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one-squash-one-end · 2 months

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I wrote a giant Raven Cycle analysis

Hi! Over the last year or so I've been working on a sort of essay about various themes in the raven cycle series, and I finally finished it a few weeks ago.

It is titled: "Why I love The Raven Cycle - An excessive analysis of the themes of friendship, queerness and growing up".

And since tumblr loves its meta (and bc I love peer validation) I've decided to start uploading it bit by bit here, making this the masterpost (if I can figure out the logistics of the linking lmao, bear with me)

(beware of spoilers up to greywaren starting at like 3b!)

Introduction

What even is the Raven Cycle?

Trust me, the characters are queer as fuck and I can prove it a) Blue Sargent b) Gansey c) Adam Parrish d) Ronan Lynch e) Noah f) Henry Cheng g) Honorary mentions

The Gangsey is a polycule

Analyzing the reoccurring themes a) Friendship b) Being a teen/growing up c) (Found) Family d) Magic (as a metaphor) e) Further themes I appreciate

Drawing a conclusion

Click here to start with the introductory parts!

1. Introduction

So here’s the thing: I love fiction almost as much as I love my friends. There’s something deeply comforting about the escapism, even if the book actually makes me want to scream and throw it on the floor (only one book has been thrown so far, I promise!). Fiction is a healthy thing to occupy my thoughts with: headcanons! Quotes being on loop in my brain! Just fandoms!

And for me, if I am hooked on a book (series), it does not even need a good plot where a lot of things happen. In fact, I would say that my enjoyment of a book is made up of 30% plot and about 70% characters and vibes. If the characters are bland, if they do not make me feel much emotion, it likely won’t be more than 4 stars (additional info: I am way too nice rating books!). I really, really need to love the characters, to be able to relate to some aspects of them, or it just won’t become an obsession.

Since I have already started explaining that a bit, let’s look at this question: What is important to make a book special to me? 1. I need to cry reading it. 2. I have to think about it often, even weeks to months after having read it. 3. Obviously, I need to love the characters. 4. I need to be in the fandom! This can be hard with some books, but the internet is a whimsical space allowing you to find at least a small number of people who are obsessed with a work of fiction to a similar extent as you are.

Now, why am I elaborating on this so much? It’s because The Raven Cycle did all that for me. It is my favorite comfort book series at the moment, for all those aspects mentioned, but of course I cannot just leave it at that. No, I wrote a whole-ass analysis on headcanons and some of its themes. You’re welcome.

2. What even is The Raven Cycle?

The Raven Cycle is all I adore and live for (next to my friends). So, naturally, it’s a book series, specifically a four book young adult contemporary fantasy series by American author Maggie Stiefvater. The books in question are: The Raven Boys (2012), The Dream Thieves (2013), Blue Lily, Lily Blue (2014) and The Raven King (2016), and yes I will admit that the publishing dates are a bit of a red flag. There is also the very relevant follow-up series called The Dreamer Trilogy (Call Down The Hawk, Mister Impossible, Greywaren), but it’s a lot less easy to get into that here as I do not know these entire books by heart, so I’ll stick to the original tetralogy here.

To stick to red flags, the books are set in the fictional Henrietta, a rural town in non-fictional Virginia, US, in the 2010s. However, that doesn’t really say *that* much about the plot, so let me summarize that really quick, because I can do better than the official synopsis! (Or let’s pretend I can.)

Blue Sargent comes from a family of psychics, yet she does not have any powers of her own. Even worse, she is a bit of an amplifier for the others, meaning she is always somehow but never directly involved in the business. As if that isn’t enough for an identity crisis, every psychic she has ever met has told her that her kiss would kill her true love. Yikes.

But because she is that amplifier, she comes to a church watch on St. Mark’s Eve, where psychics see the spirits of those to die within the following year. It’s important business, but to her it’s really just staring into the dark. Until she does actually see a spirit: That of Gansey. Of course this is not a coincidence. No, to add to this teen’s mount of problems, there are only two reasons why a non-seer would see someone’s spirit: They are their true love, or they killed them. Or, in Blue’s case, maybe both.

The aforementioned Gansey is Henrietta’s Golden Boy, the son of politicians (read: he’s fucking loaded). He does not run with the Republicans though, he runs with dead Welsh kings, meaning he has been searching for the probably dead, presumably sleeping Welsh king Glendower (*1350; †1416; yikes) for the past like seven years. Why the fuck would he do that? Well, legend says that he will grant a wish to whoever wakes him, and our favorite PTSD-ridden guy really wants that favor.

Aiding him are fellow Aglionby students Adam Parrish, Ronan Lynch and Noah Czerny, plus Henry Cheng, though only a lot later in the series, but I really did not want to leave out that menace (affectionately) here. The paths of Blue and the boys cross because of Gansey’s search for Glendower, plus the fact that Blue works at a popular pizza place, but that’s a lot less whimsical. And, well, there’s the implication that Gansey might also be her true love, but perhaps she just kills him because of his bad fashion sense, it would be justified. Anyway, in true Famous Five fashion (Ronan is the dog; I won’t elaborate, the girls that get it, get it) they are of course not the only ones searching for the king, so it’s not completely a wholesome friend bonding activity all the way through.

Be prepared for: friendship and growing up, lots of treasure hunting, family mysteries, magical forests, illegal and slightly distasteful activities (our favorite of course), but most of all, heavily queer-coded (or even canonically queer) characters. Be Gay, Do Crime.

#y'all better like this it took a while #trc #the raven cycle #gansey #blue sargent #ronan lynch #adam parrish #noah czerny #henry cheng #the raven king #the raven boys #blue lily lily blue #the dream thieves #let's hope i don't forget about this after the first part #please talk to me about your thoughts

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officialgleamstar · 3 months

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15 people, 15 questions

i was tagged by @webedragons on the 26th :D thank you sm!!

1. Are you named after anyone?

my name, after a fictional character, yeah. my birth name, also yes, i was named after both of my great-grandmothers on my mom's side!

2. When was the last time you cried?

earlier this week i think, which is crazy because i rarely ever cry LMAO but its not been a great time for me

3. Do you have kids?

nope, no intentions to either

4. What sports do you play/have you played?

as a kid: tee ball, soccer, and basketball. as an adult, i just do occasional contra dance, if that counts

5. Do you use sarcasm?

me? sarcastic? never (tone: sarcasm)

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

generally i focus on appearance in general rather than specific details!

7. What’s your eye color?

hazel :]

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

yes. both.

9. Any talents?

like, natural talents? XD ive always been a pretty good writer, even when i was a kid (for my age anyways), so that i guess

10. Where were you born?

same place i live now 👍 like literally within a 20 minute drive

11. What are your hobbies?

lots of stuff! writing, drawing, book-binding, biking (especially trail biking), skateboarding, video games, i wanna get back into ttrpgs... im one of those people who is constantly distracting herself LOL

12. Do you have any pets?

no, but ive been having a reoccurring dream recently about owning an orange cat named princess and im taking it as an omen of things to come

13. How tall are you?

5'4", nearly 5'5"

14. Favorite subject in school?

always was art or english

15. Dream job?

i would love to do art full-time!! not commissions or anything, but art made for museums and galleries, or maybe public installations like i did for my senior thesis :]

Tagging: ohhh this is the part im bad at. okay. yes. im sure like half of these people have done this exact tag recently, so please disregard if you have or if you just dont feel like it. lots of love <3 @isadora-greenhall @zillylilguyz @lex-the-lesbiann @cubey-cube @cookies-over-yonder @llumimoon @pariskim @kaseyskat @happi-tree @aximili @i-3at-s0ap @sparklehoard @bidoofenergy @skelekidd @bildads-beard

#mine #tag game #q

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mdhwrites · 4 months

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You mentioned how Amity cant really be categorised as a good person.

Do you think the same could be said of Luz? I was rewatching the show and alot of her actions seem selfish but never really get fixed or challenged. I.e. pressuring Willow into forgiving her bully because well, LUZ likes her and wants to live out her redemption fantasy. Or her tendency to lie, or just do whatever she wants even if it upsets or hurts people.

A lot of the general same points about Amity as a good person can be made about Luz. We see little kindness for kindness' sake from her, she doesn't go above and beyond for others very much unless they're VERY close to her, her motives are commonly selfishly motivated, etc. like that. Episode 1 is actually one of the closest to a genuinely selfless act to strangers she does, helped by the fact that freeing the prisoners to help Eda is still essentially to help save a stranger since she barely knows Eda and King at this point. After that those generalities, where I could talk about how Amity was at least MAYBE trying to be better, well...

The specifics get a lot rougher. This is partially due to Luz's archtype of main character. A LOT of S1 is characterized by a formula of Luz wanting something/playing out a fantasy, Luz fucking something up in the pursuit of this and then her having to work to fix it. It's actually pretty standard kid's show fair but without the clearer morals usually included in shows like this, or TOH has redundant morals for that matter. A lot of people will point to her doing things like checking on Amity post Covention as a moment of her being a good person to even an enemy but Luz is at least partially the cause for why she's upset and already messed up so setting that right, or just comforting a crying teenager, is kind of the bare minimum that most human beings will do. I've called this and stuff like Eda not letting a teenage girl die "the bare minimum of being a good person" for a reason. You genuinely have to discard good morality entirely in order to not be affected by death or the consequences of your actions.

Which... Gets into how Luz does get a LOT more questionable as even the bare minimum of a good person once the second half of the show begins. Falls and Follies starts on a normal foot for her where the only reason she reaches out to help an enemy is selfishly motivated as a way to prove her own hypothesis. This is like how in Teenage Abomination, it's really easy to draw a line from "I want to get into the magic school" to "Let me be your abomination to show Amity up... And get into the magic school so don't worry about the rules!" Elsewhere Elsewhen is also explicitly about helping someone for her own gain but... Well, she manages to stumble here. She misses Lilith's party, a theoretically important moment for Lilith, and then demands a favor from her after just an apology. Now yes, she has a reason because she was focused on the portal door stuff but it's a precedent. Luz actively seeming to dodge how others may feel while focusing only on herself as she becomes increasingly selfish, usually made worse with context or framing, and all the show, or fandom, can do is give her a flimsy excuse for why she's justified.

Reaching Out's final big Lumity conversation contrasts with their last talk in Covention PERFECTLY to exemplify this. In Covention, Amity and Luz are both in the wrong. Amity instigated the conflict, Luz escalated it into a fight and then cheated and then Amity was tricked into cheating that same fight. I would probably put more blame on Amity due to her antagonism but both have been wronged here. So when in character, Amity demands Luz say she's not a witch, it feels correct even though it hurts to see her so angry and you want the bully to stop being mean. But Luz, again in character as the better person of the two at the moment, acquiesces and gives Amity what she wants before trying to show her why she should be given a chance. A moment of compassion that is then met with compassion by Amity dispelling the everlasting oath. Both were in the wrong but both, through who they are, set things right and find understanding with one another. It's a beautiful moment and one of TOH's absolute bests, even to this day.

Then you have Reaching Out. Amity has done NOTHING wrong this entire episode. Meanwhile, Luz has gotten bored at watching her girlfriend fight, actively ignored Amity's pain, even when it's pointed out to her, and lied the entire episode for what feels like no reason because she was willing to at least admit that SOMETHING was wrong to Eda and King, made even worse with the context that three episodes ago, she agreed to be more open. Luz is inexcusably in the wrong and her father's death does NOT make up for it.

But... When the two sit down, Luz doesn't apologize. Not immediately. She doesn't do more than ask to sit, acting more nervous than she did while Amity was a bully to her. Then Amity literally lists Luz's crimes of that episode... Before asking towards the root of the problem. Despite having run away due to being so upset, Amity is a fucking saint in just wanting an explanation without getting even an apology first. Then Luz gives the explanation, remembers right at the end to apologize but gives Amity nothing else. No words of encouragement, no acknowledgement that what she did today was wrong... Just an excuse. And yes, Luz says it's not an excuse but do you know what you do when you don't want to claim something as an excuse? YOU APOLOGIZE FIRST AND DON'T PUT THE EXCUSE FIRST. Instead, her entire confession is just her justifying why she's been so selfish that episode. It's also an explanation, sure, but she also uses it as her motivation and reason for eactions. Why she did all of this. Shunts everything she did onto this one event going on, a very emotionally manipulative event that will make most people uncomfortable when brought up like this, and then... Amity gets up, vows to make things right for Luz and then heads off.

It's shit like this that makes Luz not a neutral person or just a nice person to their friends but a straight up ASSHOLE. Hollow Mind has her FINALLY getting upset about Belos... When his policies mean she can't get her magic cloak fixed. She at first refuses to go save her girlfriend from being under house arrest because she's too focused on her guilt about Belos and Eda and so would rather literally do NOTHING than go save Amity. And then of course the big one:

In S1, she CONSTANTLY made up for the mistakes she made. She fucked up with her own choices time and time again. One of her few truly redeeming, completely positive traits was this willingness to accept she'd fucked up and set things right. But now that her choices, selfish choices, has potentially destroyed an entire WORLD... She'll do nothing. Absolutely. Fucking. Nothing.

The show frames it as self martyrdom. She frames it as learning from her mistake. But if that were true, she might actually have tried to change her behavior. To not still be focusing entirely on herself. To bring up how she is fucking over her friends and found family. Even acknowledge the collateral that comes with this choice or that she needs someone else to make the choices because she no longer can have faith in herself to do so. Instead, it comes across as her realizing this will be hard this time and just going "Fuck this."

It doesn't make Luz evil but it means that you cannot call her a good person. Especially since, you know, she has still been caught lying TWICE to Amity and seen the pain that lying to her girlfriend causes her and STILL WON'T TELL HER THE TRUTH! Tell Eda and King though? She does that literally at the start of Edge of the World, despite already supposedly hating herself for all of this.

It's bad. There's no two ways around how Luz behaves. You can try to excuse it. Say she's depressed and traumatized. That she can't deal with it. I did an entire teaching blog on fantasy trauma because of those excuses and how profoundly stupid they are if you actually know fantasy. Also, she didn't have to react like this. Anne was still a good person but clearly, at least if you're looking for trauma responses instead of thinking the only response is to cry and throw yourself a pity party, shows severe signs of not being able to handle what just happened during True Colors. She literally can't talk about everything because it overwhelms her. However, instead of deciding, "Fuck the Plantars, Marcy, Sasha, AMPHIBIA," her response is to work herself to DEATH to fix it. And this is despite the fact that her own trust and choices on who to trust, Andrias, Sasha and Marcy all included in this, directly helped lead to potentially a friend's death, three different betrayals and who knows what to Amphibia at that time.

TOH, time and time again, could have chosen to have Luz act in a way that still portrayed her as even trying to be a good person but always chooses not to, instead using excuses for it instead of her actual actions. She could have been OVERLY worried about Amity and thus make her line about "I don't want my problems distracting her," feel a lot more honest and she still fucks things up but out of care instead of selfishness. She could have come to Eda, conflicted and asking permission to go help her girlfriend because she feels like she'll do nothing here but that Amity is safe like this, while they're not, so if they need her, she'll let Amity know and stay here. Eda says she's not needed and you still get her caring about the stakes of the Isles while not making it look like she'd rather have the CHANCE to do something than actually pursue helping her girlfriend. And for staying home? Have her talk to... Probably Hunter as the best option since he already knows everything and this is most in character for him. She admits her fears, instead of through a bullshit, autoplay video diary, and Hunter, worried about the consequences of his own actions and how his own drive hurt so many people while as the Golden Guard, says maybe she should just stop. They'll be okay without her but yeah, you do meddle with things and you've practically destroyed the Isles. Maybe it'd just be better if you tried living a quiet, normal life. She still gets her angst, Camila could overhear and wrestle with what she wants her daughter to do until committing at the end of the episode by going into the portal but you don't have Luz just callously throwing everyone's lives away when supposedly she is uncertain about her ability to make the right choices. Admittedly, this still means keeping the secret from Amity but like... If she did tell Amity, she'd be told not to blame herself, that they need her and get the clear conscience she needed to actually go fix things. You know, the same reason she can't fucking talk to any friends during the episodes because the writers backed themselves into a corner.

But each time, TOH goes with easiest, dumbest, WEIRDEST choices when it comes to how to frame Luz in the second half of the series, to the point where if her angst arc is our mental health representation, I'd rather wait another five years thank you very much! I already have to deal with a brother who excuses his abuse and selfishness with his mental health issues. I don't need fictional characters doing it too, let alone their fandoms. Because as always: Trauma and Mental Illness are not excuses to be ASSHOLES.

And I'm flatly sorry but in the second half of the series, after Vee calls her out on it, Luz is just a selfish asshole and it's hard to say otherwise.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

#the owl house criticism #toh critical #toh #the owl house #luz

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chitsuu · 2 months

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OC Kiss Week 2024: Dare

Doing this little challenge this week, with my FFXIV character and his husband (@kitshunette's son)!

Also, I'm not much of a writer, but I decided to write a little something for each drawing, little windows in their story (which is also why I'm using the @ockissweek prompt list but not in order)

That one was supposed to be posted on Valentine's day but it was!! so difficult to write!!!! So anyway, here it is now

Where is he?

Jisul’s eyes anxiously scanned the battlefield around him. The battle lasted for what seemed forever, but eventually came to a close. Not that it was quieter now than during the actual fighting. The dragons had made a lot of damages, and flames rose to the sky, ash mingling with the falling snow. People were calling out for healers left and right, and some, just like him, were calling for specific people - family, friends… Loved ones.

All in all, it was a mess of different sounds and noises, and the Au Ra was having trouble processing all the information his horns picked up. The fact that he was feeling even more distressed by the second did not help.

One thing was for sure: he could not find Eli. They had been separated during the battle, and Jisul had felt the healing magic he received take on a different color, which could only mean that Eli had been too far to reach him with his own magic.

Blinking, Jisul tried to take a deep breath, fighting against another kind of monster in his chest. His anxiety was starting to be uncontrollable. He had sworn to himself he would protect the Elezen, and instead he could not even see him now.

The noise was definitely becoming too much. Somewhere in the distance, he saw a Miqo’te tending to a Lalafell, both looking quite exhausted, but, fortunately, not in a bad shape. When they saw him in return, as if they could read his mind before he could even get the question out, they both shook their head. Eli’s big sister, the Lalafellin woman, opened her mouth while gesturing in another direction. Jisul guessed she might have said something, but was unable to hear anything. More exactly, all sounds had fused into one big white noise, and he could not make any sense of what he was hearing anymore. He bowed his head in a silent thanks, and started heading where she had pointed to. The white noise was fuzzing in his head, along with his distress in his chest.

This is not helping.

Pressing back tears that were uncomfortable starting to well in his eyes, he tried once more to scan over his surroundings. It was starting to look a lot like another scene in his mind, a scene from his memories, yet not his memories. He had not thought about the vision he had when he first met Eli in months, however it was resurfacing. The past grief and loss started to creep on him, and Jisul pushed it down fiercely. Eli was not lost. He just had to find him.

“ul”

Admist the white noise, his horns picked up a sound.

“-sul!”

It was getting clearer by the second, as carried by a fast wind.

“JISUL!”

Jisul turned back, only to catch in his arms the tall Elezen that was barreling to him. His eyes widened a little, and the tears escaped, full on display as they traced a path on his cheeks. Eli was in his arms, looking him over worriedly with glassy eyes.

Oh.

He’s crying.

He’s crying for me.

It was a wondrous feeling, somehow. His anxiety was washed over by a tsunami of love for the one in his arms, and then there was no time to think.

They were kissing. The kiss tasted of snow and salt.

It was bold, daring even, but Jisul decided he did not care. He would think about his actions later. He thought he heard the hearty laugh of a Roegadyn, and Stephanivien saying he needed to find his fireworks. But he did not care, because right this instant, what mattered was embracing him, and he could not waste more time trying to downplay his own feelings.

Jisul loved Eli, plain and simple.

And if anything, the way the the Elezen smiled at him after their kiss, Eli loved Jisul, plain and simple.

#oc kiss week #ockiss24 #oc kiss week 2024 #FFXIV #WOL #Jisul Neuntsa #Elidivien Greystone #my OC #fanart #watercolors #sketch #my art #EliJisul

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accio-victuuri · 1 year

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CPN : Candies from Sunshine By My Side ( filming wrap ) ☀️

I may miss some minor candies but that’s just how it is cause people may interpret things differently. It’s just so nice to see new content from and XZ, and the fact that Sheng Yang is so cute! can’t wait to meet him!

some things already discussed previously:

night light fake rumor

same sun emoji used

disclaimer : everything below is cpn, speculation and interpretation that is very bjyx bias. if you’re not into that then please leave.

━━━━━━━☆☆━━━━━━━

I wanna start with ZZ’s general aura and disposition during the wrap, and how happy he was. It’s really nice to see him be among a group of people that seems to dote on him and that he can be comfortable with. You can probably see some double standard talk going around, that yes, during CQL wrap, he was also happy — however, in the last day, there were moments that they both looked sad. Also the airport photos of GG next day where his eyes were swollen — from crying probably. Add one of the CPNs that they both cried when the filming ended inside their car. So yeah. As much as I see him happy, it brings me back to the bittersweet ending of CQL. I won’t add any video/photo evidence of this anymore because it’s a well-known fandom CPN.

I also just remembered how much of a jiejie collector XZ is. LOL. If WYB collects geges, then XZ collects jiejies. That’s what I noticed with his interactions towards his co-star. I think she’s another jiejie who is now doting on XZ. 😂😂😂😂

Moving on to the other CPN clues, starting with some usual fandom symbols that we see. I love adding those to every post because it shows how consistent they are. for example the logo animation of XZS where GG talks about the Moon. like how many times did we make a CPN between them connected to the 🌙? these might be hard to spot for new turtles or those who aren’t into cpns.

sunflower, the legendary fan given by wyb, red heart, apple watch — need i say more? for the drawing, i’m not sure if ZZ made it but the wink did it for me cause he usually does that. i mean, even WYB’s black panther was winking. sooooo… The 10:05 is a given, but the 10:23 is a nice one cause we’ve been associating him to 23 ( Ai Zhan / Love Zhan ). I have also been thinking about this number because for XZS lantern festival game, they are giving away 23 desk calendars. so specific.

this imagery from the vlog compared to WYB’s single video is just so similar. the sunshine allowing plants to grown. whether that me be literal or metaphorical. how they view the world is so hopeful 🤍🤍🤍 and this is why they get along so well. there is really no way they wouldn’t be close, even if they didn’t end up playing WWX / LWJ. I believe that somehow, they would find their way to each other and still have the relationship we think they have. 🌱

and yes, we know that this was part of the filming process. at the start, XZ planted it and during the course of the shoot cared for it and watched it grow. but the similarity in their message to people and to the world. I can’t. this is some next level coincidence and connection.

The use of words that are same/similar to the captions of Hidden Blade’s weibo account is next. It’s one of those things that I think XZ is purposely fucking with us. It’s not like you can claim that he copies HB, because they do not own those captions on their posts. it’s just words. However clowns will know — what are the chances that he is using the same/similar? Mister eloquent himself who also has a team that does his videos. It all seems intentional.

• “plant your own sun” / and then HB is always putting suns on every 100 million they get in the box office. the intention in XZ’s words is like, do it yourself. like a person works hard to get their success. similar to what happened to HB, they have very little backing and it’s because the movie is actually good that it’s getting the recognition.

• 春回大地 the return of spring. It’s from a chinese idiom which means that spring returns to the earth. It is described that the severe cold has passed, and warmth and vitality have come to the world again.

• 逐光而行 follow the light / 与光同行 walk with the light.

there is also a cpn going around about the sound you can hear from the radio. I am the last person to verify things like this but can you hear wuming? 💀💀💀

but I think the correct explanation is, what it’s actually saying is “how do you rate it?” ( or something like that ) and because of the sound manipulation, you can sort of hear wuming. this is not the first time XZ puts things that he purposely wants us to mishear. lol.

that’s all for now. i am still waiting for an actual trailer from this drama + one & only so we can have proper FMVs of Sheng Yang and Chen Suo. The AU / Parallel world Yizhan pairing to rule them all 😂😂😂

-END.

#yizhan #bjyx #there is no science here folks im just clowning like i always do #cpn talk

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im-no-jedi · 8 months

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Let’s get some fun recommendations goin around here! What’s a piece of clone content (art, fic, etc) that has stuck with you as being notably excellent? Tag it in your answer so we can all find some new fun to read! If you want, of course; feel free to ignore! 💕

🤩 oh what a fun idea!! I would LOVE to gush about some really cool artists, thank you 😁

I'll start with @shyranno, whose art I absolutely adore. her style is so clean and expressive and colorful, and she makes amazing comics. the TBB Downtime series is exactly my kinda Clone content, filled with lots of fluff and feels. the "baby" batch ones are my favorite, but I'm also fond of this one where Tech gets teased from not being able to grow a beard 😜

another artist I really love is @zaana! she also draws a lot of really sweet and funny moments with TBB, and I'm super fond of her more sketchy style of drawing. she's got a "Crosshair defects the Empire" AU about Cross rejoining TBB sometime during season 2 that I love soooooo much. honestly, all her stuff with Crosshair (especially the ones with Omega) is top tier. although I think my top favorite is this one with Hunter and Crosshair (which @questforgalas also wrote an amazing oneshot about!); it's so simple but so sweet, and I automatically love any wholesome content between these two 🥰

then there's @lightspringrain, who makes beautiful portraits of TBB. I've been wanting to buy some of her prints (and will absolutely do so once I have the money!!) because they are seriously gorgeous. her "Crown" series is the best, it's so lovely! and she does an amazing job capturing the style of the show! to no one's surprise, my favorites are the Hunter and Omega moon crowns. the Hunter one is legit one of my favorite art piece ever; it's been my lockscreen on my phone ever since I saw it 💙

someone I recently started following is @thattoothpick! after seeing her "TBB Happy on Pabu" comics, I had to see more. the best way I can describe her style is "soft". everything is just so soft; the lines, the colors, all of it. it just makes me happy 😊 I have two favorite pieces; the first is this one about Hunter and Crosshair from the Pabu series. literally made me cry. I need this to happen SO badly 🥺 and then this one that I refer to as "the Sad Batch"... oh man. also had me crying (but also simping for obvious reasons LOL) 😭

now for a big one. I can easily say my favorite SW related artist of all time is @lornaka. her art... holy crap y'all. it's so freaking good. she makes everything from simple portraits to stunning dynamic pieces, and I'm obsessed with all of it. she even was featured during SW Celebration last year!! she's that good!! \o/ I have a few favorites of hers. which obviously includes the TBB poster she made for Celebration. still sad I couldn't get my own copy of it 💔 then there's this... lovely portrait of Hunter from behind. oh Lordy 🥵 and finally, my top favorite is actually this simple portrait of Hunter. I had it as my lockscreen for a LONG time. it's just... so good. the colors, the stars, his expression... I'm still obsessed 😍

finally, I can't talk about amazing artists without mentioning my sister @jam-n-ham. her art account is @joyjababanoid. y'all. please just scroll through her TBB art, you will not regret it. I've always adored her cartoony and expressive style, and it makes for hilarious Clone content LOL. she did a bunch of drawings for Inktober last year, solely focused around TBB. she's also done some comics that I've had a part in helping her develop (specifically the Padme pin-up art and the AZI going on a mission). but my absolute favorite is by far the Valentines collection. y'aaaaaaaall. I had the Hunter one as my phone background for over a year haha. she knows how to personally get to me, let's just say that 🥵

oh, and one last thing I wanna mention is that the one thing these folks all have in common, aside from being fantastic artists, is that I love how each of them draw my bae. seriously, y'all draw Hunter so good, and I'm smooching each of your different versions of him 🥰😘

thanks for letting me gush about some cool people!! everyone show them some much deserved love please!! 💙💙💙

#this was super long OMG sldkjfghklgfkdj #but I won't apologize!#these people deserve all the love!#wish I had some more fics to recommend #but sadly I'm more of a writer than a reader 😅#anyway PLEASE GIVE ALL THESE PEOPLE SOME LOVE #THEY DESERVE IT #💙💙💙#star warz #anonymous #ask

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miutonium · 9 months

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Im so sorry @jils-things but you made me want to go on a tangent about art supplies in a bit cuz I'm a nerd andhekqkwkdjwoqo i lov u pls dont go away- 😭

Anyway yes I usually make a very light sketch with my pencil so that I could erase it easily for me to retrace it but I am here to make a very important public announcement and I feel that it is my duty to inform the public on something that could be beneficial to the society.

Behold: Kneading Eraser

This fucker have multiple names; Putty eraser, gummy eraser, kneaded eraser,clay. It's going through a phase, please don't judge it, let it change name every 10 seconds.

What I need is that I want everyone to put everything down and listen to what I say: You run to the art store, Michael's, Art Friend, soup store, whatever store you get your art supply at. You ask the store clerk you want a putty eraser and if they dont give you a putty eraser, tell them they're a loser in malay (it's mak kau hijau. The more your learn folks) and then go to the next store and find a putty eraser until you get them. Its not expensive, it cost me less than 2 bucks for 1 pack of putty eraser.

Why you may ask? Well, I can assure you as someone who draws, putty eraser is much much MUCH better than a normal generic eraser.

First of all, there's no dust. When you erase a line with this boy, there wont be any rubber shit nugget clumping on the table and making a mess on your bed (i know you hate your spine too and likes to draw on bed i live in ur walls u guys better sleep with 1 eye open). I'm so serious like I have 0 eraser shavings in my house since I use a putty eraser. Please stop sleeping covered in eraser shavings.

It's also malleable. You can literally shape it to whatever shape that you want so you could erase a a tiny spot that you couldn't reach without disturbing other lines. And it works sooooo well as a stress ball or a toy. People actually knead it into animal shape. Can you shape a normal rectangle eraser into a giraffe? CAN YOU? DO YOU SEE MY POINT?

Do you suffer from loneliness? Do you need a conversation opener? Are you tired of kneading an eraser to shape it into a friend? Believe it or not, putty eraser is a great conversation starter when you dont want to start a conversation! As a personal anecdote: whenever I sketch in school, if anyone I know sees me sketching, they will always ask me what the fuck is the clay thing I use to erase my lines and then I have to explain to them what is a kneadable eraser and then whenever I demo'd the eraser, an amusing OOOOOOO will come out and they will play with my eraser for like 5 mins. Am I mad that my eraser is taken away? No because the eraser can also be s e p e r a t e d . Black magic fuckery. Please go buy a putty eraser.

Anyway for the pencil, I swear to god if you ever get this pencil, you will never use a normal mechanical pencil ever again.

The pencil I'm using is called a drafting pencil, specifically Pentel Graphgear 500. There's tons of drafting pencil in the market but just look at this one because other's are expensive and you will cry. This pencil had a plastic body but the base is made of metal so its pretty heavy. It feels v e r y c o m f o r t a b l e on the hand, like the moment you hold it, you will believe that this is how mechanical pencil suppose to be. It just fits so perfectly with the contour of you finger. The weight feels so nice on your hands and the grip is very comfortable. The pencil sleeve also doesnt budge so you don't and won't have any issue of lead breakage (unless you press your pencil really hard)

It's also very long-lasting. I have 2 of them in my pencil case. The one on the left were bought in 2021 from Muji. The one on the right were bought in 2015. It still works fine despite being 8 years old. I don't think I ever have any mechanical pencil that is long lasting like this one. This is legit one of the product that I would say would last a lifetime if you take care of it well.

This ends my sleepy deprivation fueled post for today.

TL;DR: Please go buy kneaded eraser and a drafting pencil I am on my knees rn-

#asuka speaks #anyway aHHH I LOVE U JIL THANK YOU FOR BEING MY NO 1 HYPEMAN FOR CHLOE AND UTONIUM BLESS YOU 😭😭💕💕💕#i have said what i need to say so I will go to sleep now //bonk head

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tamaotomoe · 10 months

Note

Reading your post about don's IDs, specifically the very last paragraphs reminded me of something vergilius said to her in canto IV, I think at the very start, about holding to her beliefs and being able to phase through pain or something, I can't remember it well

Idk just wanted to mention it because what you wrote and what vergilius said kinda makes me think she's just. Gonna manifest her own ego in her canto. It's a very blissful thinking but hey, wouldn't it be silly

ah, i forgot about that tidbit in canto iv! (despite watching one of my best friends play through it recently. tbf i was kind of mostly. shitting pissing and crying over yi sang and also drawing.)

i think donqui manifesting her ego in her canto would be interesting! i haven't read leviathan (and i can't just yet because i'm still going through ruina but i know a couple things here and there) but i think if donqui manifested her ego through a pure belief in her ideals, just something hopeful like that, i think it would be interesting to see how someone like vergilius would act towards that.

from what i know and do correct me if i am wrong, vergilius is something kind of like a tragic hero that sincerely, truly, wants the best for things and people and holds them dearly, but the city and what it made him into crushed him and those hopes to wish for better. to see don quixote embody this hope again could be, again, interesting.

but i am not the writer, just the audience, and with limbus company's track record of character writing, i have hope thus far that whatever will happen, i think i will like it.

#limbus company #askbonx #don quixote #don quixote lcb #blissful thinking isnt bad methinks. just take it in moderation #don't place all your hopes in what You want to happen. i write studies and observations mostly for hobby and self study #and come to these same conclusions through those same studies. where it would be nice to get apollod #i respect the writers thus far and will accept whatever comes my way.#if it is what i hoped or predicted #then so be it.#if it is something new #then i have something new and exciting to eat. chew on.

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yoinkschief · 10 months

Text

Content Warning: Nudity (Nothing explicit or sexually motivated)

Also there's a gigantic fucking rant under here about this bastard I did NOT plan for it to be so long and I have this sinking fear the others will be just as, if not longer

Take this traditional ref sheet because I can't be bothered to make it digital right now

Sheet Translations and explanations cause I have shitty handwriting:

7'2"

Used to be 5'8" but you know how that goes XP

Whoag! He's tall! Seem experimentation can go a long way :)

★Strip/Mafia Tord is the only version of Tord who wears earrings anymore

I used to always draw Tord with earrings, specifically dangling earrings with upside down crosses on them, but more recently I've stopped doing that and instead draw him with only a tongue piercing that him, Tom and Edd all have matching (they tried to convince Matt to also get one but he was worried about it ruining his teeth), so as a way to homage to my previous design and because it fits him too well I gave him diamond studs :)

Hearing aid [picture]

Tord wears a hearing aid! On top of his eye sight being fucked in his right eye and not what it used to be in his left, his hearing also is shot! He needed a hearing aid on his right ear and on top of his processing issues from his ADHD he can't hear as well as he used to in his left ear (not that his loud bass music taste ever really helped)

Has no waist, giving the illusion he has hips (he doesn't)

Shawty's got no hips and no ass, the only meat he has is in his massive bohongas and the only meaty claw he has left, he already had a triangular shape what with his big ass rib cage and zero hips but going to the military made him even more top heavy so now he's even more triangle

Screen [picture]

His robot arm has a screen on it that's basically an apple watch but better because I fucking hate apple,,,, and yes it does say OPPAI on it, it's an inside joke between me and my lovely partner :)

Spectator Shoes [picture]

Because I think he would wear them, and it's a silly nod to his constant need to be in the spotlight and not sitting on the sidelines: that was the whole reason he left to go to the military in the first place, he was sick of being "Edd's friend" and not "Tord" if that makes sense, he needed an out (and just from personal experience of having people I know go to ROTC and/or join the military fresh out of highschool, it's a good wake up call for some, and a horrible fucking power trip for others,,, don't really know how that last one happens when the whole point is to get you to cry to your mom and beg to go home but hey, to each their own I suppose)

[picture] Power Core

Serves to connect to Tord's nerves, forming it into power to move his arm with

The logistics behind this are loose at best and a goofy thought I had at worst, but basically it's something like the workings inside of the bionic arm connect Tord's nervous system to the core which then converts his thought energy/brain's commands into actual movement, which is why he has one at his shoulder (to connect the nerves) and one on his hands (to connect to The rest of his arm, think of it as like the two power cores being connected via invisible string that gets manipulated to pull his hand up, down, to the side, and so on, and the bicep and forearm connected with the elbow allow it to bend more naturally). That's the best way I can explain it

[picture] The coat he wears on his shoulders,,, meant to pay homage to the coat he wears in his 2004 design

Pretty self explanatory, but since he doesn't have his OG coat (because Edd now wears it, more on that when I get to his ref sheet) this is what he's wearing, a big ass mob coat with gold trim as the accents,,,, I spent way too long drawing Zenigata's mandatory oversized detective/inspector trench coat to not somehow find a way to bring it to someone else's design

OMG! He nakey!

Yup. I'm very mature.

Dragon Tattoo [pictures]

Ahh the infamous dragon tattoo HC,,, at least I think it's infamous- I've seen a lot of people with it so, lol. Additionally, he also has a tattoo of Jason Voorhees' mask at the base of his neck/top of his spine, but it's covered by his hair so I didn't think to add it but there's a very cute story behind it: Tord used to have a snake (he bought it as a ball python,,, it was not,,, it was a reticulated python, and he only found out when he didn't stop growing) who he so lovingly named Voorhees because he was white with a grey splotch on his face that Tord swore looked exactly like Jason's mask, so, he got a tattoo to match with his pet snake. Like a queer.

✨Trans✨

I will never miss the opportunity to make Tord trans masc I love him so

[picture] Leads with his chest

Machismo or something, I dunno, but he has the cocky confidence of a bastard type air around him and so in later years he starts leading with his chest after he goes to the military, versus his past, more laid back, lead with his hips. And by laid back I mean both he was more "devil may care" and trying to get laid, because he's got the libido of a dog in a heat thinking he was doing something leading with his hips because all the snoody whores do it in his anime and he hasn't touched grass since he was in college,,, boy howdy was that military a good idea to knock some sense into him (even if that did come with giving him an excuse to be even more power hungry and that much more of an attention whore)

Still has no ass

Yeah. No amout of drills can give him muscle there, and trust that he's tried (mostly out of spite because Tom always made fun of him for having a flatter ass then Matt, a literal twink with scrawny limbs,,, though you shouldn't let that fool you, he's far too strong for how thin he looks. Anyway look at how that turned out: it didn't lmao)

Ouroboros Tramp Stamp

Another fun story to tell :) so, back when Tord lived with Edd and the gang, he got super hyperfixated on Vikings and their symbolism and artworks and whatnot (he recently rewatched all of the How to Train Your Dragon movies and it lead him down a rabbit hole leading him to want to learn more of his ancestry seeing as most Norwegians came from vikings,,, if I remember correctly, do correct me if I'm wrong) and texted them about what Viking tattoos they should get: Tom's was the Viking rune for "Wolf", Matt's was the Yggdrasil, and I can't remember what Edd's was. The reason Tom was Wolf because it just fits him, he's got that "lone wolf" energy to him but he's just a dork who enjoys being around his friends whether he'd say that to their faces or not, and he's fiercely loyal to them to the point where it anyone would be the first to die for their friends in the group it would be him. Matt's is the Yggdrasil because,, well I can't really explain this one, it's just cause it fits really, I dunno how to explain it. Tord is ouroboros because mmmmm the snake that eats itself is just fucking spot ON for Tord, and having it as a tramp stamp is the sweet cherry on top, self destructive habits and a drive to run himself into the ground to satisfy his insatiable need. Tord has no idea if the others got these tattooed on them (they did, and to everyone's surprise Matt also got a tattoo,,, though no one knows that any of the others got their tattoo save for them knowing Tord got his cause duh)

An interesting thing to note if you want is that often times people will get a tattoo of Ouroboros surrounding the Yggdrasil, so you could say Matt and Tord kind of have matching tattoos. And for the storyline, that can be seen as important

Also fun fact: Tord's original tattoo was supposed to be the symbol for lightning as a way to nod at the fact his name "Tord" is a shortened version of "Torden", at least in my headcanon, which means "Thunder" in Norwegian,,, but then I found out that symbol has become a N*zi dog whistle and by god this man does NOT need any more fucking N*zi symbolism in his design can we fucking stop with that. Besides, ouroboros is much better anyway, I think

EDIT: I REMBER NOW - Edd's tattoo was the Web of Wyrd due it being created by the Nords, the Norse mythos' equivalent to the fates, the symbol representing fate and the fact that your past actions have consequences on your future (something something obligatory EDDS-world joke and WTFuture joke) but yeah Edd's got this one like how the others do

- Hand Me My Shovel, I'm Going In!

Will Wood + The Tapeworms

- Dogs // Still Bummed

nouns

- BAD LUCK!

Jhariah

- Selfish Hate

JAWNY

Just some songs I was listening to while drawing that I thought fit him a bit and the vibes I was going for, I highly recommend you listen to these songs if you haven't already,,, P.S. for everyone who loved Panic! At The Disco when the band was still together and before Brendon started writing his own lyrics, ruining his voice and came to light to be a piece of shit, I HIGHLY recommend Jhariah, he's him but so much better I fucking love his dogs, his albums give the same vibes as the Vices & Virtues and A Fever You Can't Sweat Out albums,,, and I couldn't help myself I love Will Wood holy shit

Time for an info dump about Tord in this AU,,, be prepared it's so fucking long this has been stuck in my head for forever pleASE-:

Obviously, The End Part 1 & 2 are canon in this series, but Tord has absolutely zero regrets about it - he can't, otherwise all the work he's done is for naught,,, although it wasn't planned; his original plan WAS to move back in with Edd, settle down and continue his operations in London with his buds without them ever knowing cause he missed them, however, they got to nosey and so he had to abort with what he was hoping to have finished (the giant robot) but was unable to due to, well, Tom

"but how come Tord was trying to kill Tom, then, if this wasn't what was planned?" Because it was fucking funny, Kyle/ref,,,, also because as a side note: Tom canonically cannot die, or at least, hasn't found anything that can yet and he's not at the old age for that yet. He has what I like to call "Deathly Immortality", or "Cartoonish/Looney Toons Immortality" where he "dies", but then comes back like nothing happened and no one mentions it as any different

Tord has something similar, as well, but instead it's more of "Unfortunate/Spiteful Immortality" or "Anime Immortality" in the sense of where Tom dies and pops back up like a toon character, Tord is like an anime antagonist who just won't die, like William Afton he always comes back but in worse and worse state (He also got sick an ungodly amount in his youth until his body was like fuck it and actually gained an immune system for every illness he kept getting lmao,,, pollen still wrecks his ass though)

Afterward The End Part 1 & 2, Tord poured his full attention into his mob, experiments, and his projects, the thing he was basically trying to use his friends as a front for before Tom got too smart, since he was having trouble not being homesick for his previous life before he went to the army and got power hungry,,, guess you can't be homesick for something that doesn't exist anymore LMAO, anyway- in pouring himself into his work, he buys an "entertainment building", as he calls it, to launder his money: Midnite. Because he thinks he's clever or something misspelling Midnight. Midnite is basically like, all sorts of things rolled into a skyscraper, each floor has a different thing: A restaurant, a casino, an arcade, a strip club, wink wink nudge nudge, but basically this is where he holds meetings and such with his money laundering

Strip/Mafia takes place I'd say... Three? Years after The End? Long enough for Tord to get way too much shit done but short enough that bitter feelings are still felt between the gang for Tord and from Tord

Yes TomTord is canon, but let me tell you this is god's slowest candle wick, because Tom fucking GOES THROUGH IT in this story man, cause everyone's going every which direction, suddenly changing and leaving and he hates it in general because mmm parental issues of dead parents who left too early, the fact that he's autistic and fucking hates sudden changes, the fact Tord is alive is enough to piss him off, it's just all around not a good time for him and so the TomTord is very Tord sided. He's always had a fascination with Tom since highschool, but didn't really understand what it was until he had to be told to his face by who was supposed to be his significant other 💀 but Tord enjoys Tom because he truly is the only one who was able to keep him on his toes in his youth as he got older it grew deeper and he gained a bigger appreciation for Tom and his knack for always being able to throw Tord off his guard,,, to be fair though that's mostly because Tord relies on his quick wit, luck, and the gullibility of others; he's not really good at long term planning and thinking versus Tom who is amazing at pattern recognition and planning long term and for this that could go wrong, in other words, thinking and planning ahead

Additionally, Edd sided TordEdd, too, because love triangles or something, except they both are like bordering narcissistic personality disorders so it really would not be good for either of them to get into a relationship with each other, not that Tord really wants to (anymore? He kinda had a thing for Edd in highschool at the beginning but fell out of it pretty quickly, which, fun fact, is an ADHD thing: Edd gave him instant gratification and euphoria so, like people with ADHD tend to do, he fixated on it, but slowly fell out of it once he stopped thinking with his excitement about having a new friend who actually paid attention to him), but Edd is CONVINCED Tord is just doing all of this for attention from him like he's begging Edd to "save him" (he's definitely not) because Edd "doesn't have a savior/hero complex, stop telling people that omlll" so that's always fun

Errr trying to think of more to say without just writing out an entire book or just showing pictures of the OG script I wrote for it JGXXGJJXG

Feel free to ask any questions oml this AU is stuck in my head I seriously can't keep it contained any longer

Drag/Street racing exists and is a big(?) part of this lmao,,, I mean kinda, it kicks off Tom slowly beginning to rekindle his feelings for Tord and shows Tom's relationship with Paul and Patryck from when they met in college along with Tord

Hooo boy college alone would be a lot to explain, so much shit happened in college but it technically isn't super important to the story? Besides the Paul and Patryck meeting Tom and Tord thing, ofc, but like what happened in college follows my general timeline headcanon of Eddsworld and it's a lot to explain when most of it just gives reason as to why Tom and Tord hate each other/bicker a lot when they move in together and gives a more in depth reading of their relationship and behaviors, moreso as to why they fell into stuck a pitiful state (butterfly affect baby, ONE action called them to both fall over the edge)

Also, I have a list of people I've based/referenced for Tord as Red Leader and it goes as follows:

Gustavo Fring - Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul

Professor Venomous - O.K. K.O., Let's Be Heroes!

Lord BoxMan - O.K. K.O., Let's Be Heroes!

Bill Cipher - Gravity Falls

Dr. Robotnik - Sonic Franchise

Yes I'm aware how chaotic that listing is lmao, but to be fair when I think Red Leader I think calculated and cunning like Fring and Venomous, but also stupid loony silly like BoxMan,, and of course a menace to society like Cipher and Robotnik

That's all for Tord I believe,,, I'll do more soon I'm sure

One last Tord appreciation:

Have I expressed how much I love drawing people's torsos, I think they're gorgeous

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stick-named-figure · 1 year

Text

hang on im watching s2 and im throwing up and crying about lucky blocks. like i haven't given s2 my real attention because i kinda hated how long long lucky blocks is but there's actually a lot of things i really like about it. there's no specific conclusions in here, just kinda a list of things i noticed and like about the episode.

like just whatever the hell the lucky blocks uhh... sprite actually is. it's in the minecraft mysteries book and it's also apparently... imprisonment in the lucky block dimension. whatever that is.

red and blue fighting over the gold just Cause [1].

and whatever this is, where orange is laying... like that while watching blue go ham with the netherwart stick. and crafting a bow and arrow. what did they mean by that btw.

the more... world implications (?) related thoughts I have about this start here. yellow's cell very much is reminiscent of eyes. it implies a lot of things about how the lucky block traps entities, and how the sticks are connected to each other [2].

the strange ambiance, the scan lines and the fact that yellow is viewing the whole desktop like a screen is... really fucking interesting but i don't have any solid conclusions i'm drawing about it right now.

it's also interesting to me that the lucky block is not only trying to possess the other sticks, it wants to kinda... torment them at the same time! like this is sadistic. entirely.

(also blue's glance back at orange while they're smacking yellow with the netherwart stick is everything. like "i mean i guess it's working! do i just keep doing this??")

the lucky block also learns from the sticks' behavior. it uses orange's terraria-ass sword after destroying it, and it copies red's wings. it definitely adapts to the body it's given as well, seeing that when the lucky block is fighting red, it gives green a trident and blue summons skeletons and the fire charge weapon.

something else i noticed[4] is that this episode directly contrasts with the end of the original animation vs minecraft, since red is on their own fighting off their friends who are possessed. in diamond armor, which is the last time we see full armor for the sticks.

this also made me notice that red is REALLY fast at reacting. some people have already made various posts on red and how they react to things, but this really emphasizes to me that red is very fast at thinking [5]. like there is a LOT of things they had to process very quickly.

there's also this, where the mobs spawned go after their respective bodies. which is just kinda cute to me ngl.

idk if there was any one "point" i wanted to make here, i just don't think about lucky blocks very often but there's definitely a lot to notice and see in here. they call me the noticer.

---

red and blue punch each other a lot in this season. for example, red punches blue in redstone academy, for which blue trips them in return.

we don't ever see how the cells change when red is possessed, since a pig is immediately decked out as soon as red is in the lucky block, but it certainly says something about how the stick's, say, brains[3] are connected to each other.

i don't think that the sticks have brains in a way that's comparable to humans btw. it's something i need to think more about exactly how i interpret their lives.

it's totally possible i've seen a post on this before. i don't recall seeing one but if you know of one then let me know, because it might've settled in my brain because of that.

it's also rule of cool of course. bullet time

#self post #musing #avm #animator vs animation #animation vs minecraft

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thegoldenshi-shi · 10 months

Note

So, I have been busy making poor monetary choices again, in which I now own two different types of tablets specifically for art (ONE WAS VERY MUCH ON SALE, THE OTHER HAD A 50 BUCK COUPON, BOTH GOOD REVIEWS), and the first tablet I bought, that's honestly just a way of adding a touchscreen to a computer to me, cause like. It's a sensor pad? Well, it's proving that I can't mentally make myself apply a lot of pressure to technology, which my younger self with a ruined dsi touch screen would gape at. I have also gotten all my shelving units up! Not sure if they're staying where they are, or if I'm gonna move them around again, but I do know two that are staying where they are, mainly cause I am /not/ lifting that shelf all the way back up to chest level to take it back down again. Nuh uh, no ma'am, it will not be done. It's also gotten all my collectibles on it already, which has proven that I need to devote more of my budget to the Twins than Screamer. My frenemesis would be delighted to see my failure to my simpees.

Work has been better! Still hot, but we've slowed /way/ down, which means my supervisor has been letting me goof off on my phone or writing, cause we physically can't work too hard in the heat, but we also have no orders anyway, so... And because we've been able to get paid Not Working, I have gotten back into a werewolf story I started writing months ago! I'm setting it up one shot style rn, and posting the chapters as my brain accepts my pleading for their creation, but I also intend to make it a full and proper story once I've worked all the one shots out. I will openly admit to it being complete self service, cause I want a best friend who's 8 feet tall, fluffy, and has a crappy sense of humor. And is a cuddle monster, though that one is mainly cause I love glomming full force onto my people and displaying my awkward affection. I'm like a peacock, but instead of flaring tail feathers, I hug people in front of other people, whilst not actually really knowing socially accepted norms for hugging friends, tbh.

I also went through and completely reorganized my phones gallery, and got a very stupid laugh outta it. I have 461 transformers related pictures, and almost 400 writing prompts. Just. Saved on my phone. If I ever lose this sim card my writing career that i don't actually have will be over. On another other note semi related, I have been asked to design a friends tattoo! I don't know if I mentioned that in my last ask. He asked me to draw him a dragon to get tattooed, which, to be fair, dragons are among one of the very scant things I can draw well reliably, but also, dragon proportions curled into a ball sleeping are kicking my ass, and I am debating getting out my giant sketchpad to be able to completely control every tiny eetsy beetsy detail, cause my close friend wants me to do this thing that will permanently be on his body, and I really desperately don't wanna mess it up... Cause like. No one has ever asked me to ///draw/// for them before. I've gotten asked to paint, or do some small stuff with watercolors, but never /drawing/. And he knows I love dragons, it's part of why he asked. I just. It's a thing that happened that made me really happy, like hide in my pillow crying happy tears happy.

And then, on the fifth, I found an exactly 8 year old video of my childhood dog that we had to put down... it was from the summer before he was put down, which happened during the school year. He had been all that I'd had growing up, so, it hit kinda hard seeing something of him that moved. Even after 8 years, I still cry every time I think about him. He was the best dog any little kid could've ever been raised with, and probably helped boost my immune system against my allergies to boot, hehe. I cried for like, two hours, cause it was a video taken 7/5/2015. And, I thought I had lost all my images of him. It was a happy thing, just. A very sad type of happy. I wish I could tell him that I did love him, even if I didn't wanna lay on the ground and cuddle like he preferred. He was a dog that was born old, haha, never wanted to play or bark, he just wanted to lay on you and be loved. I was always running around on imaginary adventures though, but I did love him. If I was upset, he was my safe place. I promise this is a happy thing, it's just that I'm gonna be legally allowed to drink soon, and sometimes I forget that it's been so long since I got to see him. Especially cause sometimes, I still have dreams about playing with him in our backyard, right next to a giant pine tree covered in cicada sheds, laughing as he dug a little groove to lay in under the old rusted out trampoline. He was the most patient, tolerant dog, and it's because of him and the cat he raised with me that I'm not afraid of so much anymore. Ma and dad weren't there when we had him, but... I'll admit to giving them up forever if it meant I got to have him back

~Smooch

Hello there Smooch~

Sleeping babee dragon sounds so cute! I've never designed a tattoo, so I can only imagine the pressure (and of course the touching part of him asking you to draw his tattoo design).

Interestingly enough I too spent a loooong period of time where drawing was a dragon-only zone. I think it was back in like middle school? If you're struggling with a traditional four-legged two winged dragon, have you considered another type? There's Asian Lung dragons, Wyverns, Wyrms, or even a Quetzalcoatl style dragon that can all be very cool and might be easier for you to draw as a sleepy loaf. If your friend doesn't have a strong preference of course.

How exciting, on sale art supplies. It's kinda hard to decide sometimes between art supplies and if you're new to it, it's not a BAD idea to try multiple different types and/or brand names until you find what you like. I own two different art devices, one Wacom Intuos bought in High School and a Huion art monitor bought like four years ago. I was a traditional artist at the time I bought the Intuos tablet, so I quickly found that I prefer drawing on an actual screen I can look at instead of drawing on a tablet, BUT I had to try the tablet first to know that. What that all amounts up to is I hope you like one if not both of them ^J^ It's good to hear that your job is calming down. I'm sure that you're enjoying having the down time to work on your creative pursuits. At the risk of sounding too much like a hippie art teacher, I say it's very important to have some sort of creative outlet in your life. So it's wonderful to hear that you're getting to write on your werewolf story. I send you my best wishes that your muse stays nice and cooperative for the whole process hehe.

And lastly: The bittersweet memory of a good pet that has passed is something that I feel blessed to have as well. I hope that you can continue to enjoy your memories of a good animal without being bogged down in the sadness of their passing.

It's good to hear from you again Smooch, glad to hear you are doing well~

#smooch anon #thank you for your ask though!#and good luck with your artistic endeavors #the sleepy baby in the middle is my design for Quetzalcoatl #other two are rando drago though #I just wanted to include some art for you #I replied a little out of order I know #the dragon art just had my antennae up #I hate that I didn't get around to this in a quicker fashion #lots going on at work

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carpisuns · 1 year

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I just wanna say I have an old post of yours saved in my drafts, about being a beginner artist…. I look at it sometimes to give me perspective and reassurance. Thank you. It has inspired me to continue my hobby/passion even if I don’t get many notes rn. I improve and I see it! Thats all that matters. Thank you. I hope I can be that for someone someday.

oh wow 😭 this just warmed my heart—thank you for sharing with me. i don't know what post you're talking about specifically, but i'm so glad that something i said could give you a little extra boost sometimes<3

it's both cool and sort of embarrassing that this blog is a record of my entire art journey. i didn't start learning how to draw until i got into ML and joined tumblr again about 3.5 years ago, so it has my very earliest art as well as my most recent. the other day my sister and i went through my art tag and i was literally crying with laughter at some of those pieces alskjdf (particularly this one). they're sooo bad but they were my best work at the time! as much as i cringe to look at them now, it's nice to remember how far I've come. There are still so many things I struggle with and things i disappoint myself about, but that's normal because I am still growing. no one stops growing. the artists you look up to the most, whose work seems absolutely flawless to you, are still growing.

and YOU are growing too! whether you feel like you are or not. sometimes it takes looking back to realize it. i'm really glad you can see your improvement! honestly, that's a skill too! having a healthy mindset about your own development can take a lot of internal work so I'm really proud of you for that.

(i got very rambly so cut for the rest lol)

and honestly sometimes the improvement isn't even about what the art looks like—it can just be about how you feel about making it. I think one of my biggest improvements in the last year was getting comfortable with drawing and sharing things that are Bad and Ugly! for example:

the first one i drew 3 years ago, just a few months into learning how to draw. the second one i drew about a month ago. they both have obvious flaws and you could even argue that the old one is better drawn than the newer one. so it's like omg did i not improve at all after over 3 years?? did i actually get worse? lol. no! because a lot of the improvement is internal.

you'll notice that the first one was done in pencil and the second one is pen. it took me years to feel confident enough to sketch in pen because you can't erase! you have to commit to the lines! you can actually see tons of erase marks in the first one, but i didnt even use my white-erase tape at all on the second one. also, the first one is a screen redraw. i was just looking at the image and trying to replicate what i saw the best i can. the second one is new scenes/poses that came from my brain—not that they are very complicated/impressive lol, but there's a difference there. and what you can't see at all is just my attitude about drawing them! i can't particularly remember doing the first one but i guarantee i spent forever on it and was nervous about posting it. second one probably took me 7 mins and i knew it was ugly but i was zero percent embarrassed about that lol. that's progress baby!! cant even tell you how much of a difference it has made to me to let myself draw ugly things. i draw ugly things all the time. some of them get posted online. some of them get shared with one or two friends. some of them get shared with no one. and i've finally learned how to either embrace them as what they are or just shrug it off and go, "you know, this is not it! moving on." blank pages are so intimidating because you have a million opportunities to mess things up, but you also have a million opportunities to explore and learn and experiment and have fun and also to surprise yourself with what you're capable of.

i started out with nothing but a pencil and some powerful blorbo brainrot, and that was enough! that has been enough to power me through years of all the struggles and triumphs that artists go through. it was enough to help me push through every art block and keep drawing to the point that my instincts have improved and things that used to be almost impossible for me are just regular hard lol. i've actually illustrated for a print magazine a few times now, and a few weeks ago i finished my first animatic—which i always wanted to do but didn't have the skill or confidence for.

sorry this is so long, i'm just very passionate about this subject lol!! i just want every growing artist to know that if you keep trying and having fun, improvement is not only possible but inevitable. like, you don't even have to do formal studies if you don't want to. keep looking at art that you like and figuring out what is appealing to you. keep drawing what you feel like drawing. if you're no longer inspired by a piece or it's a little too tough for you right now, it's ok to drop it. you can come back later or never. you have infinite opportunities to make new and better art. and don't forget to give yourself credit for the progress you've already made. it's so hard not to compare yourself to others, and literally everyone—even the best and brightest—feels bad about their work sometimes. but try to compare yourself to your past self and pat yourself on the back for your improvement! it's okay to grow slowly, or in a way that's not so visible on the outside. just remember that you are growing, and you will only get better and better.

also, side note about notes/likes: i know it sucks to feel like your work is not getting attention when you poured a lot into it :( this might sound rich coming from me because i feel that people have been incredibly generous toward my work from the very beginning. but just know that popularity is not really about who "deserves" what, and it's not an accurate reflection of skill either. so if you feel unseen, that doesn't mean your stuff sucks. and you never know what your work might have meant to the people who saw it, even if there aren't that many. art doesn't have to be popular to be meaningful, and it doesn't have to be perfect either.

the world is a little richer and more beautiful because of the ways you are growing and the things you are sharing. so thank you, and please don't stop.

#anon #ask #nice things #positivity #art

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silvysartfulness · 6 days

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Talk Shop Tuesday: How do you decide which scene in a chapter of HHaR to illustrate? And are there any scenes that you'd like to illustrate but haven't had time/energy/etc.?

It’s always a careful see-saw balance between “interesting scene from the chapter that I would enjoy drawing and think people would like to see drawn” and “I’m a lazy, low-spoon disaster and will cop out on anything too complicated”..!

For example, I absolutely hate drawing interior settings, so you will notice there are very few detailed indoor scenes - and the times they spend entire chapters indoors and I can’t escape it, the settings tend to be very vague. So usually, if I have the choice, I’ll avoid any scenes taking place inside.

Drawing unnamed, random npcs/crowds is also boring/taking too many spoons, so again I tend to avoid those (or making the people around them silhouettes or just very roughly sketched background figures). Architecture is another headache – if I have decent refs and I really want to convey the atmosphere of a place, I’ll sometimes draw cityscapes, but I’m a happier artist when I don’t have to.

So in short, if I can get away with character close-ups or doing landscape backgrounds, that’s what I’ll likely go for, especially if I’m a bit low on spoons!

Sometimes I really do want to capture something more complex, though – the latest one, with Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji as guest stars took me forever to draw, because I hadn’t drawn those two before, and I had to start by going through the last few episodes of the series to screengrab a whole bunch of refs, and then actually draw their faces, decide on which of their outfits I wanted to draw, then find refs for that etc. It took a lot of time and work. 🥲

And yeah, there are absolutely many scenes I would love to see drawn, even though I don’t have the time or energy for it – there’s a reason I so often wish for commission slots for birthdays and Christmas! I love to see others tackle those scenes! Xue Yang and Xiao Xingchen meeting on the bridge in Hongqi, the three of them cuddled up together in the ruins of Dushou, the trio walking toward the temple of Yanxia Guan, almost drowning in the river after fighting the catfish yao… I’ve been blessed with so many gorgeous commissioned works!

Not to mention the amazing fanart some people have given me! It takes my breath away every time someone decides to draw something from the story just because they felt inspired to, absolute pure magic! The best feeling in the whole world! 😍

As for specific scenes I would love to see drawn, either scraping my own spoons together or commissioning others to… 🤔

Song Lan possessed by the mist spirits and fighting Xue Yang is such a striking visual in my mind, with his white eyes and mist trailing from nose and mouth!

Song Lan dragging/carrying a crying, drunk Xue Yang up the stairs and into his room in Muaishan, or possibly the following utter breakdown.

Song Lan’s shock when Xue Yang tells him about the death sentence awaiting him in Jinlintai and/or the follow-up shock when Xiao Xingchen is let in on it.

Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang by the little impromptu shrine Xue Yang made for Jin Guangyao

More art of the three of them cuddling in Dushou, tbh, because it’s the first time they allow themselves to snuggle up that way on purpose, all three of them, and I love that for them! 🥰

The smut scenes – I’ve only drawn one of those. Now that we can’t post porn on tumblr anymore, it feels like there’s little point to put in all that work, because I couldn’t share such art in many places. But I still love to see it!

I originally wanted to draw the trio and Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji having dinner and talking together for chapter 57, but was once again defeated by old nemesis - interiors. It was bad enough drawing 5 detailed characters in a single illustration, I would not also have to deal with walls and furniture and stuff. 😒

That's some of the ones that come to mind! So many scenes, so few spoons! (And apparently I'm supposed to be writing the damn thing, too! 😭)

Thank you so much for asking! 💚

#asksilvy #the happy songxuexiao roadtrip story

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