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maniculum · 8 hours

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Bestiaryposting Results: Mlekragg

Unsurprisingly, multiple people read the entry and immediately clocked what this was. (Thank you for not actually making a guess in text, so that people who don't recognize it are able to work without that preconception.) I didn't want to leave it out, because the mythological ones are fun, but unlike some of the others, the modern conception of this beast is pretty much exactly what the bestiary says.

Anyway, as always, if you don't know what I'm talking about, you can find an explanation for this whole thing at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting. If you want to join in, the new entry for each week is tagged with "maniculum bestiaryposting" so it should be findable. This week's entry can be reviewed here:

Below the cut you will find the drawings responding to it, in roughly chronological order:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) decided to branch out in an unusual direction with this one, in order to avoid drawing the creature they'd identified from the entry and also have some fun with it. I just think this is some quality creature design. Love the mask-thing, love the springy tail, and that's a really good rendering of a cuttlefish face IMHO. There's a really interesting explanation for all of these features, what inspired them and how it all works together, in the linked post, which you should go read.

@moonygryffin (link to post here) took a more direct approach, with the twist that the creature here is modeled on American fauna rather than ones the medieval Europeans would have been aware of. The body is a mountain lion, and the man-like head is a golden-headed lion tamarin, which of course comes with its own mane. I enjoy the choice to not use a lion lion, but rather two animals with "lion" in their name; also I've always thought lion tamarins were very cool-looking. For more details -- and an example of an attempt by MoonyGryffin to draw the same creature several years ago -- see the linked post. (Also thank you for providing alt text.)

@sweetlyfez (link to post here) has made an attempt to take the entry literally without drawing the creature she has recognized, which is a challenge considering how specific the description is. I think the decision to give it flea legs to help with that exceptional jumping is clever. SweetlyFez describes the result as an "awful creature" and... honestly I can't argue, I wouldn't want to be anywhere near one of these. In fact I think I'm going to wrap up this commentary and scroll down so I don't keep making eye contact with it.

@pomrania has also decided to go the route of "let's get weird with it", and avoided the literal interpretation by re-analyzing the word "has". This is similar to that style of joke one hears now and then -- you know, "he has the heart of a poet... he keeps it in a jar at home." (Incidentally, props to Mary Shelley for being perhaps the only person who could make that claim and not be kidding.) So this creature has the face of a man and the body of a lion, not in the sense that it was born with them, but in the sense that it keeps them as possessions. Very clever, and the underlying creature design is also fantastically creepy in my opinion.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) mentions that she didn't recognize the description, and has given us this really cool-looking, rather menacing creature in their excellent medieval style. (This is why I insist on not naming the beasts even when it seems clear what it is -- this amazing piece of art might have looked entirely different if someone posted a spoiler.) I'm really struck by how it simultaneously looks like a patchwork sort of creature (different front & back legs, etc.) but all flows together into a cohesive whole. Just really well done, I think. (Also, thank you for including alt text.)

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has drawn the creature mid-leap, showing off its jumping prowess by shooting straight up into the air. I think this drawing does a very good job at combining human and lion anatomy to make something unsettling -- and the inclusion of the skull diagram up in the top left points to the amount of thought that went into this. As always, please check out the linked post for a detailed discussion of the design. (Also, thank you for including alt text.)

@strixcattus (link to post here) has drawn one that's oddly cute, and looks a bit worried. However, according to the description they've written in the linked post, this reaction on my part is probably going to get me killed, because apparently they're still quite vicious. I like it, though -- and, as always, I urge you to go read the linked post for this one.

On to the Aberdeen Bestiary... oh, we can't, actually. This is another missing page. So here's the illustration from the Ashmole Bestiary instead:

So, first of all, this is indeed the manticore, and I'm sure most if not all of the people who said they had guessed it got that correct.

Second, we can also note that all the artists who said something along the lines of "well we know about the issues of drawing medieval scorpions, so the scorpion-tail description doesn't need to be literal" were also correct there. Apparently this time a scorpion tail is just spiky all over, which I have to admit does look kinda cool.

Now let's address the elephant in the room. WHAT is that thing on its HEAD? My best guess is that it's meant to be a crown -- medieval art often sticks hats on nonhuman creatures with human faces, almost as if the artist wants to make sure you know it looks like a human head on purpose. I don't see crowns that often, though; usually it's just a cloth hat. (The one in Bodley MS 764, where I got the text for this entry, is clearly wearing a Phrygian cap.) I find myself unable to see it as anything but a daring hairstyle that is absolutely not working for it, though.

Anyway. The manticore is an odd one in its continuity here -- a lot of the mythical creatures in the bestiary have been changed, reinterpreted, or forgotten in the intervening centuries. I think maybe the manticore happens to have hit that sweet spot where it's popular enough that people remember it, but not so popular that it gets excessively telephoned through widespread transmission. I think a couple people noted that the Standard Fantasy manticore is more or less spot on to this description, and indeed, I can only think of one change:

(Art from the Magic: the Gathering card "Crimson Manticore", artist Daniel Gelon)

At some point, those bastards got wings. It's not universal at this time, but if you do an image search for "manticore", the majority of the modern ones are winged. I'm not really sure where that came from.

(Side note: I tested this by doing a Google image search, and one of the top results was a particularly odd-looking image, so I clicked on it out of curiosity. It was at the top of an... article? on a webpage I'd never heard of, and the opening of said article included the sentence, "In medieval bestiaries and art, the manticore was depicted with unique features such as paws, teeth, and fur." You don't say there, bud.)

Interestingly, the D&D manticore is slightly different from the description in an additional way.

Instead of a scorpion tail, it has a tail covered in spines. This has apparently been part of the D&D manticore since the beginning -- the above image is from 2e, but the 1e version had the same tail. (I just didn't use it because it's not as clear in the picture.)

Now, scroll back up to that Ashmole Bestiary image. The one where the tail doesn't really look anything like a scorpion's. Looks... similar to this in broad concept.

I doubt that Gygax or Arneson or whoever designed that aspect of their manticore after one bestiary image, so I popped over to bestiary.ca to see what else was out there. Out of the 38 medieval manticore images collected on that website, there are only two with a tail covered in spikes: the Ashmole manticore and one other that's clearly just a less-skilled artist working from the same image (it also has the same hat). Looking at the text sources, though:

"...it has a tail like a land scorpion, in which there is a sting; it darts forth the spines with which it is covered instead of hair..." -- Aristotle, De animalibus

"To the end of its tail is attached the sting of a scorpion, and this might be over a cubit in length; and the tail has stings at intervals on either side." -- Aelianus, On the Characteristics of Animals

Okay, that's the D&D version, mystery solved. New question: is it a coincidence that the Ashmole illustration fits Aelianus's description? Remember, the page is missing from the Aberdeen bestiary and the Ashmole bestiary isn't translated. The text comes from Bodley MS 764, which does not have a spiky-tailed manticore. My Latin is terrible and I'm untrained in palaeography, so I can't tell whether the entry there preserves the spiky description.

If any palaeographers out there want to solve this one for me, it's Bodleian MS Ashmole 1511, f.22v-23r, available digitally here. (I'll put some screenshots below, but I expect it's easier to zoom properly on the library's digitized manuscript.)

Okay, that's all I've got. Enjoy your week everyone.

#maniculum bestiaryposting #mlekragg

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poorly-drawn-mdzs · 4 months

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Thank you all for voting in the poll to decide who was going to be the leader of the band! It turned out to be such a close race!

#poorly drawn mdzs #better drawn mdzs #mdzs #madam lan #A-qing #Band AU #(Reminder that Madam Lan's design inspiration goes to Qourmet!)#Madam Lan may have been the winner per vote count but there were so many strong advocates for A-Qing!#I played around with a few versions of what the 'poll winner' art was going to be and ultimately decided I wanted them both.#As any good theater love knows though - The battle for leadership was a ruse. They *all* get a chance to be featured.#Cooperation was the real end goal! However I do think these two have the best frontman energy of the group.#Or at least 'crowd favourite' energy. I also really loved hearing what people thought their vocal styles would be like!#This was probably one of my favourite polls to do and I love drawing these characters a lot B*)#I'd love to spend a bit more time in this AU so count on me bringing it back.#One thing I keep feeling like I need to redeem myself on is Madam Lan's Translucent skirt. I have *not* done the concept justice yet.#It is such a crack-platonic ship but I want to think Madam Lan and A-Qing would enjoy each other's company.#Possibly also with JYL as well. They can be like mutually beneficial therapy dogs to each other.#Madam Lan never got to see her kids grow up into teenagers after all. She only had sons. Never daughters.#Even if she saw her kids once a month we do know she treated them with so much love and kindness.#She would bite the shit out of YZY for yelling at JYL. What a sight to see. A-Qing would also start biting (for fun).

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inumbrapugnabimus-maybe · 25 days

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I saw a post a while ago somewhere abt how in botw Ravio could be a traveling merchant kinda like Beedle so anyways here’s this

also I am working on those requests I promise but this came to me in a vision last night so I just had to draw it lol

#Looking at this afterwards I think I was very VERY inspired by eiochevart #Albeit subconsciously #Anyhow I would HIGHLY recommend you check out her art it’s some of the best stuff out there #art #my art #doodles #character design #albw ravio #ravio #character concept #albw #botw #botw ravio #Maybe #idk XD #Also I’ve been really trying to experiment with my style (hence the lack of art) and I think I’m figuring it out :D

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isolabellz · 11 months

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home sweet home

#trigun #trigun maximum #trigun stampede #vash the stampede #vashwood #vash #wolfwood #post trimax where vw builds themselves a little cabin in the middle of nowhere and just lives a quiet domestic life together #meryl and milly come to visit often and livio comes over for dinner #they can just relax and grow old together #old man yaoi #also this was inspired by like style wise tristamp concept art

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fruitageoforanges · 3 months

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elia martell, princess of dragonstone

#asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf fanart #elia martell #house martell #scribbles #watch tumblr ruin the quality of this art #anyway this going to be a companion piece w a matching rhaegar #i should make a tag for my unhinged eliarhaegar posting #anyway i’m very proud of this #i’m trying for a more sketchy style as i feel like when i try to do deliberate lineart #it just looks wrong #also developing my own conception of late 200s AC fashion #inspired by the 1640s-60s

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fishyartist · 1 month

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Ui idea tests, thrown together bc im eepy. Was planning on doing more but I spent all my days energy on the second one oops

#Danny phantom #I need to draw more or I’ll die <- guy who’s meds exhaust them #writing is so hard how do u not make everyone sound like you through a bad filter #Ik that’s unavoidable in some ways (like how art style will always look like u did it+not someone else)#but ugh. I’ll figure it out eventually takes practice+learning+all that #was planning on writing today but then I though ‘huh it might b fun to make some fake ‘’screenshot’’ concepts #also the portal basement has a more complex design but again #eepy #I think the gimmicky MySpace-inspired boxes r fun but idk how well I could keep that theme going w/ some characters #I also never used MySpace so that’s maybe just a kill issue #*skill lol #the command prompt one would basically just be for the portal #I keep saying that this project isn’t feasible buy my hyperfixated ass keeps trying anyways

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telekitnetic-art · 1 year

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Have you seen the formline art in splatoon? It's present in a variety of salmon run decals and on some of the locker graffiti. Idk if the Devs just googled "salmon art" and got indigenous art and decided to copy it or what. Not sure how I feel about it personally.

Long post incoming, gonna put a break here. Also sorry for the late response, I wanted to take a couple days to formalize my thoughts together before responding fully.

I have, I remember noticing in 2018-2019 (when i first started playing splatoon 2) how much one of the decals/graffiti located on the ruins of ark polaris back in 2 sort of resembled a formline bear and salmon. (near the logo in this screenshot, I couldn't find a clear picture online)

Back in 2019, it was pretty easy to think of it as coincidence or a stretch for a comparison. But with splatoon 3's salmon run decals, the resemblance is far easier to see, specifically with the TS-ORBRS graffiti and the TS-SCHL graffiti.

(also this was the best image size I could find for the graffiti images, sorry)

A couple of the banners have the designs on them as well:

The website Sealaska Heritage has info such as textbooks and an online doc about formline art (specifically geared towards Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian nations' style) with lots of info about formline art, and the Seattle Art Museum website has an info sheet (with credits listed as being from the Sealaska Heritage site as well) breaking down some of the basic shapes of formline art.

with this chart, you can definitely begin to notice the similarities between the Salmon Run graffiti and formline art. the ovoids, crescents, and u-shapes appear noticeably in some of the graffiti such as ORBRS and SCHL.

For perspective, here are some formline pieces featuring salmon or fish from various Indigenous artists from various nations.

"sk’ug sdang" (Two Dog Salmon) by Robert Davidson (Haida)

"metal medallion", by Crystal Kaakeeyáa Rose Demientieff Worl (Tlingit Athabascan)

"Salmon People" by Alano Edzerza (Tahltan)

"Jumping Chum" by Stephanie Anderson (Wet'suwet'en)

"Salmon" by Art Thompson (Nuu-chah-nulth)

And that's literally just the surface of dozens of Indigenous artists from the PNW.

With these pieces, you can begin to see the resemblance that the graffiti designs have. A lot of the heads follow the pattern of utilizing ovoids for both the head and eyes, and u-shapes for the bodies and crescents to fill in specific areas are also common. For example, TS-SCHL has a small school of fish where the bodies are entire ovoids.

However, there are a couple flaws in the graffiti designs too. With a few of the designs, you can see they utilize the u-shape (see the formline shape breakdown from Sealaska again) in designs like TS-WHP and TS-SMFR. I can't speak for every Indigenous formline artist ever, but from how I've been taught to design formline art from my family, the u-shape should connect to the rest of the form instead of free-floating. I drew a quick example here:

you can see similar mistakes with a different kind of u-shape with TS-RLPL and TS-C0HK.

Another very specific mistake that takes a bit of squinting to make out is that ovoids are sort of top-heavy, for lack of a term I can't think of right now. The line or the area should be thicker on the top then the bottom. This mistake is frequent in the graffiti designs utilizing ovoid or ovoid adjacent face or body shapes, like TS-ORBRS, TS-C0HK or TS-SCHL.

Full disclaimer, I am not an expert at formline art. I've been practicing it under the tutelage of my aunt and father for about 3 or so years now, and there are definitely cultural variations that come into play as well. My culture's formline art style can look completely different from someone who is Haida or otherwise. This critique of the graffiti designs is based off my knowledge and skill at formline art, as well as critique and feedback that I've gotten from family. Formline art isn't just something you look at and replicate, there is a specific process of utilizing the shapes and negative space that you need to account for too. Some shapes have their own rules for how they're used as well.

Despite the beginner mistakes, the clear resemblances are pretty definitive proof that a good section of the sticker/graffiti designs for the salmonids are meant to be, or at the very least based off of or inspired by, formline art.

Splatoon's lore has a lot of elements of taking inspiration from real life culture (which is sort of one of the main elements of the story, the squids and octos are basing their society off long dead humans). Hell, Shiver and Frye are two prime examples of Splatoon working in real world culture into their setting and characters.

With that in mind, using an art style that's exclusive to an ethnicity of people as inspiration or baseline reference for the game mode that's all about taking natural resources from a species that in-game dialogue tends to treat as dangerous and lesser-minded is... not a good choice. Especially an ethnicity that has historically been ravaged and attacked by settlers for natural resources.

Now, technically if you do digging into lore for salmon run, you can find out that the salmonid are not as simple-minded as the dialogue in-game (I am staring directly at the deep cut big run announcement dialogue we've gotten so far -_-) makes them out to be. The salmonids do trades and commerce with the octarians for equipment and gear. That's why they have such technically high tech gear, like the scrappers with their shields that actually resemble octarian shields and the flyfish with their missiles and flying aircraft. That's also why power eggs show up in the story mode; they're from the salmonids' trades with the octarians.

So the salmonid could technically be as just as smart as the inklings, which is why the dialogue and some of the portrayals of the salmonid are confusing and contradictory (shiver's dialogue from the first big run, that one promo picture of an inkling walking a smallfry on a leash????). I think a good bit of the fanbase sort of thinks of the little buddy we get during the game as a pet, and I'm sure that much more of the fanbase/playerbase doesn't really care about the lore whatsoever. Salmonids sort of have a similar vibe to me as hilichurls from Genshin Impact, where the lore tells you that they're smarter than people assume while NPCs talk of them as less intelligent monsters. And you're also caught in this paradox where killing/fighting them feels morally wrong but the gameplay loop has you continuously doing that while also telling you on the downlow that you should sort of feel bad about it.

Rassicas did a really good video on translating salmonid lore from various interviews, which is where I learned a lot about the salmonid lore that doesn't really get explained/brought up in the game.

The usage of formline art in Splatoon has me sort of mixed on my opinion, because besides using an Indigenous art style for an enemy species that are considered lesser in intelligence by the NPCs, Indigenous art and culture as a whole has suffered a lot under colonialism. I don't know how much awareness whoever is reading this has about Indigenous history and colonialism, but Indigenous culture as a whole was banned in North America by the respective governments from being practiced by the respective cultural groups. Things such as ceremonies, regalia, and even practicing formline art were banned from being used by Indigenous people. Non-Indigenous people however were free to use it, which is why a lot of bastardized versions of Indigenous regalia and culture exists. You can see it in non-indigenous spiritual practices utilizing Indigenous practices and terminology like spirit animals and dreamcatchers, and sports teams utilizing Indigenous culture in its labelling and mascots. That is where cultural appropriation comes into play. And before I get anybody commenting about this, the salmonid formlines don't count as "cultural appreciation" because as far as the info available is concerned, there wasn't any Indigenous people that were consulted for the designs. And even if there were, I again have mixed feelings about Splatoon utilizing an Indigenous art style as a design piece for an enemy character in the franchise.

On another note, this isn't the first time Indigenous cultural appropriation has popped up in the Splatoon franchise. There was actually a headgear that was unreleased in the first Splatoon game called "Warrior Headdress", and you can guess what it looked like.

Yeah. That was all levels of yikes and I'm thankful as hell that it didn't make it into the game (technically it's not in the game as a wearable item, but you can spot it at the very back of the headgear shop ingame)

So Splatoon has utilized Indigenous culture as inspiration beforehand with the games, so it's not much of a stretch anymore to think that the salmon run graffiti designs were based off formline art or was an attempt at formline art.

I'm not really sold on the idea that the salmonid are meant to be representative of Indigenous people though, nor do I believe that utilizing formline art for the salmonid was a malicious decision. But it was a slightly ignorant decision at best, because again using Indigenous specific art for a species of enemies that gets fought for their natural resources and is referred to by some of the NPCs as basically being lesser-minded animals is really not a good decision.

This whole thread is not meant as a guilt trip for anyone who likes the salmonid lore, has bought any of the salmonid graffiti stickers, or enjoys salmon run, nor is it an accusation of the devs for maliciously misusing Indigenous culture. I actually really enjoy salmon run for it's PSP and concept, but this design aspect gives me mixed feelings as an Indigenous person. And to be honest it's hard to label intentions or the thought process because there isn't any info available on the development of salmon run and those graffiti designs specifically. So it's hard to know if the devs employed an Indigenous artist for feedback or if they indeed just looked at some formline art of salmon and tried to replicate it or used it as inspiration. I'm inclined to believe the latter judging by the beginner formline mistakes seen in some of the designs. There is an art book coming out soon for Splatoon 3, so maybe that will give more info.

To wrap this all up, I don't think there is really anything to be done about the designs. The game has been out for a while and I don't know if the game would change the designs at this point. I also don't think this should stop people from buying the sticker designs in game or playing salmon run. However, it is important to learn about the context of these designs so that you know why they exist and why they can be harmful, and so devs and creators can avoid making the same mistake in the future, and so Indigenous issues with cultural appropriation can be made more aware in the public space and not be ridiculed by non-Indigenous people. And again, I am just one Indigenous person so there may be other opinions from other Indigenous people on the graffiti designs and how they should be handled or viewed.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading and have a good day!! Be sure to check out some actual Formline art made by Indigenous people, like the ones I listed near the top of the post!

#long post #salmon run #indigenous discussion #cw cultural appropriation #whoof that took a while to write #I really don't think this whole situation is one of maliciousness #but one of ignorance.#the devs had the foresight to (almost completely) remove the headdress item from the first game #so good on them for that #I just sort of wish they'd thought through using Indigenous art for the salmonids a lot better.#I wish the salmonids had a different sticker design entirely tbh #graffiti is such an open-ended style concept so they could've found lots of inspiration there #instead of using an Indigenous specific art style #(and making beginner mistakes while doing it)#also if you're here to cry cultural appreciation or about how “oh this is preserving Indigenous culture actually” I'm gonna need you #to walk back out that door.#I did not spend four hours writing this whole post to deal with “but cultural appreciation actually!!!” chuds.#Look up the definition of cultural appreciation vs cultural appropriation and get back to me.

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koluniie · 1 year

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their name is Cinnamon and she took me way too long to design

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freela · 10 months

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someone could just steal my oc if they wanted to i don't even care i'm just happy someone thinks my character looks cool enough to want to replicate

#obviously not saying this too seriously but you know what i mean #taking inspiration is such a non-issue to me. everything i create was once an idea given to me by something else #also i think the concept of art style theft is a little stupid and not real but that's another subject i guess

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alister312 · 2 years

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Summary:

Stan's written a song about nearly everything in his life, except for the most important part.

Read Chapter 1 on ao3 or below the cut!

Every single birthday filled Stan with more existential dread than the last. Throughout the rest of the year, he managed to tamp it down, but it reared its depressing head whenever the clock struck midnight on October 19th. He spent his 27th one the same way he spent the last five– drunk in his best friend��s apartment.

His best friend being Tolkien Black, that is.

Tolkien let Stan wallow in his apartment. He was used to picking up the broken pieces that Stan could turn into ever since he’d found him busking on the streets of Los Angeles. Stan had been all but homeless back then, couch surfing and pissing away the money he’d saved up for college after running away from everything. Tolkien took him in, letting Stan mooch off his college dorm and meal plan. They’d both hoped they were done with South Park in LA, free of the snow and small town vibes, but the town was inescapable. At least they’d managed to make something of their reunion.

“Stan.” Tolkien stood over the couch that Stan was sprawled on. “The band’s DMs are kind of insane right now.”

“Yeah?” Stan groaned, forcing himself to sit up and feeling like he might black out from the simple action. They’d anticipated this– their band’s social medias getting flooded with birthday wishes for Stan. They were fairly popular, with a few singles having gotten radio plays, but most of their listener base found them from browsing online. It was how the indie pop scene functioned these days.

“Yeah,” Tolkien said. “Do you want me to say something, as you? Or I could ask one of the others to do it.”

“No.” Stan waved his hand dismissively and reached for the glass on Tolkien’s coffee table, which used to be filled with whiskey and ice but was now whiskey and water. “It’d feel weird to say thanks. I hate my birthday, dude. I’m aging out of the industry.”

“What? You’re 27.”

“Yeah but most of the popular artists are, like, early twenties. I’m officially late twenties now. Isn’t that fucked up?”

“Only if you let it be.” Tolkien sat down beside Stan as he threw back the glass. He was the type to simply watch and be there afterward– not interfere. He never pushed. Stan appreciated that, but he also wished Tolkien nagged a little more. It was nice to be enabled, but it wasn’t what he needed or even wanted. He held his hand out in the direction of the bottle on the coffee table. Tolkien sighed, but picked it up and poured some of the contents into Stan’s glass.

“Thanks,” Stan said.

“No problem,” Tolkien said. “Just don’t go too overboard. We’re recording tomorrow.”

“Oh fuck. Can you text the group chat and change it? I know I’m going to be hungover as shit.” Stan looked pleadingly at Tolkien, who sighed and pulled out his phone. “Thanks,” Stan said again.

“Yeah. Happy birthday.” Tolkien stood. “Are you going to drink all day or are you going to work on the new song for at least a little while?”

“It’s my birthday, dude, I don’t want to work.”

“I thought you loved being an artist.” Stan snorted and playfully punched Tolkien’s arm at this, making his friend smile back at him. Sure, Stan loved what he did. It still seemed like a dream that he was writing songs and getting paid for it, even if his throat hurt and he had callouses for days.

It was even crazier that Tolkien had agreed to play bass and sing backup, then his first year RA, Andrew, had taken up their pleas to join them on drums. Of course, their band wasn’t complete until Jamie heard them playing at an open mic and asked to be on keyboard (and the occasional secondary guitar). They were great– the band– but it was still work.

“I’m really struggling with lyrics,” Stan admitted.

“Well, at least think on it today.” Tolkien ruffled Stan’s hair. “As our frontman, me and the rest of Weedzer are counting on you.”

“Weedzer,” Stan laughed. “Dude, I still can’t believe that’s what we settled on as a band name.”

“Hey, weed and Weezer were very influential to us. A portmanteau of the two just made sense.” Tolkien pursed his lips, thinking. “Maybe the song could be about growing up and being old now.”

“Ha,” Stan said, not a laugh.

“I’m just saying, man. People like the stuff you write based on your life.” Tolkien walked over to the front door and started putting on his shoes. “Sorry to leave you alone, but I promised Nichole I’d meet her for lunch.”

“You’ll be back?” Stan peered over the edge of the couch.

“It’s my apartment, Stan, of course I’ll be back.” Tolkien left with a wave and Stan was alone to grieve the loss of being 26. After throwing back what was left in his glass, he flopped back down on the couch. He had his own apartment and couch to flop onto, but he had wanted company while he got birthday-drunk. So much for that plan, though.

•••

Write about growing up, Tolkien said. He understood a lot about Stan, having grown up alongside him, but he hadn’t grown up with Stan. He didn’t understand that most memories about growing up couldn’t be divorced from Kyle and, well. Shit.

Now Stan was thinking about Kyle.

He’d long since wrung most of his teenage woes out and onto lyrics. That stupid farm was the setting to everything he needed to explore– his anger towards his dad, his reconciliation with his sister, his shared regrets with his mom. Most important of all of them, though, was the last time he ever saw Kyle.

Cynically, Stan thought it was fitting that he’d kicked off his real life by making his biggest mistake. Still, even with all his now almost ten years of extra wisdom, he wasn’t sure what he’d tell his 17 year old self to do when Kyle dragged him away from the crowd of their shared graduation party.

He’d been sick of being constantly harassed by distant relatives, asking why he was going to a liberal arts school and not something with a more set career path. Stan had been sick too, but more from nerves of realizing how fast the school year was coming. A gut feeling told him things were changing, rapidly reaching a peak that would crash into an ending– maybe it was inevitable.

There were probably a million things he could’ve done, as they had leaned against the back of the barn and Kyle had his head on Stan’s shoulder, his hand in Stan’s. Maybe 27 year old Stan would have recognized Kyle’s body language and how he kept starting and stopping sentences, constantly looking at Stan for something like reassurance or reciprocation. The air had been so dry but both their hands were clammy when Kyle finally asked what had been on both of their minds.

“We’re gonna still keep in contact, right?”

“Yeah,” Stan had assured him. “Of course, dude. We have to.”

“We have to,” Kyle had repeated. His hand squeezed Stan in what 17 year old Stan thought was agreement and 27 year old Stan knew was preparation. “You have to promise me, though, because I can’t… I can’t lose this. I can’t lose you.”

“Why would you lose me?”

“Because I love you.” The memory of the way the outdoor lights had hit Kyle’s eyes still shook Stan. Even now, he had no idea how he’d tell his younger self to react after Kyle leaned in to kiss him, except to say that, at the very least, panicking and avoiding Kyle the rest of the party and running away the next day wasn’t the best move.

Stan’s hand itched to reach over and pour another drink, like it always did when he slowed down enough to remember having regrets. Kyle being the biggest one. Stan always knew he’d run from South Park, he’d never expected that he’d leave Kyle behind when he did.

He grabbed his phone and held it too close to his face. There was a string of the last texts Kyle ever sent and he never responded to that he could read again, or the tens of voicemails Kyle had left him. Like he hadn’t memorized them already. He’d spent nights drafting responses, but deleted everything before he could send them, figuring it was all too late. Sometimes he hoped staring at his texts would manifest one from Kyle that he could use as an excuse to send how he felt now.

Currently, like always, it wasn’t working. Instead it was mostly just well wishes from others in the music industry who had his number. A few relatives. No one from South Park kept in touch, save for Kenny who occasionally sent him texts while high and a simple “HBD” today. Stan gave the message a thumbs up and opened Kyle’s Instagram page. The most recent post was still the same as it was a few days ago: pictures from his latest book signing. He’d found modest success just like Stan, publishing romance novels. Stan was always tempted to read one, but he knew if he did, he’d see himself in the stories when he wasn’t there. It had been almost 10 years– he had to let him go.

•••

After stalking the same posts he always did and chickening out of liking any of them, Stan drank until he was drunk enough to pass out on Tolkien’s couch again. He woke up to Nichole and Tolkien hanging out in the kitchen, talking. They exchanged a friendly wave when he came in to finally hydrate himself a little bit.

She was the only other former South Park resident he still talked to, but Stan didn’t always feel like she counted. Nichole had been a transplant to the small town– she didn’t have the same hang ups that he and Tolkien did. Being born at Hell’s Pass changed something in you, fundamentally.

“Hey, happy birthday,” she said.

“Mm.” Stan gulped down the tap water he’d poured. “Thanks. How’s, uh, the podcast?”

“Good. Any plans for the rest of your big day?”

“Pretty sure you’re looking at them,” Tolkien chuckled. Stan laughed along a little, but his head was swimming and he wanted to go sit down again.

“Yeah. I might… might go put a movie on.” Stan leaned on the counter for support. “Order a pizza, maybe? Would you guys wanna, um, join?”

“Sure! What movie?” Nichole asked.

“I don’t know. Return of the King, extended cut?”

“Oh god, no, Stan you know how I feel about Lord of the Rings,” Tolkien groaned. He’d had the series ruined forever after he expected to watch a sequel but accidentally saw a graphic porno instead. It was his namesake though, and Stan had gotten into it because of that. He had tried many times over their years of friendship to get him to appreciate it again.

“C’mon Tolkien, it’s just one movie,” Nichole smiled. “I’d be cool with that. You know I’m all about high fantasy. And Orlando Bloom.”

“It’s not just one movie, it's four hours long!” Tolkien huffed. “And what do you mean you’re ‘all about’ Orlando Bloom?”

“Oh my god, relax, it’s not like I’m going to leave you for Orlando Bloom,” Nichole laughed. Stan let her continue coaxing Tolkien as he left to set up the movie. He got sad halfway through the process. The first time he’d watched the extended cut was with Kyle, who didn’t get the appeal but sat with Stan through all 11 and a half hours of the entire extended trilogy. It had been like all their old Terrance and Philip binges, curled up on Kyle’s basement couch, pressed together and only an arm’s length away from all drinks and snacks.

It hurt, the fact that the idea of Kyle could make him sad. It was never like that growing up. Stan had long grown to resent the farm where his house was and jumped at every opportunity to stay over at Kyle’s after school. It was more home to him than even his apartment now.

It seemed insane, now, as he sat on Tolkien’s living room floor, that he didn’t even know Kyle’s current address. It was somewhere in South Park, that much he knew, but with how many bridges Stan’d burned, Middle Earth seemed like it would be easier to get to.

Nichole ordered two Hawaiian pizzas– Stan’s favorite that he’d Stolkholmed her and Tolkien into liking too. They had wine while Stan nursed a final drink for the day, crying over Sam and Frodo once the movie was over. Tolkien brought him back to his own apartment after that, knowing it would be best if Stan awoke in his own bed.

There were three rooms– bedroom, kitchen, living room– and the emptiness intimidated him. Still, Stan couldn’t bring himself to ask Tolkien to stay. He did, however, grab one last time at his friend’s sleeve before he left.

“Do you worry about being forgotten?” Stan stared at Tolkien, hoping desperately that he understood what Stan was actually saying.

“You’re not going to get forgotten, Stan.” Tolkien removed Stan’s hand from his sleeve and patted his arm. “Just because you’re 27 now doesn’t mean our fans are going to drop you. So don’t worry about it, alright man?”

“Yeah.” He did not understand what Stan was trying to say. “Okay. Bye Tolkien.” The apartment was empty after that and Stan made the decision, like he did at the end of every birthday, to push those thoughts to the back of his mind.

#A/N over on ao3 says it but this fic is inspired by some art from sn33z3s!! it’s a very good concept and im glad to be exploring it #south park #kyle broflovski #stan marsh #sp style #south park fanfiction #sp fanfiction #sp #sp kyle #sp stan #tolkien black #nichole daniels #they’re also in this fic

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idrawgaystffs · 1 year

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Redrew a thing from over 2 years ago with some creative spice I’ve gathered since then, (The clean line art was Never to last, old me)

[Woah I reached the tag limit perfectly]

#my art stff #sanders sides #ts virgil #tss art #creative spirit possessed me till 3 am and I had this on my phone #it’s weird. i had realized that some people seem to keep the same style even as their skills grow and they learn more about anatomy. color #etc. and yet it looks practically the same as when they started. the base anyways #I did at one time do the thing where I drew the hair the same always the same two curls there and a sharp corner here. no matter where #they might be looking. but that made no sense and I learned about volume and strayed drawing hair as the actual strands it is #My Style has changed drastically since just 2 years ago. going on 3 with that new year on the horizon #and I even see change from my last year’s art. I’ve improved! of course there are missteps where oofs happen #but overall! new things have entered my art and I think of composition more and looking for inspiration is way more fun than it used to be #but yeah I am being taught art by an art teacher and I have artist classmates who are also super talented and have their own styles #so I guess that must have something to do with the difference #the hobby of art vs. the engine that is schooling and the constant push to become greater and show improvement #everyday we go over things that we kinda already knew. but seeing all the fancy words and figuring out how other people see those #same concepts is so interesting.#hm already quite a long rant in the tags huh #there is some downside to the whole going to an art class and ‘pushing to improve’ some people can’t handle it and get burnt out #I knew a fellow who really was bored of the class last year and isn’t here this year cause they had Nothing to gain from it #they already had friends to inspire them and knew so may cool skills and learned way more as a wee lad compared to us and their art #was awesome even placed in an official contest #so it’s strange to know that there’s so many variants in the artist’s life journey because we all start at different times and places and #with different levels of expectations and well that’s the cool bit isn’t it #I was thinking about some specific artists when I brought up the stuck to one style thing: both seem to be in college and yet they draw #in a certain way that I specifically abandoned #of course I hadn’t grown this much in no time. that flatish anime-eyed style is a remnant of my middle school days #Whoops more rantyness I’m just gonna leave this here #uh thanks for reading this if you did?#my art

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kelin-is-writing · 7 months

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"how hot is that character"

toji fushiguro

HELPSDJSKDJKSJXKSXJKS GUYS!!!! i'm sorry i'm not really a jjk kinda girl, i don't even have idea of who we are talking about right now 😭💀

#kelin responds #answered #anonymous #jjk doesn't have a concept (?) that i like or inspires me (i also don't really like the art style) so i've never watched it...#i'm sorry guys i just really don't care about jjk like– it just really doesn't pique my interest 🥲💔

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bweirdart · 7 months

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EVENT OVER! THANKS EVERYONE WHO JOINED IN U ALL DID AN AMAZING JOB <3 SEE YOU AGAIN NEXT YEAR IN MARCH FOR #mARTch OR NEXT OCTOBER (2024) FOR A NEW SET OF PROMPTS!!!!!

OC-TOBER 2023 PROMPTS!!

general tag: #oc-tober / my prompts: #bweirdOCtober

F.A.Q:

Do I have to draw EVERY DAY?

NO! I highly encourage skipping as many days as you need to avoid burnout! There are 10 main days in the event (marked with a ⭐ star) that you can focus on if you don't feel up to doing every day, or you can choose your own adventure and just do the prompts you personally like!

Do I have to DRAW?

NO! You can also write fanfiction snippets, repost older art that fits the theme, tweet headcanons/backstory, roleplay in-character as your oc ... genuinely anything that fits the theme is OK!!

Can I start early?

YES! I understand some people work at a slower pace and might need a head start! So long as you wait until October to post it, you can start working as early as you need!

I missed the start of the event .. do I have to catch up?

NO! Please don't stress about days you missed, you're allowed to just skip to the current prompt!

RULES:

1. MAKE FRIENDS! The community is the best part of this event .. please try to follow new people, ask questions about ocs you like, compliment people's styles, ask friends to create with you, etc!

2. TAKE IT EASY! Skip a day if you're tired, busy or just not interested in the prompt. You don't have to catch up on it later. This is supposed to be fun, not work!

3. BE KIND! Please think about the people around you - don't give people unwarranted harsh criticism, content warn for themes/imagery in your work that could trigger someone, don't create anything hateful, etc

text version / tips and ideas on bweird.art or below ↓

star = main prompts | no star = optional

INTRO WEEK

1: FAVE OC ⭐

-Which of your characters is your favourite right now?

2: NEW OC

-Who is your newest OC?

-Design a new OC right now

3: OLD OC ⭐

-Do you remember the first OC you ever made?

-Is there an OC you haven't drawn in a long time?

4: RE-DESIGN

-An OC who has changed a lot over the years

-Take an old OC and update their design right now

BACKSTORY WEEK

5: RELATIONSHIPS ⭐

-Who is important to your OC?

-Do they have a partner?

-Do they have a best friend?

-Are they close to their family?

6: SYMBOL

-What imagery do you associate with your oc?

-Are there any colours, flowers, animals or concepts that symbolize them?

7: PERSONALITY ⭐

-How does your OC behave?

-What are their positive traits?

-What are their negative traits?

-Are they extroverted or introverted?

8: PAST

-What was your OC like as a child?

-Where did they grow up?

-Are there any significant moments from their past that shaped who they are?

9: FUTURE ⭐

-Does your OC have a goal they're working towards?

-What will your OC look like when they get older

-Do you have a planned ending for their story?

PALETTE WEEK

10: pumpkin patch palette

#251604 #1E3807 #5B5E1A #A2A657 #EBA00F #F3ECCC

11: hot cocoa palette

#520B13 #BB382E #E27E6D #88392C #AF5D40 #E1AFA4

12: midnight zone palette

#000007 #000049 #183885 #004D4F #0E8788 #FFF1C0

13: peachy palette

#DE6450 #DB9171 #FFC1AE #FEE1AD #FFF2E0 #D9D8D8

14: haunted house palette

#552506 #6E25AA #ED690B #F925A0 #8F8BA7 #A6C1AA

FUN + GAMES WEEK

15: MEME ⭐

-Post memes that remind you of your OC

-Draw your OC as a meme

-Fill out a character meme (classic deviantart style)

16: FOOD

-What is your OC's favourite food?

-What is their least favourite?

-Can they cook?

17: EYES-CLOSED ⭐

-Draw your OC with your eyes closed! No cheating!

-Write a scene without looking at the keyboard! Keep the typos in!

18: SWAP

-Swap the style or aesthetic of two of your OCs

-Species or gender swap AU

-Invert an OC's colour scheme

19: INSPIRATION ⭐

-Is your OC inspired by any pre-existing characters?

-Are there any particular songs/lyrics that inspired something about one of your OCs

-Do you have a dedicated pinterest moodboard for your character?

20: INVENTORY

-What does your OC carry around with them on a daily basis?

-Are there any objects that have sentimental value for them?

-Loot drop for your DnD OC

FRIENDS WEEK

21-25:

There's no specific daily prompts for this week, but here are some ideas you can try ...

-Art trades with friends who are doing the event with you

-Your OC interacting with a friend's OC

-Gift art for someone whose OCs you like

-Work together and collaborate on something with a friend

-Roleplay an OC scene together with someone

HALLOWEEN WEEK

26: FEAR ⭐

-What is your OC scared of?

-Draw one of your OCs trying to scare the others

27: MONSTER

-Do you have any monster OCs? (eg: vampires, werewolves, creatures, ghosts...)

-Draw a human OC as a monster

-Design a new monster

28: TRICK

-Play a trick on an OC

-Do you have an OC who would play tricks on people?

29: TREAT

-What is your OC's favourite halloween candy?

-Give an OC a special treat to make up for yesterday's trick

30: MAGIC

-Do any of your characters have magical powers?

-Give an OC a magical or cursed artifact

-Create a magic-using OC like a witch or wizard

27: COSTUME ⭐

-What is your OC dressing as for halloween?

#🎨#bweirdOCtober #events

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sinizade · 1 year

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I made a little clothing guide for some Dragon Age regions

Some may not be exactly the same as the references that appear in the game or in the concepts, but I wanted to give a little of my vision to the guide.

Ferelden

Ferelden is close to the Frostback Mountains and Orlais and as Leliana and Zevran once said, Ferelden is cold, so I thought it would be a cool idea to put on thick clothes with a lot of fur so the Fereldans can protect themselves from the cold.

Tevinter

Dragon Age 4 is approaching and it's already evident that we're going to be in the Tevinter Imperium, so I discovered that a lot of Tevinter clothing was inspired by clothing from the Byzantine Empire

Orlais

We've already seen in the game and in the concept art that Orlais is all about being flamboyant and flashy and what's more flamboyant and flashy than mid-1500s fashion?

Antiva

Home to the two loves of my life, Zevran and Josephine, Antiva fashion is something I really love… The puffy arms, the breast-enhancing corsets, the leather vests, idk, I just like Antiva

Nevarra

I don't exactly have much to say about nevarra, but I did some research and found some concepts that I thought were interesting, I also saw in some places that said that the kingdom was inspired by the traditional culture of Spain

So I'll leave two references here

One for the traditional clothes and one for what I imagine might look like Nevarra dress

Frostback Basin

In Inquisition we can see that the clothes they wear are quite furry and well protected from the cold, so I think it would be a good idea to inspire some of their clothing in Inuit clothing

The Dalish (1/2/3/4/5)

Well, for the Dalish I had MANY ideas, among them think about adding traditional clothes from some tribes, native Brazilian/American, African, Hawaiian, Inca, Aztec and Mayan

Remembering that I made a great mix of traditional clothes from several tribes and not just one, and that I also have 0 intention of disrespecting any of them, if I have put something wrong or disrespectful you can be free to alert me

Orzammar

I knew little about Turkey, but when I went to research I ended up enchanted with some of the traditional clothes when I went to research about it and I thought that this style would go well with Orzammar

Par Vollen

For Par Vollen, I had a bit of trouble finding it, but I think clothing a little bit closer to the ancient Egyptian style would be something interesting. The light fabrics, the golden jewels adorning the body, idk, I like that idea

Rivain

I was doing some research again and found that part of Rivain's look was inspired by traditional clothing from Islamic Spain and Southeast Asia , so I looked around a bit for something to put here and add one more kingdom to the list

I hope you people enjoyed! Soon I will add more realms as soon as I finish my research

#dragon age fan art #dragon age 2 #dragon age origins #dragon age #dragon age awakening #dragon age inquisition #tevinter #orlais #ferelden #frostback basin #antiva #nevarra #Rivain

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alicenpai · 10 months

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my piece for the Hemisphere: a Witch Hat Atelier seasons themed zine! thank you for having me! they're having a leftovers sale until stock runs out 🖋🍀🌷🍁❄🌧 WIPs + inspiration board + symbolism under the cut! got some requests to put this on my inprnt! the site has sales very often & you can grab it as a small or big size print.

I had a pretty good idea of the composition from the get-go. I took inspiration from art nouveau (primarily Alphonse Mucha), German fairy tales, and some 1920s perfume ads. I wanted the girls to look like fairies, akin to The Root Children by Sibylle von Olfers.

Olly just didn't work out in this drawing due to time restraints. I do love him very much though.

I actually kinda stopped making illustrations like these (including the TGAA/DGS tarot card + TGAA/DGS zine pieces a while back) because they were starting to get very hard on my arm, as I had an RSI (repetitive strain injury) a few years back during school. (Not putting the onus on the zines at all ofc! I genuinely love working with zine projects! it's def a me thing WAHAHAHA. my style was getting too anime and too detailed for my liking and everything was just taking forever to finish ngl. but I didn't have time to experiment with a more simple style outside of all of my deadlines)

I think that realizing you need to stop is okay. It's something that Shirahama teaches us in her story and I want to learn to take it to heart.

---

MILD SPOILERS AHEAD (for those who havent read the story I guess)

each character's symbolism:

- Coco - spring, clovers - Coco is the quintessential spring girl, and I wanted her to symbolize new beginnings, and oh boy did Coco bring a big one. The four leaf clover in particular symbolizes luck and good fortune - to some characters, Coco may have brought fortune, to others her presence brings misfortune, take that as you will.

- Tetia - summer, gladiolus - the name "gladiolus" comes from the Latin word "gladius", meaning "sword", based on the shape of the flower. you can interpret it as "you pierce my heart", perfect for a girl like Tetia, who has a contagious energy, with a romantic and grandiose nature.

- Agott - autumn, marigold - I read somewhere marigolds symbolize strength and power, perfect for our little magical powerhouse Agott. They can also symbolize jealousy (yellow flowers in particular have this association), which reflects on her rivalry with Coco in the beginning.

- Riche - winter, snowdrop - The white color of snowdrops has a strong connotation to innocence, which reflects on Riche's wish to stay a child forever. It can also symbolize rebirth and new beginnings (like Coco's clovers), as the snowdrop is the first flower to bloom in the spring, when the snow has not yet melted. I wanted the concept of "rebirth" to associate with Riche's friendship with Euini, and of his sort of "rebirth" into a new being.

- Qifrey - he does not have a flower per se, but as the caregiver and educator of the four girls, he represents the rainy season - precipitation being the one thing that binds all of these seasons together. (Note some areas of the world do not have a rainy season like where I live). I think somewhere along the line I wanted to put hydrangeas behind him, to really bring out the "rainy" theme, but the thought probably got lost somewhere in translation...

- bg flowers - honestly I just picked whatever. white lily, daffodil, hydrangea, zinnia, tulip

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