#- don't care about notes. Be for real lmao this should not be an opportunity to say 'do better to be like xyz'

[alltimefail-sims]

Maaaaan I typed up this kinda long ass post about the aesthetic conversation; not that I think anyone would particularly care about what *I* have to say on the subject, but I digress. I'll just mind my business 😂

[vegaseatsass]

My Stand-In Episode 10

Just a few scattered notes of things I have on my mind.

I have been very very very obsessed with the moment where Joe breaks up with Ming after Ming's mom went in on them. See, originally I took Joe at his word: He's tired. He's tired of the constant melodrama, the neverending battle just to exist. Ming and his family already killed Joe once, he just wants some quiet contentment and to not feel like he's fighting for his life every time he holds his boyfriend's hand. Honestly, I really loved that, that their breakup this episode wasn't a contrived fight full of blame and accusation, but was simply Joe realizing he's too exhausted and walking away.

But then it hit me like a load of bricks, that no, actually. Joe didn't end things in that moment because he wants peace and quiet. He left before Ming could hurt him again. He left because he didn't believe Ming would stand up to his mother or his family - or more like, he didn't want to let himself start hoping he could, and get disappointed. Since the funeral, Ming has been giving Joe everything he ever wanted Ming to give him and more (I mean if you don't count "respecting his boundaries" as something Joe wants but 1. Ming is kiiiinda starting to get there by the end of this ep lmao? 2. I'm talking about everything Joe wants to feel from Ming on a visceral level, more than what would make his relationship safe and sane). Ming has been telling Joe over and over again that he loves him, showing Joe over and over that he chooses him, showing Joe at every turn that Tong is nothing to him. No matter how much Joe or Ing push Ming or test Ming, Ming just keeps coming back and reaffirming his commitment to Joe, adapting to who Joe is now and offering him anything and everything he can give, sincerely, determinedly vowing to put him first. Joe has been trying so hard not to let himself want it or believe in it, but by the time they're in that meeting room with Ming's mom, he is back in honeymoon mode with Ming, truly starting to believe he gets to have the kind of relationship (two-sided. equal. where Joe is taken care of and spoiled and chased, not just the caretaker and spoiler and chaser) it used to feel too greedy to dare hope for.

And then Ming's mom reminds him of how easy (Joe thinks) it will be for Ming to pull the rug out from under him again, and send it all crashing down. Just like in his first life in honeymoon mode, when he realized Ming was here for Tong and not him, that this relationship that was making him feel so whole and safe was all a lie.

Like with something as big as breaking with a family that will never accept his sexuality, Joe has no instinct to "test" Ming or give him an ultimatum. I don't actually think it's with real disappointment in Ming himself that Joe gives up on Ming choosing him before Ming even gets the chance to try. I think Joe is probably completely sympathetic to the choice he expects Ming to make, and intellectually, doesn't begrudge it of him, the way he would (or should) begrudge so many of the actual terrible things Ming has done to him. But it still hurts so much to have reality force its way into their bubble, and remind Joe that even Ming trying his absolute hardest can't protect Joe from feeling that crushing loss again. So he takes himself away from the situation before it has the opportunity to hurt him again.

Idk if I'm getting at why I'm so obsessed with this, but there's just something to me about how happy Joe must have been feeling at Ming's side, to need to proactively remove himself from the situation to avoid getting his heart shattered like those mugs. Like "I'm tired" means "I can't do these high-lows anymore. I can't feel this good and have it taken away again." This is exactly why he's been trying so so so hard to freeze his heart around Ming: So he's not vulnerable to the particular kind of hurt he never recovered from in his first life.

And I just find it very moving that the source of that hurt this time isn't Ming making disastrous choices. It's something neither Ming nor Joe has control over. And Joe knows that! But it still hurts too much to hope and want things.

Meanwhile, Ming is like: Hope and want whatever you want, beloved. I am now Mr. Makes Shit Happen. I can do anything as long as you're alive in this world.

Which is another thing I've been thinking a lot about. Sol and Ming both trying to make themselves into these superperson supershields so things will be Different This Time, and smacking up against some natural end limits to their abilities. For Sol, no matter how hard he turns himself upside down trying to make himself into someone Joe can pick instead of Ming, the attraction will never be there, and Ming always WILL be there, reminding Joe of his feelings for him. For Ming, the limit on his absolutely determined devotion to Joe is his family. And Sol and Ming, both trying so hard to be bigger and more than they are, when they come face to face with their limit still refuse to back down. No matter how laughably futile it is.

To me, Ming standing there looking all tiny at the bottom of the stairs with his dad looming at the top is the equivalent of how manically out of his element trying to do the impossible Sol was in episode 9. But just like Sol, Ming can't stop now. No matter what happens in episode 11, Ming has to try to fight this impossible fight. Neither of them is willing to leave anything on the table after losing Joe once before.

Idk I wonder if they will have to work together before the end hahaha... we'll see.

I had more thoughts but this is once again a monster post so I will end by simply reiterating how amazing and hilarious I think it is that Tong tried to get Ming to pay him HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF BAHT for the privilege of removing the only source of happiness from his life. Like come to the meeting room, Ming! Let's make a deal where you go back to being depressed and alone, and give me all the money I want! Surely this will work out in a way where we can both walk out satisfied! The lion the witch and the audacity of this bitch <3 <3 <3 <3

[pip-n-chips]

my misgendering kink has been going brrrr lately so here's some thoughts that involve it

How some DoL characters would react to PC coming out as trans

(CW/TW for transphobia for most of these! these guys are not nice)

Avery is against it if you're anything less than passing in public. They will make a point to make you appear as your birth gender as much as possible (i.e. controlling your clothing). What would it say about them and their reputation if word gets out that they're dating a tr***y?

Harper acts supportive when you come out to them during one of your friday therapy sessions, and is relatively indifferent for the most part, but they start to make comments asking if you're sure? Maybe this is stemming from something else? But it doesn't escalate until the asylum where they gaslight you into questioning if you really are trans, maybe you're making it up for attention. Their whole thing is getting you to accept your ""real"" self and make a point to misgender you very often. Constant gaslighting and hypnosis molds you into how they want and their goal is to get you to forget about this silly little phase <3 (extra note: if they find out you're taking hormones, they'll make sure the pharmacy refuses to sell it to you anymore for some bullshit reason)

Bailey is, well,, you might as well have just not told Bailey at all because they couldn't give any less of a shit. As long as you use it to your advantage and get them money, they won't bother you about it

Briar is fine with it, there's plenty of people into shit like that. They are similar to Bailey, in the sense that all they'd care about is if it gets you money. They'd see it as an opportunity and set up special shows, using all the fetish names for it they can while advertising

Eden is EXTREMELY against it. You're their wife/husband and nothing will change that, your gender is your genitalia when it comes to them. If you try to correct them, they will ignore you. If you push, they will have no hesitation beating the ideas out of you. (I can also imagine them putting you in the cage as an attempt to get rid of the ideas Society put into your mind). At higher love they might try to gender you correctly, but they still grumble about how it's Wrong

Kylar is probably supportive unless it means they find out that you guys have the same genitals, then you're in deep shit. They have a meltdown because now y'all can't make the babies they've always dreamed of. How could you trick them >:((( I feel like they'd have to grow on it though because you're still you, and that's all they could ask for (and if the opposite is true and they learn you guys can make babies,,, then prepare to fuck like rabbits because Kylar is not gonna waste a single second more)

Pure!Sydney thinks it's a sin and that you should spend more time at the temple, tries to guilt you with religion and has troubling thoughts of their own about being friends with/dating someone like you. Corrupted!Sydney would be full-on supportive, I'd think

Robin is also full-on supportive, and maybe your open-ness to them would help them come to some conclusions about themself

Whitney is Whitney. Telling them is a mistake because you've just given them a new thing to bully you about. If they gender you correctly, they do it in a mocking tone. Personally they don't really care though, as long as you're still their slut

Leighton doesn't misgender you, but they fetishize the shit out of you. Also blackmail blackmail blackmail (that's all I have to say for them tbh lmao)

Remy would scoff, but not think much of it. What silly ideas, you're just a cow, cows can't be trans. Go eat some grass.

[eddiegettingshot]

It’s actually insane how people take Ana’s comment about discovering you don’t like horses, and her involvement in the skateboard incident, to show her as an evil, irredeemable, ableist, but Tommy is somehow immune to any criticism. I have seen multiple posts about how people don’t understand why someone wouldn’t like Tommy because he’s never done anything wrong, and he’s so soft. Was I hallucinating that he was heavily implied, and arguably outright shown, to be racist and sexist in Hen and Chimney’s “Begins” episodes?! People argue that Tommy was redeemed, but I don’t remember anything really shown to so strongly support that. I know Chimney and Hen are friendly with him now, but it mostly seems like another apology for a horrible wrong (and subsequent changed behavior) that we’re supposed to assume happened outside of what we are shown. Just because a character is queer doesn’t mean they’re not an asshole, or beyond criticism. And just because a character is straight (and getting in the way of your preferred pairing) doesn’t mean they’re evil. I don’t even mind Tommy that much, even though I hate him with Buck, but it’s ridiculous to claim he’s flawless. Especially when they destroy other characters for much, much less.

yeah this is exactly right lmao. it's the misogyny.

on the note of chim and hen being friendly with him (although not friendly enough for him to have been invited to the wedding 🤣🤣🤣) this is true and i think i said previously, i'm not gonna sit here and talk about how we should all hate tommy for being problematic because presumably, yeah, it's been resolved. and, controversially, i'll even go so far as to say that at least some of the people who spend a lot of time harping on tommy's past actions are just looking for a way to rationalize the fact that they don't like bucktommy and they think other people shouldn't either (which is silly to me on multiple levels but not the point here).

my problem with tommy's past comes down to the fact that i think that if they were going to bring back this specific character, it was ABSOLUTELY the writers' responsibility to acknowledge the shitty things he's said and done. if they never hold anyone accountable for anything else, ok, whatever, i know better than to expect that. but you're sitting in front of me telling me that you really care about telling this story the right way, you understand the political implications, you don't want to cause harm... well, then you're going to have to deal with the fact that this man WAS racist and he WAS misogynistic and that's not just, like, interpersonal shittiness. they even had the opportunity to do this and they didn't take it!

so to me, this is YET ANOTHER poor writing choice they made in favor of going full-amnesiac to give buck his Soft and Sweet and Gentle and Tender storyline. this, on top of the host of other shitty writing choices that i won't re-litigate here, on top of the fact that said choices have brought a lot of insane eddie-related racism out of people, on top of the fact that it's been largely acceptable to claim that if you're NOT into this ship or if you have real criticisms you're actually bigoted in x or y way or you're immature/unenlightened/puritanical/insert whatever here (which is absurd)? i'm the crazy person for finding it all deeply unenjoyable? just. nuts.

[iraprince]

hi i just wanted to say im genuinely obsessed with the way you draw thighs + hips + butts + the crotch region in general. thank you for your service and if you have any suggestions or resources id adore them

hi, thank you! i have a lot of fun drawing those bits so i'm glad the fun comes through :)

i can def take a crack at some notes on how i construct stuff, but especially with this general pelvis area i think a lot of how i draw it is very much individual stylization -- so what i'll go over is definitely not any kind of anatomy tutorial or step-by-step or anything like that, and i also wouldn't even really call these notes suggestions on how to draw this stuff. my real suggestion is what it always is, which is to get into anatomy studies/figure drawing first, then decide how you want to stylize starting from that foundational info! also, while i don't usually lean into this a lot in my own style, the musculature of the thighs is a lot more complex than you might expect, so it can be useful to look at more detailed anatomical diagrams in addition to just studying from models. but i hope seeing how i often do it myself is still helpful in some way!

so, for starters, and i mean this totally seriously: a lot of what i get complimented on in my art is stuff i specifically draw with horny intent, lmao. i'm not at all saying you have to be horny to get good but i think you get results from fun + fixation, because when you care a lot about the details and when you care about capturing specific stuff that you're excited about (in any way), that comes through in your drawings. so when ur deciding on how to stylize, pay attention to what little details about ur area of focus are really cute/interesting/appealing to you, and find ways to emphasize that!

honestly part of that means focus on posing as well as whatever you're doing with anatomy/stylization -- i have a thing i affectionately call the "ira neck thrust" that my friends are constantly calling me out for and it's basically just the tits and ass back arch that i'm so fond of. of course u end up noticing how i draw this area when i'm constantly drawing attention to it and making things cheesecake-y specifically to show it off, lol!

beyond that i think the summary of the rest of the notes is just to find ways to lay things out so that it's easy for you to place the shapes and details you want to stylize/emphasize. i like drawing thighs with pronounced upper muscle; i often stylize the lower half of the torso + hips with multiple repeating curves to emphasize that shape. i love hip creases and visual cues on how the thighs are moving, so i usually don't miss an opportunity to draw those in (and to pose/costume in a way that specifically shows it off, again). my anatomy in this area is usually so stylized and unrealistic that, while of course i make a lot of these decisions from a foundation of figure drawing, a ton of the actual impact/final look is just coming from style choices!

(i also only have time to throw together one example, but these things should still generally ring true for bodies of any type/size; "bony" landmarks exist regardless of weight and will show up on larger bodies as areas where tendons + muscle anchor to the bone, which can have a lot of influence on folds + the shapes of body fat, and it's always a good idea to study reference and decide from there how to stylize. "morpho: fat and skin folds" is a great anatomy book for this.)

i feel like this is all i have energy 2 throw together at the moment and it's so specific to how i draw that i'm not sure how helpful it'll be lol but!! maybe i will come back to this another day if i think of anything else. also i guess here is one final summary of why i think this method works for me

[noblechaton]

any book/tv shows/movie/song recommendations/rants about random things that are bothering you. Boom, double whammy from that ask game from yesterday. If you're still doing it.

well hmm show-wise I'll always recommend Daredevil (which is leaving Netflix in March somehow) bc while I'm huge into superheroes it's a show so good that u don't even have to be a superhero dude to love it to the point where my parents (who fall asleep during superhero movies) watched it lmao. think we should have an X-Files resurgence too given how good the show still is to this day overall (even if we don't talk about the modern day seasons). uhhhh movie-wise the first Kick Ass was real good and Nightcrawler was insane but fun to watch as well. think ppl would enjoy those if they haven't seen em. I unfortunately haven't read any books lately tho I've got a backlog of Nier books and other odds and ends

on that note I'll also always take every opportunity to coerce ppl into playing Nier Automata and while I could give a huge rant as to why I feel I sorta did that the other day and so I'll keep it simple and say that it's so much more than android ass and twinks and that ppl should really give it a chance (tho those are great selling points on their own)

as far as ranting goes tho idk. still don't have much lighting a fire under me that anyone would care/need to hear about lmao. think episodes leaking the way Risk did really sucks and I wish there was some way to have prevented that given how close we are to the actual planned end of the season. really funny that gloob got owned tho so maybe it was worth it. I could absolutely rant about ppl writing Automata off too but again sorta recently did that lmao

[dragynkeep]

For the character ask thing (don't know if you're still doing it or not): Adam Taurus

meme, accepting.

my top three ships for the character.

tartaurus ( adam / cinder )  —  for how they are in canon, this is the perfect “ we’ll go down in flames together, my love ” villain x villain ship for me & i adore it. i think they would be the absolute worst for each other & it would be amazing.

arctic warfare ( adam / winter )  —  i do have a few wips for this & in a better canon, there definitely would’ve been some parallels drawn between them to compliment the blake  /  weiss parallels. honestly, them becoming childhood friends to enemies to something is god tier.

tauradonna ( adam / blake )  —  in au only ; i think before canon confirmed & made adam into what he is, there were a lot of hints that their relationship, while not being the greatest, had been one of genuine care between them & honestly in my mind, could’ve been something comparable to padme  /  anakin as adam fell to the darkness too.

my three least favourite ships for the character.

tauradonna ( adam / blake )  —  in canon, this can go fall into the river. not even just because it’s an abusive relationship, but because it’s a bad attempt at an abusive relationship. blake & adam don’t feel like real people, blake is a poor victim constantly & adam is the one note abusive hate sink. it’s a pathetic mockery of what an abusive relationship is & mk should feel ashamed for what they wrote.

my biggest criticism for the character.

it’s been said a million times so i won’t go into that whole rant again here but i will say that mk really should’ve nailed down what they wanted for adam & nailed down his relationships with people before they actually wrote him into the story  —  because as he is in canon? he’s a mess. he’s a one dimensional, flat, whiny hate sink & that’s not fun, that’s not interesting. that’s not even a compelling villain & this is without going into the uncomfortable truth that his character suffered the worst racism in the show, blinded in one eye & a child slave under an oppressive corporation, but thanks to milk & kornflake’s white comfort, his death was seen as the end of all racism because they wanted to wipe their hands clean of the plotline & adam all in one.

my favourite thing about the character.

his original design was top tier. the stark black & red contrast that we had already seen but on our good guy in ruby, all the sharp edges of the character & his imposing stature, the mask hiding his face & therefore leaving him a mystery to us, etc etc. all of it was incredible storytelling via design & props really should be given to the designers for their designs in the earlier volumes cause they were fantastic.

a headcanon i have about them.

adam isn’t a half bad singer, though he hasn’t found much reason to sing in recent years. however when he & blake were on better terms, he would sing her to sleep after she had had a nightmare & snuck into his room, looking for comfort in the one person she thought understood her. after blake left, even humming the song made him feel sick.

what i would change about them if i was making a re-write.

like i said up above, iron out exactly what they want him to be, & actually make him into a 3 dimensional character who has wants & desires & emotions outside of blake & his whiny diatribe of revenge against her & not the system that enslaved him.

what i think of their character allusion and what (if anything) i would change about it.

it’s not fucking gaston so let’s jot that down lmao; i still don’t know why people listen to arryn of all people when she’s not a writer. she may know things about blake but she has no control over the writing process, no matter how many of them are her ex boyfriends. adam as gaston makes no sense. gaston was part of the oppressive class, he was a coward who prided himself on his reputation for hunting defenceless animals, he is also a disney only creation  —  there was no gaston in the fairy tale iterations of beauty & the beast. while i’ll admit m&k were probably more influenced by the disney version than they want to admit, the canon is that rwby are based off of the fairytales, not their disney iterations.

with adam as the beast ... it’s okay? it’s a subversion of belle & the beast’s actual relationship  —  going from a woman who sees a monster & then learns to see the man within, to a woman seeing a man & then revealing the monster inside him. i’ve said before how much i hate that adam is seen as the propagator of racism & with his death came the end of racism in rwby because it’s just so inappropriate to those who actually suffer racism irl & shows how mk were a. out of their depth & b. prioritizing their white comfort. he also has to share this allusion with blake  ( who is both belle & the beast? just pick one crwby. )  so there isn’t really opportunity to flesh that allusion out, especially with adam himself being so one dimensional.