#i'm just happy overall

[watchmakermori]

the sumeru archon quest popped off. I started the second act and I just HAD to finish it today because I was so engrossed. this feels like a big step up from inazuma's wobbly writing, and it's also a more interesting and ambitious plot than mondstadt and liyue had. I particularly like that the traveller feels a bit more...engaged? Like an actual character? In the other nations, the traveller has kind of been a bystander. while I wish they would commit to giving them more voiced lines, the sumeru storyline feels more geared around them. With the other nations, it often felt like the plotlines could progress in almost the same way whether the traveller was there or not. this time, they have clearer and more specific motivations: it's obvious why they want to find the dendro archon - specifically the god of wisdom - and ask her questions about their sibling. their relationship with dunyarzad is also developed enough to provide secondary motivation, too - she feels like a much more successful, developed npc in comparison to teppei, who we actually get enough time with to care about.

all of the characters are introduced at a nice pace, as is a lot of the worldbuilding. I like that we meet new characters with each new area - collei and tighnari for the forest, dehya, nilou, dunyarzad and nahida for sumeru city, alhaitham and dori for port ormos. it breaks it up well and stops it from feeling overwhelming. the fact that the first act lays the groundwork for how sumeru works - the eremites, the akademiya, canned knowledge, the akasha, etc. - means that second act can delve into these concepts more thoroughly without being too confusing. I love how creative and weird the second act was, too! I wasn't expecting them to go with a weird, time-loop type thing, and I love that a genshin storyline actually managed to throw me off and do something unexpected for a change

it's a much stronger start than sumeru had, and the fact that the archon quest may not actually be wrapped up until 3.2 gives me a lot of hope for the rest. I can't wait to see how scaramouche ends up involved. my guess is that the fatui will have some hand in the dream-harvesting that the akademiya is doing, but beyond that, I'm not sure what to expect. I'm very excited, though

also alhaitham is a sussy bastard. I could fix him but whatever's wrong with him is much hotter

#genshin impact #generally i think the quality of the quests has been good since the end of inazuma #i wasn't as harsh on inazuma as some people but this is LEAGUES better #i LOVE alhaitham #i want to know what he's up to #i like that he doesn't really act warm to the traveller. he just uses them #he's clearly got his own agenda but who knows what #i like dehya too! and nahida is really interesting! #i was never a nahida hater but i think her set up as an archon is fascinating #the only character im not as fussed about is nilou tbh. but that's mostly because she didn't do very much #funnily enough i also think paimon was less annoying in this quest #i felt like traveller and paimon felt like a proper unit in this quest. their bond was clear and quite nice to see #i'm just happy overall #i could do with less of paimon recapping with obvious exposition. but it's definitely been worse

[canisalbus]

sorry im emotonal and going off of the other asks sent about machete and just i need to stress how beautiful it is to me that machete sees himself so undeserving of love and affection and feeling as if vasco's too good for him but despite all that he is so incredibly devoted to vasco and loving towards him (in his own way) but is so incredibly clear to anyone with eyes that just how in love he is with vasco. like it's not done out of a "oh god please never realize that you're too good for me here here let me overdo it with the affection" its done with the "i love you, and will always love you, no matter what happens to us or separates us, and i will give it to you as long as i am able, and if you ever leave, i won't be okay, but will still love you, and want you happy". like he doesn't use his own feelings of being undeserving taint his love or the way he loves for vasco, and it's so, so beautiful

.

#;M; #oauhh #that's so sweet I'm in shambles and so glad to hear all of that #sometimes I worry about whether I'm communicating their chemistry correctly #it would be so easy for this sort of relationship to gain suffocating and possessive and overall just abusive tones #and even though you could argue it would be a source for juicy drama I just don't want that #Machete could selfishly exploit Vasco's care and altruism without giving anything in return #or worse let his paranoia and jealousy get the better of him and end up destroying them both because if he can't have Vasco no one can #and Vasco could leverage his influence over Machete to manipulate and use him because out of them two he's the more mentally stable one #and it would be easy to take advantage of Machete's vulnerability obedience and his trust that Vasco would never harm him #but I don't know maybe it's a bit tropey and idealistic but I really just want these dogs to be genuinely good for each other #they have so many things working against them already I don't wish to see them backstab each other as well #they have a bit of a 'us against the world' thing going on which I really like #they're not perfect there's issues they're trying to work on but the will to get through it together is there #and I want to make it seem like they wouldn't hesitate to prioritize the other one's happiness and wellbeing at their own expense #if it came to that #anwered #anonymous

[chrisrin]

DIRKSOL FUSION!! THE anime guy.

#chris doodles #homestuck #gemstuck #hs #dirksol #soldirk #whatever tag is used #dirk strider #sollux captor #technically this is a redesign and there are parts of the old design i still like #but eh you hit and miss sometimes #overall though i'm happy with it #its a bit less “this is just kamina from gurren lagan” #and more typical shounen protagonist

[crescentfool]

the persona 3 protagonist 25th anniversary nui in food appliances!

#lizzy speaks #persona 3 #minato arisato #makoto yuki #guys friendly reminder that this is what adulthood is about dont listen to anyone who calls you cringe #hence why im putting these in the main tags. i mean they're not incorrect for what the photos are about. lmao #anyway this was a very fun birthday!!! i feel very loved and supported by so many people and i got to do very fun things (like this)... #i think... birthday is like thanksgiving to me. in the gratitude respect. #a reminder of all the lovely people that i have gotten a chance to meet and how i've learned from them #it makes me very happy to have been born... i think every day is a great day to celebrate life's grandeur + brilliance + magnificence #it's just a very poignant and strong feeling that i have that i'm happy to have met so many wonderful people #and while there are some people i've only known for brief periods of time or people who i havent really been good at keeping in contact wit #i do cherish it! im so grateful. so happy that there are people who cheer my silly shenanigans on #while there are ways in which aging makes me go “oh hmm” i think overall i'm happy that i get to keep on living and learning #i have so much fondness for humanity and people... like even if i dont get to talk to ppl directly i just get very emotional yknow #like wow.. you exist.. thats so fucking awesome... i hope you have an awesome day... im glad our paths could cross #if you have read up to this point of my tags.. thank you for reading and being part of my life #i will keep on being the silliest guy ive ever known! cheers to more shenyanigans and self-discovery :3

[tridentrans]

DORK ASS GHOST !! get this damn kid OUTTA HERE he keeps giving me LETTERS 📨

#design prone to change still yknow but I'm happy with this #probably keeping the jacket full time BUT . just now hes technically got overalls on under there #mvrck dp au #maverick #need to draw him fully on fire mode #please dont mind i just whacked the hat over his head i didnt wanna redraw stuff thank you #maverick delphine

[uncanny-tranny]

Something I think ought to be more readily-available and encouraged is simply... taking parental classes. I wish it were more common for people to realize just how hard - and important - parenting is, and indeed, that we all could use help with taking care of young folk. It's really alarming that popular opinion is still that parental classes are only for the "fuck-up" parents, or the parents who utterly failed. It should be seen as a good thing to take parental classes - especially on your own volition. It should be seen as imperative for one to take them, it should be a free, accurate, and scheduled occurrence so that people of any background are able to attend.

#politics #parenting #i might have posted something like this before but who knows. certainly not me (the blogger) #of course some cities and states in the USA for instance will have programs like this but it's not.. across the board from what i understand #my city has a few free parenting classes for really any parent and i am really happy to hear that #my dad talks about the classes he took and most of them are geared toward fathers (the classes he takes). i think that's a great thing #i wish that was more common when i was a kid. when i'm older you bet i'm taking advantage of parenting classes <3 #even if i have no children i won't be child-free unless i live in isolation. i want to treat them well #i would be devastated if a kid were to have a horrible experience around me because i was an asshole or i was uncompassionate or ignorant #the overall message i got as a kid was that parenting classes were a punishment for the fuck-up parents and THAT is fucked up to me #the idea that parenting is simultaneously natural AND that you're Always Correct and Never Wrong is dangerous at best #like i bet my abuser thought they were a good adult to me and that i was just a fucked-up *child*

[ne0nwithazero]

Just Human AU things 💕

#My Art #Mike #Host #I love them and their t4t swag #I'm still struggling to get the hang of Mike's overall face I'm just never happy with it!!! #Host is so much fun to draw as always..... #Edit - Adjusted the colours a bit :)

[windsweptinred]

#Windswept arty rambles ahead #Looking back at my large pen and ink fanart pieces of 2023 and reflecting. #Most of my work involves rare pairs which I know gives them a limited audience. Such is fandom. #So I try not to judge them too much on the amount of likes and reblogs they get. And more on the joy of making them #And the progress I can see with each one. #My lines are sharpening and the detail becoming finer. #I've only just started incorporating colour into them #But I'm happy with the results and would love to work on my ability to do so in 2024. #I'd love to get a few more works in time allowing before the year closes. #I'd love to do a Constantdeath piece. #And a full on 20s themed Desunity work... Going all in with that art deco goodness. #I've drawn something every one of my fics save Metamorphosis too #So I really feel like I should go back and do that at some point #But yeah #overall feeling proud of my progress #sandman fanart #my artwork

[lesbiancarat]

want to give my two cents on the AI usage in the maestro trailer--

i think seventeen doing a whole concept that is anti-AI is very cool, especially as creatives themselves i think it's good that they're speaking up against it and i hope it gets more ppl talking about the issue. i also understand on a surface level the artistic choice (whether it was made by the members, the mv director, or whoever else), to directly use AI in contrast to real, human-made visuals and music in order to criticize it. i also appreciate that they clearly stated the intention of the use of AI at the beginning of the video

however, although i understand it to an extent, i do not agree with the choice to use AI to critique AI. one of the main ethical concerns with generative AI is that it is trained on other artists' work without their knowledge, consent, or compensation. and even when AI generated images are being used to critique AI, it still does not negate this particular ethical concern

the use of AI to critique also does not negate the fact that this is work that could have been done by an actual artist. i have seen some people argue that it's okay in this context because it's a critique specifically about AI, and it is content that never would have been done by a real artist anyway because it doesn't make sense for the story they're trying to tell. but i disagree. i think you can still tell the exact same story without using AI

and in fact, i would argue that it would make the anti-AI message stronger if they HAD paid an artist to draw/animate the scenes that are supposed to represent AI generated images. wouldn't it just be proof that humans can create images that are just as bad and nonsensical and soulless as AI, but that AI can't replicate the creativity and beauty and basic fucking anatomy that's in human-made art?

it feels very obvious this was not just a way to cut corners and costs like a lot of scummy people are using AI for. ultimately it was a very intentional creative decision, i just personally think it was a very poor one. and even if some ethical considerations were taken into account before this decision, i certainly don't think all of them were. at the very least i feel like the decision undermines the message they want to convey

i would also like to recognize that i myself am not an artist, and i have seen some artists that are totally on board with the use of AI in this specific context, so clearly this is not a topic that is cut and dry. but generative AI is still new, and i think it's important to keep having these conversations

#melia.txt #also want to add that as musicians svt are more directly threatened by AI generated audio than they are by AI generated images #and yet AI generated images is what was used in the video #and i guess the MV director/production company are the ones directly responsible for putting that in there #whether it was their initial idea or not #and they work in a visual medium so perhaps that makes it more 'fair' but idk it just feels like #the commentary is around music. which makes sense. and using human produced music/sound #but then taking advantage of AI images #idk just feels weird #i mean i don't like it either way #like i said in the main post i understand the intention behind the creative decision #and i'm still happy svt are speaking against ai at all i do think overall they're doing a good thing here #i just don't agree with the creative decision they/the production company/whoever made #edit: deleted the part about not boycotting svt over this bc ppl were commenting about boycotting bc of the 🛴 stuff #i meant specifically /I/ am not calling for a boycott because of specifically the ai stuff #was just trying to make a general point that im not making this post bc i want to sabatoge svt or whatever #bc kpop fans love to pull that catd whenever u criticize anything #so yeah just removed that bit bc i dont want ppl getting confused what im talking about #respect ppl boycotting because of scooter/israel stuff but thats not what this post was intended to be about #edit 2: turning off reblogs bc im going to bed and having asomewhat controversial post up is not gonna help me sleep well lol #may or my not turn rb's back on in the morning

[faelapis]

i'd love more SU content. but actually there are two more reasons i'm not super keen on a war-era SU show is: 1) it would be kind of a bummer? at least the ending. 2) i feel like the war flashbacks we have are so specific and encapsulates those core moments so well. dunno if we need more.

they're also so wonderfully subjective. the format of indirectly seeing garnet's pov, pearl's pov, lapis' pov, etc as its told to steven. none of them have the full story. none of them can describe everything objectively, so we have to fill things in and get to see how their emotions filter what they talk about. i like that. the war era definitely captures the feeling of the sublime, where we are overwhelmed by the scope of it and are teased by a world we can't quite see. even so, we understand it emotionally. because the characters are resonant, and we understand how it impacts them.

but again. let's be totally honest. i want a bunch of post-future anthology specials focused on different characters, mainly so i can have jasper finally having a shot at happiness. because that's only going to happen in that era.

we can still do lore backstories, btw. i really want a diamond special too so we can have gemkind origins with beautiful poetic & religious framing teasing a mythology of gemkind's earliest history. we could have various characters reflecting on their pasts.

BUT i just want it to be set in the future era (with the necessary flashbacks) so we can have some damn happiness for these characters. because nobody's happy in the war era lol.

#steven universe #i mean i'm exaggerating. some ppl are happy some of the time in the war era #pearl seems pretty happy whether she's with rose OR on the battlefield. all the same new thrill to her #but OVERALL and especially the ending? huge bummer. i would not want a whole series to just be that #at the very least if you're gonna do a past show give us some flash forwards so we can see characters reflecting & growing #k thnx bye

[yuseirra]

**p3 spoilers**

I just really like p3's approach on life (and ryoji's scarf..that's why I keep drawing him :)) the message it tries to convey through him and the protagonist, I think it's very meaningful

#persona 3 #ryomina #persona #persona 3 reload #spoilers #p3 reload #I'm really positive they'll expand more on these guys somehow #the opening movie made me so emo and that's why I've been drawing these two a LOT lately #but overall I just really like what p3 had/tried to say in general #I'm happy it's coming back #doodle

[dayurno]

my advice for anyone whos growing more and more frustrated with the state of aftg and fandom at large is that arguing is fun but you need to be happy. ok. you need to. its hard when bad faith takes are dropped to your doorstep but you need to be happy and enjoy yourself and have fun or there's no point in anything at all ever. ok. fandom is not real and nothing is worth more than your enjoyment. i love you please make sure to have fun and reach out to a friend today. for me

#this goes doubly for fans of color if i'm honest #i say this bc a lot of my mutuals either currently or in the past have been very upset about how the fandom acts #and ive Done My Rounds with that ok #ive survived great wars even. and they did not make me happy #yes i was right and yes i should have said it but ultimately there was no material harm to choosing to have fun instead #lifes hard as it is in the real world where real things happen why would you waste your precious fun time on fighting crusades #and trust me i understand deeply the wish to fight crusades. Ive Fought Them. it got me hate mail and #an overall loss of passion for something i held sincerely in my heart #theres nothing more worthy than your enjoyment im serious. none of this is real and the world is hard out there #you need to get a good thing while u can #i dont remember a single time where ive actually felt vindicated by arguing with people online about. anything really but even more so aftg #but i remember in perfect and fond detail every time the (now defunct) kandreil discord server came up with an au #or even just normal casual conversation #i remember asks i got years ago about kevin day hcs that i hardly even agree with now but still love #trust me you will Not remember these squabbles what you will remember is what you loved and if youre lucky thats a lot of memories #so have fun ok. for me #txt

[cyrsed]

on sale

this was just supposed to be a digital version of the zombie i doodled in my sketchbook but it got out of hand

#cyrsed art #theres' things i'm not happy with but overall it turned out good #i just need to to stop somewhere

[artemispanthar]

For the first time in a long while I live someplace where I feel comfortable having the window open in my room so I've been having my window open on non-rainy days while I work and it is super nice having fresh air while I work and I get to hear birds chirping and there's currently houses being built near by and sometimes the construction workers listen to the radio and it's nice hearing that sort of distant music among the thumping of hammers or whatever and sometimes dogs are barking and there's the distant hum of traffic and, I dunno, it's just really nice and I like it

#artie thoughts #I constantly feel lucky to have the life I have even though it isn't like particularl amazing or exciting #but I love the little things #I was in such a low place for a long time it seemed inconceivable and yet here I am now #even just like 5 years ago I never imagined being so content with my life (knock on wood!) #who knew #anyway I've just been contemplative lately #there's definitely life stuff I want to improve but overall I am doing so much better than I was or ever thought I would #so I'm happy

[cherriko-art]

🦋🦋🦋

This started as a doodle then it flew off. My nb Coral Island OC, Lu-Ran with blue morphos (watch out, its poisonous!). If you've seen/read my previous post introducing my CI ocs, Lu-Ran cannot stand any bugs or insects except butterflies. Therefore, they only let their sister, Mili, raise legendary butterflies in their insect houses. After they're done taking care of the crops for the day, sometimes Lu-Ran will spend time in the insect house with the butterflies.

#cherry draws #coral island #coral island ocs #coral island farmer #coral island fanart #blue morpho #I'm not used to drawing foliage and stuff but I used a lot of refs to draw the tree stump #lu-ran is supposed to be sitting in that tree stump in the insect house #I currently have crowned hairstreaks in my insect house but the blue morphos are easier to draw 😂 #this piece was pretty experimental and im not super happy with the way the colors turned out but i am happy with the overall composition #debated just posting this as b&w but I rlly wanted to show the blue colors of the blue morphos

[aureentuluva70]

A drawing of Manwë and Varda I made on my new laptop and tablet!

#i'm admittedly rather surprised with how satisfied I am with it #no it's not perfect but overall im pretty happy with it. #took inspiration from zipa vika's gorgeous romantic artwork of manwe and varda #the way zipa draws them is just *chefs kiss* #silmarillion #manwe #varda #elbereth #tolkien #lotr #gilthoniel #manwe sulimo