#I JUST WANNA EDIT SILLY PICS OF MY SILLY LITTLE GAME

[hiddenspringss]

third pic is me because why tf did photoshop "noticed" again that i had a cr*cked version........

[rottingboykorpses]

Guess whos back... Back again... Shady-

Let me stop okay fuck uhm

WELCOME TO MY INTRO AGAIN BUT LIKE THIS ONE IS BETTER

My name is Mono but I cant settle on one name online (i have... a list of names...) (which grows if I hear a name i think sounds cool and ultimately wanna steal immediately) (none of you are safe beware) ANYWAY yeahz I'll write down the names in the comments when I'm done if I feel like it

Also yeah I'm trans + pansexual, my prns are he/him & they/them, and im a minor(ity)

INTERESTS AND SHI

Games : Cry of Fear, Sally Face, Little Misfortune, Little Nightmares, Fran Bow, Mouthwashing, Yandere Simulator, Class of '09 (the flipside can BURN), DDLC, and uh uh yeah i can't think of any more rn maybe I'll edit this one day

Shows, TV, Movies, etc : Scream franchise(including Scary Movie), DHMIS(youtube series ver., haven't watched the recent tv show), Thanksgiving, Smile, Sixth Sense, Spiderverse movies, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Owl House, The Black Phone

True Crime Community : Artyom & Nikita, Columbine, Zodiac, Dahmer, Jack da Rippa👅👅👅 LMAO okay anyway, (i am relatively new to the tcc... its just leik any crime right? So I can mention people like Robert Pickton or Fred & Rose West? neat ok) ROBERT PICKTON, FRED & ROSE WEST, lmao..., uh Ted Bundy, Menendez brothers, I have briefly seen stuff abt Adam Lanza, Alyssa, etc but haven't read abt them/watched documentaries or anything... OH ALSO THE 2 PPL THAT KILLED UH BRIANNA GHEY I FORGOT THEIR NAMES (edit: somehow forgot John Wayne Gacy?? I LITERALLY LISTEN TO A BAND W HIM AS AN ALBUM COVER AM I RETARDED....)

Music : i changed my spotify recently but here's the link to my (unfinished) main playlist

General Interests : I LOVVEEE caffeine so much its a problem, rainy weather, stuff like tumblr, discord, spacehey, etc, collecting trinkets, cosplay(?)(i don't do it often but I've done fem!simon Henriksson & Shaggy 2 Dope, and Nezuko but that was like 2022 and I dont watch anime often anymore), I wanna get into playing guitar, i write stuff sometimes, read obvi, silly willy design/architecture games that i find, i draw💯💯💯, uhm.mgmgmm... yah.. ALSO I READ WEBTOON SOMETIMES!! SBG, JD, VF, SS, ALLAT(if ur curious abt those go 2 my asks and I'll say the actual name im lazy and this section is long af)

DNI LIST!!!

EDIT:: DNI list is kinda stupid idgaf if you interact and are any of these but i probably will not like you + won't respond

Racists, homophobes+transphobes, pedos, anti-para, people who r sensitive to gore, blood, crime, etc, people who defo abuse that report button (js block me istg<3), people on shblr & edblr who shame others for depth and weight, basic DNI's ig?

Boundaries!

Simple stuff tbh, like just dont harass me or my friends, followers, yk, don't be rude for no reason(jokes and such are fine like if u have a tone indicator n stuff or the person is ok w it)

Asks, comments, etc are fine as long as they aren't requesting personal info e.g real name, phone num, yk the drill allat stuff

Anons, pretty pls use emojis so ik what asks are from u, or if u dont wanna signing ur nicknames or alias is fine too

Paraphilia/Kink/IDK? (I may post this stuff in the future, like on my old acc w sh pics)

Necrophilia(im anti-contact to clarify, jus fantasies), blood, knives, self h4rm, su1cide, gore, etc stuff like that ig

WHO I WANNA MEET!!!

Literally anyone who has similar interests n is respectful lmao, I don't rlly block unless i REALLY dont like you so feel free to ask 2 be moots n stuff

OK BYEEEYEYEYEYTE

- Mono

[theultimatekamehamehavoc]

Just some lil pics of middle schooler Makoto to start things off before I eventually drop the whole cast. They are all open to some character design edits since it's basically regular Makoto but shorter and blazerless. But, for now, I will just show them. Don't wanna overcomplicate it. But, just a reminder. Tis a lil thought experiment here and character lore is all still the same for the most part! The little middle schooler hell-spawns are all just in the killing game. Or hmmm... A part of me also wants to imagine this as like, if Danganronpa was a kids show too. Like, that's also where my brain is thinking about the whole AU concept I have for Kiddieronpa. Who knows. Maybe, in due time I might even change the name of the AU here? Not sure. Diggity dang it! DUNNO ANYMORE T-T Am questioning myself again. Womp womp. Maybe there can be two or just multiple versions of this AU though. One where the story is just the what-if thought experiment I initially had it to be with the Trigger Happy Cast in the killing game as middle schoolers and how things would play out. Or, maybe another version could be where yeah, still a situation where the gang is in the killing game but like, no one actually dies? So like, just think of Total Drama Island here. Like, the two franchises are lowkey compared to one another like that so might as well. Or, another could just be like, the school mode. Cus why not. Let's just have Monokuma do some casual child labor/hj But yeah. Either I boost the angst factor on hyperdrive, make this more silly, or some mixture. Cus, like, Kyoko and Byakuya are just standing their with their fresh childhood trauma and I can't just ignore them! Also, Makoto's secret in chapter two was that he wet the bed until 5th grade, at least in the localization. So like, he's a middle schooler. The guy is still fresh from that and I am convinced that like, something was up or like, I dunno! Maybe he just had some reoccurring nightmares or... health problems. Though, anyway, there are some things I dunno what to do with yet. At least for the killing game idea like, there is one character that just makes me wonder and think of what I'm gonna do for them. And it's Mukuro. Just Mukuro. Like, she'd be a child soldier this time around like dang. Though, the world of Danganronpa hasn't been known to be a safe or ethical one sooooo yeah! I guess it doesn't help that Byakuya is my main loser so, in terms of character lore, I know 97% Byakuya's lore while everyone else is around 60% or lower. i really needta work on that O-O

[frostbite-the-bat]

Your roblox pngs are so gosh darn cool!! Never seen em done like that before, the poses are so fluid and the lightings just right. What's your process like?

gaah!! thank you so much! it's actually a little less conventional than you'd think - but it works for me! idk how others do it anyway, i figured this out on my own. THIS guide will be a bit messier because it's late and i was talking to others during this but... hopefully it'll help!

i actually use the pose editor in a roblox game (or EXPERIENCE i ur roblox itself) named 'catalog avatar creator'. it exists to create and preview outfits - but you can also take cool pics in there an customize your poses (and even your items!)

you can even change background to various greenscreens, so that helps! i use this regularly to plan oufits before i may want to buy them! for example i haven't even bought the things for the tv head avatar i showed.

bu anyways, lemme show you how i do my pngs or 'renders'!!

first you either make an outfit in there... or just use your regular avatar! my current avatar is my silly space kitty i concepted in this game, so i'll use that to demonstrate.

FIRST you wanna click here on the sparkle button i masterfully highlighted in mspaint

2) and right away you see the pose editor!! click it!!

okay, at first glance THIS MAY BE SCARY!! but if you're even LIGHTLY familiar with even the most basic of like... 3d stuff WHICH I KNOW NOT EVERYONE IS - you will do swell. a lot of roblox editing things use this sorta system so you might've practiced there before? (i sure have in tprr's animatronic oc editor!)

3) what you wanna do is just select a body part you want to move. it will then highlight on your avatar and you can use the balls to turn em in it's respective axis. some angles will not work as well so move your camera while you do this

(but have a good camera point set in mind! you may wanna do camera trick stuff in your pose depending on what angle you're at. for example i disattach the tail from the body and make it slightly visible on the side. you aren't able to tell! makes it look nicer.)

to MOVE stuff and not just ROTATE it click the little arrows thing! you will move and not rotate that way. just play around with it :] don't be worried to de-attach things - roblox isn't exactly realistic so don't worry to mess around w that!

4) just pose it! go wacky! here's a few things to keep in mind

certain body parts are connected! and ofc, their respective items - i will cover this later.

for example, the pelvis, if moved, moves the torso as well. if you wanna make a floaty pose, move up the pelvis and rotate it first and then the chest (and other parts of the body)

references for poses may not hurt, but being an artist who likes drawing silly poses i'd say i have a DECENT enough grasp of good poses - so that definitely helps with the Flow of my poses you (anon) mentioned! practice makes perfect!

ALSO, you can save poses!

anyways, here's a pose i came up with!

but that's not all! i wanna move the items!

5) well, just click "apply" and re-enter the effects menu!!

then you click whatever you wanna edit and... boom! fancy new window! now you can play around with your item here - i won't explain that, just have fun!

but to move your item around just click "transform item" - it'll bring up the same options you had before while moving body parts!

aand... here's the result!

so, the pose is done... but we wanna prepare it for editing and actually take a picture! well, first, we can't use this background. so...

6) click the gear and then select 'environment' and select a good green, blue or pink screen! i have to settle with what's best since my fella is rainbow. (whatever doesn't clash with the edges of the character is best!!)

here you can also set the lightning! if you go back and pick 'camera & lightning'

I HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU SET A LOW EXPOSURE AS IT MAKES LIGHTER COLORS LESS "FUZZY" AND **WILL** MAKE EDITING IN A SECOND EASIER! it makes it darker but you can edit that, too!

anyways... here's my final product after fiddling with the lightning!

7) take a pic! you can either angle your camera as is which is a bit limited... or... free-cam! which is a bit better but dear GOD is it annoying to control. (tho holding shift makes it less sensitive)

so... here's the final stage we'll do in-game! one last thing i did to make it look better is for a second turn my graphics to max and THEN take a roblox screenshot. (then turn it back down to not deepfry my computer)

honestly, i could've turned the avatar to face the camera with their body a little more when tuning my camera, but i'm not gonna fix that now i don't have much time now LOL let's speed thru this.

8) the TEDIOUS PART. yeeting this into an editing program.

your editing program WILL require anti-aliasing OFF options, a bucket tool and if you really wanna fix issues - a selection tool and just.. layers. and brushes. i use SAI 2 so it's specific to SAI 2.

if you did your camera settings right, you will have a pretty crisp outline everywhere, unless you're me and fucked up here. but this can be fixed. we don't want this fuzz that much

well, i use sai which has a nice bucket tool! i set it to paint with invisible/eraser bucket and adjust the rance of similar color. may take a few tries to get right pick 'similar colored area' or ' all similar colored pixels'.

personally, i pick all similar pixels.

AND TURN ANTI ALIASING **OFF**!! CRISP PIXELLY LOOK

before i do anything tho, i use the selection tool and pick up everything that's the same color as the background in it - being pink.

you can also use the selection pen!

some get tricky and pixel precise... remember if you use sai that the pen is fuzzy - but selection tool is more precise (not the lasso - that's fuzzier too)

here's the goober with all the Protected parts selected. then just invert the selection... (pointing at how u do that quickly)

9) ok NOW you get that bucket tool and just tap at the pink and watch it BE GONE... ofc, make sure you set it to transparent/eraser bucket tool

BOOM. gone. b-but... ENHANCE...!

NOT PERFECT!! CLICK THOSE OFF TOO! remove manually with pixel tool or whatevz if you must

10) look around the edges of the image and look for any fuzz like this... remove it! and if there's any jaggedies...? you can edit those in yourself, usually it's small enough to clear up yourself. (you can also just - save with a diff name, reopen original, copy the section you erased/has jaggedies and paste it into this edited version)

depending on what bg / greenscreen color options you chose (and yoour avatar's colors) and how careful you were... this may take a time to edit! it depends!

also, see texture mess up? depending on the texture and ur skill/patience... goot bye! i usually keep cover ups to simple things like this myself and i can edit things pretty well, too. u can embrace some roblox silliness and imperfections!

10) color adjustments i do to brighten it up...! once i crop the screenshot around the avatar to be a good size i copy it and paste it into the image again

and i set the layer effect of the top pasted image to SCREEN and fiddle with the settings...! (ofc, you can also use other settings - or even the regular color layer settings - but this one's more straight forward to me!)

then i may double check for stuff but... we're done! here's your finished "render" !!!

i don't have time to proof-read this currently, so i hope everything makes sense and there aren't any weird typos or left-overs from previous editing.

hope this was helpful! and not TOO long.

[sapphic-outlaw]

Part 2/2 Of course, Charles looks amazing on Johnny. My main focus was him for the photos, but I'll definitely get more eventually. For being a video game character, he's really just… stupidly naturally photogenic. So I nabbed some pics and opted to get on Taima for the time being because, why not? Nah, that actually isn't how it went down. It was more like Me: *gets on Taima and takes off* Charles: Aren't you gonna take Johnny back? Me: Huh? Oh shit I forgot Charles: It's fine, I wanna keep riding him, he looks cool. Have you thought about putting feathers on Taima? We had a little exchange on that as we continued (whether or not Charles would, wishing that he had because it would be cute as hell, telling him how I desperately wish that Charles' feathers were an object in game, then went on to complain about how unfair it is that the Charles outfit in RDO has the necklace properly colored on men but not on women. There might be a cultural reason for that though, I'm not sure). Oh, and Johnny broke a sign with his face. Anyway, next you're gonna see a pic with a sign in the foreground, and I took that for one reason and one reason only; because the text glitched out lol. I think it's supposed to say race series? But it caught my eye regardless. I didn't realize that the text was dynamic. Went through that enclosed bridge a few times for pics, but Charles was having a hard time keeping up because of the slowmo, so I picked a few that I liked after like 4 rounds back and forth and we moved on our merry way. At this point we were getting snacky too, I had made some chip dip and neither of us had started to eat it, and it smelled soooo good. But I was WAY too distracted lol. And I think Charles felt like he had to be polite, but the second I realized what was happening and gave him the go ahead, he ate 3/4 of my damn chips before I even had one. Mean lmfao. Shortly after moving on from that bridge we hit a moonshiner free roam event, and I wanted to ignore it, but Charles was itching to fight. Turns out he's not a great shot lmao (relatable) and Charles (the character) also just doesn't really look that hot when shooting. I mean, he always looks hot, but he makes silly faces. Guess we can't all be sexy when we're being shot by 30 men lol. I managed to nab a few good screenies before I decided to help him out. One thing that really amazed me is Johnny and Taima; they were SO CALM the entire time. I took these pics by putting Blair (my character) in a scenario and then used my free cam to get up in Charles' face without getting shot by him, so right before I stopped I pulled the cam back so I could snag a pic of just how chill Johnny and Taima were (sorry Charles lol). Even Johnny, who tends to get a bit antsy with shooting going on if someone's on his back, was still as stone. Taima is generally bombproof anyway, but the fact that I wasn't even there to help her chill out made it all the more impressive that she just… didn't care. That's about all the interesting stuff that happened! We started our trail ride at 2:10 AM and I'm wrapping up writing this at about 6:20 AM. I took 485 pictures, didn't edit any yet, nor did I go through the clips, but Charles is passed the fuck out and his snoring is making me tired as all hell, so I guess that means it's time for me to get some rest too lmao. I mostly wrote this for the memories, but if you read this far, I hope you enjoyed!!

[tyrantzeye]

HELLO THERE TUMBLR

YOOO WSG!!! im astor i go by like a shit ton of names 5heyre all in my sidecarrd :) pronouns in order of preference: he/8/bloo(blood)/she/they/cae(cake)/evi(evil)/🕷/it/adonis/(insert all basic neos here like ey/em, ze/zem, etm.)/basically evry other pronoun u can think of - fair warning this blog IS NOT ORGANIZED!!! its just!! A BLOG!!! FOR THINGS!!! i am just emptying my brains out here before i explode - GO READ MY CARRD

TAGS !

astrids silly lil thoughts - funny lil ramblings n just stuff not related 2 anythng astrid goes on a disgusting tangent - either rly lojg analysis posts or gross random thoughts of mine artstor - my art !! feel free 2 request i cant promise itll get done quickly or at all but like yeah astrids AUs - a ton of au stuff interrogation room answers - asks astrids ocs - oc stuff never kins - ME. heart emoji - little characters in my phone i love camille oc infodump hour - at 4p mst once a week i spew shit from my mouth about my ocs (mostly itsuki)(thisis rly inconsistent byw i havent done one in like 2+ minths) sasha and binx special appearance - cat pics :) never edits - video edits i post here sometimes i also have tags for some of my moots starting now (2/26/23)

SIDEBLOGS !

zZz, inc.: Game Studio

blxckmxmbo - icons, borders, aesthetics and more!

^ neither of these blogs r consistent tbh i couldnt rven get the zzz inc 1 to like work cuz most or th3 wtudio dosnt have/consistently use tumblr💀

iwontrelyonanyoneanymore - essentially a spam account

okay thats basically all there is 2 say ab me if u wanna know anything more ask me urself. hmu

[arlecchno]

NEL IS MY BABY I LOVE HIM - scratch / block code is actually like the only “coding language” i know because im too lazy to learn anything else LOL (im gonna try to learn renpy someday for part 2 of nels game though … anything for my silly little alien boi) tbh , scratch isnt too difficult but its TEDIOUS AS HELL 😭 it takes forever for me to make the dumb textbox transitions because i have to keep scrolling up n down , even with copy paste i still have to edit and make sure the timings are correct its such hell lmao

the little emote is basically just a glorified version of me lol (because the laws of physics wouldnt permit me to have a cool hair style)

i own the jacket irl its absolutely sick

LMAO i honestly kinda wish i could relate to the issue that people find me scary , i feel like my life would be a lot easier if i was intimidating to people , because i actually most of the time do have murder / violence on my mind - but noooo im small and squishy LOL

damn ive heard of those kinds of windows , yk those memes where people go onto their balcony / look out their window with their phones and just see like a brick wall LOL . my balcony gets a really nice view of the city sunrise i think , even though ive only been up to see it once or twice

BOOM >:D

i think the silliest thing i own is a ziplock bag from 6th grade that is full of cutouts from my friends mathbook , for example:

for the question … top 5 favorite genshin characters ? and if you want you can explain why but its not required (also if you play on genshin NA servers , wanna add eachother ? i guess this counts as two questions so feel free to shoot two back at me if ya want lol)

wishing you the best on asphodelus !!

- jellyfish

i can absolutely agree that scratch is such a pain in the ass LMAO, it always takes up my time whenever i did it in computing class a few years back

the blonde highlights are an absolute hit for me bro... and that's the xiao jacket, right? (hope i'm not mistaken because i feel like i've seen those around twitter)

AND YES THOSE MEMES IS EXACTLY MY WINDOW VIEW OMG whenever i'm feeling like looking out the window all i see is a brick wall with my neighbour's unit greeting me, and suddenly my day gets so much worse /hj

and those sunrise pics are bomb!!! i feel like if i had a sunrise view i'd be up early every single day to watch it and take cute pictures (i'm literally up before 6 every day, unwillingly)

a ziplock bag full of cutouts...? from 6th grade...? damn looking at it made me realize that 6th grade was so long ago and that we'd do a lot of silly stuff at that age 😭 makes me remind of those times when i was so energetic lmao now i can't even go up a flight of stairs without complaining

i think i'd have to make a separate top 5 list for the genshin characters because i don't think i could combine both genders into one list 😔 i'm too indecisive for that

top 5 genshin men; kuni, kazuha, cyno, dainsleif and alhaitham!! kuni is pretty self-explanatory, but as for kazuha and cyno.... i've been in love ever since they first came out (for cyno i've been waiting since like late 2020 LMAO and for kazuha i first saw him in the beta leaks and vowed to save up for him ever since then) i've also pretty much been in love with dainsleif ever since his first appearance in the archon quest (was it in 1.5??? i'm not entirely sure) and for alhaitham,, well his very blunt personality (and also appearance) have intrigued me 😞 i am apart of the alhaitham fanclub now

top 5 genshin women; yelan, shenhe, yoimiya, yae miko and ei!!! i love yelan and shenhe the most tho, they're my loves and i'm just really in love with their designs 🫶🫶

it's also cool how i have most of them (except for alhaitham, dainsleif and... kuni, unfortunately). i'll most definitely pull for alhaitham soon and hopefully luck is with me hahaha,, i quite literally only have less than 10 pulls right now

and yes i do play on na!!! i'm not really online much because there's not much to do right now but yes we could add eachother!!

as for a question for you... how many 5* do you currently have in genshin? and who do you plan on pulling for next?

thank you!!! asphodelus is going pretty well for me i am really looking forward to this new series

and thank you once again for talking with me jellyfish hehe hope you're having a great day today!! :D

[callsignbaphomet]

50 hours in and I've a lot to say but basic tl;dr is:

The bad:

1. Really not a fan of the decoration and charm system for this game. A game that's choking on a ton of rng has even more of it than its previous installation. No. Absolutely no. I am super seriously tempted to use the editor just to give myself the decorations and charms.

2. Why, oh, why, is the kinsect upgrade system like THAT??? Hell, no.

3. I loathe the absence of the garden so you could better farm materials to make ammo, healing potions, buff and debuff items and so on. The submarine thingy while cute is painfully slow. I eat threw ammo faster than I can get my hands on thunderbugs. Again, the editor is tempting me.

4. Iceborne gave us a lot of really cute palico designs and I actually expected them in Rise from the get go. Talk about two steps forward three steps back...

5. KnM is a hot mess and it apparently was done by someone with 4 arms and 10 fingers on each hand. Resorted to using the PS4 controller for it. Feels really bad to have to be forced to use controller on pc ngl. At least I can use the PS4 one. It is the most comfortable controller in the world. Period. Yes, I will die on this hill.

6. Had to uninstal Reshade bc the banner and some trees were messing up and when I actually turned some presets on there were weird sections on the ground. Not sure what happened.

7. Your hunter's dialogs are cute for the first 13 hours. At 14 hours and over you wanna chop off your ears. That British accent is suuuuuuuuper jarring. Just keep them silent.

The good:

1. The canteen is amazing, I love how you get food skills here. 10/10. Doubly love that some of the dango have 2 skills for the price of one. The cutscene's a bit cheesy borderline cringe for me. I liked World/Iceborne's better.

2. You seem to earn money and points a lot faster than in the previous one.

3. The dogs!!!! I love the cats, love 'em. Surprising since I'm a dog person but holy balls the dogs are so cute. The Buddy Plaza is to die for.

4. Loooooooooooooooooooove that you can edit what pieces of clothing you wanna see or not.

5. The camera. I'm actually having fun snapping pics of monsters and using THOSE for the hunter notes. It's cute and silly.

6. The locales feel really fun to explore and each is interesting in their own way.

7. Layered system from the start!

8. Silkbind. I thought I was gonna hate it but it's fun af.

9. The rampage quests are fun even if it can get a little overwhelming but that's kinda where the fun is.

10. Beating monsters with monsters lol

[poisonappletales]

If one (or all, your pick) of your characters were featured in a news article, what would the headline be?

Hello, Anonymous! Ooh, this is a fun one. Since I’m going with news articles, I’m going to set this in a half-modern setting.  The fantasy world meets the modern era. Something like a fun parody.

Let’s see…shall we start with Unknown from Don’t Take This Risk?

“Aren’t some of those the lyrics to a song?”

“They suit me.”

“What’s with the come-on at the end? You know what that sounds like, don’t you?”

“You even got the word ‘pimps’ in there.”

[grins] “If you do not like it, then do you have something that beats it?”

“I sure do. Check me out!”

“Oi. That’s not me.”

[grinning even more broadly] “Really? I didn’t notice.”

[to Wind:] “You’re sure causing big trouble in the…city. Do we live in Virgo City now?”

“Looks more professional now that the article ain’t written by you.”

“With all those cap locks and everything? You have a pretty low bar for that.”

“That still ain’t me! Where’s mine?! Who’s the professor confessing his feelings to anyway?”

[tongue-in-cheek] “You can’t tell?”

[muttering under his breath:] “Hulder scum.”

“I’m sure it’ll get to your newspaper eventually, X.”

“It’ll knock everyone’s socks off.”

“Haha! Look at that.”

“Whoa. That’s hard-core. I thought these were all going to be a bunch of funnies.”

“Do we really have to comment on every one? Why am I even here with you two?”

“I dunno. Does it really matter?”

“There’s mine!”

“You’re behind bars. Bravo.”

“Shut up. I’ll get out.”

“I notice you have two photographs.”

“People can’t get enough of this handsome mug.”

“I’m with two big-headed idiots. Great.”

“Haha! Feel free to join us.”

“I don’t need to stroke my ego like you two.”

“What are you talking about? I’m just saying it like it is.”

“Mm-hmm. I am sexy, and I know it.”

“That’s getting tiresome. Knock it off.”

“Don’t you want to at least take off that hood before saying that? Put your money where your mouth is.”

“Haha! This is really cute.”

“Says names have been changed, but in that pic, that’s definitely Rosemary and Jasmine.”

[sarcastic] “You could see Jasmine? Her cousin practically shoved her out of the frame.”

“That is okay. I can still see her sexy eyes and lovely hair. Ah, I’m so happy! It’s the ladies’ turn, isn’t it?”

“Ugh. Bieber.”

“Oh, better not let cutie Rosemary hear you say that. She looks like she could claw someone’s eyes out for saying one wrong word about her star crush.”

“I ain’t scared. Anyways, have no idea who BTS is.”

“Hmm…Wind looks like he could fit in with them - if he wouldn’t mind dancing.”

“Or singin’, you mean?”

“What are you two trying to insinuate?”

[smiling broadly] “Why are you always so mad? I just gave you a compliment. They have a lot of fans, you know.”

“Like I care to have humans flocking to me. I’m not always in heat like you either.”

“…”

“…”

“Haha! What?”

“I don’t even -”

“I wanna check out that Playboy issue.”

“Of all the stupidity -”

“She already looks good with clothes. Without them would be even better.”

“Can we move on?”

“You know, I can’t really see her liking an old bag of bones like Trump. But he does have money…some chicks dig cash.”

“Next.”

“Ooh, cosplay. I like.”

“Is Wildfire dressing up as a Pikachu in that pic?”

“Haha! It’s hard to imagine them dressing up as the Frozen sisters. I bet Brooks was the adorable Anna and Wildfire was the alluring Elsa.”

“Didn’t the princess dress up as Elsa before?”

“She did? If they went to the same convention…cat fight.”

“Nobody’s touchin’ my woman on my watch.”

“Since when is she your woman?”

“Since she kissed me.”

“What -”

“The two sexiest fighters from the Fire Emblem series…I do not play much games, but I have heard of it. It’ll be hard to decide which ones they mean to dress up as. Aren’t all women sexy in their own way? Just by being a woman -”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ve heard the speech before.”

“Some women may not have.”

“Great. We have an audience. As usual.”

“If it’s supposed to be anonymous, why is Chase putting his name down?”

“Maybe he doesn’t know how anonymous submissions work?”

“I know what I would want to write to ‘Dear Ambrosia.’”

“So do I. ‘You’re my woman, so don’t let anybody take ya from me.’”

“Still going on with that nonsense.”

“‘Tell me your three sizes. If you do not want to say, would you mind if I checked to see what they were?’”

“You two are psycho.”

“Oi. He’s the psycho. I’m just someone you shouldn’t mess with.”

“You mean a thug?”

“Bring it on, slimebag.”

“Aww, that’s it for the ladies? I rather see a Hulder woman…”

“‘Several well-known designers and models blah blah blah’…I’m already bored.”

“If we’re done here, how about you do what you said and put your money where you mouth is? Bring it on. Or are you chicken?”

“Ohh, I’ll make you regret those words! Better be careful you ain’t bitin’ off more than you can chew, beast man.”

[smirking] “You’re both thugs, aren’t you?

I was hoping this would end with a more exciting article…maybe, the reverse of Arsenik’s? Something from a woman, like - ‘Sexy Unknown, I’m ready for you. I want you now. ♥’ ”

“You know, I better teach you a lesson too - before you start getting weird ideas and writing up some twisted article!”

“Oh, it would not be a twisted thing. You would like it too if your princess said she wanted you, right?”

“She can say whatever she wants, but I don’t like what’s coming out of your mouth. Flame on!”

“Hmm? Isn’t that from Fantastic Four -”

Just want to say that some of these pop culture references (like, say, the Fantastic Four one) is because this whole thing is leaning towards a parody.

Coming from Don’t Take This Risk, Unknown naturally knows how the modern world works and so forth, but if someone like X is making an exclusively modern-day comment, you know why. This is a comedic little thing, so he’s given some extra knowledge!

Some additional notes as always:

Unknown’s Article. Yep, Unknown wrote that one. Now, if I was being serious, Unknown might have a different headline - but oh! That may be too close to spoilers.If Unknown saw his article in the paper, he would think he’s sexy and he knows it. Because he wrote it.

Wind’s Article. Ah, that’s Wind for you. Always causing chaos and mayhem!If Wind saw his article in the paper, he would toss it at the next unsuspecting passerby. Because he’s done with the paper and found it a little annoying. Unless that passerby happens to be a certain Phoenix.

Arsenik’s Article. Ah, I wanted something romantic here. When Arsenik loves, wouldn’t you say he does so passionately? Ambrosia’s name is left out because 1) he already said he’s not bold enough to put it in there and 2) it simultaneously fits the War: Valentine Edition setting/universe (where you, the player, go on dates with the boys). If you’re the one he loves, you can imagine receiving an article like this, can’t you?If Arsenik saw his article in the paper, he would recall all the times he went over the words in his head and proofread them. He would re-read it once more, as if hunting for imperfections even when it’s already too late. He would think he was being silly when he put it in the paper, but it also feels nice to air his feelings. Now, it’s just a matter of whether she will come to the Sky-Reaching Park. He really will wait every day for you.

Night’s Article. He is a warrior of the Vi, so it makes sense for him to be an army veteran. Again, you can see his relaxed flirting style. The journalist made the approach, and he responds honestly (“I think you’re a very pretty woman”).If Night saw his article in the paper, he would chuckle with amusement.

Onyx’s Article. This article being written by “a Random Journalist” is the only thing that might earn a chuckle out of you. Everything else is much more sobering because that’s Onyx for you! This is the kind of headline that suits him.If Onyx saw his article in the paper, he would register the information and remember it. 

X’s Article. X is the bad boy of prison. With his fire powers, wouldn’t a modern-day world label him as an arsonist?If X saw his article in the paper, I imagine he’s in jail by this point. He likes what they quoted him on.

Jasmine & Rosemary’s Article. Rosemary is a fan girl! Well, Jasmine is one, too…but not for Justin Bieber! (Even if she secretly thinks he’s good looking. She just doesn’t like him as much as a certain boy band…)If the two saw their article in the paper, Rosemary would shriek, “THEY BARELY CHANGED MY NAME!” Jasmine would say, “What does it matter? Your face is in the picture. I told you not to talk to the reporters! Why couldn’t we have just gone to the BTS concert? None of this would have happened otherwise!”

Bo-Peep’s Article. Now, I should note that I’m not intending to make any particular political statement here. I’m only tailoring the articles to fit each character’s personality/background. Bo-Peep would indeed make a fine beauty vlogger, and she would have no qualms about posing for Playboy. As for going from the king’s mistress to the president’s other woman…well, are you siding with her fans who think it’s all a lie or those who believe it? After all, there is a money trail…If Bo-Peep saw her article in the paper, she would ask her manager (King Barium?) what to do.

Wildfire & Brooks’ Article. The cosplaying duo! In a modern setting, they’re totally gamer girls, who like dressing up and thinking they’re hot stuff. But yeah, Wildfire isn’t any nicer. If Ambrosia did show up at the convention with the same cosplay (without any malice, of course), you can imagine how Wildfire would react, right? Just don’t expect an “open” freak out. Wildfire’s an expert in the Mean Girls style of bullying, you know? If the two saw their article in the paper, Wildfire would click her tongue and go, “Yep. Lookin’ good.” Brooks would agree, “We do look good, don’t we? Kyahaha!”

Ambrosia & Chase’s Article. All right. Barring extenuating circumstances, these two…honestly wouldn’t be featured in the newspaper. They don’t do anything outstandingly spectacular or necessarily cause trouble. Ambrosia is shy, while Chase is the kind of nice Average Joe who gets friend-zoned like he mentioned. (Present-day Ambrosia of Beauty and the War might be able to grab the headlines…but I want to avoid spoilers! So, we’re sticking with past Ambrosia for now.)While I could have an article featuring Ambrosia being a casualty of, say, Wildfire, I decided to give her an ask column in the style of Dear Abby. This way, Chase would write in a question and voila! They both have a spot in the newspaper. When Ambrosia received this question, she was thinking, “Oh dear…I don’t have any experience with relationships! Am I really qualified to answer a question like this? But I have to tell him something…I’m sure he’s a good man. I’ll remind him of his positive qualities and tell him not to give up. He’s sure to find someone!”Interestingly, you might notice that Ambrosia is someone who’s good at encouraging others but not herself. She’s the kind of person who would think, “Someone like me shouldn’t be with anyone.”  Perhaps…she has a particular reason for thinking this way?On a side note, I went with her picture from the Don’t Take This Risk webtoon because this was a modern-day setting!If Ambrosia and Chase saw their article in the paper, Chase would exclaim, “Ahh! They didn’t make my name anonymous like I thought they would!”Ambrosia would think, “I do hope I managed to help Sir Chase. I meant every word I said. Mm…did he mean to include his name…?It’s also…really strange seeing my picture in the paper like that…! It’s kind of embarrassing. I wonder if it’s really necessary to include my face. I’m sure no one wants to see me. It’d be much cuter to have something like a fluffy bunny or a baby deer instead. Yes, I would like that much more!”

The Hulder’s Article. This was really a way to slip in an article for Viktor, who’s part of the supporting cast in Beauty and the War (X Playing Pieces). The Hulder are ethereally attractive, so in the modern-day world, they would sparkle be models. All-natural models.Naturally (no pun intended!), Arsenik tries to talk up his nephew, who’s more interested in lights and fame than him. Arsenik’s happier sitting in a cafe, sipping from a cup of tea and reading a book (and maybe sneaking glances at the woman who caught his heart?). I’m not sure if you find it funny that the guy who’s ranked one of the top 10 sexiest models…can’t work up the courage to approach his crush.If Viktor saw his article in the paper, he would say (to whoever’s with him), “Oh, I have a pretty nice spot in the photo. I thought I’d be more in the back or shuffled to the side, but you can see my face and everything just fine. That’s good! I can’t wait for Fashion Week!”

There we have it! The articles and the headlines many of my characters would make. Hope you enjoyed it, Anonymous. Which ones were your favorites?

Oh, and if anyone ever does want to write to “Dear Ambrosia,” feel free. She loves to encourage you with love and positivity!

I’m now pretty exhausted, so I’ll be heading off now. Have an awesome rest of the day!

[thedepthsremember]

20 Questions: Choices fanfic writers edition 

Tagged in this by @breaumonts! Thanks :D 

1. When/what age did you start writing?   In elementary school, I wrote and drew my own picture books, which at that age I definitely thought was the best thing to do forever. In middle/high school, there was some self-insert Spider-Man and Harry Potter fanfic that I hope stays buried forever. I picked it back up more regularly during an awful period in college where I lost my love of drawing (unfortunate, considering my major) but still needed to express somehow. 2. What inspired you to start? Similar to my art it's been a way to express myself, to tell my side of how I'm seeing things. A lot of the time it's like solving a puzzle, what was that character thinking? And then I just keep chasing that thought. 

It weirds me out that writing feels more like..... excavating. Like it was there and I’m just uncovering it. Drawing doesn’t feel like that at all.  3. Where and when does inspiration usually strike you? I do a lot of driving, so usually then, or if I'm doing something repetitive at work and I can let my mind wander. While I'm getting a massage is a random one but I'm relaxed and my mind can just play without getting in its own way.

4. Where and when do you usually to write? Morning? Late at night? On the bus? In bed? Lately it's been my favorite way to procrastinate sleeping because it's like I'm being productive! Hahaaa

I'll write entire scenes in my head before I write anything down. Sometimes I'll dash down little parts on paper or in my phone to make sure I don't forget. 

5. Do you listen to music while writing? If so what genre/playlist? A lot of chill video game instrumentals are a good default, unless I have a playlist or an artist I know will set the right mood. I'm pop trash so usually that'll fall to the background enough that I can focus. 6. Which category do you like best? Angst? Fluff? NSFW? Other? I would love to wrote more fluff, but it seems to tend towards a lot of angsting and anxiety with some humor thrown in, I guess because that's how I deal with my own thoughts. I do get to give them happy endings, so that's nice! 7. Which category do you find most challenging to write?  Smut is really difficult and awkward for me, partly bc part of the appeal of the actual acts irl are they help me turn my brain chatter off, so it's hard to put that back into descriptions. Plus I'm just self conscious about how personal that is. 

Also anything with an actual plot. I can give you moments and that's about it. 8. If you had to pick your favourite Choices book, which one would it be and why? TRR is the one that sucked me in and stole my soul for whatever reason, BUT I can also admit a lot of that is for what it could be. It's a good thought playground. Like Harry Potter. 

Perfect Match is shaping up to be my jam, I live for sci fi and found families and all that "what is the nature of humanity" nonsense. It's like Dollhouse without being built on a base of creepiness. 

I also really love the ILITW cast, enough that it balances out how much of a wimp i am when it comes to scary things.  9. If your Choices LIs were real, which one (and only one!) would you personally want to be with? I've said before that Damien from Perfect Match is the closest to my irl type, but right now I'm kind of exhausted of that "I'm too cool to like things" sort of dude. Idk let's give older Lucas (ilitw) a shot. He's motivated but has a playful side, we might balance each other out. Especially after he figures himself out more in college. 10. Do you share any physical characteristics with your Choices MCs? Pics/selfies optional :) Riley is small and ready to brawl and I've basically given her an idealized version of my body type when I draw her. Uhhh like half of the others end up being long haired blondes because even though that's not my hair anymore it was like that for most of my life. 11. Which MC do you share the most personality traits with?   Perfect Match MC feels the closest, a lotta the other MCs are leader types, PM MC is like Alright yeah let's kick ass so we can go home and eat ice cream. Feels very purple Hawke. 

TRR MC in her more absurd moments also feels very familiar. I have a story about the fancy hats.  12. Which Choices character do you feel you have the best grasp of in terms of personality? I get Drake bc that fucker is every guy I've befriended who then caught feelings because he's not used to being treated nicely. :| He also has a “the people I care about deserve the things I want more than I do" thing that I am only now realizing feels.... awfully familiar....... :| …...let’s move on. 

13. What’s your favorite Choices pairing to write for? Obviously Maxwell x MC. I love pairs that have a good push and pull, where they can be silly but care about each other.

Sidedish of MC+Drake friendship because my wish fulfillment fantasy is those previously mentioned guys stop ruining a potentially good friendship with their moping and actually be a pal, dammit.  14. What is a pairing/s you hope to start writing for? Like anything else, lmao. More friendship stuff? Hana's only been in one of my fics which bums me out. 

Pretty sure some Damien x MC and Hayden x MC will be coming now that PM2 is happening. Something with more ladies. Eleanor x MC from THOBM! Ghost gf fitting into the modern world has plenty of potential. 15. What do you hope to improve in your writing? Current struggle is I keep trying to write smut and then distracting myself with what happens before/after. Gah. 

More actions / feelings. I feel like too much of my writing comes from dialogue with actions peppered in to meter the rhythm. 

16. Any pet peeves related to writing? So. Words have always been a finicky thing for me. Things will make sense in my head, and then I say them out loud and realize people aren’t seeing things from the same spot. So sharing my writing is A VERY SELF-CONSCIOUS TIME. 

In terms of the actual process: When I just wanna write something self-indulgent and I start actually trying, and then we're like 5 miles off track from the fun part. I also get pretty self-conscious that the OOC police or something is going to come for me. 17. Are you inspired by any IRL experiences when you write? Care to share? A lot of flaws or traumas I'll saddle my characters with are my own but tweaked, because I like the idea that someone can have them and still succeed. 18. Is there any particular piece of work you consider to be your ultimate writing goal? uhhhhh i. don't. know? If I could make someone laugh and cry in the same fic that's golden. 19. Did/do you write for any other fandoms? If so which ones? I have a bunch of drabbles for Dragon Age. I also just checked my ancient FF.net account to make sure the really old stuff is gone and found some Teen Titans and ATLA stuff I completely forgot about. 20. In your spare time (when you’re not writing) what other hobbies do you pursue?   Art mainly, I'm back into digital for the first time since graduation (I majored in animation/illustration) so that's kind of exciting right now. VIDEO GAMES. I like to bake but my housemates have way more self control than I do, meaning I always end up eating most of whatever it is, so that's dangerous. I do like to work out. Share and tag fandom writers! @riseandshinelittleblossom and anyone else who wants to! 

[emmelfish]

Did somebody say 7 Year Hiatus?

Poker... is Joker... with a P. COINCIDENCE?

(shuffles nervously into internet light) Uh... hello.

Screenshot from the downtown outing idiotic Daniel invited his sister on which I foolishly let her accept. Thank goodness I’d installed the anti-jealousy mod otherwise this would have been a freaking bloodbath.

Wow, has it really been 7 years? It is I, Emmelfish, of oh-so-brief Sim storytelling back in the days of Livejournal. Way back then I started off a little Strangetown-based soap called We’re on a Road to Nowhere - I thoroughly enjoyed making it, but man, overall, it was NAHT GUD. Some of it I was really proud of, some of it I went massively off the rails with (I wanted to bring other ‘hoods into it when I went the Uberhood route but I had no idea how to plan that out, plus, some of the plotlines were massively problematic. My tendency to force Erin and Vidcund together being a prime example. Seriously, they have zero in common, and you can’t buy chemistry).

From back in the day. What was I thinking, that shit looks creepy and revenge-porny no matter which way you spin it. Plus ya gotta at least TRY to diversify the abundance of blond in Strangetown. Also let’s have a moment of silence for the in-game camera.

Anyway, I think my last entry in that saga was like... 2011? And many things changed then... the game crashed like every 5 minutes, a four year relationship ended, a new one began with my best friend of all time, we got married in 2013 (oh, he bought me The Sims 3 in 2012 btdubs and I dunno, it just kinda left me cold)... Fast forward to 2014 when the Ultimate Collection was released and I was all ‘holy SHIT I looooved The Sims 2 let’s get back on that horse I wanna make that University saga I always thought about’; we installed it onto my husband’s desktop computer, and then I copied over some of the CC I’d backed up onto an external hard drive, and I’m not even kidding, his PC imploded. We had it looked at, and the tech guys said they’d never seen anything like it ever before. It was destroyed. How does a game and CC that had worked fine on my laptop that should have been collecting its pension by my last posts of WOARTN (before shitting itself with crashes all the goddamn time) melt the inside of a far more powerful machine? The Sims works in mysterious ways. So that dream was over.

Hamfisted posebox usage was hamfisted on Lazlo’s wedding night in 2011. Pray for Erin’s liquid knee, weak as her liquid eyeliner.

Lots more happened in life, e.g. in 2016 WE BIRTHED OUR FIRST FURCHILD heisthebestdogintheworld, 2017 we moved our tiny family of three from the north west of the UK (grey and drizzly) to Strangetown, cough, I mean, Arizona in the US (hot as balls, I’m never putting a Strangetown or Viper Canyon character in a sweater ever-a-fucking-gain unless it’s early morning and Sim January or February), with my job. Somewhere between my job getting hella stressful and randomly seeing an ad for all the Sims 2 games ever released on Mac (dat Super Collection doe) via the app store, I just remembered how much this silly, wonderful, crazy, complex game used to make me feel better if I was anxious or depressed. So what the heckers, I bought the thing. (Sadly it wasn’t free like Ultimate Collection, and it’s a shame they never released further SPs and EPs for Mac because the game looks freaking fab on it. Case in point.)

No photo editing or anything! Pretty colors! Haha, yep I actually had my fave OTP get together and let those crazy kids breed and everything when I was playing with Super Collection, one of the million times I had to restart it because it kept getting borked. This pic is peak Chloe, I die. ‘Why do you have to go into labor when I’m celebrating my promotion, you’re so selfish.’ Casual Seasons-themed ad on the TV.

I fell in love all over again. And then I discovered that the LJ community I loved back when had mostly moved to Tumblr and were still producing beautiful things with this beautiful game and it was like the best kind of comfort food, it was like coming home. 

Actually let’s take a moment to appreciate some more of the Mac magic.

Chloe’s grey hair turn-on really working itself hard right there 

Another potential elderly suitor right behind her. Lola has clearly had enough of her sister’s shit as per

#JustNannyThings

But trying to do everything I always did on my ancient Acer laptop was really hard on Mac (legitimately, @bunsim is a scholar and a saint for figuring out the monstrous file issues with Mac and putting that guide together). I checked my Origin account out of curiosity and no longer had Ultimate Collection in there for some reason, and even though I couldn’t play it, I said to EA’s chat, ‘What gives? I used to have that,’ and they promptly put it back into my account.

So I wanted to play it. Like, really bad. IT WAS RIGHT THERE.

Thus, I purchased a PC for the first time since the early noughties. (This may be the most reckless thing I’ve ever done and that makes me a Grade A nerd, and I’m okay with that.)

And now I want to read all your wonderful things and post hopefully wonderful things and I do hope you’ll have me.

So...

Hai Simblr!

[dragonpigeons]

Bam. I cannot believe how much I have drawn (and improved?) this past year. I owe it all to the support of my friends and followers. Thank you.

Special Mentions to Special People

@casxia @anandinair @serensama: My two sisters/wives and mother, respectively. A girl couldn’t ask for a better family :’) I know we’re all busy doing our shit but whenever I hear from you guys it makes my day. You’re all so talented and I hope you get what you’re after in your crafts because, dang it if y’all don’t deserve it and more! Thank you for being the first friends I made on Tumblr and sticking with me. Let’s talk more in 2018!

@7space0chips7 @lilith5th @sander-sonia @crystalsoul16 @yoosungsbutt aka the Plus Ultra Server: You guys are lit. I’ve had the funniest and wildest chats ranging from outlandish speculations on ink boy’s quirk to designing the most ridiculous otome game featuring Larry the Seagull together (which we should totes carry on doing LOL). You never fail to make me laugh. Let’s Go Beyond to 2018 PLUS ULTRA!!!

@kuromiyadk @indispanna @blissfullyintoxicated @mariamagica @nanahuatli @didem-dg @yooshixlucy @pokebe @princeforestfox @prisoner-of-cerebrum: We don’t talk that often but when we do I really appreciate getting your messages :) I basically met all of you via the MM fandom and I’m really grateful to know you. Getting to know you has brightened up my life and I hope we keep in touch into 2018 :D

@The MM Server by @chaoticstarblossoms: I joined you guys only several days ago but I’m really happy I did. You’re all so friendly and welcoming and, for someone who’s kinda shy when it comes to big groups, I’m pleasantly surprised by how quickly I came to feel a part of the server. Not only me but you take any new member under the wing right from the start with warmth and it’s just really awesome! I hope to get to know you guys more and to join in with more shenanigans in the next year. Thank you for having me ^-^

@The MM fandom: Thank you so much for welcoming me with open arms. I created my first MM fanart at the start of 2017, not really expecting to draw much more than that for the rest of the year. Well pffftttsjfsehjerhej I did a rough count and would you believe that I’ve drawn 100+ MM-related and 50+ BNHA-related pics in the past 11 months?? 8D This is a huge deal to me because previously I drew maybe 10 pics on average per year. I was unmotivated, uninspired and pretty hopeless back then. But MM was the spark I needed and you guys became the fuel that keeps me going. It gives me life when I read your comments in the tags and reblogs. It also gives me life to see what you’ve created and shared. I have awed, laughed, cried and suffered over fanart, fanfics, edits, memes etc. You’re all inspiring and you gave me a place to belong. Thank you.

@my followers: What can I say...thank you for actually hitting that follow button. I don’t even know why you would tbh. There is practically no consistency to my posts - I’m not creating any long-term comics and I don’t just draw one thing, like strictly painting MM or BNHA. And also I don’t think my ideas are all that popular in the grand scheme of things. It sometimes makes me feel a little insecure but that’s a whole other topic for another time.

I just gotta say this - you guys give me hope as an artist. Before I came to Tumblr I was on Deviantart and my stuff largely went by unnoticed for quite a few years. It gave me the impression that nobody cared about my art and that it would never reach anyone because the things I draw aren’t the things a lot of people cared about. But you guys proved to me that it can reach someone. And not just someone but several someones. I really can’t believe that nearly 2k of you actually like what I create. Even though I draw silly and strange things you still chose to follow me. Thanks to you all, for the first time I feel that I can make something of myself as an artist. And that is more than I could ever ask for.

To the newer followers, welcome to my shithole. To the older veterans, thank you for sticking with me. I hope you’ll all stick with me for a long time yet but if you have to go then thanks for the time you’ve spent with me. Ultimately, thank you for instilling some much needed confidence in me. I still have a long way to go and so much to learn and improve on. But if there’s one thing I wanna do going forward it is to put more of myself into my creations. For someone who’s kinda shy on social media, I guess I just want to show more of myself as a person through my stuff. Whether that means more crack or something serious, well...who knows. Either way, I hope that you’ll continue to enjoy my art in the coming year :) 

Thank you once again for being with me.

TL;DR @Everyone mentioned here: Thank you for giving me the best gifts of 2017 - love, friendship, laughter, confidence and hope. I’ll wrap this up by wishing you all a fabulous year ahead. Let’s work hard and make it happen in 2018 <3333

[comicteaparty]

May 6th-May 12th, 2019 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from May 6th, 2019 to May 12th, 2019.  The chat focused on Chirault by Ally Rom Colthoff (Varethane).

Featured Comment:

Chat:

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Chirault by Ally Rom Colthoff (Varethane)~! (http://chirault.sevensmith.net/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PDT), so keep checking back for more! You have until May 12th to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. What moment of discrimination featured in the story really caught your eye in its portrayal? How do you feel about the Mage Guild’s reason about disallowing Kyrion like Teeko and Trillia from using magic in the face of these themes of discrimination?

Kabocha

Aaaah, it's been a bit since I read Chirault, but... Basically any scene where Teeko's being awesome... Bonus points if she's using magic, like on this page! http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=642 As far as discrimination... Hm. I think the fact that Ridriel was willing to go through so much to become a mage was pretty striking. While the mage's guild really doesn't like Kyrion using magic... Hmmm. That attitude doesn't seem to be a completely firm rule, especially as they learn more...~ http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=1095 I need to re-read my copies of the books when I get back home, though.

Delphina

Yeah, I'm re-reading mine now too!

I had forgotten about the page where Astrid steals the car but I love it: http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=780

Kabocha

Ahaha, Astrid's honestly one of my favorites in the mage guild. "I see no problems here!"

Delphina

Astrid is so great. Just like "yeah, I'm just gonna do what I want kthxbai"

RebelVampire

i mean tbf hes not wrong

about the car one at least

Kabocha

I'm also partial to Ridriel -- she worked so hard to fit in and become a mage.

Delphina

I'd say the most blatant scene of demon discrimination was early on where Jim used the spice that made Teeko go rabid so he could justify killing Kiran (http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=142) and then later when Kiran deduces he killed her parents this way. (http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=152) Everything else stays on the "I'm sorry, we can't actually welcome you into this part of society" brand of discrimination, but it showed that some people were definitely willing to get violent over demons and humans mixing in society.

RebelVampire

ridriel is such an interesting character because of that. i think largely because she doesnt seem to regret it all that much and accepts the sacrifices she had to make to achieve her dreams. and that just goes so against the grain of what youd expect to see

Delphina

Another classic Astrid page: http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=813

varethane

I enjoy every Astrid-troll scene XD (there's a picture floating around out there of Astrid and Kiran facing down, with the troll-face shopped over Astrid's)

also: hi!!!

Kabocha

Hiii! I almost wonder if there's a list of all the time Astrid trolled people in the comic-- But I feel like, not counting the mini comic (and the last couple chapters), that'd be nearly every page Astrid shows up in.

RebelVampire

no no

theres those pages at the end where astrid is passed out for a bit(edited)

you cant be a troll when youre passed out probably

its very sad

varethane

I'm sure if there were a way, he would find it

duskglass

(1) i can't choose a single favourite scene but the part where teeko falls through bethan is really cool visually, and i love the eventual sibling bond between kiran & teeko (and also every scene with kiran & vivian)

duskglass

(2) a lot of the early scenes with kiran also come to mind, how he's clearly resigned to not being trusted by average villagers, and constantly has to verify his identity & prove he's not a threat. and the contrast between ridriel and trillia shows how limited their options were as kyrion who wanted to also be mages (ridriel giving up her kyrion nature vs trillia going rogue)

Desnik

ohh already digging the cool character design, I'm only one page in too

varethane

Woo!

duskglass

(also i found that trollface pic!!)

RebelVampire

QUESTION 3. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 4. What moment of magic use in the story did you like the most? What about how it was used or illustrated did you like specifically?

€heshire777

Astrid, for being Astrid

Delphina

I do love Astrid, but all said and done, I think Bethan edges him out a little in the end. I love the fact that she was just a guard in a backwoods town, compared to almost every other big super-magical character who was trained by the Hunters or Mages Guild, but she's still like "well I can hold a spear now 60% of the time so heck yeah I wanna mess stuff up with y'all!"

Teeko's got a bit of that too and of course she's ADORABLE, but since her perspective is more childlike, she literally doesn't have context to know what she's walking into when she's like "YEAH LEMME SET IT ON FIRE" and it's more about not wanting to leave her found family than going toe to toe with corrupt mages.

varethane

fun story, both Bethan and Astrid are Ascended Extras (I'm pretty sure that's the name of the trope)

I needed faces to fill a space in the plot, and then decided I liked them too much to just leave them behind-- and, oh, look at that, coincidentally there's a new-character-shaped hole in the upcoming plot....

RebelVampire

gotta love those convenient and totally coincidental character shaped holes

RebelVampire

1) my fave scene is the one towards the end where Ridriel and Trillia are fighting John has to come and break their asses up. http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=1230 i always remember just feeling such utter tension from this scene because of their relationship. like the stake of the world is at hand and yet a sibling rivalry is what stands between the world being fine and the world exploding into a thousands bits. and i frankly wasnt sure if trillia could convince ridriel that nah she was there to help. and i love that even after they agree to work together, ridriel and trillia are still basically like "i hate you" to each other. and then john is there to be stuck in the middle like the poor sap. 2) i have to go back to what i already mentioned with ridriel. she is a fascinating character because she didnt let discrimination stand in the way of her dreams. and while you could argue the path she takes is horrible, the nuance to her feelings regarding it really gets the mind thinking about the nature of sacrifice and what elements of ourselves we choose to define ourselves by. As for the Mage Guild's reasons, I mean...I get where they're coming from. But I think Rune sums it up correctly at the end when he says "my dudes its magic magic in general is dangerous"

3) Heryan. Heryan is the character I wish I could be because she is calm, collected, and knows how to play political games like a master. And she's also legitimately working towards a better future and kind of putting her money where he mouth is. She is also a badass mage. And these are all things i can get behind and I would read an entire spinoff about Heryan. A close second is Astrid our resident troll mage because he's just a nice dude and I like his broship with Kiran. He adds an element of silly yet mage skill that the main party needed in their life. Plus, I just really love Astrid's design. 4) I really liked that moment when Teeko was going to cast the fire spell but then had her mouth covered to stop her. Cause it really showed that in her childishness she doesn't always think her magic through and, like a child, will ignore the wise sentiments of her elders. And I just think overall it's use, or non-use in this case, really hammered in just how much of a child Teeko still is because her comprehension for the situations around her are not necessarily the highest.

Delphina

Yessss I would also read an entire spinoff about Heryan, she's so excellent

Delphina

And yeah, Bethan does have the feel of an Ascended Extra, and I think what appeals to me about that kind of protagonist in a high-stakes story is they have much more freedom and agency. Kiran had Specific Things He Had To Do, Teeko had nowhere else to go, so they have to advance the plot by default. But when characters aren't so directly involved and get to CHOOSE to advance the plot, they get to have personal reasons for doing so and can embody all those cool "what if"s that are closed off to the core cast.

In a situation where you have an easy out, why do you choose to do the hard thing? That kind of character is so interesting to me!

varethane

That's a neat way to look at it! I enjoyed writing Bethan a lot, though if there were one thing I could change, it'd be to explore her anger a bit more in the lategame parts of the story (because boy has she got some haha)

(also, Heryan has always been my favourite character to draw XD THAT HAIR)

Delphina

Having just finished rereading my print volumes, I think my favorite magic is when Rupa helps Teeko cast the silence spell on Trillia and Ridriel to get them to stop fighting. http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=1358

varethane

the first truly useful spell.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. What has been your favorite illustration in the comic so far? What specifically about it do you like?

QUESTION 6. What was a moment where a character was confused about themselves or life situation that you enjoyed? What about it was relatable, and what are your thoughts on how the character overcame that obstacle?

RebelVampire

5) http://chirault.sevensmith.net/?comic_id=1118 probably this page cause thats not only some beautiful magic, but i love the shot choices. i also love how jagged the magic kind of is and the amount of ill call them tendrils. cause it really makes the process look horribly painful and its an illustration that really made me go "oh shit" cause rather than kiran's shoes, i could put myself in teeko's shoes and understand exactly the horrifying crap shes seeing right now. 6) This one I have to give to Kiran for the whole Viraigo debacle. I actually am not sure I'd call it relatable, because ppl dont generally find out the truth as Kiran did. Yet, its the fact that its not that relatable that I enjoy. Because that just makes it horrible and it also puts you in Kiran's shoes. Cause like Kiran, you're asking who is he, how responsible is he for this mess, etc. And so even if you can't imagine it happening ot you, it's still a complicated and really thought provoking situation to be in. As for how he overcame the obstacle, I really loved the subtlety and kind of nonchalant way he handled it, for lack of a better word. Like theres no definitive him declaring "yeah I'm not Viraigo or this other person I am Kiran." It's just him kind of wordlessly accepting who he is/choosing who he is. Cause it kind of also gives the impression hes still gonna have things to work out over the years to come. But that's very true to life cause rarely do people just snap their fingers and come to a full grasp of who they are.

varethane

Re: Kiran/Viraigo, I'm really glad that impression came through! I wanted to avoid giving a definitive answer to the question of WHO he truly is, because.... identity doesn't really work that way, in real life you don't get an easy one-and-done answer. So I didn't want to wrap up that particular issue with a neat little bow-- the important thing isn't the answer itself, but his acceptance of himself.

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Which characters do you enjoy seeing interact the most? What about their dynamic interests you?

QUESTION 8. Who do you feel went too far and why: the Mage Guild for creating their destructive items or Viraigo’s group for trying to restore the natural order? What do you think the story says about the balance between progression and the natural order?

Delphina

I really can't put much blame on anyone except the Mage Guild here (and Jenneth in particular for murderfying people and setting fire to the library when he couldn't get his way). It really seems like if Viraigo's group got what they asked for from the beginning, they would have been happy to just release the big ol' katamari of spirits and end the spell on Arya that was keeping her a creepy crumbly living corpse. Now releasing the spirits didn't WORK and that was pretty ugly, but they realized it right away and wanted to fix it.

Tree Lady/Ria was unnecessarily extra, though.

varethane

spirit katamari!!!!

RebelVampire

“murderfying”

i approve of this word usage

RebelVampire

7) too many. too many Ridriel and Trillia because they have i think the most interesting and contentious relationship in the comic. That you want them to overcome their past issues and get along cause both have good points on where theyre coming from. Heryan and Rune because theyre like a dynamic duo to me and really compliment each others personalities nicely. Rupa and Teeko cause Rupa is the nice older brother type who just wants everybody to be happy and is willing to show Teeko how to make ppl stfu. Astrid and Kiran cause its troll vs. grump man which makes for hilarious shenanigans and interesting dynamics since they have to work together but also approach life very differently. Yet, they can come together when it matters. Bethan and Vivian cause I like how Vivian is like "Bethan probably should wear a mask" and Bethan is like "meh" and its like this weird pseudo mom daughter relationship that i can get behind and find truly endearing.

8) Uh, the answer imo is both. They both went too far. This story is literally a series of ppl saying, "What's the worst that could happen?" and then through their lack for foresight the worst was really end the world bad shit. In regards to progression and natural order, I think the story has a lot to say just in general that extremisim is bad. You go too far in anyone direction and you wind up hurting something that's going to be missed. Thus why neither side really won, because they both tried too hard for the thing they wanted. Additionally, i think the story says a lot about how our ideas of what's best for the world may actually not be the best. Thus why we need rules, regulations, codes of ethics, and so forth. Because there's a point we just go too far and blow up the world.

varethane

(Vivian will be everyone's mom if they let her.)

re: 8, it's funny because I didn't set out to make that a major theme of the story, but it is something I definitely believe in-- the importance of checks and balances. So I find it really cool that it comes through!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. What sorts of art or story details have you noticed in the way the comic is crafted that you think deserves attention?

QUESTION 10. Do you feel the others were right to forgive Kiran for Viraigo’s actions? Do you think Ridriel and Trillia will forgive each other? Will Trillia forgive the Mage Guild? Overall, what insight can you gleam about the theme of forgiveness from the comic?

RebelVampire

9) All them landscape shots. Have you seen them? They are amazing and like...nature looks like nature. And nature stuff is hard to do and yet i always felt very immersed within each space. Plus, there were so many just like...far back shots where you get to take in the scenery, and i feel like so many moments do these really just set a tone and the atmosphere for stuff thats about to go down. 10) Yes I think the others were fine to forgive Kiran. Cause at the end of the day what's the point of punishing something they don't even remember doing? Especially when said person did their best to help and make the world a better place. Plus Kiran feels more like...not Viraigo anyway. Like imo Viraigo is dead and all thats left are aspects of himself. And these aspects, while part of Viraigo, just arent him. I think Ridriel and Trillia will forgive each other, but i think itd be a while before Trillia would forgive the mage guild. And even if Trillia did I'm not sure she'd ever consider joining just given the long history of animosity. In general, the insight I gleam is that forgiveness is difficult and that even if you forgive, this doesn't always fix everything.

Delphina

Yeah, I think sometimes grudging acceptance and moving on with your life with what you got is about all they can do. I really want to see how Teeko's presence affects Trillia and Ridriel moving forward, because I think them having her future to focus on gives them the chance that they never had to affect demons' place in the world. I'm just envisioning both taking on Mentor Aunt roles and trying to show Teeko cooler spells than the other in escalating hilarity.

varethane

Those would be some fun little shorts! If I get some time maybe I'll look into putting something like that together

Mentor aunts hehe

RebelVampire

QUESTION 11. What do you think are this particular comic’s strengths? What do you think makes this comic unique? Please elaborate.

QUESTION 12. Which character’s growth/progression in the story is your favorite? How would you describe how they changed as a person, and what do you like about how they changed? What do you think we can learn from it for our own lives?

Delphina

I like how Bethan grew from a cool quiet fighter in a village to a cool slightly louder fighter who can fly and dissolve through walls. I too would like to be able to fly and dissolve through walls.

AshAngelV

Responding to 11, It's one of the few stories I've read that has a male and female mc that don't end up in a romantic relationship. I love their brother sister bond.

varethane

I three wish I could fly and dissolve through walls

And yeah, friendship stories that arent romancea are very important to me

duskglass

teeko is a child so one would really hope not xD;;;

tho the same could be said about all of the main cast! (we also have rune & heryan, kiran or astrid & bethan, etc) i really appreciated the lack of forced romance sideplots in chirault; it's really refreshing to see stories that focus on platonic relationships

RebelVampire

QUESTION 13. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

QUESTION 14. Overall, how hopeful are you for the world at the end? Do you believe the changes regarding non-humans using magic will affect the world positively? Will relations with the tree spirits be mended? How do you believe the characters’ lives wound up being?

Delphina

On a macro-societal level, I think the world's gonna be okay. With Heryan at the helm, I think the Mages' Council is definitely going to be trying harder to be more inclusive and less awful toward non-humans and the planet; she definitely seems to have hit it off with the tree spirits diplomatically so I see a lot of potential for progress there. The issues I see in the non-humans' future is that they didn't seem to have much societal organization or structure that we saw (though it was established that Kyrion lived and worked in the cities, so maybe some ambitious leaders would rise to the surface that way and advocate for more rights).

I'm really curious what Rupa would want to do now, because he wasn't a demon, right? The problem they had with him was that he was a multi-caster and could tap The Big Magic that others couldn't. How many other multi-casters existed, and how would their role change in society if Rupa decided to advocate for them? Maybe the tree spirits could teach them how to use magic more responsibly?

RebelVampire

11) i think the comic's strengths are its endearing characters who have just a lot of gray to them. nobody is just evil or good. ppl had their reasons for doing everything in the comic, and that makes for more dynamic and realistic portrayals. i think another strength is the character designs themselves as well. its just so easy to tell everyone apart, and a lot of everyone's personalities is within their design. 12) I have to go with Bethan on this one. She went from silly small town girl to victim to bitter and angry about her friend to forgiving to wanting to do more for the world. It was an emotionally rollercoaster watching her goes through all these things. Plus, its an interesting mix of choice and no choice. Cause while Bethan did make a lot of choices in regard to her path, the whole becoming incorporeal was more accident. She just learned to make the most of it. And I think that is something we can learn from it. That sometimes life says "I hate you," and is really mean. And sometimes the only way to get through it is to roll with the punches.

13) I still vote for Heryan side story. Or another epilogue montage just showing how everyone is getting along. Especially Astrid cause I support the Astrid, Heryan, Rune family unit. 14) I think the world will be fine for at least a time. Heryan seems to be reasonable and regretful of all the mages' past actions. And I think shell usher in a new era of peace with the tree spirits. that being said, everything is finite so it wont last forever. Especially if Heryan cant find a suitable replacement to her. But overally, all the changes will probably be positive, even if the amount of progress achieved in a single lifetime isnt as great as everyone would want. I'm just gonna pretend all the characters lived happily ever after for my sanity. Teeko probably became a great mage. Although I am kind of on the same page with Delphina where I'm really curious what became of Rupa. Rupa was always an interesting chara to me since he was always kind of mellow and was way less intense than Trillia. So Rupa especially should live happily ever after

varethane

The note about Kyrion society is something that I do wish I'd gone into more depth about in the story! I had a lot of ideas about it but could only show it in tiny peeks and hints because the plot was taking place outside of the cities

I hope the ending leaves people on a positive note, I wanted to show that people are working towards a better future (even if theres a lot of work to be done)

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Chirault this week! Please also give a special thank you to Ally Rom Colthoff (Varethane) for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Chirault, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

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