#and Ash is late again

[aeb-art]

most normal interaction on a subway (another earth bot has invaded my sketchbook)

cat belongs to @8um8le

#2024 #stellar city #sc cataclysm #sc ash #self insert #late evening scribbles once again just for fun #okay so it is so interesting to think about how really tall bots are normal so public transit is probably larger to accomodate #so then lil ol me looks more like a kid than i normally do in the subway car built for giants #anyway i'm thinking about how jarring it must be to only know geo and then see cat lmao #unknowingly meeting your coworker (crush)'s prototype on your evening commute home :x #…wait hang on it would be really funny to confide in cat about having a crush on geo #gives me the most batshit advice that somehow works #i really just keep doodlin ballad's guys huh? i wanna draw the rest of the cast tbh they're all fun

[spotaus]

I wanna request some more stereo sans if that’s okay, I LOVE HIM THE DESIGN IS SO SCRUNKLY RAAAAAHHHHH

Also hi I love your art✨✨✨

HI HELLO!!!

I gotta say I was surprised to see Stereo in my Asks, but I am SO glad u requested him!!! 🥺💖💖💖

The goofy himself! I missed drawing him sm!!!!!

He's really silly because I don't really have lore for him outside the main Eternal Ashes storyline, and that's a whole can of worms, so no Lore-Dump unfortunately. BUT if u want some Design History lore I'm dropping some beneath the cut!

Okay so, Stereo was one of my first ocs for utmv. Like. I think he was designed right after Ichor (<- my first Sans oc) was. He was part of a Trio, made up of Orchid, Reset, and himself. Currently they're the three longest surviving cast members of Eternal Ashes, but Stereo has gone through very few changes.

Here are his First Reference (left) and Revised Reference (right) from about 2019 and probably 2020 respectively.

The one on the left is so funny to me because, yeag, I used to have an awful style 🫶 but Stereo's design is honestly pretty consistent over the years.

Like the rest of the designs like him, he kinda Grew Up with me as I learned to draw better and as I developed the story he was involved with. He's one of my special blorbos that (while he doesn't have a ton of lore like I usually give my ocs) is always fun for me to draw and revisit!!!

Thanks for the request, Anon!!!! Maybe I can do some more proper scene doodles for him in the near future! (I love drawing him in motion thanks to his clothes/arms)

#utmv #oc #utmv oc #utmv art #my art #utmv au #Spot!Drawn #eternal ashes #stereo #I really brought back the deep-cut here w/ the og designs lol! #I uhhhh I used to post on Amino and had to return there for the images and it gives me whiplash #shout-out to the folks who supported me back then when I twas a naive teen who found utmv wayyy too late lmao #Stereo is one of those ocs that got me through hard times so thanks again Anon for bringing him up!!! #OH #two more Lore things: #1) He was lowkey raised by Fresh in the Eternal Ashes story. he has wack vocabulary and everyone hates it #2) He is part robot. which is probably obvious. but his soul is Artificial! which is Neat! #his legs are also robotic btw #I never draw it but istg it's true 🙏🙏🙏 #spot q #<- queueing for tomorrow so I don't post this at midnight or smth

[ashanimus]

Owl House Face Reveals and Why They Work

I'm so behind on my Huntlow week contribution but I have to exorcise these bees from my brain.

One thing I have noticed that The Owl House does really well are face reveals. Each time we've had them they have been genuinely unexpected and interesting. Now, face reveals are nothing new in media, and in many genres within the speculative fiction box they kind of have their own language and preset expectations depending on the assumed archetype of a character.

Growing up in the 90's, this was quite consistent (particularly with anime). When a Cool, Masked Character or Villain shows up, there's usually an instant of the mask getting revealed in a moment of vulnerability that shows us what the character looks like--but in a wide variety of these reveals...the conclusion is often along the lines of:

Protag: Oh. They're a lot cuter than I was expecting!

There's often a little romantic subtext here too, but not always.

And for all the benefits (and true banes) of anime-type character design, it was/is very common for the resultant revealed face to be conventionally attractive (or drawn to be perceived that way). I know that this is a sort of gentle pushback to the historical VILLAIN=UGLY trope that is nowhere near as prevalent as it used to be, but after thirty years of prettyface mask reveals, it ended up paving the way for strong, sleeping expectation of mask=pretty underneath instead.

And as a result, we're not taking away much more information that what was already expected (re: masked character not so bad) when the character showed up masked to begin with.

Now, this isn't always bad. But in the case of a face reveal, it's supposed to be a moment that establishes really important visual information quickly--and if it's doubled with the "masked character is unconscious/injured" there's a good chance they wouldn't normally let our hero get that close to begin with. The point is, the scene has heavy lifting to do!

Which brings me to our first big face reveal in Owl House, Hunter.

So at this point, the Golden Guard has made his debut--he's been set up as a "genius teen prodigy". This is loaded language that anyone who grew up watching anime instantly understands. Even if you don't though, the way Lilith talks about him sets him up for this expectation well. In this scene, he shows up as a cocky little asshole with a lot of bravado but also, importantly, some key visual indicactors of power. He's got a staff in his right hand, a cage in the other, and is wearing heavy armor and of course the mask. He shows up in a fifty foot fist made of boiling salt water.

Without showing us his face, the show has already laid a pretty strong, unconscious foundation for what the audience is going to see under there! So when we get our classic moment:

This scene moves so much VERY quickly.

First, the Golden Guard's face doesn't resemble the archetypal expectation the audience might have had based on what had been set up. If anything, we're getting a lot of traits all at once we're not used to on a sympathetically portrayed character (more on this in a second). They also wisely destroy any possible interpretation of romantic subtext by giving us a sibling slapfight immediately. But the biggest takeaway from this quick scene visually is the fact the Golden Guard here very young, about Luz's age, maybe a little older--a detail highlighted by our hero herself--and VERY vulnerable. Very murderable. See how his torso (heart) is twisted up, head is tipped back and the eyebrows are scrunched up? Makes him quite a bit "smaller" looking even though he's quite tall compared to the other kids.

But what does this do for visual understanding of a scene? When expectations are subverted, the viewer in a way is able to absorb the visual information with new eyes. When a mask reveal shows us something actually surprising, it actually allows us to absorb the visual details without sorting them into an archetype. So what do we see? Who is the Golden Guard without his mask, his armor, or the trappings of his power?

Well...he has a lot of traits classically associated with unsympathetic characters, to start! He has dark heavy brows, reddish eyes in an ashy face, an aquiline nose and a big ol' gap in his teeth. He's got a ragged ear. Now lately, eye bags and facial scars have come into vogue for heroes, but not usually in combination with all of those other traits (if it was just the scar or even the ear, it wouldn't have told us much). And even here, they're startling because no other character in the show displays eye bags or prominent scarring--not even the mercenaries or adults. He's also fabulously expressive and earnest regardless of emotion, which takes the edge off any potential ability to intimidate (and we know he's about as intimidating as a kale salad as shown when he tries to order the Coven Scouts around at the precinct).

At this point, now that whatever preconceived vision of the mysterious Golden Guard has been blown out of the water, we're able to absorb what each individual character design choice is actually telling us.

This is one busted-ass teenager.

The eyebags show he's exhausted/stressed. The facial scar is a brutal fucking injury and the kind of thing that you get when someone is deliberately trying to hurt you (in combat or...well. what's implied to later be the actual reason). The ripped ear highlights the idea he's seen a lot of combat. The gap teeth highlight the childish imperfection and youth.

One of the things that struck me most about watching this for the first time and watching other reaction videos (a lot of them of different ages and demographics to get a decent sample size) was the incredible consistency of the response to all this visual information! Almost every single one of them were some variant or combination of these two thoughts: "Oh no, he's so young, poor thing! Is he okay?" And even better--the audience understands the answer to that question the minute they ask it, even before the conclusion of the episode. No, he is certainly not! This brainwashed child is in a lot of physical and emotional danger!

Which is GREAT! That's clearly what the intent was. An given how much of a little shithead he was in his first appearances, it was really amazing to see how thoroughly he was able to go from that to instantly sympathetic--as well as visually very interesting.

The Owl House demonstrates a lot of mastery over animation and writing techniques/tropes. You could fill a book on the topic (please oh please let there be an art book at the end please please please). But I REALLY loved how they handled face reveals especially, and to date this one in particular is probably my favorite.

#toh #the owl house #toh hunter #hunter wittebane #the golden guard #I was mulling over these face reveals with boyfriend last night #and I had to write them down because theyre really well done #With how much anime has influenced this show #I have no doubt how deliberate this all was #and Im really glad they made such bold character choices in this show! #ash's owl house meta #ari don’t look! #if I have time coming up I'll maybe break down Belos and Del's but I havent had time to take a fart in peace lately so we'll see #also about that damn scar #Ive talked about it before and i probably will again #as the owner of a few Large scars myself #he probably cant feel much in that side of his face and Im reliably told its a miracle its not paralyzed! #fridge horror!

[katrinegrey]

#asite #a shadow in the ember #spoilers #fbaa #blood and ash #sera mierel #nyktos #alitf #jennifer l armentrout #sigh...i did something absolutely fucking insane again #i wanted a way to condense ASITE information in a way that would make sense to my silly brain and it just took a TURN #I never liked making powerpoints in school but now in my late 20's for a smut fantasy book? absolutely for sure I'll do that

[officersnickers]

just some looming horrors ray

#idk I felt like og Ray again #I guess I made too much adult fanart of the kids lately #and what's a better month than October for this? #the lil towel he still had around his neck when Emma and Norman discovered Little Bunny... so cute! #he was probably standing under the shower and tearing up because he knew what would happen to his little sister #water so hot he felt like already burning #*but there are still some things left to do till I can finally go up in ashes...* #his nose looks kinda weird here #not pointy enough #the promised neverland #tpn #ynn #yakusoku no neverland #Snickers draws #tpn ray #ynn ray #yakusoku no neverland ray #the promised neverland ray #grace field house #ray

[ultramarine-spirit]

Is there a phrase that Athy has said that you like a lot? Or any other character? Is there a phrase that Athy has said that you like a lot? Or any other character? I personally think one of Athy's best lines was when he bowed to Claude on his birthday, it was really epic

That's a good choice! I'll keep this post about Athy, because I have too many favorite lines of hers. But overall, Lucas is probably the one who says the quotes I love the most. My favorites from the novel:

«Lucas, you brat... I'll kill you. Next time we meet, I'll really kill you!»

« I'm not yours, you are mine! »

« If this were a kid's story, everyone could have had their happy endings. No one would have been unfortunate or have any faults. In their perfect forms, everyone could have had their beautiful endings. »

Funny, romantic and thoughtful.

First one is funnier without context. Second one, everyone knows it, it's iconic, no explanations needed. Last one is from the final chapters. I think that line perfectly reflects the novel's philosophy, and it's a nice contrast with the manhwa's different take on the story. Neither is better than the other in my opinion, but rather, that contrast is what makes each other much more fascinating.

And as for the manhwa...

First, this classic (from both the novel and the manhwa). When you think about WMMAP, you think of this scene. Moving and heart-wrenching at the same time.

My absolute favorite quote... This felt like the one chapter where Athy finally exposed her heart to the reader. In volume 7's author notes, Spoon wrote about how she wanted Athy to learn that the love others gave her is not something to be gained or lost, and that she hoped Athy could in that way learn to love herself. That's it, that's Athy's whole character arc in a nutshell. Yeah I'm going to cry.

A simpler line but also a direct thematic continuation to the one shown above. The sequence leading to this is so impactful (I love the alliteration of people asking Athy her name. It's literal poetry, I'm not joking), and the scene that follows even more so...

Putting these scenes together really shows how much Athy grew over the course of the story, huh? From accepting she truly loved Claude but being willing to give that up, to confessing how afraid she was of losing her loved ones' affection, because it was the first time she held anything across three lifetimes, to finally realizing her true self and then being willing to sacrifice herself to protect those she loves.

Excuse me, I need to go cry for a bit...

#who made me a princess #i suddenly became a princess #suddenly became a princess one day #wmmap #sbapod #sbap #athanasia de alger obelia #athanasia #athy #wmmap novel #wmmap meta #my favorite lines from Lucas... where to even begin. In the novel. when he tells Athy she doesn't need to reciprocate anyone's feelings #'... But if somehow something were to happen to her... #I would be so enraged that I might kill everyone and set the entire obelian empire on fire. #I'd burn down everything until every living being on this land has turned to ash.' #'I shouldn't have shown her the sacred tree. But it's too late for regrets now. She won't... listen to me even if I try to stop her.' #'But why is that I can't bear the thought of losing someone now...? Did you feel this way too?' #'I still don't know how it feels to have a family. but I do know how lonely I would be if I weren't able to see that someone again.' #'... I understand why you didn't want to exist any longer.' #'It's still fine... I'm protecting her... so at the very least she'll be able to come back...' #'... You are the only person that I think of as someone I want to protect...' #Diana's: 'Though I couldn't raise you and hold you in my arms. Never once have I not loved you since the moment I felt your existence.' #'I love you my daughter Athanasia.' #'That's our child... I want to protect her even if something happens to me.' #Claude's: 'Don't be sick. I'll do anything for you. so please always stay healthy and happy...' #'I'm sorry Diana. Now I finally understand you.' #woah notice how most of these are about Athy or people loving Athy? I wonder what's up with that

[kuroshirosb]

Overflowing, distorting emotions

#pokemashe #barry cygnus #trainer barry #rival barry #cw blood #ashe's art #cw gore #i really like how this turned out… #I’m getting better at painting I think #I’ve been thinking a lot about the Sinnoh trio lately #again

[wocko13]

had a couple tags on this post commenting on the ray-gun, and i wanted to get the functionality out of my head so here's a quick and dirty concept! im no game designer but i tried to give it some balance

yonny gets a little credit because i imagine he was a contributor to the scope's biological identification system

#if this were in 4 it'd DEFINITELY be a late game item cos just wiping out smaller enemies instantly is pretty op #even with the addition of no nectar/corpse #if it were in its own standalone game id see it as smt the player starts off with... probably needs like 2-3 hits on small enemies to #turn them to ash to balance it? idk again im not a game designer lolol #pikmin 4 #pikmin #my art

[startsbeatboxing]

having ashe thoughts but I can't find my phone to post them on instagram so you get them instead

she's just a kid! like it still explodes my mind a little bit that she was 16 during s1, like hey that's a child and like obviously it's there a little bit with the rest of the pd but with ashe it's just so much different for some reason and like

he liked video games and loud music and as far as we know no one is going to even notice that he's gone, since he really only knew mark and the pd and they both know so much about what happened but aside from them and like the whole reason they were on the roadtrip for s2 was for ashe and like, yes, we have gotten a little sidetracked, but they only knew him for like two weeks but he was cared for! ashe was loved! and now he's sixteen, probably seventeen now, not in control of his own body because he loved his friends back and I just!

AND MARK i need to talk about mark he just wanted to protect her and through that protection it led to her end and i think not enough people talk about that part, how because mark kept ashe home and didn't let her have other friends she of course got attached to the first kids her age she'd seen in almost a decade, attached to their heroism as well because if she'd just been a little braver or better maybe her mom would still be around, and mark is trying to protect her but he's out of the house all the time and well, sometimes when he looks at her all he can see is his wife dying, and she knows that so she goes against him and goes to fight with her friends, and what does he know anyway, he was never there for her. and maybe if mark had let her use the book more, she would have been able to control the trickster but there's no use for that now because ashe is gone and mark can't do anything about it because after everything, he's placed back in prison

and "where are you going?" well, we don't know who said that! was it the trickster just fucking with the pd, was it ashe breaking the possession for a second? WE DON'T KNOW, and can ashe see what the trickster is doing with his body, seeing the harm it's causing, do you think it reminds him of what happened to his mother?

what did you think he wanted to do when he grew up? do you think, if he's ever free, that mark will go back to his over-protectiveness or finally let ashe be his own person? was his favorite color always purple? will ashe ever be able to look at his friends or interact with the world without remembering everything the trickster did? do you think he will be able to look at everything the pd did to get him back, everything mark did to try to protect him, no matter how counteractive, and understand that he is loved?

does ashe winters understand how much she means to the world?

#spoilers galore under the cut btw #ok i need to go to sleep now before I make myself cry again holy fuck it is too late #jrwi prime defenders #sorry ashe thoughts you know how it is #ashe on the brain tonight boys #<-- i have used both of those tags before thats so funny i need to shut up about her at some point #ashe winters #zia.og #zia.txt #bye bye i am sleepy and this took everything out of me

[deadciv]

so many of the cyberpunk endings are fundamentally cynical or deeply caveated and alloyed in some way, but the Tower ending…christ. think playing it too late last night legitimately gave me bad dreams

#the afterlife ending is already ‘you get the exact thing you said you wanted and it turns to ash in your mouth’? #you end up so deeply alone; adrift; the only guys who fuck with you are out of nostalgia and pity respectively #you have to live with the knowledge that you killed Johnny and enslaved/hollowed out Songbird and that despite these ‘sacrifices’ #you have nothing real; nothing good #to show for it #also Panam’s reaction—not answering your calls and never wanting to hear from you again—is totally understandable #but kind of does recast the intensity of your relationship on her end and indicates you were more than just. friends #it’s just too late to do anything about that.

[ashes-of-ailell]

hi everyone I've been playing hopes non-stop this past week. I have completed every route and am now playing lions again for funsies

with all of that said

god I love shez

#I love three hopes in general actually #I know a lot of people didn't and stuff and that's totally cool I get it #but it is so fun #I love running around with my assassin/trickster Ashe set up he's so fast #he is in fact speed and every second you aren't running he is only getting closer #love that I've managed to break my ashe unit so much that I could probably do the entire game just with him #tried him out as a mage earlier and he kicked ass just saying #this game also has some of my favourite Linhardt moments (read: 'im full of motivation... to sleep that is.') #getting to play as Holst and Rodrigue has been a lot of fun too #also. whoever made the decision to give Ashe supports with both Flayn and Yuri has my entire heart btw. literally all I ever wanted #also whoever cast Damien Haas as m!shez. incredible decision #I have a lot of things I love about this game if you read the tags this far hi how's it goin #happy late 1 year three hopes and once again. I love shez

[austinbutlermischief]

#joey answers #late posting this #this made my evening last night when i first saw it #and my morning when i saw it again lol #thanks ash #austin butler

[bloopdydooooo]

did someone oder mechtober day 9... *checks watch* two days late?

[image ID: a pencil drawing of Ashes O’Reilly from the Mechanisms. They appear to be examining a guitar with the B and E strings cut. At their feet Gunpowder Tim is slumped down, dead. There are two wounds in his chest and a thin trickle of blood from his mouth. an arrow is pointing at Ashes and says ‘lost their bass’. Another is pointing at the guitar. ‘Tim’s guitar’, it says. End ID]

#the mechanisms #ashes o'reilly #gunpowder tim #mechtober 2022 #i’m sorry it’s late will probably happen again

[asherasgayagenda]

for the ask game: i associate you with yume-fanfare, direct0r-hutao (is that the person that kept giving you squid facts. uh) and uhh im coming up with nothing else here. brain is empty. my brain is empty like how a cartoon guy would open his wallet and nothings in there except a moth that flies out. thats me rn. anyway ! :D

WHY DID I LAUGH

blank stare. i-? who? WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THEM!??? (HELP?!)

and yeppp saw that one coming ✨

ask game!!

#NEPT I HAVE LITERALLY NEVER INTERACTED WITH SAID PERSON IN MY LIFE???!!!?? I DONT THINK??!?? #hangon let me look something up #okay. who are they. please enlighten me #SORRY FOR THE LATE RESPONSE BTW I WAS . TRYING TO COME UP WITH SOMETHING FUNNY #ask game #come back from the dive asks #is ashe rambling again #users

[ashlynya2-0]

Day 31: Costume!

Me and my sister went as twins for comicon this october! It was verrrry fun. Yup!

#ash star doodles #fanart #pokemon #pkmn #cosplay #emmet #ingo #submas #costume #inktober 22 #i did it #ill have you know i made the outfits and never want to see a sweing machine ever again. #i keep wanting to make things and then remember the stress #nah bro #im good #no sweing for a decade #rah #I COMPLETED INKTOBER YAAAAAA BABEYYY #ik i did the last one a bit late but i got 30 outta 31 drawings out on the day. im happy

[silverselfshippingchaos]

i put him on the f/o list

#it had to happen eventually LMAAOO so i figured that since im half asleep rn.. #sorry that i havent been very active these past few days #i was on a trip w family and in another state for a while. tbh i didn't have the most fun in thr world and i'm bloody exhausted #BUT!!! I WAS ABLE TO TRACK DOWN A COPY OF X.ENOBLADE X!!! #rare ash w!!! #ash rambles 💚 #im finally home now! feels nice to be in my own bed again and. um. see my aq #ua plushie! my wife!!! her plush version is so cute #but yeah. i've been thinking about m.atthew nonstop as of late. he brings me so much comfort and always makes me swoon #so. uh. meet my new bf y'all! #he also has two fankids #twins! lilly and thorn!