will look at the ugly flowers and realise with wry amusement and aching hollowness that he has finally accepted his fate.

He, Morpheus Endeles, is going to die.

He thinks about it and waits for anger or grief to appear, but they don’t. Good. He was getting sick of the self-pity. It has been months since he noticed the first symptom – the occasional cough – as something seemed to tickle his throat, easily blamed on a bit of dust. And then, a bit later, when he lay awake late at night and everything around him was quiet, he heard the soft rustle of leaves as he breathed. He didn’t need a doctor to tell him that he had the Hanahaki Disease. He tears the ruined sketch out and shreds it into tiny pieces, enjoying the bit of satisfaction that it brings him. Maybe he is still harbouring some badly suppressed anger. He doesn’t need a fortune teller to tell him that he has no chance of getting affection from the person he hopelessly loves. Because it is his neighbour, the owner of The White Rose, Robert Gadling, a straight man who rightfully dislikes Dream.

+*+*+*+*+

Cyclamen: resignation and good-bye

#my writing #bury me with a rose #centennial husbands big bang #dreamling #hanahaki disease #angst #happy ending

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kishdoodles · 29 days

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Treebark Week 2024 - A Post-Mortem

Hi! If you haven’t seen, I have released seven (7!) videos for Treebark Week 2024! This wall of text is my behind the scenes and also post-mortem thoughts on the project, which I found worth documenting.

Even if you don’t end up reading the text, I appreciate every comment, tag, and view my videos get. I did it for the fun of it and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t do it for the attention. I did, because I think these videos are the funniest things I’ve ever released. Shoutout to @thefluxqueen for being my partner in crime and confidant for these. You saw my vision.

I wanted to do something for Treebark week but admittedly I had noooo idea. So this whole gimmick was a fun set up for me to stretch my creativity in. What started as “I’m just going to do everything in mspaint with a mouse” spiraled to “I think it’s going to get boring if everything’s in the same style, so I’m going to have to do something different everyday.”

The important factor to me throughout all of this is earnesty.

Even if its life started as a joke, this project is a love letter in every respect. This is what I grew up on, this is the YouTube that is precious to me. Capturing this era of time in 7 videos is all at once easy, yet surprisingly laborious.

First I planned the songs. Fitting the songs with the prompts was a brain scratcher, but once we (me and Spain) had a few in the rest slotted in pretty easily. Common thread was, of course, any popular song from the mid-late 2000s.

The first confirmed song was Sugar, Sugar for Sweet (Day 2) courtesy of Spain, given the Eddsworld video. We had a few songs for Burn (Day 3) or Infernal (Day 4) which we threw out (Elli Goulding’s Burn, 2NE1’s Fire, Steam Powered Giraffe’s Fire Fire, etc.) I ended up digging through my old playlist and listened to 20% Cooler, which after a realization I immediately slotted it for Frost (Day 1). Spain brought up the Heat Waves parody (Cold Spells) for Frost too, to which I realized I could just do regular Heat Waves, so that became what I did for Burn.

Bring Me To Life was brought to my attention (I forgot how, maybe Youtube recommendations?) and with the lyrics, it became the song for Blood (Day 7). The all time classic, Angel with a Shotgun, fit in nicely with the prompt of Divine (Day 4), so there was no contest. Another classic, Everytime We Touch, was harder to fit but I eventually reasoned through the prompts enough to fit it with Lips (Day 5) (the everytime we kiss part).

At this point, nothing I’ve found fit Day 6 (picnic/garden/strawberry) at ALL. So I decided the only way I knew how. RANDOM CHOICE!

Mad World won but that was a trap, for I have biased myself toward Animal I’ve Become at that point and it almost won, so I went with that instead. This is a lawless land.

The actual video ideas really came to me in piecemeal, so I’ll explain how I got each idea as I cover each day in order of when I completed them.

20% Cooler (Day 1) was the most straightforward of the days. It was done in 1 hour and 30 minutes and I was purposefully being extremely literal about the lyrics. I already had the vision for what I want, and I didn’t want to care about quality all that much, so it came together really fast.

For my process, I lined with mspaint brush and then bucket tooled with default colours. I took advantage of the new layer system mspaint added for some scenes, but otherwise it was as simple as just drawing. (Pictured, 3 layers for 2 scenes.)

It was really easy to just quickly edit in Windows Movie Maker 6 too, I just dragged the pictures in, slapped effects, roughly timed everything and it’s done.

Programs used: mspaint, Windows Movie Maker 6

Sugar, Sugar (Day 2) was an honest effort at avoiding any complicated animations. I initially thought of doing an animation similar to the original video that inspired the song choice, but eventually scaled back because. I don’t want to animate.

Thus came the decision of subject matter. I ended up settling on the demon roleplay because I thought it was the campiest thing in the world. And it was a sweet reunion, no? The lyrics just fit the vibe, and in a moment of brilliance (hitting the showers) I thought to make a visual novel. One reflective of old flash games and like the visual novels of cultural zeitgeist at the time.

I’ve known about Ren’py for quite some time now, but I’ve never properly learned how to use it. For this my task was simple. Find out how to change sprites, backgrounds, and move people into the scene.

Sprites and backgrounds were easy, so those were the first things I did. Ren’s sprites were inspired in design by Demon Hunters in the Warcraft world, mostly because I was playing a lot of Hearthstone and liked the idea. Martyn’s sprite style was inspired by early 2000s anime visual novels, like Higurashi (though I’ve personally never consumed it nor do I actually recommend consuming this piece of media (neutral) its ripple throughout the anime community was felt. Notably, parodies of the anime’s opening were very popular.) I toned back the stylizations, but trust me when I say that Martyn’s hands were purposefully big to be yaoi hands. It didn’t end up that big, and I did not give him the dorito chin here so, immense self control on my part (or cowardice?). False and Joel were just my regular style. For all this I used my tablet instead of my mouse.

The programming part was a little troublesome, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t google, so it got done pretty fast. There’s other small bits, like how I mismatched the background sizes, the sprite sizes (with each other)(minorly) but for the most part it came together pretty quick. Once the VN was done, it was just about recording it. So I put on the song, and danced along.

[You can download the VN here]

Programs used: Ren’Py, OBS, mspaint, After Effects (just to move the scene over at the beginning)

So I knew I wanted a classic style AMV, so that eventually became Everytime We Touch (Day 5).

The pictures mostly come from a discord server I’m in (hi [redacted]!!!!) and I thought of it like a nice homage to the insanity we had in there. Bless all of you guys, you guys were the ones I wanted this series to be made for the most.

Not much to say beyond that, besides me just editing it all on movie maker as usual.

Programs used: Windows Movie Maker 6

Angel With a Shotgun (Day 4) was the last to be planned for. I predicted it was going to be the easiest to make on the fly (it was) and just kind of winged it. I wanted a unique style still for it though, and the idea of drawing their cubitos came pretty late.

I was not exempt from this trend in my youth (my art in mspaint, age 11, me and my sister)

The rest was history. Just kidding, I really wanted something to do with the shotgun thing so I literally searched “shotgun” in Curseforge and got MrCrayfish’s gun mod just for the shotgun. I loaded up the 3rd Life world I had from my Broken Lives animatic (it’s a custom made world using the seed) and just got to work with FreeCam and OBS (it’s my first time with FreeCam too!)

A rejected clip I didn’t use because of skin consistency / continuity.

Programs used: Minecraft, mspaint, Windows Movie Maker 6

Heat Waves (Day 3) acquired a pixel art style as an homage to its original lyric video. People have said it reminded them of Homestuck, which I honestly don’t mind. It fits the era and I did grow up with it. It kinda looped back in on itself that way.

I blame this frame, here's it as a gif which lies unused.

For the video, the more I rewatched bits of Last Life for it (it’s been a while!) I realized it had a lot more potential than I initially thought. Though I doubt most of it didn’t come through in the final product (I limit these videos to a minute or less, if possible, excepting credits and allowing few more seconds over the minute mark so long as it felt warranted), I tried to cram in what I thought fitting to the prompt the whole time.

The watch tower burning was an easy pick, a classic Treebark moment you might say. For the rest of it, the nuance laid a lot in how Martyn presented the Shadow Alliance. “The Dog, The Shadow, The Roots. We make this place burn.” Under the eyes of the moon, it witnessed this pact form, and its resolution for the server. The moon is included in multiple frames because of this, as a stand-in for the eye of the Watcher(s) I included at the start, watching Martyn through the series.

In a lot of ways, how Lizzie and BigB turned red I also found fascinating. Lava and explosions you could argue are an extension of burning and fire, and an explosion was also how Martyn left the series. Ren, from the start of this alliance, inexplicably committed to and saw through what ultimately rips the people he was loyal to away from him.

Martyn on the other hand, I drew in the later portions quite aware of the position he’s in, hence only his eye in the frame with the last 4 folks. This to me starts a path for him toward where he goes in the later serieses (notably in Limited Life). This is all very “vibes” and instinctual kind of “trust me on this” sort of read on c!Martyn honestly.

On missed opportunities, I’m almost upset at how I never brought up the moment Martyn buys a love crystal from Scar (never used, it got blown up) which I (and a lot of other) may have delusionally thought it was for Ren. Besides that, I never had a chance to desaturate the colours in the video leaving only red (which Ren did upon the encounter of the establishment of the Moon Cult)(it really emphasized Martyn’s lips!), I tried just plain desaturating, but ended up ditching it since it never felt like it jived well with the rest of the video.

All that aside, I finished this one really late (for me, which was past midnight on the day it was going to be posted), so I’m glad it was out on time. It’s the one I put in the most effort for, and I’m glad to see people enjoy it.

The eye on its own, which reveals the Watcher symbol I accidentally did in the wrong orientation. Oops!

Programs used: Aseprite, After Effects

Animal I Have Become (Day 6) was thought on for a while. Eventually I have my eureka moment and I thought it was a nice shout out to the Bannedstory community who I’ve followed in my early days, where I’d watch animations of people’s custom OCs (original characters) made with Maplestory sprites animated to audio clips that I really wasn’t supposed to be listening to at the time lol. That, and all the online games and the like I grew up with on the early internet. I personally didn’t partake in it, but roleplaying on those was a common sight, and I found it endearing.

My partner in crime for this day in particular was @thefluxqueen, because I really can’t be bothered with character customization for a lot of these games (I respect the craft but I lack the patience), but I knew who LOVED doing that. He really knocked it out of the park, helping me do the Gachalife, Club Penguin, and the characters for Animal Jam and Ponytown. For the latter, they handed me the account information and we just went to town.

A Treebark stream in a just world.

I can’t tell you exactly how I assigned the lyrics, but I definitely assigned the animal sections during the chorus so it was a surprise (and so it also fit the lyrics). I did have fun recording and we had a fun time in Ponytown. We were shown where other mcyt fans are by a Grian pony (Hermit Hill) and then we hung out there sitting down while we workshopped the Bannedstory segments with both our sonas together. All in all a great time.

It took a few takes.

Programs used: Bannedstory 3 (I would’ve loved to use 4, I grew up with that!), Gachalife, Club Penguin, Animal Jam, Ponytown, Windows Movie Maker 6, OBS

For Bring Me to Life (Day 7)... I ended up getting more attached to the thought of it the longer this project went on.

I wanted it to be the end all be all, go out with a bang and everything. I kept thinking and thinking, how do I end Treebark week? After a week of homages, how do I make the last one?

What’s beyond my childhood? It was just growing up. But it’s not like I had to let anything go. My artistic endeavors are influenced by all of my experiences. I saw good reason to bring it all home, do a callback to the styles of the entire week, it’s my victory lap.

And why not call back every instance of Treebark through the entire series then? This evolved into me learning more about Martyn’s lore because I want to be informed! I want to make this as someone who earnestly loves the narrative of these characters, and the stories they’ve told.

From a story perspective, it felt like Martyn was always doomed to tragedy. Suppose the life series always does end tragically, but Martyn’s Vtuber in relation to all this has its own inherent tragedy to it. In my eyes, this roamer of cyberspace constantly has to live through different lives with familiar people. The people he loved and cared for in one world will always be ripped from him, and he knows that.

Amongst everything the Unguided Hand gets me the most. In the video I drew the Ren he chases as a shadow. He’ll never get the Ren he knew then, back. Even if he meets another Ren in another world, it's never going to be The Red King. To me, Limited Life is the snapping point, a point of selfishness above all else in the comfortable knowledge that he wins, without ever needing to experience the same closeness and loyalty he had in lives past. The realization that this is what the game was about. Winning at all costs. I wanted the progression to reflect that.

Deep down, maybe he yearns to be saved from all that. The song echoes that sentiment. I tried to match the lyrics to how I saw the timeline of events as close as possible for that to hit. In this, Ren is his anchor, someone that he gets drawn to no matter the incarnation. The tragedy is that Ren, even if he knows about what Martyn’s going through, can’t join him in this journey. Martyn will always be alone in this experience, and Ren can only be a short comfort before the cycle starts anew.

I quite liked the pixel art I did for LimLife!Martyn

From a meta perspective, this video (and by extension, the whole series) is about art and creating. I have been obsessed with art for 14 years now, and as time goes on I’ve grown fond of every way that we, as people, have evolved our storytelling. The multitudes of mediums that we have developed to express ourselves and share narratives will continue to fascinate me endlessly. Cringe be damned, there is a universal desire to create and enjoy stories of all folds. From the smallest story told from painstakingly typing chat boxes for little custom-made characters to say, to the highest production play put on for multiple hours in a game of Minecraft.

And at the beginning of my journey lay paper and pencil. Bring Me To Life is an elaborate pun on my end, yes, but also a reflection of my roots. I started my journey as an artist endlessly doodling the adventures of tiny magical girls fighting demons, drawing fanart of costumes in MMO games I found cool, and sharing them with my friends at school. I find myself still drawing, still creating, for hundreds, if not thousands of eyes to see. Still I get inspired by the stories others tell, and I create in turn. In appreciation, in love.

Bring Me To Life as a song, is a slate that, to me, reflected what I saw in the relationship of Treebark. Bring Me To Life is also a demand, of a piece of art that I had a vision for, that I wanted to bring to life. I struggled at how to end it for a while. Closing the book became very straightforward. It’s the end of this video, this saga, and another way that me, as a Watcher myself (as what they’re originally meant to represent) exercises control over stories in my own unique way. Creation is never limited to a select few. I think everyone should keep getting inspired by the things around them, and keep making art in turn.

To the people who’ve made it til the end here, make art, keep creating. Do shitty doodles, write whatever you want, make sounds and crafts and keep living. That’s all I really want, and this was what this whole series was about.

Programs used: mspaint, Aseprite, Blockbench, Bannedstory 3, Pencil and paper, After Effects

#art #writing #mcyt #treebark #treebarkweek #treebarkweek2024 #inthelittlewood #rendog #itlw #kishdrabbles

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greed-the-dorkalicious · 1 year

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All the discussion around AI lately got me thinking about an incident recently in which a guy got his ass sorely beat by the vocal synth community

For those of you not familiar, “vocal synths” in the electronic music sense typically refers to programs like Vocaloid, SynthV, UTAU, Alter/Ego, DeepVocal, etc., digital instruments that allow composers to create, as the name implies, synthesized vocal tracks. The way they work is that they draw from libraries (referred to as “voicebanks” or VB for short) of special studio recorded* vocal samples from singers singing different syllables at a consistent pitch. The program then splices these together and adjusts the pitch to match whatever notes you put in- You want to do All Star, it’s gonna string together “[suh][m] [buh][di] [wuh][n][s] [tO][ld] [mi]” or something like that. Basically it’s an extremely complicated sampler.

(*unless you’re using UTAU or another build-your-own-vocal program in which the “studio” is only metaphorical, and is sometimes somebody’s basement with a Rockband mic plugged into a laptop.)

Now, there is no threat of vocal synths putting actual singers out of a job. Even the best vocal synths always have a bit of a robotic sound to them, and the voicebanks take hundreds of hours of recording time from you know, actual singers. Any piece made with vocal synths has to be worked by a human hand in a process called “tuning” in order to sound any good, whether you’re trying to make it sound human or leaning into the robotic sound. This isn’t something that’s being done on a corporate scale to cut costs- This is something pretty much exclusively being done by small scale indie music hobbyists because we fucking love Hatsune Miku and her weird buddies. Most folks are less interested in doing something that sounds 1:1 like a human voice and more in going beyond what humans can do to make shit like this

youtube

One of the leading vocal synths right now is Synthesizer V (SynthV), created by a company called Dreamtonics. SynthV offers fancier versions of some of its voicebanks, which are called “AI” voicebanks. These use machine learning trained on, again, professionally recorded and legally licensed vocal samples to help make songs sound a little bit more smooth, a little bit more in line with whatever singing style you’re aiming for. Everything else previously mentioned still applies: They’re still painstakingly recorded and programmed, you still need to tweak it yourself to get it to sound just right, and it’s still never going to sound 100% like a human. And that’s fine!

For this next bit y’all are gonna have to trust me because the tweets all got deleted, though if anyone wants I’m happy to pull up screencaps of talking shit about it with other vocal synth folks when it happened lmfao

So basically. Since ChatGPT type grifters have convinced people that “AI” means “magic plagiarism button”, back in April some dipshit NFT guy on Twitter started complaining on an official SynthV update post that SynthV (which he apparently believed to be called “Dreamtonics”, the name of the company that makes it) should allow people to make voicebanks from “their own voice”, insisting that it would be easy and PROFITABLE!™ to do so. He also clearly did not actually mean “their own voice” but rather “the voices of celebrity singers shamelessly lifted without their consent”, which was made extra obvious from a tweet on his own page that was like “Teehee people in monitored Twitter spaces don’t realize their voices are being recorded and fed into AI!” which he then deleted after I linked it on the thread about SynthV. lol.

Dude proceeded to get whupped by actual vocal synth people basically saying shit along the lines of “Yeah we can all tell you just want to commit cheap plagiarism, jackass” and “Dude why are you here when you clearly don’t understand the very very basics of what this software even is” and “Go make an UTAU voicebank if it’s so easy then”. (UTAU being a Japanese freeware program that hasn’t been updated since 2013. Creating an UTAU voicebank is complicated and takes a lot of time and technical knowledge.) He still refused to learn the basics of how vocal synths work, and proceeded to ask if “UTAU or Diff is most compatible with Dreamtonics”, a question absolutely no one could make any sense of? Lol.

Anyway, I don’t have anywhere in particular I’m going with this, I just think AI grifters are morons, and it’s obnoxious how the vague and misleading term “AI” has gotten nigh-mythologized by shady tech companies to the point that people can’t tell the difference between perfectly reasonable assistive technology and magic plagiarism.

Btw, fun fact for anyone who’s wondering, there do in fact exist legally/morally questionable UTAU voicebanks spliced from outside vocals. These are called “jinriki” voicebanks and not only do they take the same amount (if not more) of hard work as any other voicebank, they’re far from the insta-Beyoncé this dude was aiming for, and instead they sound um. like this

youtube

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robyn-goodfellowe · 2 months

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Hi uhh idk how to say it but any tips on writing in general? I really wanna write my story I have stored in my doc but I don’t know where to start.

hello!! i am very honored that you came to ME to ask because i love to talk about writing, so thank you :) with that being said this might get a little long so ill put everything under a readmore, but all of my advice can be summarized like this

tl;dr: just start!!!

i KNOW. in my soul. that there's genuinely nothing more every aspiring writer hates to hear than "just start" lol but it really does come down to that. just start. whatever you put on the page doesnt have to be PERFECT, it just has to be there. my first drafts for anything are never solid. my initial drafts are NEVER the quality of the final

and its through careful, consistent rewriting that it becomes something more palatable and fun/easy to read. what ive noticed a lot of new writers do (and i used to be very prone to this as well) is that they go into their drafts expecting to drop their final product there, and aim for perfection. i cannot stress enough that perfection is THE ENEMY in literature. you can rewrite things thousands of times for it to turn out imperfect in the end, and thats OKAY. you'll end up with a draft you like eventually, but don't expect yourself to find it right away. it takes me a lot of consistent writing sessions to have a paragraph that im satisfied with. itll come to you naturally

but the best advice i can offer is really just ... START. open google docs and just write down your thought process, whatever that looks like for you. maybe its the summarisation of a few scenes you like, maybe its a chunk of an out of context paragraph. whatevers in your head, put it on paper and see where you can go from there. thats really the only way you can start

outside of that some of my big things are being consistent and READING. i write for at minimum half an hour every day (not always fic lol! i am a creative writing major, am working on my manuscript and also trying to get published in some small-scale literary magazines and sites. so im always working on something, basically) and its probably the only thing in my life i am super consistent about. maintaining a habit and making yourself write even when you dont "feel like it" or cant find motivation is the best way to keep writing long term. and reading, well, how i like to put it to my friends is that creativity is like a well. you cant keep drawing from it without filling it up eventually. you need good writing and good words to inspire you so you can keep drawing from your creative well. when im not writing im reading and you should be too. you really cant have one habit without the other

are really immersing myself in the world that i've created for my silly little guys. i am, at all times of the day, immersed into my stories one way or another. im almost constantly curating pinterest boards, or making playlists, or sharing it with my friends (the last one is highly important. the best way to stay encouraged is to have someone to share with) and so theres not really a day when im not thinking about what i want to write to some extent

but yeah basically thats all of the advice i can offer. write, write, write and don't be afraid for it to be not perfect. nobody is perfect, you are human. so just have fun with it

hope this can help ssomewhat! :)

#answered #writing #tql spoilers #<- used a scene from it as an example!#im not a professional though (YET) so please take all of my advice with a grain of salt #use what works and ignore the rest #also that doodle is very old but i think its still fitting

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peridyke · 16 days

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How many comics do you have? and where can I find them?

thank you for asking!!!!

sadly right now i don’t have any finished comics to show off as I only recently got the time to seriously work on my art BUT i do have a variety of projects that i can show off! there’s some stuff i’m actively working on and other stuff that’s more of a back burner thing but let me list out everything i’ve done/have planned on doing

1) angel bites

ok so my current project i’m working on right now is called angel bites and it’s actually going to be a fun lesbian erotica comic about an angel girl and devil girl who are bandmates and who secretly hook up on the side. i’m currently in the process of thumbnailing this one and i’m guessing it’s gonna be around 60 or so pages. once im done i’m gonna have the comic up on patreon/have it for sale digitally on a platform like itch.io BUT the first 20ish pages are sfw so I will post those publicly for free so i can show off my work and characters.

i designed these in universe pin ups that i haven’t posted publicly yet and even though i wanted to wait until i finish the third one in the series that’s a little sillier theyre my most recent and best looking art of the characters

2) sacrificial lamb

sacrificial lamb was my main focus for a bit but i’ve taken a break from it for the time being to work on other projects. it’s a more serious project than anything else i’ve been doing but it’s one i’ve been planning out since 2021 and that i do want to seriously look into getting published when it’s finished. it is a lesbian horror comic about a butch lesbian rabbit whose femme cat girlfriend gets sucked into the darker side of new age spiritualism. here is my WIP of the cover and a finished page

3) claw wrench

this is a lower priority project of mine but one i still want to make exist in some form one of these days. it’s about a teenage cat named milly going to live with their estranged super genius mad scientist half sister named mindy and her robot assistant mr. rogato. it would be a newspaper strip style comic with a few larger plot threads. i might start it up one of these days after i’ve gotten some other comics under my belt and i feel like i have a better mental image of what i want the writing to be like. here’s some designs i did in 2021

4) be mine, valentine

this is a project featuring characters of mine who i’ve had for a few years but only recently decided i wanted to turn into a short story. it’s about a peryton coder named cupid who is unbeknownst to herself a trans girl egg discovering her identity after being hired by a trans girl sex worker unicorn named valentine to help build a website for her work. it’s a short but sweet little love story that i have to plan out better before i seriously work on it but i can see it being something i make in the near-ish future. there will be some nudity and sexual themes but nothing pornographic so i will upload it for free online when it’s done ^_^ sadly i um…don’t have a sfw drawing of valentine yet LOL so you’re just gonna have to deal with a cropped pic

5) thalassophobia

this is probably most relevant to peoples’ interest who follow me and something probably remember. thalassophobia is a really big steven universe fan comic i started writing to give lapis a more complete arc. i had a lot of passion for it back in 2022/23 but steven universe hasn’t been on my mind as much recently so it’s gone on the back burner. still i put a ton of work into it so i’d like to come back and finish writing it one day, although for the actual comic process i might see about getting some help on pages and colors and such since considering the scale i think it’s way too big for me to do solo. here’s a cover and a few test pages i did

I HAVE ONE MORE COMIC TO TALK ABOUT BUT IVE USED UP THE IMAGE LIMIT i’m gonna finish in a reblog so give me a second

#askz #peridart #thank you for asking!!!!!

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blueberreads · 3 months

Note

I love your art and your game soooo much! 😍 Do you have any tips or advice on how to get started with pixel art?

Aw thank you so much!! 🥹💜

I don’t have a lot of tips to give sadly, I know pretty much nothing of the theory and I’m discovering everything on my own as I go.

I 100% recommend Aseprite to work on pixel art, it’s very affordable and available on Steam. And it’s great to do animation as well!

I watched a couple of videos by @PixelOverloadChannel on Youtube, they were super interesting and there are a bunch of them! I also know there’s a Discord out there (@_cafedot) that may be useful to pixel artists though I haven’t joined yet (impostor syndrome and everything).

Now I don’t know if they’re the “right” way to do it, but here’s how I proceed for some of my pixel art.

For portraits I use the grid method, with a 3x3 grid. I use it to draw the characters’ face outline and hair and place the eyes/nose/mouth. I then hide the grid and work the colors from there. Here’s an example:

For animations, I usually get a gif and open it in Aseprite. It opens it in the animation tool, which is super useful! I then remove a few frames from the animation timeline, draw the character’s skeleton above each frame I kept and try to translate that as a skeleton for the scale I chose. Then I draw my character on this skeleton. I have not kept my draft for this but you can see how the skeleton for my animation looks here:

I hope at least some of this helps! 😊

Thanks a lot for the ask, I ended up writing a lot more than I expected! If you’re interested in more “process” posts, let me know and I’ll try to do that for my future pixel art!

#pixel art #pixel art animation #aseprite #gamedev

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fakemonexperiments · 11 months

Note

any tips for drawing grass type pokemon?

grass types, despite the name, are actually about the concept of plants/vegetables rather than strictly being plants. this is why mushroom pokemon (amogus etc) are considered grass types.

my general process for grass pokemon is about the same as any other pokemon except that

pick a plant or fungus. determine the defining characteristics of this plant or fungus and what would make it unique and interesting, either to the naked eye or in terms of function/role in the ecosystem. be as specific with this plant or fungus as possible - this will make it easier for you to highlight defining traits.

find another concept to marry with your plant. this will help you anthropomorphise it but also give depth to your pokemon. this can be anything - a literal animal (bulbasaur is a frog-dinosaur mixed with a flower bulb), a character type (shiftry is a ninja), or something more abstract/referential (applin worm in an apple). think about whether this pokemon comes in groups, like paired pokemon or an evolution line. how does it interact with other pokemon? if in an evolution line, base stages tend to be simpler and much more aligned with seeds/sprouts, while fully evolved forms are flowering/mature plants. alternatively, you could just pick a bigger version of an adjacent plant (see cacnea and cacturne). pokemon tend to develop more arms and legs as they get bigger, also.

characterise your pokemon. what’s their personality like? how would this appeal to a child? for this I like to use the five contest appeals (cool, smart, beautiful, tough, cute) and sort of pick 1-2 that i think will work. write 2 pokedex entries - this should help you determine how your pokemon would function in the wild, or how it interacts with humans! around this time, you can also finish off the laundry list of pokemon characteristics: things like type, stats, and so on.

now that you have your pokemon concept clearly laid out, it’ll be much easier for you to draw the pokemon. the complexity of your drawing should scale with A) the evolution stage and B) box legendary-itis. in general however, you should think of the pokemon as something that a child should be able to draw if they tried hard enough. for grass pokemon, focus on your concept and see how you can break it down into simplified shapes (e.g. virizion does not look like a real life deer, it looks like a very stylised deer slimmed down to reflect a sort of elegance). simplify the shapes and proportions. remember that this isn’t necessarily about what the things you’re drawing from look like in real life, but something that should be easily parseable to a child. lastly, try to convey their personality: through their size, shape, pose.

grass types lean towards being green because of the generalised plant theme, but this is not the only colour a grass pokemon can be. even grass starters don’t have to be fully green - think rowlet and green bowtie as an accent. pick the colours that work best for the vibe you want to give off: they do not have to be realistic to your plant or animal at all. shiinotic is purple because it glows in the dark, not because shiitakes are purple. do whatever you want 🙏

at this point I feel like I should give an example of a grass pokemon I’ve designed, so here’s coconaught again:

I started with the concept of a coconut, but I wanted to do something different from alolan exeggutor. I always kind of thought that the three holes in a coconut kind of looked like its face, so that of course became its face. when I doodled a first draft, it looked somewhat haunted, which gave me the idea to give it a secondary ghost typing! coconuts are naturally round, so the silhouette was easy but too simple - I gave it the coconut tree/sprout to make it distinct at first glance what the pokemon was intended to be. then I trialed different legs (whether one leg to hop around on or two legs to waddle on) and sort of settled on this mr game & watch type legs, which had a sort of synergy with the haunted/ghosty nature of it all. I think I went for something cute but in a kind of spooky way - sort of mimikyu-adjacent. then I named it coconaught (coconut + naught as in nothing, to convey the sense of hollowness). anyway I think he’s really good. hope that helps

#pokemon #fakemon #ask box #grass #ok to rp #<- ref coconaught

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diaborodevil · 6 months

Text

Manaless

Beasts take on many forms some are disproportionate while others are oddly perfect some retain a humanoid shape while others have drastically different forms some even grow scales or feathers some even grow more limbs

Catherine:

Carlos: but a commonality between beasts is that they usually have a tail

Catherine: okay wait a what

(Catherine looks and sees that there is obviously a tail)

Catherine: oh great fathers oh great fathers I have a tail

Carlos: calm down calm down uh that’s the last thing you tell them

Catherine: ahhhhhhh

Carlos: hey hey uh look

(Carlos turns around lifting his robe to reveal a small tail)

Carlos: see your not the only one here with a tail

Catherine: why are you telling me all this stuff

Carlos: it’s to ease the fact that your now a different type of human

Catherine: give me a mirror

Carlos: what

Catherine: GIVE ME A MIRROR

Carlos: woah bad idea last time I gave someone a mirror they freaked out badly

Catherine: grrrr hmph

Carlos: okay your decision just don’t freak out

(Carlos proceeds to hand Catherine a mirror as she takes a long look at her reflection)

Catherine: GREAT FATHERS IM

Carlos:

Catherine: oh yeah no freaking out wait a minute am I ah don’t look at me

(Carlos proceeds to turn towards the cave entrance takes a book from his back and looks through the pages)

Carlos: hm what page was it aw there it is

Catherine: where what is

(Carlos turns around eyes closed and aims his staff)

Carlos: fabricate clo thing

(Suddenly a toga like outfit appears on Catherine)

Catherine: huh

Carlos: did it work can I look

Catherine: uh yeah why is it an outfit like this though

Carlos: beasts are random so beasts clothes are hard to make also being asymmetric makes it’s harder

Catherine: asymmetric

Carlos: all your limbs are different sizes

Catherine: are they

Carlos: enough chit chat (Carlos pulls his hood up) if you don’t want to get caught it’s probably best to follow me

Catherine: no I think I’ll stay in this cave

Carlos: they’ll find you eventually and there isn’t much

Catherine: where are you headed

Carlos: new leaf I got a horse and wagon there then it’s off to cyeris

Catherine: okay I’ll follow

Carlos: stand still

Catherine: what

Carlos: I can hear you reveal yourselfs

(Pan up to the top of a cliff some distance away)

Kyle: seems like someone beat us to the punch

Herry: do you really think he heard us

Kyle: no he’s probably trying to scare us

Carlos: hey stop the chitchat I can hear you

Catherine: wait are those oh hey there my friends maybe they’ll understand

(A fireball flys past her face)

Catherine: eep

Carlos: they aren’t currently your friends run

Catherine:

Carlos: RUN

Kyle: oh my god he must be insane thinking he can converse with a beast

Herry: then you better beat it out of him

(Kyle jumps down the cliff towards the bottom of the cliff and draws a sword)

Kyle: you are in our way from helping our friend

Carlos: how do you plan on doing that there’s only two options for beasts slavery or execution

Kyle: we’ll figure something out

Carlos: well I started helping her first so get in line

Kyle: you think your qualified

Carlos more qualified then you

Kyle: oh I’ll show you qualified

(Kyle tries to strike Carlos with his sword while Carlos keeps blocking it)

Kyle: just let me hit you

Carlos: no way pal

(Carlos tries to hit Kyle with his staff but Kyle keeps dodging)

Kyle: this is taking to long igneous burst

Carlos: oh so you a fire mage is that all you got

Kyle: it isn’t cocytus flow

(Suddenly a trail of ice forms causing Carlos to jump as Carlos lands his hood falls off)

Kyle: so it is true your mother is a beast

10 years ago

Kyle: I can’t wait once you become a mage you can pay for me to become one early

Grace: that’s right sweety it’ll be easy just wai

Arch mage: are you ready for the enlightenment process

Grace: I am

Arch mage: it should be a quick process

Grace: what what’s happening to me

Arch mage: uh uhhhh

(The arch mage passes out)

Kyle: mom mom are you still there

Grace: rawr rawr ruh rawwr

Kyle: don’t worry I’ll help you

Later

Arch mage: uh what happened wait did your mother

Kyle: yes she ran into the woods

Arch mage: I’m sorry at least you have your father

Kyle: yeah

A week later

Howard: if only you were still here grace I need you wait a minute I hear something in the shed

Grace: grawr

Howard: ahhh

Elsewhere

Herry: wow that’s a lot of guards

Kyle: yeah going towards the lower class section

Catherine: oh isn’t your dad supposed to be home early today

Herry: hey where are you going

Kyle’s home

Kyle: dad what happened

Howard: there was a beast in the shed but the guards were able to take care of it it’s okay

Kyle: yeah it’s okay

3 years later

Kyle: hey mom it’s me

Grace: grawr

Kyle: things have been going okay dad is still single says you were the only one for him

Grace: raw

Kyle: I’m trying my best but it’s hard to keep going on with you in here it’s hard

7 years later

Kyle: hey mom it’s it’s finally time for me to officially become a mage can you believe it

Grace: rawr

Kyle: I’ll I’ll let you know how it goes

Back to now

Carlos: are are you crying

Kyle: I I can’t imagine how it feels growing up with a beast as a mother your entire life

Five years ago

Carlos: are you sure it’s a good idea for me to become a mage what if they find out what I am

Sean: it’ll be fine I believe in yeah ain’t that right sweetie

Sera: reahhhhhhh

Carlos: your right mom I’ll do it

Sean: still so hard to believe you can understand her

Later

Arch mage: are you ready

Carlos: I am uh uhhhhhh

Later

Arch mage: I can’t believe it he’s he’s

Doctor: he’s half beast

Arch mage: that means one of his parents must be a beast

Later

Arch mage: look at this man procreating with a beast

Sean: no it’s not like that

Arch mage: and look at this abomination guards take him away

Carlos: augh

Sera: GRRRREAWWWWWWWWWWWWH

Arch mage: despicable take the beast away

Sera: reahhh

Carlos: mom

Sera: CARLOS

Carlos: mommm

Sean: run Carlos run

Present

Carlos: wait where did the other guy go Catherine *inhale* *exhale* enhance beast

Kyle: huh hey where are you going wait how does he know wait earlier he said can he wait he’s getting away uhhhh

Carlos: I am not failing another person I can’t fail any more people

Further in the forest

Herry: can we truly help her wait how is he moving so fast

Carlos: stay away from her

Herry: you don’t know what you’re doing

Carlos: neither do you

Herry: what do you mean

Carlos: you really think catching her is the best course of action taking away her freedom

Herry: she’s out of control so she must be contained

Carlos: wow the church really has you hypnotized

Herry: silence half beast

Carlos: do you know what beast I’m half of

Herry: what do you mean

Carlos: I am Carlos Mcklaine the prince of sheep

Kyle: Herry catch him

Herry: he’s he’s the

Kyle: the what

Herry: he’s the prince of sheep

Kyle: what does that mean

Herry: it means his mother is a strong beast

Kyle: that doesn’t change anything we need him him out of the way to catch Catherine

Carlos: take me on illuminos Maximus

Kyle and Herry: augh

Kyle: uh we lost them

Later

Carlos: hey are you in there

Catherine: yeah why would they

Carlos: normal people can’t understand beast I can but that’s cause I’m half n half but I uh got my wagon if your ready to start heading towards cyeris

Catherine: uh yeah I am

Carlos: it’s been a crazy day so you might want to get some rest

Westloft slave barracks

Kyle: hey mom I’m sorry for not coming yesterday it’s just things have been crazy but it finally happened I’m a mage now

Grace: rawh

Kyle: but my friend turned into a beast

Grace: reaah

Kyle: have you heard of the queen of sheep

Grace: rah

Kyle: well I met someone who might be son to a beast and I think he might be able to understand beasts

Grace: rar

Kyle: so hopefully I can save my friend and convince that guy to allow us to have a full conversation

Grace: reeah

Kyle: I’m sorry but it might be a while till our next conversation I love you mom

And that is that wew

#manaless #original series #original writing

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csmeanerr · 7 months

Note

“i’m not affiliated with the species or terralien staff” “LET ME ASK COY” make up ur fucking mind dude

.https://toyhou.se/~forums/5867.service-reviews/457397.terraliens-psa-upd-03112023

specifically this comment

quick breakdown to all of their points

1) yes terraliens originated as a cham concept! however iirc chams are aware of, and alright with, the existence of terraliens.

yeah that's not the issue. the issue is terraliens were similar to chams and were given their space but when another species does the same terralien owner spat in their face and started this entire thing. what's being pointed out is the hypocrisy with the origin of terraliens being a rejected cham myo to show that terraliens came from a similar background

2) “doxxing”… yeah, there was no evidence of doxxing in those screenshots.

as the second comment says they were intentionally trying to get someone's IP by trying to get them to click links that will give it. in what fucking world does the sentence 'we need to bait them into click links' not put them in a bad fucking light

3) coy’s CENSORED nsfw stories. It’s exhausting seeing people make such a big deal of them. Nothing they posted was actually NSFW. The worst they posted was a cropped image of their oc without clothing on, with the uncropped version on their (age verified) CF stories. They do NOT post uncensored nsfw, and i don’t know why people keep bringing it up. Also you straight up put words into their mouth with your paraphrasing; they released a whole thing explaining their thought process, and said they wouldn’t do so again (which they’ve lived up to, moving all nsfw content to a different account entirely, which again requires age verification to see). even if they had posted uncensored nsfw, it would still be a non-issue since they’ve since acknowledged and rectified their actions.

contradicted yourself in the same argument and then added 'they fixed it so don't bring it up again'. nudity ≠ sexual intent but the context of the pieces does imply it so trying to say it's not nsfw because it's just nudity is misleading.

the first image is of their oc nude with little showing but also has ghost hands on them, one close to their ass. there is also blush on the character's face and ass so let me ask if you would be comfortable showing your coworker this picture. nsfw means not safe for work aka it's inappropriate to pull out in a public space it does not inherently mean porn.

the other is of a bunny thing in shibari which of course many people claim isn't sexual which is a subjective issue. shibari is often associated with the bdsm community so just because you think it's not sexual does not mean it's not inappropriate

4) stitch adopts. they’re not breaking copyright by drawing the same species as a movie 💀by that logic, nobody could sell pokesona adopts, or sonic adopts, or adopts of any other fandom. this is also a very dumb argument that keeps getting brought up for no reason.

i dont really give a shit about this one cuz it's a whole can of worms and its arguement boils down to being a massive grey area. YES is it breaking the law of designs and you shouldn't even call it stitch because then you're affiliating the design with the brand, which is what they are against. The reason pokemon and other stuff gets made and sold though is because these large brands don't go after one-time transactions cuz they don't have the manpower nor interest, they only crack down if it's of a larger scale that would harm their image.

#terraliens #screenshots

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poltergeistsoup · 2 years

Note

Hi, clown from the barren void of eternal despair and desolation here :3! Do you have any tips for someone making a comic for the first time? Any advice I would rly appreciate ฅ⁠^⁠•⁠ﻌ⁠•⁠^⁠ฅ :3333

Ok so this is just my own process and you’ll figure out what works best for you as you keep making them. To specify, I work digitally so the advice I’m giving is more applicable if you’re using a digital program rather than drawing traditionally.

First I write my comics as a script so I know what I’m working with first, then I thumbnail them. Don’t worry about making them neat on the first try, you’re just trying to figure out the flow and format. Some people just write as they go but I couldn’t IMAGINE doing that

Try to stick to the most important actions and make them readable. You don’t need to draw every step of an action— If someone is opening a door, you don’t have to draw the action of them approaching the door, reaching for the handle, opening it, and walking through. UNLESS you’re trying to convey a different pace, like suspense.

Think about how much text you’re using and where it’s going to be placed WHILE you’re drawing. I actually format my text after the sketch but before the lineart so I can still move things around once I know where the text will go

Don’t make things hard for yourself— you’ll be drawing the same things over and over. I prefer to draw a detailed establishing shot of the background and keep it VERY simple afterward, with details that ground the characters in the space. By the same token, keep your character designs simple enough that you won’t forget details or want to walk into the ocean after drawing them for the 10th time. Example from my own work: Establishing shot of the bedroom, simple background elements from then on

Use the medium to your advantage— play with scale and shape and breaking the frame to emphasize action and make your pages more dynamic. However, it’s easy to go overboard so try sticking to points you want to emphasize. The layout of the comic is just as important to telling a story as the text and art. Also take into consideration how it’s supposed to be read, cuz it’s going to flow differently if you’re turning a page vs scrolling on a phone vs whatever the fuck was going on in Homestuck

Another thing with layout, consider where punchlines and reveals and surprises are going to go. Big punchlines land better at the end of the page (see Calvin and Hobbes). A shocking reveal is best executed after you turn the page (see Junji Ito)

A simple but atmospheric color palette can be more effective and easier to read (and color) than insane amounts of detail. A great example is Batman: The Long Halloween. I guess the biggest takeaway is focus on the most important details instead of getting hung up on drawing every little thing. Stylization is just every artists’ own method of being lazy

As you keep doing comics you’ll learn your own shortcuts and where to streamline the process so don’t get discouraged if it’s taking a long time or doesn’t match your vision. I find that comics still take me FOREVER but not nearly as long as they did when I started out

Look at other comics and see what they’re doing and apply it to your work. It’s SO important to learning that you see how other people do it and make it your own. Some that I think are great to look at are Batman: The Long Halloween, Calvin and Hobbes, Junji Ito’s work, Dragonball, and Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

#asks #anonymous #comics #comic advice #art advice #how to #comic tutorial #excuse my shitty pictures #I hope this isn’t too overwhelming and makes sense #good luck on your comic #don’t get discouraged either the only way to get good at comics is to keep doing them

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inceptionart · 2 years

Photo

Featuring the super talented Rusty @oceans-foundfamily today as our artist! Read on for her thoughts on art, and you can find all of her artwork here and here!

🎨 When did you start creating art for the Inception fandom, and what is your inspiration?

I kind of stumbled upon Inception's fandom presence on the tail end of Inceptiversary 2020, which was a pretty big deal being the tenth anniversary and all. I saw all the amazing content people were making for the event, and I immediately wanted to join in. I think my first ever Inception art piece was the one where I drew the characters as animal crossing villagers (a most professional and dramatic beginning, I know). After that, I started experimenting with style and color and some more dark/serious stuff, trying to find a balance. I've found a lot of inspiration in the movies of Makoto Shinkai and some other anime-style stuff. While I don't exactly have an anime art style, his work's color palettes and large-scale cityscapes have always been something I admire. I think those aesthetics show in a lot of my work.

🎨 Tell us about your creative process, and which part do you enjoy the most about it?

I wish I had a consistent creative process, but usually it adapts to my mood, the weather, how much time I have, what I had for breakfast, and the position of Venus relative to Jupiter /j. If I'm in the mood, I'll browse pinterest until I see something with a vibe I want to replicate, I spend a couple minutes listening to music and cementing in my mind what I want to try, and then I fiddle around on my iPad/paper until the piece starts to come to life. My favorite part has to be seeing that process all the way through. I'm all about experimenting with new things, so I'll put on some music to keep my stim brain happy and get to work. I can usually draw for three to five hours at a time on a good day.

🎨 Link us to your first and latest artwork, and how your style has evolved since then?

My first Inception artwork was the animal crossing one, where I was just kind of messing around before I really got into Inception content. My most recent non-meme fully finished piece was the ocean one with Cobb and Saito (I'm so good at titling art, huh?). Looking at it now, I think some parts of my original style have stayed intact, like the rounded, thicker outlines. But besides that, I think I've really come a long way since 2020. I learned how to color things, and fell in love with Inception as creative inspiration. I think that love really shows in the art.

🎨 What is your absolute favorite piece of art that you've made, and why?

My favorite piece of art I've ever made is also the biggest one I've ever made, and the one that took the longest. It's called Leap of Faith, and it's not just my favorite because I like the way it looks--it was probably the most fun I ever had making art. If you were following me or on Discord around this time, you know I was hyper and posting progress pics every five minutes because I was so excited about it. This was a big experiment with lighting, mostly. A fun secret about this piece is that the entire color palette is taken from a scene from the movie Your Name. I've used Your Name as inspiration for a lot of my Cobb x Saito stuff, both art and writing. I don't know what it is about that movie that makes me think of them, but it's something about connection against all odds. Also pretty colors.

🎨 What is something about Inception that you really want to make art for someday, and why?

Another big artist inspiration for me is Simon Stålenhag. I read his book The Electric State, and I'm obsessed with his ability to capture emotions in art that sometimes doesn't even have living entities in it. He can show everything from hope to despair in just a cityscape. I would love to make art like his portraying limbo, or Saito's castle.

🎨 Give a shoutout to your favorite Inception artists here!

It's so hard to pick only a few, but I will never get tired of @lemon-yellow‘s watercolors. Lemon has made all my ship dreams come true, and I owe a lot to her. Also, @katribou has some amazing and hilarious Inception art that really got me into the fandom. Finally, shoutout to @dingdangit who brought the Muppet Inception screenplay to life.

🎨 Anything else you'd like to talk about art and the Inception fandom in general ❤

I really owe this fandom so much in terms of all my art. I rediscovered my love of both painting and writing through Inception, and everyone has been cheerleading for me since the beginning. While I may not be active as often in the fandom, I'm now designing tattoos and working towards a career as an author, and I can't say I'd be doing any of this if the gang hadn't hyped up my fanfiction and convinced me that I could draw. Shoutout to everyone in this fandom, even if you don't create and simply comment and leave likes on other people's work. It's all so inspirational, and incredibly important for emerging artists. Having this space to create and experiment in has been so good for my art. Also shoutout to all the smaller ship folks. In a mostly one-ship fandom, we're still going strong and making art, and I think that's awesome.

#inception artist highlight #inceptiversary #inception #oceansfoundfamily

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lordmayokcorner · 10 months

Text

ODD EYE CIRCLE <Version Up> - Album Review

There’s no word that describes how eagerly I have been anticipating this EP. I don’t believe I talk quite enough about LOONA in my reviews. That’s sarcastic, of course. I probably mention them at least once per review, as they are my ult group and have incredible music. With all of the members being recently freed from their unfair contracts with Blockberry Creative, five of them including the OEC squad (Jinsoul, Kim Lip, Choerry) have joined Jaden Jeong’s new label MODHAUS. While no music from the full 5-piece girl group ARTMS has been released yet, Odd Eye Circle has come out with a new EP. It will be interesting to see the JJ sound continue into the modern era of LOONA, and to see if their sound resembles the 2017 Mix & Match or has changed. I’ll listen to each of them three times and rate them afterwards. Keep in mind that a five on my scale represents neither like or dislike.

Did You Wait? - 6.5

Yes. Yes I did wait. It’s surprising to me that all of the clips of Blockberry-published OEC songs haven’t been copyright claimed. Let’s hope it stays that way. As for the intro itself, the synth is uncannily similar to the one in Chaotic and Starlight on the 2017 EP. It brings a modern twist to it though that makes me anxious to hear what the title track will have to do with it.

Air Force One - 9.5

This song embodies the direction that K-pop has been dying to follow for a long time now. Groups like NewJeans and STAYC have started to move the girl crush sound to a more “lo-fi” and minimalistic sound. The whole first verse has this very soft feeling to it that’s reminiscent of that. The chorus is very fun and addictive and the crunchy, silvery vocal processing is fascinating. The hook feels like it’s keeping you on your toes. On the other hand, the breakdown is absolutely chilling, maximizing that vocal effect and drawing out the rich synth pads to create a simultaneously beautiful and terrifying ambiance. When the chorus comes back around, it seems to have more meaning and the synths hit way harder. Very well done track.

Je Ne Sais Quoi - 5

The introductory few seconds of this song make it seem almost like a lo-fi hiphop song, but when the beat comes in it becomes clear that this song actually has more of a relaxed dance music feel. I don’t love what’s been done with the vocals on this track. The processing on their voices is a little over the top and reminds me of some of what I didn’t like from tripleS’s vocals. The beat feels somewhat squashed and garbled unfortunately. I think it has the potential to feel much larger than it does, but because of those factors coupled with my general dislike for the melodic content, it’s certainly not my favorite song but also has elements to it that I like.

Lucid - 7

This is the 1000th song I’ve seen with Lucid in the name, I swear. Ooh, so soft and comforting at the beginning though. It has a lilting flow that makes it auditorily resemble the slowly rising and falling waves of a calm ocean in the morning. The vocals in the refrain have the same sort of rising and falling sound, and the way they drop lower reminds me of Zero (NewJeans) which is a very rare thing to do in a pop song. The vocals themselves aren’t done quite as I would look for similarly to Je Ne Sais Quoi though. As more elements enter, it becomes more bouncy but stays very peaceful. A little more variation musically could help this song be even better.

Love Me Like - 4.5

With the addition of this song, it’s becoming clear that this album generally has a repetitive chill dance vibe featured in all of the songs so far. This one is interesting but the beat feels a little garbled like the previous couple songs. It’s much more upbeat however, with more of a R&B and disco fusion beat. It can get pretty boring, that would be my main critique. More depth would be helpful, certainly.

My Secret Playlist - 4.5

This one feels much more like classic early LOONA. The sound is generally more spacious and wide. It reminds me particularly of LOONA 1/3's stuff. The actual songwriting is pretty dry though, and the chorus is very disappointing. It could definitely be worse though. That’s basically all I have to say. It’s fine.

Final Thoughts

This EP is a very big deal for LOONA, a symbol of progress and freedom from BBC. I personally feel that the songwriting and production on basically every song feels pretty half-assed. I think that Lucid with its ocean-like production and the terrifying and fascinating Air Force One are definitely the two with the most thought and effort in them. I don’t see much in Je Ne Sais Quoi, unlike many other fans. Despite the meaning of this, I didn’t love the content itself. I give this album an overall score of 5 for that reason, with my favorite song being Air Force One. I’m really hoping for good things in the future of LOONA, ARTMS, and other affiliated groups. We’re just going to have to hold out and hope that JJ pulls it together a bit. Thanks for reading!

- Maya

#oec #loona oec #artms oec #artms #kpop #kpop gg #loona #album review #music review #kpop girls

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muuurder · 2 years

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Finally, someone who doesn’t baby Brahms all the time! I literally got giggly with your headcanons bc I think the same for him as well. A lot of people keep watering down his character as the “man baby who can’t cook, clean himself, or do this or that” and it’s kinda frustrating to see others not understanding his character more when writing about him, especially since there’s evidence he’s capable of a lot of things. I actually find it quite funny when people draw Brahms that way however when it comes to writing him… Anyways, I would love to hear more of your headcanons! It fills my hyperfixation on him (as there’s literally only 1-2 posts each day for Brahms).

Also if you don’t mind, you can skip this part if you want, what do you think about the theory of Brahms parents starting the fire in order to cover up what Brahms did? I’m staying on neutral ground for this but I do think it’s an interesting theory.

It’s funny you mention that theory 👀

So for me personally I don’t exactly think it was to cover it up, but I do think they started it. Personally, I retcon everything that is the boy 2 (though I loved the main character child who was mute. He did amazing but I think it was shit writing and a cop out because the actor who played brahms pulled out and for good reason too.) so without acknowledging the second movie here’s my personal take. I am currently a psych student (and while I am very much not an expert like I can’t stress it enough I’ve got Swiss cheese brain,) and from what little I’ve learned usually children who were at brahms age (8 years old) aren’t exactly capable of processing death. Obviously it varies case to case but on an overall scale, he’s not able to comprehend it. I personally think Emily cripps death was an accident. Maybe they went to play in the woods rough houses and she fell cracking her skull open. Or maybe she was picking at him (cause honestly emily looks older than brahms. Grant it girls tend to grow taller first compared to boys, but overall she looks like she’s 10.) and I personally think brahms has autism and/or bpd (I touched on it In another ask I did you might have to sift through my blog. Sorry it’s a chaotic enigma of everything I love lol.) but I think he might have been forced to hang around her for family ties and potential future relations (arranged marriages etc etc.) this was inspired a bit by a fic I read though I forget the name of it. If I find it I’ll post it. But I think he might not have enjoyed being around her as much as Everyone believed. His father describes him even at a young age as “odd” which to me feels like they had a son late in life and he wasn’t neurotypical. He is less sociable, doesn’t fit into their rich lavish life and fit the perfect image they have. So I think there was already resentment a little? So imagine their reaction if Emily was playing and picking at him, maybe he pushed her and she fell. After all her head was cracked open. If she fell and rolled off the rocks she hit it could look the same. A lot of Emily’s death is rumor and gossip in the town. Imagine brahms nudging her thinking she just fell asleep but she’s not moving. He gets freaked and runs back fussing she won’t wake up and she’s being mean. Alarm bells are going off for his parents. I think they didn’t like their son because they clearly hated it he deviated. They were strict, had a specific image and didn’t make much room for change that was clear as hell in how they treated greta and brahms if I’m honest. And I think it’s fucking weird his parents deadass didn’t tell anyone and participated and hosted a search party for a girl they likely knew was dead. I think they were more worried about how this would look and instead of getting their son help even if it was intentional (though again that’s still on them because they fucked up somewhere in parenting, though again I believe it was purely accidental) and with this new situation coupled with previous resentment over their son not being normal (aka I Headcanon his parents are ableist) they had their son wait somewhere. Locked him in, and didn’t realize he knew the walls because he explored in his free time. And they set it on fire before the police could show up to question the young boy. (Because btw he wouldn’t have been tried as an adult. He’s too young and again can’t even conceptualize death let alone fucking fake it like ???? That was his parents.) and I think they had no fucking clue he was alive until they heard him calling from in the walls now with burns. And even the. They didn’t get him medical attention they stuffed him in the walls and pretended he wasn’t there as he grew. They gave themselves a do over because they felt they fucked up and that’s why their son was how he was. Their love was and has always been fucking conditional. That’s my personal take of a theory.

As far as a Headcanon, I’m reaching a text limit so have this one: he about cried the first time he had a fresh meal out of the walls. Potatoes just aren’t the same after their frozen and he simply can’t go back. He loves hot home cooking (pair that with southern cooking he’s inlove lol)

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airborneice · 2 years

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I'm very new to digital art and was wondering what sort of process/brushes you use for your Hilda art? I absolutely love your trolls and centaur designs ❤️

aw that’s very kind, thank you!! tbh my art approach is kind of all over the place but I’ll do my best to answer!

first off, I draw in photoshop and use mainly these two brushes -

the 1st is pretty much the standard PS brush and the HB one is what I used for most of the trolls/centaur stuff! generally I pick one of these brushes and use it for both lineart and putting in colour/shadows. (to be honest photoshop somehow got the settings on the HB brush messed up a lil while ago which is why I use it for lineart less now, but it’s still nice for doing shadows bc it has a really pretty soft edge :) )

as for art process, I’ll try to explain with the hilda little mermaid drawing I did recently - explanation thingy under the cut!

so with most of my art I usually start out sketching it on paper first and then move the sketch to my computer - since you’re new to digital you might find it easier to start that way, it helps make things less complicated bc you already have something to start from

so for the drawing in question I started with this which is. A Mess

everything is all over the place and yasha from crit role is hanging out in the middle of it but this is the type of thing I start with! first with the lil thumbnail sketch up in the corner, and then doing the characters in more detail separately (if I know I’m gonna end up moving something to digital I’ll just draw the characters anywhere I can fit them on the page, bc I can worry about fitting them together properly later)

u can honestly skip the thumbnail sketch if u want, but for bigger drawings I find it useful to have something rough to refer back to, so I don’t forget what I’m aiming for overall when I start getting into the details

anyway then I move the paper sketch to digital and arrange things properly and add anything I’ve missed, and depending on how messy it is I do another slightly cleaner sketch overtop -

I’ve learned the hard way that fixing things at the lineart stage is a lot more hassle so I try to make sure everything’s looking as it should in the cleaner sketch - david’s initial sketch looked mostly fine to me so I only redid a couple things and added some details, while I changed a lot of kaisa til I was happier with the pose. I knew the salt lion was gonna end up being mostly hidden so I didn’t worry about refining it

SO next I make a new layer and start drawing the clean lineart over the sketch. I like using coloured lineart these days, so I pick a colour to sketch and do lineart in - literally any colour except black, since photoshop lets you change the hue later (you can go to Image -> Adjustments -> Hue/Saturation and change things as much as you like). I did all the lineart for the characters here in purple, like the sketch, and I made sure to keep all the lineart for different characters separate so I could mess with it individually later. I’ve got a bit of what kaisa’s lineart folder looks like below, and you definitely don’t have to put Everything on a new layer like I did, but I usually keep the eyes, brows and little details like the fin lines and scales separate bc they’re the things I’ll most likely want to adjust later

once I’ve got the lineart done in that one colour, I’ll use the Adjustments-> Hue/Saturation slider to change some parts of it (this is where having things on different layers comes in) to blend in or stand out more, so by the end it looks like it does below. I made some swatches so you can see which parts I changed from the main outline colour:

so I kept the original purple for most of it, but I changed the salt lion’s lines to blue, and kaisa’s scales to a light grey so they’d blend in more, and made her eyebrows much darker so they’d stand out from her hair. (I usually do this step after I’ve started colouring them in, bc it’s easier to see what’s working then and what isn’t, I’m just showing it here so you can see it in isolation). also, I’ll usually set the whole lineart folder to ‘multiply’ so it blends in with the colour layer even more

(tbh you don’t have to do it as complicated as this, everyone has their own approach depending on what they’re going for and it might take some trial/error before you find what works best for you. I just do this bc I’m used to it and don’t mind the extra hassle. pretty colours go brrr :) )

for colouring in, I use the lasso tool to trace over areas of the drawing and the paint bucket to fill them in. I usually put every different coloured area on a new layer so it’s easier to go back and change something if I decide I don’t like the colour. so everything is built up over a number of layers, and I can use the airbrush tool to soften the edges of some areas (like david’s arm fins). for the parts with gradients like their tails, I put down a flat colour layer (like the orange for david), select that area and then make a new layer and put the gradient on with a big airbrush tool. also for stuff from hilda I usually colour-pick straight from a screenshot of the show with the eye-dropper tool, it’s much faster than guessing them

so then we have the flat colours done, and I can show you why I like doing coloured lineart even though it takes longer bc

here’s the lineart all in black vs the final result with the colours. like…it’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with the all black one, but having the colours really helps soften things imo!

I didn’t really do much by shading for this one but to go over it real quick -

if I was just drawing a character on a white background I wouldn’t bother with this step, but here I know this scene is taking place in the dark & underwater, so I selected the characters, made a new layer and filled in a dark green colour overtop on a low opacity & set to Multiply, so the characters get this slight green tinge and look more like they’re in the setting (I did the same with the salt lion but I’m gonna just focus on these two for now)

for the actual shadows I got the same green colour, and on another multiply layer blocked it in, and just played around with the opacity til it looked about right

honestly not my best job at shading lol but it helps give it some depth and put them in the scene! if I hide the colours and lines for a sec you can see that literally all I’ve added over the original colours is this:

and if I add the basic colours of the background in, you can see how much it helps compared to the flat colours I started with -

they look so much more like they’re in the scene!

anddd after doing the same thing to the salt lion (which is just the same shading process but more layers and darker) and adding the rest of the background that’s it!!

don’t worry they’ll be fine lol

anyway sorry this got so long, I hope it helps!! I’m not the best at explaining myself so if anything I said here doesn’t make sense then feel free to ask :)

#ask #anon #little mermaid au

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