#but in terms of crit i can't do much with that bc their crit was so personal to them—not less valid + not less important...but also

[mokutone]

@pax-thuban left these tags on a post:

#well. first of all. this is so. bittersweet #like screaming and crying and throwing up on the floor etc #second of all. maybe i'm looking too much into this but. #it's interesting to see that there's blood splatters on tenzo's face /and/ his mask #if i recall correctly. the mask covers his happuri as well #the implication that tenzo lost his mask during battle. put it back on presumably /still/ in battle. continued killing #idk. just hurts #like something something anbu work forces him to feel more comfortable wearing a mask and conforming to a nameless org and set of ideals#and forgoing individuality #or like. something something maybe he feels worse that his face got 'stained' because it's basically a reminder that 'cat' and 'tenzo' #are one and the same and not two distinct entities no matter how much he wants to separate his identity and his anbu lifestyle #and the fact that the happuri is blank and doesn't have a konoha leaf on it.... he doesn't feel connected to the community even as he kills #for it... #i feel like it's kind of obvious that it's significant that the comic shows tenzo taking off his mask as he shows his weariness/depression #regarding anbu work and then how he thinks about kakashi as a jonin sensei. like representing himself as tenzo the individual rather than#'cat' a faceless tool of konoha in the shadows #i also feel like it's kind of noteworthy that the perspective(? is that what it's called for images?) zooms in on tenzo's face #first panel is mostly black and tenzo's body is off-center(?). like his face is centered but his body's not. and that leaves more room for #the black background. but the second panel fills it up with the kakashi thought bubble and tenzo's body comes into the center to fill up #the bottom half. and then the third panel makes tenzo himself fill up more space. there's less 'darkness' now #not sure how to say it other than. his sole saving grace in anbu at the moment is preserving his self and bond with kakashi ig #i also like how the black background isn't pure black. there's a tinge of red(? idk it could also be orange? but i'm taking it as red) #like one hand. maybe a reference to the whole blood thing. a reflection of how he feels surrounded by that reminder of murder instead #of just it being select patches on his skin #on the other hand (and this might be looking too deep 😔) maybe how allusion to the sharingan. how even though he left root #anbu still feels very similar to it that he feels reminded of how he was watched by danzo? #sorry for rambling. i am in an analysing mood today #but i'm also not that great at analysing visual art lmao

nooo no sorries! this is really useful and EXTREMELY flattering to receive such detailed thoughts, i feel like im back in a School Crit Circle or something, which is really fun and helpful. Critique like this rlly helps me understand what people are bringing to my art when I make it and how it's getting interpreted, which as somebody who wants to tell understandable stories via images, is useful to me beyond what words can describe!

like—there's no "right" or "wrong" when it comes to interpreting art, there is my intention, but my intention isn't necessarily what comes out (like how kishimoto somehow accidentally wrote two teenagers who he meant for us to perceive as straight, in the pains and throes of love for each other. like he wrote that, whether or not he intended to. i dont even actually ship s/n bc it doesn't have The One Ingredient for me, but its...also something thats hard to ignore about the text)

and similarly, since theres no way to objectively read a text, when you read it you're putting it in your own context, finishing the painting yourself with whatever colors you've got in your palette to use

that said! I can answer for my intentions in some of these

The blood and the mask: Practically, you're 100% right! Mask needs to be off to get at the happuri. That he's got blood on both his mask, and his happuri, means that at some point in the battle, he lost his mask and then put it on. In terms of art, I did this because the juxaposition contrast between the blood and the small amount of joy he's taking in thinking about a scarecrow, felt really important, and I didn't want to lose that with the removal of the mask. I also put the blood splatter in the same place, coming in from Tenzō's left, and splattering upward across his forehead area. Practically, this would mean that he was in the same position by a spatter of blood twice, but symbolically this implies that he is or feels like the same with or without the mask—like u talk about them being the same entity. I didn't really do that intentionally though—like I didn't think about it. I just kinda was like "yea that feels right. anyway moving on."

No leaf on the happuri: I AGREE WITH YOU ABT THE SYMBOLISM...he doesnt feel connected to konoha in a Real way until he's co-captaining, I think. He needs to be allowed to LIVE in Konoha to be a part of it... That said, if I'm not drawing Captain Yamato Post-Sunlight-Exposure I straight up forget that he had the leaf at all–I know it's supposed to be a Danzō thing, but I keep thinking it's an anbu thing. Honestly, since I agree with the symbolism, whether or not I forget or make an intentional choice not to depict it really doesn't matter I suppose

The Zoom In: Kind of the same as the last! i felt in my heart that we had to zoom in...I didn't think about it in terms of ''lessening darkness'' although now that I've read you write that I like THAT reading much more—esp since so much of yamato's themes in canon seem to be about sunlight and darkness...there's an interesting reading of darkness lessening (because he takes up more space) without light gaining any footing (he's still, as always, situated in the dark) about like, the little things that one can do to manage their depression or a dark situation, even when they still aren't able to be fully FREE of it quite yet (if ever). I think, when I was thinking abt it, I was thinking about making Tenzō seem very small and alone in the first panel, and then even after thinking about Kakashi, he's not quite so small in the panel, even though he still remains alone. This being said, the darkness reading is much stronger than the loneliness reading, even though they go hand in hand, I much prefer your interpretation.

the red in the black: This is interesting!!!! I like your interpretations a lot...in terms of materials this is only black india ink, so there's no red actually in it, but in the photo I can see what you mean—the ink I'm using is shiny because the "matte" ink is twice the price of it and I'm a cheapskate, and it inevitably creates shines of color when scanned or photographed. Obviously though, the lack of intention or the material contrast doesn't mean you're wrong—I saw the colorful patches in the image and decided it was fine enough to post anyway, they're a piece of the art as it exists digitally! Open for critique and interpretation. I like the idea that the darkness is connected to the blood very much especially, because it is for Tenzō, isn't it?

anyway, ty v much for your analysis, i was incredibly flattered to receive it, and i think you're actually super good at it, in my opinion!

#yamswers #pax-thuban #my jutsu #plz dont take offense to me explaining critique in basic terms ahghdhghds i do it mostly bc i know theres people who follow me who #will be less familiar with what critique is...and tumblr is often a less than ideal teacher for the art of art critique #I think the best thing one can do when critiquing art is to actually engage as much as they can with what they see in front of them #the ''how does this make Me feel'' part of it i think is EXTREMELY helpful—but mostly as a jumping off point #you want to use that feeling like a scent hound i think...it can lead u to the area you need to look at and it can follow the scent so well #but the feeling itself isnt going to be able to explain why you feel that way or what about the art is working or isnt working— #—which is the point of Critique #and you are extremely good at looking at specific factors in the art and both elaborating on the feeling its giving you and why #i've definitely given people critiques where I get stuck with the dog—only saying how I'm feeling but nothing more substantial #''i smell something in this area. not sure what. definitely here tho'' #ive also given crit where i just do not engage at all with the feelings and crit solely on analysis—which is good for like anatomy help #but limited in terms of an overall piece #ive definitely gotten feedback on my art which is 100% wholly based on the viewers own personal history + doesnt rlly engage with the #meaning or practical elements of the art in front of them #and in that case its just kind of ''okay! cool! im flattered that you have such a strong + personal connection to this piece!'' #but in terms of crit i can't do much with that bc their crit was so personal to them—not less valid + not less important...but also #not something meant for me at all #like um. um. um. the song Man on the Moon by REM is really important to me...but not for anything in the song itself. just where i heard it #and who i heard it with. it doesnt make my connection to the song less meaningful...but its not something that would b useful 2 the band #SDGJDSHGKDSJGH SORRY NOW *I'M* RAMBLING #it was just exciting to see such a thorough critique. it reminded of college back when id get to pin my art to the wall and get absolutely #blasted to smithereens by my teachers and classmates. VERY fun. i miss that energy #i wholly recommend it to anyone who would be okay getting told their art came out wrong (bc it sometimes will) #idk. anyway this is an art blog but more than that its a blog about art #so its fun to talk about the mechanics and decision making sometimes

[aliquistis]

Hi! ♥ I hope you're having a wonderful time wherever you are!! I am here to sing your praises and ask some questions about your writing process! First of all, Witch Ways is such a great piece of writing. Every 5 minutes I'm like [origin character name here] would totally do this! or that's so [origin character], and twirling my hair, giggling like a 13yo with a crush. I can't help but be endlessly amazed at how well you write each character: the way you depict actions, feelings, analogies, etc., like you're aware of what's going on all the time and direct our attention toward the important stuff. It's all very cinematographic and painterly. And that awareness guiding our attention feels like you're shaping scenes with just enough detail, or broad enough strokes, that reading becomes really pleasurable, and not dense at all or like everything is up in the air. It's a perfect balance. Gale, as written by you, is *chef's kiss*. Also, an honorable mention goes to Astarion; your portrayal of him is so on point I'd jump at the opportunity to read anything you write with him in it. Chapter 11 has Astarion pull some emotional 3D chess stuff on Gale to make him open up about his relationship with Echo, and I think that is so ingenious! Another thing I've noticed is that you're really good at knowing when a relationship/character has had enough time in the spotlight and it's time to let other relationships/characters into the picture - all in a very natural and reader-friendly manner. And I'm a baby writer, but I know our characters/plotlines can only be as developed as we are experienced/well-read, in a way. Naturally, I've got some questions and they are as follows: 1) What are some of the things/techniques/approaches that help you with characterization/keeping characters effectively in character? I just feel like, you're so good at reading characters and knowing what they'd do next. Developing that skill probably took you time and effort!!! So, any words of wisdom, book, webpage, or anything to help guide me a bit through the process of acquiring the skill? 2) is there anything that's helped you become a better writer? Especially in terms of developing and maintaining this 360° awareness when you write (they should be doing that with their hands, they should be feeling this but also a bit of that, this is the right amount of [character/relationship], this explanation/description is ok and if I add more to it I risk being insecure/overly preachy, etc.) Thank you so much for sharing your writing!!! ♥

Thank you so much for your kind words! I really am having a great time writing this story and I'm very happy that people are enjoying it. The best general writing advice I can give is simply to stick to it. Don't get hung up on comparing yourself to other people. It can take a long time to find your own voice and it took me personally a long time to realize there isn't one "right" way to write. Writing is hard and you have to try and be kind to yourself. Don't be afraid to make mistakes or to get crit. I cannot tell you how much time I wasted being terrified of showing anyone my writing, when I could have been using that time to grow as a writer.

Specific answers under a cut bc I babbled on for awhile!

1) So for characterization, just play through every possible conversation you can have with a companion/npc. I look up videos for choices that I can't make (like late game evil playthroughs) and I have like a million saves before conversations, events, and areas that I might need to revisit. When I'm looking for a certain reaction (like how does Wyll talk to you if you're mean to him? If you're nice to him?) This is probably why I'm so comfortable writing Astarion, since I romanced him on my first playthrough and I got to see a lot of content for him.

So I load up a conversation with the emotion I'm looking for, and really pay attention to their speech patterns. Then, during writing, I do two passes: the first time I write out what I need from the conversation, then the second time (during editing) I read the conversations out loud and try to see if I can hear it in the character's voice. During this second pass, I change a lot of wording and inflection to better fit how a certain character speaks. Reading dialogue out loud in general is a great idea bc it helps you make sure you're writing in a way that people actually talk.

2) Workshopping helps so much. I majored in English so I had to take a lot of writing classes and just getting another set of eyes on your writing who can tell you "hey this doesn't make sense" or "hey I had to read this twice so it's probably not flowing how you want it to" can really, really help. Since having a ready workshop isn't always possible, writing fanfiction can help in the same way! Really anything that keeps you writing and practicing will keep you developing.

More specifically for picturing scenes, a lot of times I will have to physically do the things I'm writing so I can better see how to describe it. For emotions, I listen to music that evokes the same feeling I'm trying to write out. It sounds weird to say it, but study fiction and the stories you like. Think about why story beats landed how they did or what you'd do differently to flesh something out that you liked, but could have hit better if some things had changed. (I feel like we have all been watching a movie and gone "Why didn't they say/do [this] instead!") Editing is so important, so hard, and so (imo) boring but it is integral to getting the feeling in a scene right. You really can't tell if something is coming off right until you've gone back over it and cut down/filled out the parts you need.

Doing a warm up can help too, especially when the words aren't coming to you right away. Pick a prompt or think of a scene that you're really excited to write and give yourself fifteen minutes to just hammer away at that. In my writing classes, we always did a warm up for the first fifteen minutes of class and it can really help put your brain in the right condition for creating. Another exercise we did in writing class (which might help with the scene awareness) was taking a scene from a movie and writing it out in prose. It can help you pay attention to what movements need to be narrated and how to describe expressions/inflection.

I hope some of this helps! Unsurprisingly, it also helps to write stuff you have fun writing. Even if you think it's a trope or cliche or whatever, who cares! Write what you like. I started both of my big fanfics simply because I couldn't find the ship dynamic I was looking for in the pairings they feature. So if you write what you want to read, chances are there are people in the world also looking for it <3

#fanfic #writing #witch ways

[angelcasendgame]

omg renu finally someone else who appreciates dean and amara!!! i need to stop being so shocked that you and i share the same opinions so much alskflfl;f but literally i feel like fandom always writes them off as a "weird noncon thing with no chemistry" but like.... regardless of how it started i just think they ended up truly caring about each other in the end!!! and i actually do think it's interesting how they could never really hurt each other and the nature of their bond and what it truly meant. because it's not something as simple as "amara forced a connection onto him" when even in season 15 she thought it was something chuck did to them!! anyway sorry for rambling but i just love them <3

Hello Moogs beloved!!! 💜💜💜💜💜💜

I was thinking the EXACT SAME THING!! We are literally one I love that for us 💜💜 yes exactly to what you said!! Like she's this ancient being from before creation whose brother locked her away for the universe to be born!!!! It's more complicated than that which makes it all the harder to figure out!! GOD THE S15 THING AHH. Okay ideally I wish Dean and Amara after the Mary talk would be on better terms and instead of destroying her, they'd recruit her but thats spn for you. Also you have unleashed a beast bc I have so many emotions about Dean and Amara and I'm gonna subject you to them under the cut because you just Get Me <3333

Okay so idk if you're aware of the story, the ones who walk away from omelas but the general premise is this beautiful perfect town, Omelas where people are happy. But then it turns out there's this one single child locked away under the town and as long as they're miserable, the town continues to be okay (and most people, once they find out, can't handle the guilt and walk away, hence the title but that's besides the point)

I can't help but think of both Amara and Dean in this way. Like Amara was literally locked away for creation to exist, all of this, the entire world is here because she was imprisoned and miserable. And Dean was locked to his family to keep all these strangers and his dad and his brother happy. And obviously Sam was abused by John too, this is not Sam crit at all, but from Dean pov, he always felt obligated to stay imprisoned to this life out of wanting to make John happy and Sam happy and these strangers that he saves happy. So we have two beings locked away in their own way for the happiness of others. But the difference here is that their respective "towns" weren't happy. Dean was never enough for John and always made him feel inadequate. Sam literally ran away even though Dean had the opportunity to dip with Sonny but chose to come back for Sam (not Sam crit, I 100% support his decision to gtfo) but he feels that betrayal. Even though Dean keeps killing monsters, there's always more, by season TWO the life was too much for him. Like all this happiness he sacrificed and for what?? The people he loves always leave and he keeps failing the people he can't save. And Amara was literally imprisoned for all of creation, she finally gets to see the world and all she sees is the bad. This is what she was locked up for?? All this misery and hatred? I would also destroy the world the FUCK

This isn't saying that the child in the book doesn't deserve to tear the world up, but I'm just looking at their dynamic

But Dean without John around is learning to have a better place in the world. He's farrrr from perfect (see: the entirety of the show) but like Cas said, Dean has so much love for the world and people. And this is what Amara learns from him too by the end--the thing that stopped her from destroying the world was the literal power of love despite the horribleness that exists in the world

And I think this is the connection she was looking for. Dean and Amara were linked from the moc but I think she latched onto him bc she saw herself in Dean. And all the consumption of souls was yes for power but part of me thinks she was looking for something to fill the void (uh darkness pun not intended). And then yeah, she understood after speaking to the woman feeding the birds and understood what she was missing from Dean which was love for the world

She got her closure with Chuck and then bounced to explore the world (you go girl) and I do think Dean got closure from John in Lebanon when he truly put the idea behind him uh see this post lmao, where he just wants the idea of John but not John himself . And I just WISH s15 would have been them coming together after healing and taking Chuck down together who implemented the whole fucked up system to begin with!!

There's just so much to explore in their relationship and like this doesn't even TOUCH Amara bringing Mary back to life and saying she did that to give Dean the opportunity to know the real her and not the false one John made up (also ahhh Chuck and John as gods and authors, I could go on about this forever too fhskhdkshs)

#I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT THIS #i am SO GLAD you stopped by mwah mwah MWAHHH i love you!!! #i think a lot of people tend to brush off dean-amara and call it dumb but there's so much they're missing out on #i feel like I need to make an announcement that says im not shipping dean-amara #it's just about their dynamic #but YES #sorry for rambling idek if any of this makes sense #LOVE YOU #mailbox #moogs tag 🔮 #amara and dean

[angeloncewas]

no pressure to answer this any time soon (bc god knows we've had enough bad vibes today) but how you you deal with claims such as some of the ones in the anons shown here? i find it hard to just brush away serious things like claims of anti-blackness even when i know the information those claims are based on is faulty. how do you go about not feeling like a horrible person when you see stuff like that?

Well, to be honest, I don't really have to. I very rarely see stuff like that on my dash, since the only blog I follow that isn't at least an ex-mcyt fan is a random SPN-enjoyer whose vibes I liked. I've also only gotten 3 hate anons ever - all of which were mediocre at best (two that were accusing me of defending Dream in a situation where I was criticizing him so they held no weight, and that bs one about wishing apologists a good day lol) so those claims never really get on my radar.

(It actually makes me feel a little guilty at times; so many kind and wonderful people in this community have had to deal with an overwhelming amount of hate in their inbox or directed toward them, whereas I get off scot-free. This sounds weird, but it doesn't feel fair. I hope the people involved with that blog are doing okay - I'm very sorry that they had to deal with that, especially as mostly-outsiders.)

As for the claims themselves though, I kind of just have a lot of confidence in my own knowledge and judgement. There was a period of my life where I got sucked into a BaB/exclusionist community, and because of that I think I know better than most people how perceived harm can bring a group of people together in their hatred and spread like wildfire. I commend people for standing up for what they believe in - apathy is the enemy - but I also am not swayed by misinformation when I know for a fact that it is such. There is a possibility that some DSMP members are racist - in the same way there is a possibility that any creator is a horrible person. As consumers, our job is to remain critical and vigilant (which is why I'll never agree with the notion that crit-posting is pointless, though I do understand that it can be nitpicky at times), but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy content based on our good judgement.

This might sound a bit egotistical, but I know that I'm a good person. I do as much activist work in my offline life as I can and I'm hoping to do a lot more as we re-acclimate to things (in terms of COVID). I work to stay politically informed and stand up against acts of bigotry (or microaggression) that are oftentimes very easy to just let slide for the sake of everyone getting along. And as someone who has had many hopeless days, I do my best to keep others from feeling that way through whatever means I can. Some random anonymous person online is not going to be able to detract from everything I've worked on and for with their poorly-researched claims about some internet dude I'm currently into. I understand that this is easier said than done, and you shouldn't feel bad if those claims do get to you (that means you care, and that's important), but I want to remind you that we are often smarter than we give yourselves credit for. You have good judgement. You are (presumably) aware of the situation. You're not brushing it away, you're refuting it with evidence (by learning what actually happened and the details of each situation, etc etc).

It's a difficult part of being in this community, for sure, but all we can really do is combat the bullshit and keep going. It sucks to know that so many people have so many misconceptions about us and the people whose content we're supporting, but their failure to look into the full scope of the situation doesn't make you a bad person and their perspective on the subject isn't the end-all be-all. Trust yourself.

#angel answers #anon #discourse #(theres a dt in the link so please be careful of that - as well as trauma-denial and the usual fandom hate) #ask to tag #long post

[alcoress]

I really don't know know I've been this lucky when I usually have very shit luck 😭 and kokomi is soo good, I have her as a healer rn but I'm going to make her into a dps even tho she can't crit which honestly doesn't bother me that much and her idles are super cute. also I'm super sure you'll get her but if u asked me, you should farm for her artifacts after her banner comes so u can do the demo and see what makes her deal the most damage

yep I'm really short on primos rn because I took a long break from genshin to focus on other things and missed the lantern rite. also I don't know what c1 kokomi does I honestly just want her bc my friend doesn't have her and I want to show off my luck 😭 but I'm spreading my luck to u so u get all the 5 stars u want!!

also I love qiqi she's so cute, I've never pulled her (somehow) so I've never really seen how much she can heal but I heard the clam set is really good for most healers + xingqui

also I kinda hope Childe or Klee have a rerun this year since I skipped both of their banners 😭

yeah i usually don’t pre-farm artifacts for that reason, it’s nice to see what mhy gives characters in their demos! and honestly i kinda like that kokomi can’t crit? it’s rlly nice to not worry abt those stats aksj

lantern rite events are still happening i think? or at least the little event thing was still there yesterday, so you might be able to get some of the primos! VALID THAT IS A VALID REASON TO GET C1 ajsjs and ty!! i will use your gifted luck well mhm

qiqi’s healing is wild, she heals so much, literally her only issue is uptime, but taser teams generate sm energy that it shouldn’t be a big issue! also i never thought of using it for xingqiu but tbh it kinda makes sense? like if he’s the only one on the team who can heal

i think they’ll be back, dw!! and tbh so ive only pulled four limited five stars - kazuha, childe, xiao, and zhongli, in that order, and im rlly happy i picked childe bc 1. he’s one of my favorites, both in terms of characterization and playstyle, and 2. he is a great investment for my teams!! so i’d definitely say pulling childe is a good move, tbh i don’t know much abt klee’s playstyle tho? she is so cute ;-; <3