#wanted ideas for how to simplify the markings but NO

[nepeteaa]

gettin grousey

#there's like no non realistic art of ruffed grouse #wanted ideas for how to simplify the markings but NO #ruffed grouse #art #nature illustration #artists on tumblr #nature #birds

[drvscarlett]

About You Pt2

Sebastian Vettel x Webber!Reader

Summary: Everyone knows about the history of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. But there's a well kept story within the paddock about Sebastian Vettel and another Webber. This is that story.

A/N: were in the 2009 season. i also grabbed some ideas from a film quote so if you notice that, hello hehe. hope you enjoy, let me know your comments

About You Series: 1, 2, 3

Taglist: @spideybv28 @randomcuboidshape @mehrmonga @casperlikej @cliosunshine @randomgirlnumber-13 @sugyomama

2009, Albert Park

Moving from Toro Rosso to Red Bull has been the source of excitement of Sebastian ever since he signed the contract last December. He was excited to work with a bigger team and it opened up better opportunities for a championship which is why he feels really giddy walking to Albert Park.

"Seems like a good year for a championship?"Christian greeted Sebastian.

"I'm looking forward to that, the car feels nice"Sebastian agreed.

When the two walked to the garage, they immediately saw the Webber siblings discussing with some of the mechanics. Mark immediately waved at Sebastian.

Sebastian can tell that their dynamics improved since it was announced that they will be teammates. They spent a lot of time together in Milton Keynes so they found each other tolerable. It was surprising that now he feels a lot more closer to Mark than to Y/N.

He was actually expecting her to be around when they said Mark will be around Milton Keynes but the female Webber never showed up. Mark says that Y/N has been taking some time off since she will be busy during the season. Sebastian thinks he might be the reason why she has been absent so he felt a little relieve to see her.

"Excited for the first race of the season?" Y/N asked.

"The car seems alright, I think we can bring some good points in"Sebastian replied.

"We're gonna bring in a challenge this year, I can feel that we can compete for the drivers and constructors championship this year"Mark added

"How about Brawn, do you think they'll be a challenge?"Y/N wondered.

Sebastian heard about the team during the winter break. It was sort of a crazy story about how everything happened. He never saw Jenson or Rubens as a threat so he thinks that they might be an okay team that he doesn't have to worry about.

"They are a new team, I'm sure they won't be a threat" famous last words.

Brawn GP turns out to be a slight threat. Sebastian calls it a slight threat since this was only the first race and maybe its just their luck that they managed to pull away. They have to see how they perform in the next few races.

It was quite a bummer that Red Bull was unable to bring any points. It frustrated him heavily since he started 3rd and managed to stay 2nd the whole race until that unfortunate collision with Kubica that ruined his race.

Mark managed to finish the race but he finished 13th. Still out of the points.

As Sebastian was replaying the whole thing in his hotel room, he heard soft knocks at his door. He didn't remember ordering anything from room service so he was a bit confused as he headed to open the door.

"Hi Seb" it was Y/N "I was sent here by Mark to ask you if you want to go out and eat. You are in Australia and our family is from Australia and it will be a little bit rude if we didn't treat you out in Australia"

"That's too many Australia in one sentence"

"Have dinner with us and the family?"she simplifies "Please?"

There was not much to do anyway, Seb thinks so he accepted the offer. It might also be a good start to rekindle the friendship since its been a while since the two spoke with each other.

"You're driving?"Sebastian asked

"Of course, what kind of host am I if I'm going to make you drive"

The drive was reminiscent of Sebastian's memory when they were in Germany. Only that the view is more of beaches rather than the greens and the cold of Europe.

"I heard stories about you and Mark, it seems that you two are getting along quite well"Y/N opened up the conversation

"Oh he talks about me?"

"Well as his assistant, I have to ask about his work dynamics so yeah you have been a talking point of our conversation"

"That's nice"Sebastian smiles "How is life treating you? I didn't see you in Milton Keynes"

She lets out a heavy sigh and Sebastian could tell that there is a certain tiredness in her eyes. Maybe its true what Mark said that Y/N is actually drained from a season of F1.

"I just have to get away. A lot of pressure to deliver"

Sebastian understands that. Its probably the reason why he also tried to be understanding with Mark's situation as well. He knows that at the end of the day, the sports was brutal in one way or another. Everyone eventually gets that pressure to deliver.

"Let's not talk about f1, lets just talk about basic life things" Sebastian steered the conversation.

There was a smile gracing both of their faces because its just Sebastian and Y/N again. No last names, no championships, just them.

2009, Sepang International Circuit

"I hate wet races" Y/N confirms.

She doesn't get why everyone gets a bit excited with wet racing but she can't find how this is enjoyable for some people. Isn't the thrill of racing beyond speed limit exciting enough for them? Now they even want to race under dangerous weather conditions.

"It test your skills as a driver" Sebastian defended "Back me up here Mark"

"You're on your own Seb"was the reply of the older Webber. He did not want to take side with anyone.

The trio has been sitting at the garage waiting for the race to start. There was still 20 minutes left and Y/N has been stressing about how the dark clouds are looming over. She thinks it may start under dry conditions then go to wet in a snap.

"You can test your skills by overtaking and setting the fastest lap" Y/N noted

"Its all about strategy and taking risks"Sebastian assured.

"You better make sure that the both of you finish the race"

"No promises, Seb might hit me again"Mark joked

"Oh c'mon, I said I was sorry about that"

True enough to Y/N's prediction, the race started on the dry conditions then it ended up to be a wet race. Y/N had her fair share of wet races but this was the most terrifying for her opinion. There were puddles and the drivers can't see a thing with the rain blocking their vision.

It gotten so bad that Y/N actually went out of the driver's room to check on the status of the drivers.

"Aren't they red flagging the race?"she asked one of the mechanics

"There is still nothing from the stewards but Mark is also insisting that the race should be stopped"

Y/N was glad that she wasn't the only sane Webber around.

Just then there was a crash on screen and the weather made it very difficult for them to decipher which car spun but it was for sure a Red Bull. Y/N felt a bit comforted that it just spun without hitting anyone or anything.

"Its confirmed, that is Seb's car"

"Safety car for the lap"

"Webber is gonna ask to stop the race"

There was a flurry of emotions inside the garage. The race was stopped at lap 33 and there was the question if they will wait for it to restart or is it called off completely.

"I'm in 15th, this is not good"Sebastian was already groaning. He missed out on the points again by a big margin.

"Hey 15th is okay than dnf or being hospitalized"

Knowing Sebastian, Y/N knew he wanted to do well and it didn't seem like it was going to how Sebastian had it in his mind earlier this year. She gave him a comforting pat.

"Do you want some ice cream?"she asked

Sebastian looked at her as if she grew two heads "In this cold weather? You are asking for ice cream?"

"Ice cream heals people's boo boo" Y/N shrugged "Besides Kimi made me hungry for ice cream"

"You are crazy" Sebastian started "But c'mon lets go get some ice cream"

2009, Circuit de Catalunya

Mark: Can you see me before qualis at the back of the garage Mark: need your help, please

Sebastian never received any urgent texts from Mark so he must say that his curiosity is piqued by it. He immediately set out to meet Mark in the designated location.

"You need me?"Sebastian asked.

"Sebastian, just the person I needed" Mark seems elated to see him "Listen I need you to do me a favor"

"Okay as long as I don't have to hide a body"

"What?"

"Nevermind that. It was a joke Mark"Sebastian wanted to facepalm himself. Mark never seems to understand his humor especially when he was too excited with things.

"So May 15 is coming up. I need your help to distract my sister and maybe tour her around Spain while we do some preparation at the hotel. I just need your help to distract her for like 3-4 hours"Mark explained.

"15th?What's on the 15th?"

Sebastian was pretty sure that there was no race or other commitments that is happening on the 15th. He tries to rack his head for any important dates on the 15th but he can't remember a thing. Meanwhile, Mark looked offended that Sebastian didn't know the significance of May 15.

"Its Y/N's birthday"Mark answered.

Oh. Now that Sebastian thinks about it, Y/N never told her birthday. He felt like an idiot after realizing how they spend a lot of time together but he still haven't asked her about her birth date. But now that he knows, he makes a mental note of it.

"Okay. I think I can do that. Leave it to me"

"Thanks Seb, I owe you big time"

Seb: Are you still here at the 15th? Y/N: Why are you asking? Seb: I'm feeling adventurous. What do you say about getting lost in spain? Y/N: hmm sounds nice. Count me in.

"How long till we get there"Y/N asked.

They have driven for quite some time already and Sebastian promised that this place will be worth the wait. Sebastian will not admit it but maybe he got a little bit of lost in directions for the past 20 minutes and he is just starting to get the hang of the destination right now.

"Just a few minutes more" Sebastian assured. He can already see the spires of the building so he felt a sigh of relief escape.

"We were lost a while ago, aren't we?"

Sebastian just give out a grin as he continues to drive closer to the place. He stopped at the designated parking lot and unlocked the door.

"Adventure awaits Miss Y/N, welcome to La Sagrada Familia"Sebastian introduced.

When Sebastian was looking for a place to go, the La Sagrada Familia was one of the top hit. Sebastian didn't even consider if she is religious or what but he thinks she can appreciate the reminder that this architecture is still a work in progress and it has managed to endure a lot throughout the years of construction.

"This is beautiful" was her response.

"They say that this will be the most beautiful form of apology when it is finished"Sebastian informed "This was built for the city's sins"

"I beg to disagree"Y/N replied.

It was now Sebastian's turn to be curious.

"I think this is the grandest gesture of someone's love"Y/N elaborated "This went on for years, decades, centuries-they did not stop loving Barcelona that they continue working so that the city will be forgiven"

It was a pretty analogy in Sebastian's mind. He felt like no amount of his research could compare with that realization.

If the outside of the cathedral looks majestic, the inside is beyond what they could imagine. The both of them let out a small woah as they stepped foot into the church.

"You know you can make three wishes when its your first time to enter a church, they say it comes true when you do that"Y/N mentioned "You wanna give it a go?"

Sebastian nodded and he noticed how Y/N immediately closed her eyes.

'A world drivers championship. Happiness. Y/N receiving her wish' was what Sebastian prayed for.

He takes out a peek and Y/N was still in her own solemn state. Sebastian wonders what is it that she wishes for and he hopes that this three wishes thing works. He really wanted Y/N to fulfill her wishes, it will make him extremely happy.

"What did you wish for Y/N"

"Safe races, World Peace, and points for you and Mark" she answered

"Oh c'mon, you don't have things about yourself. Don't you have any personal wishes? Like your own goals or your own things?"Sebastian quizzed

Y/N knew deep down that she wanted something but she knew that saying it at the moment might not be ideal. But heaven knows, she prayed for Sebastian Vettel to stay in her life.

2009, Nürburgring

Y/N didn't mind that she was in heels, she was running as fast as she could to parc ferme. The moment that the last lap started and Mark was still leading, she immediately headed straight to the destination. Their father was already at the pits waiting with the signboard.

There was certainly a mix of emotions. Y/N's mind reel back to how Mark started pole and then had an incident with Hamilton at the start of the race. It caused him to have a penalty which lessens his chances of winning but Mark was in for a mega-drive. He managed to regain all the places that he lost from the penalty and here he is leading the Grand Prix.

Y/N felt her ears ringing as the crowd roars as the chequered flag appeared. Every speaker was blaring out the obvious, this is Mark Webber's first win in Formula 1.

People are starting to line up near the barricades. Y/N doesn't care if she was being pushed but she will be the first one to meet her brother and congratulate him once he gets out of the car.

"YOU DID IT! YOU ABSOLUTELY CRUSHED IT" Y/N screamed to Mark.

Mark did not miss his sister and immediately hugged her tight. He kept on repeating his thanks for her support and for not giving up on him. Y/N could only choke on a sob with the cameras flashing the emotional sibling moment that they shared.

"Congratulations Mark"Sebastian appeared next to him and Mark gave him a hug.

It was a happy day for the Red Bull team for securing double podiums. The whole Red Bull team cannot contain their happiness as the two walked to their podium spots. It is certainly a day that warrants a much needed night out.

So fast forward and Red Bull rented out a club to celebrate the victory of today. Y/N was certain that she deserved to let loose a little with the events that happened today.

Shots after shots, Y/N managed to drink everything up until the room started to feel a little bit wavy. It was a good thing that Sebastian has not been much of a party animal, he knew that this was Mark's time to celebrate so he won't be taking too much of a spotlight.

"You are seriously wasted, you should stop drinking now" Sebastian said, catching Y/N before she could trip in her heels.

"my brother won, can't you believe ittttt"her words are slurred.

"Yep, I'm getting you water and were going back to the hotel"

"NOOOOOO"

But Sebastian has already carried her out of the club. Sebastian knew that there are probably much more people wasted there but Sebastian was focused on Y/N. She was the reason why Sebastian decided to sober up the entire night. Knowing that Mark will be celebrating, no one will take care of Y/N.

Sebastian wanted to take care of her.

The trip to the hotel was smooth as Y/N was asleep at the car. Sebastian was giggling when he picked her up and she started rambling about how there are different kinds of beautiful in formula 1.

"But you know what's the most beautiful thing in f1 that I have seen?" she asked "Its the time where I saw Sebastian Vettel test the car"

Sebastian got curious, he didn't know that Y/N was around when he tested the car.

"And it was so dreamy. There was this beauty about him and you know he is so passionate. He isn't a paid driver or maybe he is but damnnnn the way he raced and the way he loved the wheels"Y/N rambles on.

It feels illegal for Sebastian to be hearing this and he knows he should not take advantage of Y/N's truthful drunkness to hear what she thinks about him. But somehow, Sebastian stayed with her. He tucked her in the bed and left a glass of water at the bedside table.

"Did you know Sebastian Vettel is the prettiest boy ever. He is so pretty like how the sun is so pretty to the plants" Sebastian also laughed at the comparison. Y/N was really really drunk.

"I like Sebastian"

"What?" was Sebastian's shocked question.

"I like sebastian, what sue me? I think he is a pretty pretty boy"

Sebastian feels like his heart is pounding but he has to stay cool. She is drunk right now and she might not be aware of the things she is saying.

"You get some rest, lets talk about this in the morning" Sebastian said as he left the girl.

It took every ounce of his being to prevent himself from confessing that he likes her a lot too. But Sebastian will do his confession sober. If Y/N remembers this incident then they will talk about it. If not, he will wait for the right timing to discuss the feelings he has for her.

Morning came and Y/N did not remember anything.

#sebastian vettel x reader #sebastian vettel imagines #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #sebastian vettel x oc

[thishazbinamistake]

Howdy!

I am here to talk about Viv's horrible character designs.

From an animator perspective, they suck.

Here's why

1. The characters have way too much detail

For animation, more lines equal more work. You're going to be drawing them over and over, and it just creates more stress and work for the animators.

For example, I took one of the most egregious designs in HB (Beelzebub) and simplified it to be animation friendly.

(Can't send it here but I'll probably make a post about it or something.)

2. There's too much of 1 color

WHY IS THERE SO MUCH RED??

Especially since they're in a primarily red background, they don't stand out AT ALL.

Like how am I supposed to see them if they blend in to the background??

3. I have no idea what half of them are supposed to be

Charlie is based off a doll?

Alastor is based off of a deer?

Katie Killjoy is based off of a praying mantis?

Angel Dust is based off of a spider?

Beelzebub is supposed to be well... Beelzebub?

When designing characters, they need to be clear on what they're supposed to be! And no, explaining it on Twitter does not count.

4. The animation reference sheets are garbage

No wonder there's so much animation errors. There's no facial expression sheets, lip sync guide, nothing. It's just a 4 angle turnaround sheet where the character is in complex poses all the time.

If you Google Lackadaisy's animation reference sheets and then look at HB's, it's like night and day.

I'm more than willing to send some examples (along with the edit I did) if you want

So yeah, what are your thoughts?

These are all great points! I think you summed up the main problems very well, but I'll elaborate on each of them. I'm no expert at character design or animation by any means, but I'll do my best to explain my points!

First of all, like you said, the character designs are way too complicated. Anyone who knows even the slightest amount about animation knows you want to simplify and streamline your designs as much as possible to make it easier on the animators. Vivzie is way too obsessed with her Deviantart OC lookin'-ass character designs to actually do this, even though it would seriously help to make the animation process way faster and easier. Beelzebub is seriously the best (or worst?) example of this.

I feel so bad for the poor souls who had to animate this. There are just way too many moving parts here, from her multiple arms, her wings, her markings, to her freaking lava lamp hair and tail?? It's just awful. And so many of Viv's designs suffer this problem, I could go on and on.

Like, I think it actually is a nice looking design, as a still image. Maybe not for the demon Beelzebub, but as a general furry OC, I think she's cute. But that's beside the point. I would love to see your redesign of her!

Next, the RED. So, most of the characters we see in Helluva Boss are red-skinned imps, which has been a common depiction of demons for centuries. One big problem I have is that there's little contrast in these designs. Let's look at our three main imps.

Aside from some white and yellow highlights, they're all mostly red and black. Their color palettes aren't distinct in the slightest! And, I mean, come on. Red accessories against what's almost the exact same shade of red skin? Really? It just doesn't look good. A little contrast here and there goes a long way, like... maybe make Moxxie's bowtie blue? Or Blitz's pendant green? I don't know, anything to help each character stand out, and help give them more visual intrigue.

It doesn't help that most of the backgrounds are primarily shades of red, too. Here's a few screenshots I found that really show this problem.

Look at all that fucking red. Like you said, there's such little color variation that the characters blend into the background. Now, to be fair, I did specifically choose these screenshots because I think they really highlight the problem, but this really is what so much of the show looks like. Granted, we do have a bit more variety in the different rings of Hell, each with their own main color, but this is still too much red, considering how much the color comprises the main characters' designs.

Next, like you said, Vivzie is really bad at making characters actually look like the things they're supposed to look like. Let's take Alastor as an example!

Oh boy! More red and black. So, Alastor here is supposed to be a deer. What's the first physical characteristic that comes to mind when you think of a deer?

Yeah, those big, impressive antlers! So... where are his? Oh, they're those tiny little forks on his head that are almost entirely obscured by his stupid emo hair. Like, come on! Giving him bigger antlers would have made him look so much cooler and more intimidating, and it would have been a great focal point for his design! It's such a missed opportunity. (I know he has bigger antlers in his scarier "demon" form, but you still could have made these a little more impressive.) And don't even get me started on those ears... they look more like fox ears or something. Like you said, a good design shouldn't need to be explained through supplementary material. We should be able to tell what a character is supposed to be just from looking at them!

Another great example is Angel Dust, who, despite being a spider, lacks so many distinct features we associate with spiders! He only has six legs instead of eight, he doesn't have pedipalps or chelicerae, and he also lacks that big old spider booty, which I think is such a missed opportunity, considering he is supposed to be in the sex industry. He isn't even remotely shaped like a spider, he looks more like a fuzzy stick bug or something.

Part of me feels like Viv is too afraid to make her characters look unique, so she just goes with the same, skinny humanoid design for just about everything. It's such a shame, because I really do think she is a talented artist who can make some really interesting designs. But then again, she also gave us Beelzebub, so... maybe not.

As for the reference sheets, maybe I wasn't looking hard enough but I couldn't find any official ones for the main characters, so if you could send those my way I would appreciate it! Though it honestly wouldn't surprise me if they were bad. I did look up Lackadaisy's and found them pretty easily and...

This is so freaking comprehensive and detailed, it's incredible! Look at all those poses and facial expressions!

Comparing Vivzie's works to Tracy's feels kind of unfair, since Tracy has been working on Lackadaisy for 17 years, and it really shows. This is leaps and bounds above Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel in quality. Rocky's design is tight; it's detailed, but not overly complicated. There isn't an obnoxious overuse of highly saturated colors, and there's such nice contrast between his fur, his eyes, suit, and tie, making his design very nice to look at. You can also tell so much about his personality and the world he lives in just from his appearance. It's such a good design, and Rocky is just one example from Lackadaisy! All of Tracy's designs are memorable and stand out from one another, unlike so many of Vivzie's characters, whose designs honestly feel interchangable.

So much thought and care has gone into Lackadaisy, and I seriously cannot wait for the full series, as well as all the other amazing indie animated series that have been coming out recently. It's sad that Helluva Boss is seen as the pinnacle of indie animation, when there are so many other series out there that are just.. better! Lackadaisy, obviously, but we've also got Digital Circus, Murder Drones, Monkey Wrench, and so many others that deserve way more appreciation than what Helluva Boss receives. And that's just from an art direction standpoint, we aren't even talking about writing. That's a whole other can of worms.

All of that being said, it's obvious that a ton of love and hard work went into Helluva Boss, and I hold absolutely nothing against the animators and artists at Spindlehorse. These poor design choices are a hallmark of Vivzie's art style, and they're simply working with what they've got. There is such wasted potential here because it feels like Vivzie is too afraid to step outside her comfort zone and design something that isn't a brightly colored, sharp-toothed twink, or skinny anthro wolf girl.

Anyways, that about wraps up my thoughts. Thanks for the ask, this was fun to delve into! And again, I'd be very interested in seeing you post your redesigns! 👀

#hazbin hotel critical #helluva boss critical #vivziepop critical #long post

[akindplace]

The thing about romanticizing the tortured artist trope is that it takes very serious health conditions, physical, mental, and emotional ones, and it turns it into a very empty aesthetic made for consumption. It takes a life story, and it turns it into a punch line, an easy way out to explain a lifelong struggle while having no regard for the person who actually lived it.

It’s a way of simplifying something so complex as a whole life story, take away the good parts, the artist’s talent, and atribute years and year of studying and practicing their craft to an illness. As if it makes people feel better that maybe they aren’t geniuses but at least they aren’t “insane”.

Artists are constantly working to the bone to get people to see and understand their art, to change the current status quo, to perfect their craft. The most important thing is not how an artist died. It’s the life they lived, the work they’ve left behind, their mark on the world. Reducing people to a tragedy is not a way of appreciating their genius: their art is.

No one is a genius because of their illness, their trauma, their suffering, but because they studied and worked hard to develop the aptitude they were born with. Talent is not a miracle, it’s a lifelong effort.

This stereotype is extremely harmful to people who are currently struggling with those health problems, and it should not be used to “give pain a meaning”, because there is always so much more to someone’s life than suffering, and there is always so much more to your own life than romanticizing your own struggles and those of others.

Pain is meant to be worked through, not fed. And when you feed yourself the myth that an artist was brilliant because they were sick, you are erasing a big part of their life to try and make sense of yours. But you won’t find true meaning in life if you’re only feeding your sorrow instead of maybe, just maybe, doing what those artists did and work through it with your own art.

A lot of them did not have any access to healthcare because their conditions were unknown, but they did what they could to keep going. Their deaths don’t mean they gave up in a big tragic ending, and reducing them to that means you’re erasing everything they did to keep going, every fight, every effort they put into their own health and into their life’s work.

I love impressionist art ever since I was in elementary school, my favorite artist being Vincent Van Gogh. I was first introduced to his story as a man who had a mental illness and died a tragic death, while struggling financially and never being recognized properly during his lifetime.

But you see, Vincent Van Gogh had his brother Theo, who kept all the letters his older brother sent him, and sent his brother words of admiration, support, and unconditional love in his own.

He helped Vincent financially so he could pursue his paiting career. He saw the talent in his own brother even when others might’ve not. The period when Vincent was doing a little better with his health was actually when he was most prolific in his painting, which shuts down the idea that someone must be on the gutter and on the deepest pain and sickness to produce great art.

Most people in really poor health have a hard time managing daily life, and they probably won’t miraculously produce their best work yet while they in extreme suffering (I dare you to make the greatest work of art you’re capable of while you’re down with the flu, now imagine being in constant physical, mental and emotional distress and people think you can just make just about anything). Great art takes a lot of work. Genius and suffering don’t go hand in hand, and it reductive to explain away talent by an illness, as if any effort artists put into their craft was meaningless.

Theo named his own son after his brother, and after Vicent died, he still wanted to make his work known, and after his own death, his wife Johanna kept working on Theo’s mission besides her own political activism. She published the letters between the two brothers, and her own son helped in making Van Gogh’s work even more well known. Even though he was just a baby when his uncle died, he kept his memory alive by founding a world famous museum in his name.

Vincent Van Gogh was able to keep working because he was helped by his own family, financially, emocionally, and was given every encouragement so he could go on with his own career. He painted more when he got medical help, even though in his own time he would have had access to much simpler treatments, since the understanding of illnesses has largely changed in the last centuries.

Healthcare, support, compassion and understanding go a long way, and that’s why it’s important to keep pushing society to be more inclusive to people with illnesses - so they will get the help they need, so they won’t leave earlier than they should.

Vincent Van Gogh’s name is not well known just because of his own efforts, but also by the efforts of those who loved him and kept his name alive long after he was gone. He is not famous because he was a tortured artist. He is famous because those who loved him tried to help him in the ways they could, even after he was gone. His fame is not the result of his death, but of his life’s work and the work of those around him.

Love made him known. Support allowed him to keep working. Getting some help even at a time people did not understand his condition well enough meant he could paint more.

Van Gogh was only human, and he felt such a broad spectrum of emotions and lived through so many things, just as we all do. Behind those paintings, there is a person, a story, and so much hard work, and none of that can be reduced to the romanticized ideal of a tragic death of a tortured man.

It is not about his pain, his suffering, his death, you see. It’s about his life. And it’s about the life of those who loved him. He was able to do what he loved because he was loved, and that is the reason is remembered to this day.

I will end this long post with one of his most famous quotes:

“There is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”

#van gogh #theo van gogh #johanna van gogh-bonger #Vincent willem Van Gogh #on being human #on the tortured artist trope #original writing #on compassion #on art #on love

[graceshouldwrite]

How to Write Political Intrigue (with book recs)

POLITICAL INTRIGUE! Intrigue in general! What is it?

For the purposes of this post (as well as how it's usually used in the writing/reading community), think: scheming. Plotting. Conspiracies in the shadows, bids for power and survival, secret plans, masterful illusions, all of that stuff.

It could be on any scale that you'd like, from a duel of wits (think Light's and L's game of cat and mouse in Death Note)

...to a large-scale plot involving entire countries and their people (like any espionage networks during any major wars, such as the American Revolutionary War to World War II, and so many more)

...or even medium-sized conflicts (families, like in The Godfather, or smaller national disturbances like the Watergate scandal).

Below are 4 core tips on how you can successfully write (political) intrigue plots:

1. Read + Research

Despite how hard it may sound, it's actually pretty easy to craft a realistic yet thrilling intrigue plot—with so many examples in real life and fiction, you can easily base your plot on an existing one and just change a few things like the characters, setting, and maybe a few plot points.

History and current events are always great places to look to, but here are some books that are chock-full of great politics + intrigue:

Leviathan (Thomas Hobbes): one of the most famous treatises of politics + human nature and their intersection. The book is an in-depth exploration of human nature, government, politics, and all of the root causes of why they exist. While it does take a specific philosophical angle (you might not agree with Hobbes' ideas), they are detailed explanations of how things work + why they are required from one perspective.

48 Laws of Power (Robert Greene): GREAT BOOK for helping you plan out the means by which you want the intrigue to happen. There are lots of simplified rules that tell you why people plan and scheme (e.g. "control the options; get others to play the cards you deal," or "pose as a friend, work as a spy"). There are LOTS of really great small stories of when a rule is applied in real life that are also general plot inspo!

The Godfather (Mario Puzo): very very good, intricate, and more emotional because it deals with the intrigue surrounding families

Joseph Fouché: Portrait of a Politician (Stefan Zweig) (biography): Fouché is absolutely insane. A genius at political intrigue. His life is literally one of the craziest stories of scheming, betrayals, survival, and a general vying for power, especially behind the scenes.

The Prince (Machiavelli): obviously, I can't leave out the original tips + tricks book with explanations of WHY intrigue matters as a means, especially in terms of protecting your power.

Trust Me, I'm Lying (Ryan Holladay): a large part of intrigue plots (you need to cover up the actual game you're playing) is the manipulation of information, creating illusions and spectacles for other people to believe. This book goes in-depth about media manipulation and information wars.

Empire of Pain (Patrick Raden Keefe): takes a rather different angle, through the personal/corporate manipulation of government, as well as how wealth dynasties (especially within families) are established. Remember the opioid crisis? This book explores the generational politics of money and power that led up to that.

Prince of Thorns (Mark Lawrence): Look! Fiction! Anyway, I'm biased because it's one of my favourite works of fiction of all time, but it explores political intrigue not only through an actor participating in it, but through the lens of the common folk. I.e., the consequences all that power play has on the populace due to a lack of actual good governance...

A Song of Ice and Fire (George R. R. Martin): I haven't personally read/watched anything GoT, but it's pretty much obligatory to put this series down in a post about political intrigue. It's famous for doing it well.

2. Plan. Like, meticulously

First of all, decide what scale you want your intrigue to be on: large-scale government/international affairs type, a corporation thing, something between two people, or even within a family? There are so many possibilities.

Intrigue plots are like mysteries; they must be tightly logical to be satisfying. One of the best ways of ensuring this is through analyzing each involved party—the actors.

Each actor has their own motivations, goals, and psychologies. After you establish what they want OUT of their intrigue, think about how they'd go about achieving it: a naturally hot-headed person might try to intimidate their way into getting what they want, or they might learn through the course of the story to cool down a bit.

A naturally imaginative and analytical person might come up with all sorts of scarily genius plans, and near-flawless execution. Of course, they would also react in different ways, depending on personality. Character consistency alone will make your plot seem that much more logical.

However, cracks in logic will happen because humans are inherently imperfect and not always rational. These cracks must be DELIBERATE and realistic and must seem planned out; they can't seem more like the author forgot a detail, or didn't know how to explain something (e.g. something happened and the writer never included the consequence of it because they forgot). It must be clear that it is a flaw on the character's part.

3. Never write intrigue for the sake of the intrigue

The incentive of all scheming comes down to mainly two things: gaining power and keeping it. Of course, you could choose to explore more unusual things, such as characters exercising intrigue to satisfy boredom... (think Light and Ryuk from Death Note).

But, the bids for power, security, and survival can be used to highlight things about human nature. Themes to explore include ambition, sacrifice, the pursuit of happiness, the corruption of character, the preservation of innocence in a cruel system, etc.

4. Explore through a narrow lens

Most intrigue plots are full of complex motivations, characters, goals, and the means they use to achieve said goals.

You should gradually let your intrigue plot unfold through the POV of a few characters, preferably one or two. An omniscient narrator for this type of story is INCREDIBLY difficult to pull off without confusing the reader.

However, more POVs work if you use all of them to focus on ONE or a few intrigue plots only—it can provide a multi-layered effect, exploring the same line of action and consequence through different perspectives. But, if everyone has their own intrigue plot, it's too easy to create a tangled mess where readers can barely delineate one plot from the next.

∘₊✧────── ☾☼☽ ──────✧₊∘

instagram: @ grace_should_write

Sorry for the massive hiatus—I have officially started college!! I've been pre-occupied with settling in, classes starting, a social life, extracurriculars etc. etc...life has been super busy, but great :)

I've started working on my books as well as poetry more recently, and I'm glad I'm getting into a new workflow/lifestyle. It certainly is different, but I'm starting to enjoy it.

Anyway, I'm surprised it took me this long to do a post about this topic, considering the fact that it's basically my writergram niche and my entire personality IRL, but I think it was mainly because I was trying to find a good angle to approach this massive topic. But, stay tuned for (probably) a part 2 because there's SO MUCH MORE to cover.

Hope this was helpful, and let me know if you have any questions by commenting, re-blogging, or DMing me on IG. Any and all engagement is appreciated :)

Happy writing, and have a great day!

- grace <3

#writers on tumblr #writing #booktok #writeblr #novel #writer #writerslife #wattpad #writing tips #writergram #wip #media analysis #book recommendations #bookstagram #plot holes #writing ideas #ya fantasy #fantasy #ya fiction #characters

[video-killer]

On Helluva Boss and crude humor.

Anyone who has watched Hazbin and Helluva can tell you that the shows are no stranger to foul language and sexual innuendo in their humor. This, of course, is a valid writing style: just look at South Park or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. However, both these more professional shows do not solely rely on sex and crass vocabulary to get a laugh out of the viewer. South Park features lengthy social satire and absurd, over-the-top situations which escalate from the most seemingly inconsequential of events, while Always Sunny relies on the dark comedy and absurdity derived from it's cast being reprehensible people and, once again, clever satire.

Helluva Boss and Hazbin, however, largely lack these, and jokes not centered around fornication, genitalia, or uttering profanity are relatively few and far between. Hazbin is significantly better with this, however, as it does have quite a few quality gags that don't rely on this, some noteworthy ones being Sir Pentious' expression of pure rage and matchingly over-the-top animation coupled with simplified doodle-like stills of Angel Dust and Cherri Bomb, Charlie shutting the door in Alastor's face, and the door of the hotel being blown off before Alastor can finish his reprise.

The bigger culprit of this uncreative crass humor is Helluva Boss, which, interestingly enough, is more recent and boasts its creator's personal writing skills more prominently.

An example of this is how Helluva Boss's favorite gag seems to be putting replica genitalia in unusual places, as they have used the joke at least four times as of episode 2-7. The issue here is not the joke itself but the fact that they have used it or a variant of it four times expecting a laugh, and that none of these have a set up or pay off; it's simply showing the audience brightly colored phallic images and expecting a laugh.

This mirrors the spoken jokes: the show simply has characters casually yell profanity or make sexual references and calls it comedy. Chaz's song, Stolas making an obnoxious number of sex jokes whilst being tortured, and Mammon doing nothing but curse throughout his episode all are examples of these non-jokes. And with each, there's either no setup to pay off in the first place, or the subversion element of the payoff falls apart quickly as the joke is repeated again... and again... and again.

And as such, the issue is not the foul language or crass humor in and of itself. It's the lack of an actual joke structure and overuse of similar gags, marks of poor writing and implicators of a lack of ideas. And really, that is the root of the majority of Helluva Boss's issues: lazy writing. And the poorly constructed jokes aren't the only area plagued by it. The main couple's lack of arc, the lack of characters growing and changing, the lack of payoffs, the lack of culpability for Stolas, the lack of complexity in villain motivation. All of these empty voids all are the products of lazy writing.

The writers want payoff without setup. And as they want people to laugh at their jokes without putting in the effort to build the framework, they also want people to feel sympathy for their main characters without giving them any real reason to.

And really, as of now, that's the biggest potential threat to the quality of Helluva and by proxy Hazbin: the creator wanting to skip past any setup and steamroll the plot to attain a desired payoff, sacrificing quality and complexity due to impotence and laziness.

The flaw of the comedy lies in the writing, and the flaw of the writing lies in indolence.

#helluva boss critical #hazbin hotel critical #hazbin critical #vivziepop critical #writing criticism

[tawus]

Happy Birthday to Zaddy Toji Fushiguro here are 150 towards devoted to him~<3

on the bed, on the couch, on the kitchen counter, on the table, on the floor, on the balcony, in the shower, in front of the mirror, semi-public, DA BEACH~, melons, front, back, sideways, legs open, shouting, tight, wet, bondage, gagging, lingerie, a man and his stick, doggy style, cowgirl, reverse cowgirl, moaning, hair pulling, scratch marks, hickeys, loud loud, noise complaint, sheets gripping, jaw-dropping, tongue rolling, Twinkie, creamy, gushy, lip locking, pounding, vile, vulgar, name calling, oral, anal, 69, call the ambulance for me, legs tangled, bed soaked, bed dead, chair, chair dead, blow job, mind-blowing, make-outs, hickeys, an absolute beast, salty taste, 10 inches, 3 veins, bulge, woops~ my panties slipped~, whole cake ass bakery, biting, marking, claiming, single parent?, Megumi's half-sibling?, half-siblings?, daddy gonna get milk, your friends don't know what you taste like but I do~, Alexa be a darling and play Fantasize by Ariana Grande.

Oh! And water! LOTS of water

This is the oldest ask in my inbox and it’s about 4 months old 😅 Mokona ayo, you wrote it like you're ready to risk everything, including your happy marriage with Gojo, for a frisky night with Toji 👀 These are mad fertile grounds for Toji scenarios btw, so if y'all vote for one of these, I'll put out a lil drabble on the most voted topic 😌

Toji’s birthday is on 31st December apparently btw, which I consider to be yet another cruel joke by Gege 💀

As for myself, I wanted to write a scene from my Toji longfic idea as a response to this ask. In the conception of the fic idea, I often lamented (and still do) how reduced, sexualised, and simplified Toji is in 99% ‘Toji x Reader’ fics. But then it occurred to me that the goddamn scene I’d chosen to write for him and release to the world first – was chock full of sexual content as well. I was doing the exact same thing that I was trying to address in the Toji/Reader fandom…

I realised it doesn’t always have to be sex with him. So here’s some wholesome beachtime fluff with Toji 💕

Face to face with him at last. Just you and him. Like he’d always promised you.

At long last you could take in the calm stillness of his Zenin features, not strained by his resentment of the lineage, not squeezed by his rage with its present members.

His wide forehead was as smooth as sea. His onyx bangs oscillated like pirate sails over his fanning black lashes – ever a rebel. Even like this, with you. Even as his lips parted, guardless at last against you, not scowling and not pressed in his fury with his clan, ready to finally accept your seal. The dagger-shaped scar at their edge – his unique signature to every kiss he ever gave you, the subtle ridge of which you’d always licked before engulfing him in your love, the ridge you could never ignore — for it was Toji, his history, his mouth.

Even as his broad chest lay bare for you to hug, to embrace, to compress with your heart, to press your happy tears against…it wasn’t really the same.

In this sunlight embalming the beach, Toji finally didn’t push you away. He accepted you. He didn’t tense.

You hugged him tightly like you’d always wanted, while red streaked down the corner of his mouth like dry saffron and his emerald greens glowed emptily toward the fading sky.

The sky that was calm. The beach calm. The sea – calm. Toji – so calm.

Too.

Too calm.

Calmness attained only by one state.

Death.

#ask tawus #mokona #toji #toji jjk #toji zenin #toji fushiguro #fushiguro toji #jjk toji #toji x reader #toji x you #tawus #toji fluff #jjk fluff

[hoppipolla]

The basement scenes in Beyond Evil

Some quotes are from the Beyond Evil scriptbook translated by @/yeoyuo on Twitter. (link to the scriptbook in the comment section) The setting in Beyond Evil is always both significant and relevant: the reed field, Lee Dong Shik’s basement, Jae Yi’s butcher shop, the archives room, the Japanese restaurant, etc. These different places are highly symbolic — some more than others — and are essential to understand everything that is at stakes. 

With this post, I want to give you my analysis of Lee Dong Shik’s basement. 

The basement scenes are key moments of the drama for they mark crucial shifts, both in HJW and LDS’ relationship and in the plot itself. 

The native title of Beyond Evil translates to Monster in Korean (괴물). The very definition of ‘monster’ is quite complex and even its etymology hints at the many roles monsters can play in our society (and in History more generally). 

'Monster' probably derives from the Latin, monstrare, meaning 'to demonstrate', and monere, 'to warn'. Monsters, in essence, are demonstrative. They reveal, portend, show and make evident, often uncomfortably so. (source in comments) This last sentence encapsulates perfectly how Lee Dong Shik is seen by others; Han Joo Won acts as a reminder of such perception when he first arrives in Manyang and is convinced that LDS is the killer they’re looking for. Indeed, Lee Dong Shik is presented as someone demonstrative, whose agonising pain and temper earned him the nickname ‘nut job’ and the stares and distrust of most people in Manyang.  

Lee Dong Shik is said to be a monster because he was the prime suspect of a murder he did not commit. Because he became a person so visibly drenched in his own pain that it became difficult to look him in the eye. He then depicts himself as a monster — by interfering in Min Jung’s case — to make sure HJW will play his game and take the bait, because he desperately needs HJW to “bite him”. Because he needs his help to catch Jin Mook and to find the missing bodies. Because if everyone keeps being blinded by LDS’ seemingly craziness, then Han Joo Won needs to be the one to see beyond. He needs to see the bigger picture. 

The basement scenes play a huge part in making HJW see the bigger picture because so many elements of truth are revealed in LDS’ basement which makes me think… what if LDS’ basement was a means to rewrite Plato’s cave but in a more paradoxical way? Let me explain. 

The basement is a place of confrontation and its dimly lit interior makes it resemble a cave, somewhere underground with no real light. HJW and LDS discuss and make hypotheses in this place, so often that LDS even jokingly suggests that HJW should pay rent at this point since he’s always in LDS’ basement. 

What makes it a paradoxical rewriting of Plato’s cave is the fact that the truth is, in fact, found in LDS’ basement, on multiple occasions. However, in Plato’s cave, the cave is the place the philosopher needs to escape from to confront the real light, the sun’s light — i.e the truth — to eventually access the world of Ideas.

In Plato’s myth, the cave is a place in which chained prisoners stare at inverted shadows projected by the fire burning inside the cave and they take these shadows for reality. The fire in the cave represents the notion of culture which is to say, constructed beliefs (this is overly simplified but it’s just to give you an understanding). The people in Manyang are like those prisoners in the cave who are convinced that those shadows are what the real world looks like: they are convinced Lee Dong Shik is the cause of Manyang’s tragedy and doom despite the fact that many cases that took place in Manyang were dropped. The Manyang people believe in the evidence that is the guitar pick as fervently as the prisoners believe the shadows are the only reality that exists. Despite it not being enough to indict Lee Dong Shik, it still made him look like the killer for twenty-one years, to them at least. 

Just like the philosopher who decided to climb up and face the burning sun to get to the Truth, Lee Dong Shik is the one who sacrificed himself and ruined his life so that the truth could be established.

To come back to what makes this rewriting paradoxical, here are some truths that were discovered in LDS’ basement:

The posters of the missing people + the files of both Yu Yeon’s and Ju Seon’s cases (before LDS put them back into the archives room) → These enable LDS to carry out his own investigation.  

Min Jung’s fingers → LDS brings them to his basement before figuring out what to do with them. 

Lee Geum Hwa → LDS figures out the name of the victim of HJW’s sting operation during one of his confrontations with him which took place in his basement.

Yu Yeon’s body → LDS finds the body of his sister inside a wall in his basement.

Jung Je’s memories → Again, Jung Je’s memories come back to him during a heated conversation with LDS in his basement. 

However, LDS has to go up into the light, he has to leave the basement and his house to make the truth known. It is within hell that the truth emerges, but it is under the sun’s light that the truth needs to be revealed.

Thus it’s interesting to note that the big reveal — i.e the rain scene in ep 15 when HJW makes LDS listen to his audio recording — doesn’t take place in LDS’ basement but in his yard (outside and not underground). This emphasises the idea that, just like the bodies in Manyang, the truth needs to be dug out. 

Just like Lee Dong Shik and the philosopher before him, HJW became the one willing to sacrifice himself so that everyone could know who the real killer was: “I’ll be a monster, take Han Ki Hwan with me, and dive into hell when he’s reached the peak.”.  

#this sounded better in my head but I'm tired of rewriting it >< #I'm aware I oversimplified Plato's cave but I hope I got my point across #beyond evil #jtbc beyond evil #lee dongsik #han juwon #*enjoy my nonsense #*beyond evil analysis #my post won't show up in the tags because of the links so I'll add them in the comments

[witherstarau]

REUBEN DESIGN

Sorry for the long break, I made an official redesign for everybody’s favorite pig!

I wanted to base him off of a miniature pig so in his first design I added spots and made him fluffy

I didn't like his first design because of how cluttered it felt, there are way too many markings and scars to draw. Plus, his facial scar looks ugly as hell and sticks out like a sore thumb.

So I decided to do some concept sketches + expression tests to get the gist of what I wanted Reuben to look like, and then I remade his ref sheet!

Simplified his design to hell, now he's less of a nightmare to draw

I like the idea of making Reuben strong and feral as hell, so I gave him some scars and muscle to make him come off as a fighter type

Gave him a red bandana because it looks cute

He was nearly mauled to death by a spider rendering him half-blind, half-deaf, and an amputee; Jess and Jesse saved him from dying to his injuries

Sturdy and robust

#minecraft story mode #mcsm au #mcsm rewrite #minecraft story mode remastered #minecraft story mode rewrite #mcsm wither au #mcsmw #mcsm reuben #mcsmw! reuben #digital art #character reference #character design #character ref sheet #character redesign

[pyrorptrs]

I've been doing redesigns of pop culture characters. Mostly working off the idea "What if I was put in charge of making a show around these properties" and the core founding Avengers was one of the first batches I finished

Ironman: Pretty straightforward; I just wanted something that looked armored, but could easily be simplified. I primarily took inspiration from the EMH version and the first couple of suits from the MCU with the intent that this is his Mark IV suit. That way I can easily do more suits and updated for him the future, particularly to flesh out future line-ups. I also threw in some black detailing to not only avoid using Gray (which most other associated Ironman characters heavily use), but to also act as a winking nod to how he took inspiration from one of his hot rods in the movie for that suits colors. My only real issue with how he turned out is some of the proportioning, so if/when I draw him again I'll try to make his shoulder less broad and his feet larger.

Captain America: Cap was pretty easy to a design for too; I leaned more towards his classic look, but tried to make it look like it was made from more modern materials. So instead of wearing chainmail in a simple suit, he has some pretty standard military gear with an armored chest piece and helmet. I also added some tactical pouches since I can see him either keeping a couple supplies on hand for long missions or to have something to slip a McGuffin into. I kind of have the opposite problem with his proportions that I do with Ironman, so when I draw him again (be it this specific design or more updated suits) I'm going to try to make him broader.

Thor: I prefer his more armored look from the mid 2000's-2020's, but wanted to start with a more classic EMH inspired look. Not totally satisfied with his face and might change the colors a bit in places if I redraw this design, but I do like how he turned out for the most part. Obviously I used the classic version as a base, but I made his belt buckle larger and tried to make the symbol on it look more like a cross between a tree (Yggdrasil) and an Eagle. I also turned his armbands/bracelets into fingerless gloves, taking some inspiration from his Ultimate counterpart and added one of those discs on each hand (I'm thinking they could light up when he's using his powers like the ultimate version too). I tried to keep the helmet simple and easy to draw while keeping the wings on them. I might also change some of the blue pattern on his boots to yellow to help them stand out more.

Hulk: Pretty simple, the only real thing I did was try to keep him a saturated green rather than the flushed one he has in the mcu. I have more problems with him compared to how the others came out, but that's mostly because I'm still figuring out how to draw human faces in my style and do exaggerated physiques, both of which are things that I'm going to have to improve through practice and experience. otherwise I think he at least works as a good starting basis for a good hulk design in my style.

Antman: Leaned toward Hank Pym since I hate how we skipped straight to Scott Lang in the MCU. Obviouisly both classic and EMH were the main inspiration for my take, but I did try to add some aspects from the MCU suit with a more enclosed look and proper gauntlets. I also tried to include a spots on both the gauntlets and belt for him to control his size shifting so that it's easier to justify him doing it without having to draw him going through that motion over and over again. I also tried to adjust the red to be a bit more orange-ish to have him stand apart from other very red-centric characters, though I'm not totally satisfied with the results.

The Wasp: I pretty obviously leaned heavily into the EMH version for my take on Janet Van Dyne, but I also tried to keep the enclosed suit idea for her like with Antman, so I threw in some aspects of the MCU design. I like how Wasp size alteration and other abilities are presented as more legit powers compared to Antman having to rely on the suit, but I did try to give them some visual cohesion by reincorporating the techy aspects of the formers suit into Wasp, though it's probably there more to help here store Pym Particles. I also gave her more of a proper undersuit and helmet and made the wings look kinda techy (Though I tried taking some inspiration from the space suit she had in EMH for those). I also tried throwing in some red to homage some of her original color scheme, but mostly limited it to stuff specifically surrounding her Pym tech.

I'm still trying to figure out how I would go about a story for HOW this version of the Avengers would from; though I would like Loki to be more of a final boss sort of deal, so I'd want to hold off on him being a direct threat until later. I could say that a single villain or one of the dedicated villain factions are the cause, but I think that would be too similar to the opening of EMH and Assemble. So maybe having it be so that a couple of notable, but usually unaffiliated, villains for Ironman, Thor, and maybe Antman team up to try to take them out one at a time, but the fight inevitably leaks out into the streets and draws the attention of the others resulting in them properly teaming up to stop the villains.

#the avengers #avengers #Marvel #Ironman #iron man #Thor #captain america #Hulk #incredible hulk #Antman #ant man #the wasp #tony stark #steve rogers #bruce banner #hank pym #janet van dyne #redesigns

[yellowocaballero]

definitely no pressure or anything and u can ignore this entirely but i would love to hear more abt any of ur ideas for atsv fic (ur multiversal mistake peter parker fic appealed to me greatly) ...... i loved how atsv tied so explicitly into metanarratives by just calling them 'canon events' instead of smth else and the whole movie felt like it was justifying miles as spiderman and that his story is just as much a spiderman story as the others. and i love how you engage with canon in similar ways ? like u engage with the text of canon on a level that i find really interesting frex like i loved ur stephanie fic extra just bc stephanie is a character done so dirty by canon in all these awful misogynist ways that ur fic felt like like such an amazing contradiction.... this ask has kind of gotten away from me, but i hope ur doing well on the whole !

Thank you! All of the Spidey crossover fic ideas I have are tepid, so none are good enough to share. Bad crossovers are easy, good crossovers are so hard. And there's nothing more obnoxious than a bad crossover. MK/Avengers fics, you were awful.

I typed out this whole dissection on how modern Spider-Man writers have completely lost the thread of Peter as an 'everyman', and how he wasn't an 'everyman' because he was relatable in terms of personality, identity, or actions, but because he was relatable in terms of problems, and how once Spider-Man stories started being about how difficult it is to be Spider-Man Masked Hero instead of being about how difficult it is to survive in this world and be a good person when you never know if you're doing the right thing or not, then they stopped being actually engaging as everyman stories. and when you simplify Spider-Man down to 'he's just like you except with a cooler life!' then you miss WHY it's important that Peter's life is marked by tragedy and defined by his sadness, which is the fact that if his life was easy then it would indicate that it was easy to be a good person, and what the story tries to say is that being a good person is the hardest thing in the fucking world But Baby We Do It Anyway, and THAT'S what Spider-Man is about, and -

Then I realized that was fucking dumb and also not what you asked and deleted it. ATSV is peak fanfiction because it engages in conversation with the text, and while it has a lot to say about Spidey stories itself it is not a Spidey story. I think end of the day 'what classic spidey is about' just can't be what Miles is about, because Miles is about his relationship to Peter & Spider-Man. They're mutually exclusive. Miles CAN'T have Peter's story at all, because ATSV is telling a story about telling a story. Superhero stories really can't exist unobserved anymore huh. This is so common - Spidey stories since the 2010 have honestly been about being Spidey stories - that at this rate it is also a Spidey story and so it is valid on the grounds of how ubiqutous this story is. I sound like a dipshit.

So I'm still trying to formulate a good story. Miguel vexes me, I've been trying to lock down a good story idea for him for ages and it just hasn't happened. What I liked about the SM2099 comic was the fact that it was about Miguel, who was dealing with a problem that a lot of adults deal with: having your sense of self and identity disrupted, having your understanding of the world disrupted, and trying to sort out how to build yourself into somebody you can live with. I don't think he ever truly figures that out. So it's hard to write a story asking that question, because man I'll let you know when I figure it out too.

And I'm glad you liked New Wave - that was also heavily in conversation with the text, because the text hated women. Steph is an everyman to me - not because she's remotely similar to any human being in real life, but because she wants what any human being would want. And does the weirdest possible thing to get it.

#yeah im rereading the 1970s stan lee jrsr newspaper comic #the platonic ideal and the distilled essence of classic spidey #why do you ask #my asks #god im pretentious #this is so hard to talk about because it's so fucking hard to just not rant lol #yeah i can be normal on main why do you ask

[how-to-scug]

scuffed iterator tutorial!

during this, I attempt to explain how to draw iterator puppets, keep in mind, this isn't a rulebook or anything to follow by heart, rather a reference for how things tend to work. unlike my previous tutorials, i made this one myself, so apologies if its not up to standard, i already hold my own grievances over it. (please trust me I'm usually good at this)

so this first section is going to be the full image, a step by step tutorial, but if its confusing, I'll try to explain it under.

so the first thing I want to bring up, is in step 3. when I wrote that, I wanted to show how the marking would usually go on after the eyes, and I do that because I often mess up and don't leave enough room for the eyes if I draw the marking first.

the next thing I want to bring up, is how I drew the body, and you might have heard of this before, but i break it up into shapes, and that is because it helps me understand how to go about drawing it in a 3D perspective, and it simplifies things to a manageable level (i get stressed easily, so this is important) ((I also forgot to mention this, but the antennae aren't based on anything specific, and can also be anything you want! it is your drawing after all! in this however, I used fivepebbles as a base, only because its the easiest to draw, and gets the point across))

(don't mind me, snipping around the rest of the tutorial)

finally, and most importantly, how I draw fabrics or flowy stuff.

this one i actually learned from a clothing designer, although i don't think i implemented it as well as i had hoped here, it does get my, and her point across.

when making that curve in fabric, you want to make a sort of wave. I find it easier to loosen my wrist when doing this, to get into a kind of flow, that way I go softer on upstrokes, and not as much on down strokes, giving the illusion of depth! (that little bubble as a separate image below)

that i think should conclude the tutorial. please let me know if i missed anything (and i mean that!) or if there's anything else you want me to add. also feel free to send me asks for tutorials *you* want to see, as I'm running out of ideas fast!

#art #rain world #tutorial #rw art #iterators #PLEASE I NEED IDEAS OR I WONT BE ABLE TO DO THIS I AM BEGGING/hj #fr though i feel like I'm missing something

[cheeriecherrymain]

The Bottom Of The Inkwell [Chapter 5]

Pairing: Viktor x fem!Reader Chapter Rating: T Chapter Warnings: temporary illness Proofread: no beta we die like men Chapter Summary: Your relationship with Viktor progresses to a point that you might even call each other friends. Even though you spend a lot of your time arguing with each other. But there comes a time where you both need to be honest about how you’re feeling.

The weeks pass quickly now that you and Viktor are on better terms. 

Well…

You’re on speaking terms, at least.

The two of you still argue nearly every day, though there’s rarely any malice behind it. You’re different people, and you both have big ideas and different ways of doing things. It’s a little bit frustrating, to have something cut to clearly in your mind, only to have someone question every single aspect of it on paper.

You’re sure that Viktor is in the same frame of mind, and you’re sure that you irk him just as much as he does you, but…

You kind of enjoy butting heads with him.

Most of the time, you end up sassing each other until you have a new, better idea that you both can make sense of. You like how he challenges your way of thinking, and encourages you to think bigger and broader - you’ve never had that kind of experience with V.

Though as of late, it has been tiring to keep up with him. 

After you’d handed in your first project and received a grade, Viktor had taken the reins on your next assignment.

The two of you had gotten the highest mark in the entire class, and while you don’t really care if you were at the top of anything, he seems hellbent on maintaining that status.

You wouldn’t mind such a sentiment, had your partner actually learned something from the last assignment.

Simple and to the point, you’d told him, emphasizing how you didn’t need to go over the top in order to appease your professor.

But did he listen?

No.

The first sketches he’d shown you had been so detailed that it took you almost ten minutes to walk yourself through the entire thing and figure out the functions.

Admittedly, you do think that he’s tried to simplify the design. You can see in his notes where he’s crossed things out and removed bits and bobs from the final product - a lot hadn’t made his final cut. 

You wonder if he’s physically incapable of making anything easy, both for himself and for other people, because you’re sure as hell having a hard time with him.

It wouldn’t be so bad if not for the fact that your other classes had started gaining traction over the semester. As the lessons had begun to grow more and more complex, you found yourself having to take more and more notes - do more and more studying, stay up later and later each night - all while trying to keep up with Viktor and his impossible machines.

But you had promised him, all those weeks ago. You’d given him your word that you’d make whatever he wanted for this assignment, and you weren't about to go back on that. You’d just started getting into friend territory with him, and you’re not about to jeopardize that by speaking out.

You’d just have to deal with it,

—

On Wednesday, you wake up more exhausted than usual.

You’d only gone to bed at five thirty that morning, but you’re used to that by now. You’re used to the all encompassing drowsiness, staved off only by several cups of delicious coffee. You’re used to be cranky and sluggish, used to your eyes burning every time you blink, and your vision going fuzzy at random intervals throughout the day.

You’re used to it!

You’ve powered through it before, and you can do it again.

You weren’t about to let it get the best of you, or stop you from going to class and getting an education!

—

It gets worse on the way to your lessons.

The moment you start walking towards your first classroom of the day, your head begins to throb - behind your eyes and right through the middle of your skull. It’s nothing particularly bad at the moment, though - just a quiet knocking in your brain. As long as you made sure to eat lunch and have a large glass of water with it, you’d be fine.

You could hold on until then.

—

By your second class, you feel as if someone has shoved cotton puffs into your ears.

The world is muffled and subdued around you, yet at the same time, too violently bright against your eyes.

You trudge into the room as quiet as you possibly can, and will yourself to look normal as you take a seat beside your partner.

“Morning,” you softly bid him, and begin pulling out the books you’d need that day. Textbook for referencing, two notebooks for separate details, yesterday’s homework and everything you’d written down.

“Good morning,” Viktor replies, glancing towards you with a polite smile, not noticing how his expression falls slightly when he takes you in.

That was something that had improved between the two of you, as well. Though you argued to hell and back with each other, and could probably find a way to knock your heads together about any possible subject, you were…tentatively friendly.

You were cordial and warm, and even went so far as to ask each other about your respective days, when the interest arose.

“Are you alright?” he asks, tilting his head slightly as his gaze darts all over you - the puffiness around your eyes, the crease between your brows, your crooked posture and your inside-out blouse that you hadn’t yet noticed. “You look…off.”

But still, you smile back at him, trying your best to look cheerful and awake, even if everything in you was screaming the exact opposite.

“I’m fine,” you say, “but thanks. I had a hard time sleeping last night, is all. I might go to bed early tonight.”

Viktor doesn’t look entirely convinced, but whatever he’s about to say is swiftly interrupted by your professor striding into the room and immediately garnering the attention from the entire class.

With one last glance at you, he turns his attention away.

—

The rest of the class is a nightmare.

You struggle to pay attention to anything your professor says, all his words blending together into some kind of indecipherable verbal soup. You make as many notes as you’re able to, but your handwriting is sluggish and messy, and whenever you look at the blackboard, everything that’s laid out is blurry.

“Are you certain you’re doing well?” Viktor’s voice startles you from beside.

You whip your head around a little too quickly, the motion causing a wave of nausea to crest over you, but still you nod. Albeit unconvincingly.

“Really,” he continues, “We can reschedule tonight if you need to. You…look like you’re about to get sick.”

“I’m fine,” you tell him again, but you can feel your resolve waning. “I promise, I’m just tired. I’ve never coped well with a lack of sleep, so my whole system is off kilter. I’ll be fine once I rest.”

His brows pull together ever so slightly, and you cut him off before he can say anything else.

“I’ll be in the library at six, as we decided,” you say, and toss your bag over your shoulder to hurry out of the classroom.

—

You know, deep down, that you should have taken Viktor up on his offer to pick another time to meet. When you stumble into the library at quarter past six, it’s with great personal effort.

You know you look a mess, if you look even a fraction of what you feel. Your head pounds with every quick beat of your heart, and you drag your feet with each step. Your limbs are full of lead, you suppose, with how heavy and pulled down you are - you’re certain your legs are going to give out beneath you at any moment, and you’re going to crumble into a heap on the floor.

But you promised him.

Your partner had said he was busy all throughout the rest of the week - this was the only day either you had available to see each other and go over what you’d been working on. If you rescheduled, and you’d messed up on anything, you wouldn’t have enough time to fix it.

You can’t let his plans fail like that.

You won’t.

“Hi,” you squeak, when you find him tucked up at your usual spot in the back of the library. Surrounded by books and illuminated by the dim glow of an overhead lamp.

He turns to you as you all but collapse into your chair, and you can see as his pleasant demeanor slowly morphs into concern. You watch him from your peripheral as you unpack, watch him eye you up and down in utter disbelief.

“Y/N…” he trails off, and you already know what he’s going to say.

You don’t want to hear it.

“I’ve brought everything I’ve completed so far,” you tell him, setting several bits and bobs on the desk, “as well as what I’m currently working on. Hopefully it’s where we’re supposed to be at - and that it works.”

His gaze flits momentarily down to the parts that you’ve nudged in front of him, and for a moment you think you’ve gotten away with it - until his honey brown eyes pop back up to you.

“You wanted to assemble everything yourself, so I did all the components you needed this week,” you continue, hoping to distract him from your general state of dishevelment. “I was up until like fi- one in the morning, trying to get the springs into the shock coils! I have like three holes in my wall now from where they jumped out.” Tacking on a quick I’m fine! when his eyes widen in shock.

He turns the small contraptions over in his hands, running his fingers along the edges to test that everything is in place. He knows just by looking that you’ve done it correctly -all of it- but that is not where his worries lay.

“How much sleep have you been getting lately?” he asks you, trying to keep the brunt of his concern quiet. He knows how you are - how you have gotten defensive on a handful of occasions when you’ve been questioned like this.

You’re much too similar in that regard, he thinks.

“Like. I dunno, seven hours?” you reply, slouching back in your chair.

Viktor relaxes for a moment at the admission - maybe, he thinks, you had been telling the truth when you’d said you were just getting used to fewer hours.

“I got like nine hours last week,” you continue, regaling your truly horrific schedule without so much as batting an eye. “But! It’s not friday yet, so I still have a chance to catch up.”

Viktor leans towards you, catching you by the shoulders as you start to wobble sideways. You almost seem intoxicated, with the way you’re swaying back and forth, but he can’t smell an ouch of alcohol on you.

“You’re sleeping less than two hours a night?” he questions again, making sure you’re giving him the correct information.

Though, with how you’re acting, it’s not difficult to believe.

And for more than two weeks now?

“When else am I supposed to get everything done,” you laugh, though it’s dry and humorless. “I’m a slow learner, Vik. I take longer to study and retain information - it’s been like that my whole life. It’s fine, and I’ll get used to it.”

By then, though, your words do nothing to soothe his uncertainty.

He removes one of his hands from your shoulder, and reaches up to set the inside of his wrist on your forehead - sticky, trembling, and far too warm for his liking.

“You’re hot,” he sighs, steadying you as you once again dip to the left.

“That’s very forward,” you giggle, grinning at him with a dazed smile, “but thank you. You’re quite lovely yourself.”

“I didn’t mean-” he starts, the tips of his ears burning scarlet, “you’re pretty, yes, but I mean- temperature! Y/N, you have a fever.”

You hum quietly, your head falling to the side.

As if you’re not comprehending what he’s saying, as if you’re about to…

“I’m taking you back to your dorm,” he tells you sternly, earning the vaguest of your protests as he starts packing your things up. He’s not certain he’s going to be able to actually get you back to your room, but anything would be better than leaving you in the library to suffer.

But much to his anguish, you fight him on it.

Despite barely being coherent, you routinely unpack everything he slides into your bag, whining throughout. No matter how quickly he moves, you match him with unsolicited dexterity.

“Will you- stop that!” he hisses, pulling your bag away from you and setting your hands off the various project parts. “You’re sick-”

“So?” you grouse, reaching out to make your most childish grabby hands. “I can work through it jus’ fine.”

“We can meet up another time!” he argues. “Next week works just as well as-”

“But what if I do it wrong,” you huff, throwing yourself away from him to slouch back in your seat, arms crossed over your chest in an image of pure drunk petulance. “If I make the things bad, and we only see each other next week, we’re not gonna have enough time to fix it!”

All at once, Viktor’s will to argue with you dissipates.

Is that why you’d been working so hard? Pushing yourself past your limits, and then some - because you might fail?

“Y/N,” he says with a sigh, trying to think of how he can phrase himself to make you listen. Would you even listen, in such a state? Bleary and disoriented, and about ready to pitch over-

No. Actually pitching over.

“Y/N!” he calls, but his voice is far away, drowned out by the sound of your blood roiling in your veins.

The world fades to black.

—

Something tickles your nose.

A hair, perhaps, floating by on the soft current of your breathing.

Or maybe a bug.

What if it’s a bug?

In a blind panic, you bring your hand up to swipe the assailant away…but instead you unceremoniously slap yourself into the waking world.

You don’t recognize whatever room you’re in, so you lay there while you wait for your eyes to adjust. But even once everything comes into focus, you’re still…lost.

It’s notably more daytime than the last thing you remember, the sunlight from outside filtering in through a translucent white curtain that’s been pulled over the window. It casts a pleasant, sleepy glow all over the room, making it feel warm and inviting.

Where are you?

You don’t remember much, save for a few tidbits of your last day. You remembered feeling like complete ass when you’d woken up, and you remember feeling worse throughout the day. You remember skipping lunch because you felt nauseous, and you remember walking into your third class of the day. But beyond that…?

Nothing.

What happened?

You sit up in the bed you’re borrowing, pulling the fluffy blanket up around your shoulders, and give yourself a once over.

Your joints and muscles ache significantly less than they had before, and your vision seems to mostly be alright. You’re nowhere near as tired as you had been, though you can still feel a lingering downward pull.

The only thing that still seems to be in a state of upset is your head, though not as all-encompassing as earlier.

You debate going back to sleep for a little while, since you still have the urge. If someone were to find you awake, you might be evicted from such a comfy spot, and that would mean having to face the real world again - all your problems and stresses and anxieties. The things that had probably brought you there in the first place.

So you wiggle back down under the covers and get cozy.

But right before you close your eyes, a knock on the door.

Whoever it is clearly doesn’t expect you to answer, because said door immediately squeaks open wide enough to let a person in. Viktor, you realize, as you see his telltale mop of brown hair enter.

He doesn’t realize you’re awake - not right away. He quietly steps into the room and closes the door behind him to keep the sound out, still wearing his uniform. Though…you’re fairly certain he had been wearing a different button up when you’d last seen him. 

How long have you been out?

He pauses with his hand on the doorknob, with his back turned to you. As soon as he has privacy, his shoulders fall, and he heaves a deep sigh - weighed down by whatever thoughts are running through his mind.

“You look tired,” you croak, corners of your mouth pulling into a smile when he freezes. “When was the last time you slept?

He turns to you with wide eyes, round and startled like some kind of frightened deer. Once, twice, thrice, his mouth opens, as if to speak to you - to say anything. But the silence permeates the room, and he seems unable to break it, opting to instead find a seat in the chair beside your bed.

He slouches -the worst posture you’ve ever seen on him- and he purposely avoids eye contact. He doesn’t entirely look away from you, though, his gaze catching on your chin, your hair, your neck, your shoulder.

Why won’t he look at you?

“Are you…feeling better?” he finally inquires.

You think for a moment.

“Mostly,” you tell him honestly. “Kinda feels like I took a sledgehammer to the skull, but…I’m better than before, I think.”

He nods, as if your words make sense to him. “I did not have enough warning to stop the impact, I’m afraid. No last damage done, but eh…perhaps a bruise.”

You stare at him for a few seconds.

And like he can read your mind and all the questions you have, he continues, “You passed out in the library, and knocked your head quite loudly on the way down. Your doctor would not tell me much about your condition, since we’re not related, but…”

And there comes the heaviness again, the guilt in his expression and the hard downward curve in his shoulders and spine - weighted by his own thoughts.

“Everything was likely brought on by a combination of viral illness, stress, and lack of sleep. Something I…have no doubt played a part in.”

“Viktor,” you begin, but he holds up a tired hand to shush you while he considers his words.

“I have not been considerate,” he murmurs. “I have been so deep in my own head, that I did not take into account your wellbeing until it was too late.”

“Vik, it’s not your job to take care of me-”

“But I have put you in a position where you feel you need to give up your health in order to accomplish my whims!” he contends, voice rising in volume by a fraction. “I could have simplified our project! I could have followed the guidelines you offered me! But did I? No. I bit off more than I could chew, and I made you take the brunt of it. Now you’ve paid the price for my actions.”

You pull yourself back up into a sitting position, tucking your legs up and letting your hands fall loose in your lap. “You’re right,” you tell him, watching as his expression falls further into sadness. “But you’re not the only one at fault here, okay? I had every chance to take a step back and tell you how I was being affected, and I didn’t. So you don’t get to take all the blame.”

Somewhat pacified by your words, he leans down onto the bed and crosses his arms, letting his chin rest comfortably on them.

“Why didn’t you say something, then?” he wonders, finally sparing a glance up at you.

You’re the one to freeze this time.

You don’t want to tell him why - not really.

Or do you?

Are you just reluctant? Are you scared he might judge you? Are you afraid of letting him in? Are you afraid he might see you at your barest, and decide you aren’t worth the trouble?

But what if he decides to stay? you wonder to yourself.

What if?

“It’s…it’s kind of a long story,” you begin, staring down at your hands. “But I guess I feel like I’m not good enough, a lot of the time. I have to work twice as hard just to get the same results as most of the class, and sometimes I feel like I’m running in circles.

You pick idly at your nails.

“You’re so smart, Viktor,” you tell him, “You have big ideas, and you know how to bring them to fruition. I didn’t want to complain and like…I dunno. Bring you down to my level. You shouldn’t have to lower yourself just because I can’t keep up.”

Quieter, “ Honestly I…I don’t know if I’m cut out for any of this. I want to learn, and I want to help people, but I….” 

You sniffle softly, and wipe at your eyes. “Sorry.”

He stares at you for what seems like an eternity, awe unspoken but palpable, while you try in vain to control your budding tears.

“Lower…myself…?” he utters, in pure disbelief.

Reaching out, he takes one of your hands and knits your fingers together. “ I am constantly having to prove myself - to our peers, to our teachers, to everyone, and you think…so highly of me?”

You peer at him with glossy eyes and wet cheeks, and offer him the tiniest of nods - nearly invisible, but he catches it. 

“ I have spectacularly misjudged you,” he despairs, “You’ve been kind to me, and patient, and you have worked yourself raw in order to make sure I was heard.”

“Viktor-”

“I’m sorry.”

And then, all at once, the niggling feeling that has been in the back of your mind for weeks bursts: blooms into dazzling colours of warmth and excitement - butterflies fluttering wildly in your stomach, so vivacious and lively that they float all the way up your throat.

And no matter how you try to digest them, they only persist harder.

“Like I said,” you squeak, swallowing hard, “Neither one of us is free from guilt. So…”

You glance down at where your hands are linked together.

“I’m willing to put it in the past, if you are?”

The smile he gives you is subtle - soft and contained and gentle.

And entirely dazzling.

“Deal.”

#viktor x reader #viktor arcane x reader #arcane x reader #The Bottom Of The Inkwell #guys pls make sure you get your sleep #its very important

[akria23]

I wanted to simplify how I posted my Suspect Theories so I’ve taken away the charts which has my questions and thoughts. Instead I’ve put the original sus list and if they’re still active, disproven, or yet to be explored in the series. Some them I’ve shelved & others I’m considering on a small scale.

NUTH ❓ Still active

- Originally the series was building a case against Nuth - he seemed like an obsessive, possibly violent, and possessive individual who was attached to & influencing Nant’s life. I felt he could be a major red herring, however when the narrative shifted to paint Nant as the possible h violent one while victimizing Nuth, I felt there were a few threads left unanswered & a possibility that Nuth might not be a reliable narrator/source.

NOBODY

Theory A: Suicide ❌ Possibly disproven

- Theory built on the idea that Nant may have been struggling with unhappiness & his circumstances to the point of self harming.

- This theory was explored in episode 7 & 8 wherein Nuth claims Nant committed suicide due to pressures of his debtors but Prom & the Baddies feel the suicide video was just a set up video by Nant to fake his death because the clip was sent to Nuth, his laptop was found elsewhere & there was no body found.

Theory B: Split Personality 🔆 Unexplored

- Theory built on the idea that Nont/a ant ks actually one person who struggles with split personality or an identity crisis.

- Theory has yet to be explored within the story.

Theory C: Debt Collector❗️Currently Exploring

- Theory was built on the idea that the debtors Prom mentioned when he first met Nont likely wasn’t Soong cause he would just said his name (and Soong admitted that Nant has paid him back). This idea branched off into 3 mini theories of what could’ve happened to Nant if he was indebted to drug dealers…

- Hiding: Self explanatory. This is the theory that the series is currently exploring but may be disproven if the clip at the end of episode 8 was really Nant’s corpse.

- Coma: Again this one was self explanatory. If Nant owed a large sum of money they may not have minded harming him if he couldn’t pay up. This would’ve explained the lack of a body & communication on Nant’s side of things. Again this may be disproven soon as well if the clip at the end of episode 8 was really Nant’s corpse.

- Drug overdose: This one didn’t really have much to do with the debtors other than it being drug related. The theory is built on the concept that Nant may have had a bad reaction or an accidental overdose on drugs he was either using or unknowingly took & those around him either left him for dead or got rid of his body afterwards. This particular theory is still possible given the state of the possible corpse, which seem no have no visible markings that would lead to is thinking he was stabbed, choked, shot or any such methods).

Shelving: 🛑

- Prom: I’m finally taking Prom of the suspect list and putting him on the self for no, I might regret this the minute the next episode (9) comes on but him just being mysterious & having sis vibes is not enough for him to be on the sus list. His mysterious nature really could just be down to Nont & trying to keep him in his tangled web as he tries to find Nant or replace him.

- Porsche: Like Prom, he was on the list for unfair reasons. A vibe or not liking a character is not enough of a reason. Even tho Porsche stay doing shit he shouldn’t be doing there really no markers or clues that he’s done anything to actually harm Nant.

Possibly adding later: ⁉️

- Keen: Keen should I all already be on the list given he did have the dog mask and he admits to being at this party Nuth had where the clip could’ve been filmed but there’s three reasons I think he’s still not it

1. Nuth did come to him & told him to keep what he’d given him secret which could be the mask or could be something else.

2. Keen seems genuinely confused about why anyone would e asking about mask…granted he could be a phenomenal faker 😅

3. Even if he is the Mask Dog (which he really could be given he has the mask & the physic from the clip is most similar to his & Prom) I don’t think the dog murdered Nant, the Dog had a knife and if we really were allowed to see the corpse stabbing didn’t seem to be the method. As well as getting a bloody body out of a party and a hotel might’ve been more difficult. I think the Mask Dog is another red herring.

- Porsche Daddy: Look Porsche daddy guilty of something - I don’t know what yet but I’m betting something.

Interesting Aspects:

- Reoccurring imagery:

* Wine: I admit to having an obsession with wine since since the episode it was verbalized because really it just seems to keep popping back up when it comes to Nont/Prom/Nant. I’m sure it’s entirely coincidental but it fascinates me…

* When Prom first met Nont he gave him a glass a wine (he himself had brown liquor)

* After Nont found out from the Baddies that Nant supposedly only likes beer Prom poured them both glasses of wine with the excuse that he thought Nont/Nant had changed enough for wine now (despite the fact that this was the 2nd time he’d given Nont wine the first being when they met the first time)

* I believe “wine” was in one of the titles but don’t quote me on that one cause I cannot find a list of the titles now.

* When we get the flash back in ep8 of Nant & Prom having sex it includes wine - Wine is also mentioned in the song that’s playing

* It’s always red wine…which is so trippy to me cause apparently Nant didn’t drink the stuff & Prom seems to favor brown liquor yet he always has red wine (which is actually Nont’s preference) on hand.

* TVs: Damn near every room in the Baddies home has a tv but they’re never actually playing anything. There’s the rare time of Nont own image being shown but majority of the time it’s SMPTE color bars. In Proms room the tv had a picture one time and that was the first night they spent there but after the reveal of Nant being Nont the tv in that room has been static white noise ever since - leaving me to wonder if the static is more in relation to how Prom feels rather than Nont.

* Reflections: When the series first started we were getting several shots of Nont’s reflection / image everywhere def when he was alone. Sometimes those reflections would be used to communicate with his twin but that story in the second half of the stories both of those things seem to have disappeared…Why?

* Flowers: Usually presented with isolated characters and shots.

- Things I still wonder about…

* Does Zouey identify as Demisexual, Placiosexual or something else?

* What is the handprint at Nuth’s house all about if he didn’t murder anyone?!

* Why did they cut the ZoueyTeena scene…Because I don’t know my brain keeps thinking maybe ZT are lying for some reason.

* 2/3 projects I’ve seen from the writer (this being the 3rd) there’s usually atleast 1 pairing that does not make it…will that trend carry into Playboyy? And if so which pairing not making it (I think about this a lot actually).

#thai bl #playboyy #playboyy the series #theories

[twinsoftriumph]

Hello!

Any tips for drawing the twin's hair please ? Whenever i draw them, i always draw Sah's as like a spiky mountain with a curtain since i dunno how to draw tall hair yet

And Mekh...um-

Yeah

Dw Sah's hair has been evolved from mountain to Kagamine Len. Not sure if that's an improvement tho lmao-

hello! and hey for what it's worth, i also have my moments where i'm drawing their hair and i go "what.. is going on here" LMAO but also len's hair isn't all that different from spiky twin's so i'd say that's improvement! but here are some things i try to keep in mind when drawing their hair

ignore me emoting at the bottom. i would simplify their hair as a tear drop for sah and a half circle for mekh, but i also do not want them to appear Too flat. hence, the shape is a base to build off of. it helps us determine the direction of the hair, how we layer it, and the space it occupies. but sol, why a tear drop and not a triangle? to which i say We must consider that sah has hair at the Back of their head that also extends from the nape of their neck so it must be considered when drawing the hair as a whole

determining a point where the hair parts/where the bangs start from also helps us better understand how the hair flows from that point

mekh has a bang in the middle of their hair and some face-framing bangs along their jaw. you can still see the basic half-circle/dome shape of their hair, and you can see how the sections of hair logically appear to flow from the marked point on their head. the top of their head is round, the bottom of their hair is basically Flat and straight across (it's just a bob that's very flared out at the bottom) which is why the back isnt really visible from the front unless you're looking at them from a lower angle. case in point:

mekh as viewed from the back and slightly below. the traced line shows that the bottom of their hair is basically a circle lol

now sah is..... Certainly Something..... ngl im not so sure how to describe them but i will try. their bangs sweep right and i try to keep their hair in Big triangular sections to resemble the model more closely. the back of their hair Also sweeps right. id say the spikes of their hair run along the curve of the aforementioned teardrop, and you can basically use a differently-angled teardrop for the front bang as well. But Sol, you may ask again, why are some of the spikes labeled as being the Back of their hair?

ok this pic quality sucks but you get the idea. when viewed from the side, you will see that their hair also flows Back. you can also see the hair coming from the nape of the neck. sah's hair is actually like.. sorta shaggy and longer, pretty multi-layered in the hypothetical scenario that it isn't styled up which is where all those spikes come from. (i'd even say it'd extend lower than mekh's if unstyled since mekh's is so bluntly cut across.)

this got kinda long but some ending notes: honestly don't be afraid to stylize and you don't need to be perfectly on-model with their hair. there's nothing wrong with using references either, i have a bunch of screenshots of the elders from different angles and if you/a friend has the hair you can also just screenshot that to give you a guideline. and also don't be hard on yourself if it looks kinda off or anything because i have drawn a lot of spiky haired characters in my time and i still sometimes look at stuff i deemed Fit To Post and go "hm. i would have drawn that differently if i redrew it today."

but uh i mostly just hope this was helpful LOL. good luck drawing the twins!

#ask #ooc #my art #sol talks #thatskygame #sky: children of the light #sky: cotl #sky cotl

[askdannysroleswapau]

"proof of concept" design for Voidball + some pupil designs from '22 (back when he still had a tail)

quite a lot has changed! a few key design details have carried over from this one (chipped ear, singular eye, and the heart-shaped hole in the torso), but many aspects have since been scrapped or reworked

design notes under the cut! but be warned! its just a little under 1k words

before we begin, there's this phrase that i'm going to be using a lot and you ought to know what i mean by it!

the phrase is "design philosophy" and in simplified terms, its a set of rules or principals one follows when designing a character. there's a ton of different design philosophies and they vary wildly depending on the medium, the team behind it, the art style, tone and even country of origin!

the one i used for Voidball is a mix of my own observation/analysis of Rob's character design and some principals that the team of Across The Spiderverse used for The Spot. here are the rules i eventually settled on!

remove as much recognizability as possible from the character's appearance, save for their physical stature and select features (eye/mouth/hair/ears/etc.) the end result should be almost entirely unrecognizable

details such as textures, markings, or accessories must either be done away with or heavily simplified

use sharp angles wherever possible, rounded shapes must be sparse (can you tell which part i gave myself more leeway on lol)

do not clutter the design or over-complicate it; principal of Occam's razor

now, let’s get started!!

Head and Ears

i set out with the intention to give him a similarly complicated head shape to Rob, but i quickly dropped this idea because i hate drawing complex geometry! the slice taken out of the head, however, ended up sticking around! you can see some examples of what was dubbed the "sliced melon" head in the doodle dump post.

you can see that the ears have stayed about the same, although i now avoid drawing them with super defined geometry. out of all of the details carried over from this design, the chipped ear is my favorite :)

Eyes

those pesky eyes! i wanted to keep the singular eye, but at first i was unsure of what to replace it with. you can see here that i initially replaced it with an isolated box of static. this looks bad and is not visually appealing!

as i began to imagine static functioning as more of a viscous, liquid substance, i decided to cover the left side of his face with a constantly dripping river of it, obscuring the eye completely. this is both easier to draw and more visually interesting! plus it removes recognizably, which was very important to the design philosophy.

as for the right eye, the pupil shape depicted here has two sharp triangle indents in it.

while it was an interesting idea, it looked too similar to the eyes you see on rubber-hose animated characters, which wasn’t what i wanted. the other three ideas i sketched had similar ideas regarding negative space, but all of them would eventually be scrapped.

as it turns out, the original pupil shape works for a reason! i learned there that going against the original philosophy would not end up working in my favor. i went on to pull many future design elements directly from Rob's design, such as the doubled pupil!

Upper Body

his left hand was originally disconnected/fragmented from his arm/wrist. while cool in concept, this was eventually dropped because it was too difficult to draw consistently. oh well!

his torso/waist were originally more cylinder/sphere-shaped to contrast how Rob's design is made of squares/polygons. again, i have since decided to follow the original philosophy instead of going against it.

my favorite design detail for the torso is the heart-shaped hole in their chest! it is by far my favorite thing to draw :3c

Lower Body

you can see that their waist was more of an elliptical shape here; the legs were also cylinders devoid of much static and largely maintained their patterns.

also notable are the missing portions of the legs. the right leg prominently features a jagged empty space below the knee and a missing section near the hip. this aspect was dropped to simplify the design and remove recognizability

not so much as a note as it is a funny tidbit, but the feet aren't meant to look as if they've been attached at the heel. i just drew the legs before the feet and didn't bother erasing the overlapping lines.

this design wasn't meant to be super solid or well-thought out, i just needed to get the general idea down on paper, and that's what i did! :)

Tail!

ah, the static tail! the visual style of the tail was meant to hearken back to the scan lines you see on old VHS tapes.

as cool as this idea was, it conflicted with him needing to have gained a pig tail in The Future, which i consider to be crucial to the story progression. hah! i love getting to write stuff like that.

having a tail also made him more closely resemble Gumball, which conflicted with rule #1 of the design philosophy. on top of that, i had already used the static tail idea in The Sister, and i felt like recycling it for another character would cheapen the impact of that moment.

and so i revoked his tail privileges. a tragic, yet necessary sacrifice 😔

and with that the notes are done! i don’t know if anybody will actually read this, but i sure did enjoy writing it!

#this is really more like concept art than a proof of concept but its too late to change that now lol #while i was working on this i actually stumbled across a second draft of this design from around the same time (august 24th to be exact) #but this post was already long enough #so i'm saving that for another time #long post #the amazing world of gumball #tawog #danny's roleswap au #drsau #voidball #voidball drsau