#I think that's all the prominent characters here

[quibbs126]

You know honestly, you really have to appreciate all that goes into a Cookie Run design

They need to pick a food/ingredient to base the character off of, and then they have to find some association with either the food itself or something similar to it that they can draw parallels with, or inversely they need to find a food that matches the theme they’re going with. Then they have to find ways to incorporate the food into the actual design itself, as well as find some theme or culture to base their designs off of

Like for a random example, S’more Cookie and Cannoli Cookie. The theme of their update was camping, and s’mores are a typical camping food, and cannoli, while I don’t think it has an association with camping, looks a bit like a sleeping bag, which are essential camping gear

Or the Upper City Creme Republic Cookies, who generally all seem to be flavors with either fancy sounding European names, or something associated with a European country, like clotted cream or custard with England (I think), which ties into how, let’s face it, that Upper City colonized this region, and Europe (but mostly Western Europe) having a pretty notable history of colonization. And even the native Council members, Captain Caviar and Oyster, fit in with the upper class feel, with caviar being seen as a fancy food, and oysters, while I’m not sure the food connotations, are associated with pearls, a fancy gem

Or how Burning Spice and his forces are based on various spices, and they have an Indian inspiration due to India being pretty well known for their spices. Or Peach and Peach Blossom having Chinese inspiration due to the significance of peaches in Chinese mythology, as well as Peach taking inspiration from Sun Wukong, a prominent Chinese figure and someone who ate a bunch of peaches of immortality

And sometimes the ingredient doesn’t tie into the cultural/aesthetic inspiration for the character, like how European cheese seems to only have loose connection to Egypt, but they’ll still take care to make the inspirations clear, they’re not just generic, at least nowadays. I think, I might have been a bit unclear here

The characters may not all be a 100% unity between flavor and cultural inspiration, like Clotted Cream pretty much looks like a normal guy outside of his hair looking a little bit like cream, but it does work a lot of the time, and there’s still at least all that care going into the designs themselves

[traincat]

Do you have any favorite Peter Parker character designs? Older and newer? And any one that you'd just personally prefer for him?

Yeah, I feel like I've definitely developed like, a preferred Face for Peter built over various designs throughout the years. (The caterpillar eyebrows are very important to me.) The thing is, I also think, allowing for the wide variety of artistic styles he's been drawn in over the years, up until recently Peter had a pretty consistent design overall.

I really like how both Romitas draw him, for example, but for different reasons. John Romita Sr has a very romantic take on characters in general, which you know, makes sense, he drew for romance comics. It's his art style that really moved Peter away from Ditko's spikier characterization into a more romantic, mature leading man.

(ASM #66) Don't love how often he has blue eyes in this period (I am solidly Team Brown Eyes when it comes to Peter) but I do appreciate the evolution of his design, and I think Romita Sr is so foundational in that. (I like Ditko's design for him, too, the OG and all, but I think considering the evolution of Peter's character, this kind of forward movement with his design makes a lot of sense.) You can kind of see what I consider the hallmarks of Peter's face emerging here -- the thicker eyebrows, the more pronounced jaw, the one roguish curl of hair over his forehead. There's a personality that's developing here, and I like seeing how it evolves, especially because I think John Romita Jr is an artist who really especially brings it home.

(ASM #121-122) And I love how Gil Kane then kind of sharpens that design, especially when Peter is emotionally distressed. The way the prominent brows draw in, the tenseness of his expression, even the way that one forehead curl gets increasingly disheveled -- it's so good.

(ASM #141, #143, #146) Love Ross Andru's face for him, too, and the range of emotion he brings. I think Peter's not really a complete character until he's suffered three losses -- Uncle Ben, George Stacy, and Gwen Stacy. (And I don't think George and Gwen specifically have to be George and Gwen in non-616 continuities, necessarily, but rather people who occupy the roles that George and Gwen represent.) So I like that his features become more defined at this point, and I do always think of Peter as someone who has prominent features. I don't like when he's bland-looking, because I think that plays into the notion of him as a "relatable" hero not because he has relatable problems (the reader relates to his circumstances) but because he's Just Like You (he relates to the reader's circumstances). Having stronger, more defined facial features, rather than just being any guy with brown hair, helps drive home that he is an individual character with his own personality and traits.

I especially love both Sal Buscema and John Romita Jr's takes on him.

(Spectacular Spider-Man #180) I especially like how Buscema draws Peter's build, especially in regards to both Harry and Norman here. Harry is spindly, delicate, and Norman is broader, but Peter has a very athletic build that fits him as Spider-Man. I like him on the lankier side, but still obviously a guy who spends a ton of time doing acrobatics.

(Spectacular Spider-Man #199) I also really like how he draws Peter's resting bitchface. I tend to lean towards Peter kind of having a permanent scowl unless he's with someone he loves or around kids. The lines that man is going to have by 40. It's very lucky everyone he's attracted to is the kind of person to have a twelve step skincare routine and enough mental fortitude to put him through at least three of those.

But when he does smile, I think JRjr in particular nails it.

(Peter Parker #78)

(ASM v2 #55)

(ASM v2 #50) And I know this is about Peter, but the dimples he draws on MJ are so cute. But yeah, for me, when I think about what Peter's face looks like, I mean, first off, I think -- "Ordinary. Saddest face I ever saw. (...) He wants me to be okay, and he's giving me this." Because I'm obsessed with that summary of him from Spectacular Spider-Man v2 #14.

Because I think he should, on first glance, be a little ordinary -- and ordinary doesn't mean plain here, necessarily. He looks at home walking down a busy city block.But he should be a person you could pass on the street without everyone's heads turning. You might remember him in an hour. You might not. I do think he should be handsome, but not in a movie star way. So I like him with those distinctive features that are maybe not thought of as the most conventionally handsome -- big bushy brows, hair that's got a wavier texture, line between his brows before he's even twenty-three. I always write him with a big nose, because I like the schnoz on him, and I have a tendency to describe it as crooked because let's face it, he's gotten hit in the face a lot. A face with character.

But honestly there's a lot of Spider-Man art I like, and I think up until the last kind of decade and a half, a solid majority of artists on his titles have drawn him in a way I like, even if I don't click with their style. (I don't personally vibe with Ramos' art, for example, but you can't deny in the early 2000s he was drawing some brows on him.) So I think for me the big things are strong features, athletic and lanky build, and that his personality comes out in his face and his body language.

(ASM #509 & #510)

[marauders-bs]

Dorcas's interlude: the summer before third year, 1973. masterlist

tw: bcs basically tries to get rid of his kid's personality? idk lmk

haiii :3 another long one to make up for the fact that i disappeared. i swear this will get better when school ends and i don't have to grade papers all the gd time. also for context, there will be one to three interludes per character, so this is one of cas's.

this was supposed to be fluffy and then bcs showed up. we love lesbians. big reveal for cas and reg!!! i'm so ready for the reactions :3 we have one year till ev and dora @jamie-potters @r0seprincess @im-a-mess-of-a-person

For the first time since Ari's birth, Dorcas slept in that summer.

One of the other four, usually Evan or Regulus, was up before the sun. The kids were helping them cook, and they were learning, and Felix was, too. Regulus got his period a few days after his birthday and had a breakdown that Dorcas helped him through. She'll always help him.

Barty talked about Ilaria. He told the twins and Reg as well, and Pandora was able to reconstruct her in a drawing. Barty cried and pretended not to. They all pretended he didn't.

That summer was the summer. Dorcas's mother didn't make an appearance through a letter or visit, which was fine by Dorcas, and everything was going perfectly. Dorcas's grandparents slept in as well, and though they still went to work, Dorcas saw her grandmother's dark circles become less and less prominent in her face. 

That summer, Regulus woke her up before the sun on a random day in July. "I think I'm gonna tell them," he said, sitting on her bed. "That I'm– that I was–"

"Do you want to?" Dorcas asked quietly. Evan slept in twenty minute spurts and he was quiet even when he was awake. Observant. And sleeping a wall away.

"I do," he answered. "Not just for me. Barty's talking about Ilaria and I feel like there are a lot less secrets. And it's one thing off your plate, too, right?"

"Don't do it for me," Dorcas said. "Do it for you, because you want to."

Regulus looked at her, his eyes looking old and wise for a kid. Dorcas knew, realistically, that they weren't really kids. They didn't act like it. No kid slept in twenty-minute intervals for fear of dreaming of his friends' dead bodies, just like no kid lied blatantly about something as simple as gender to his parents and got away with it. No kid raised four other kids. No kid raised one. 

"I'm gonna do it," he whispered. "For me. Let's go to the woods."

They rounded up the other three– Evan was, in fact, awake– and headed to the woods. Barty barely looked awake.

They sat down in the same vaguely circular shape they'd been in a few weeks before when they'd done the soul-binding ritual but closer together. They could all sense that Reg needed it, and even if he complained when Barty put his feet over his legs, he didn't curse him. Regulus opened his mouth twice before giving up and reaching out through their connection.

I've been lying to all of you since we met.

Barty's brow furrowed. Yeah, I lied about Ilaria. I'm sure everyone here has some big secret except me now. What're you hiding?

Dorcas felt Regulus's fear like it was hers. She slid her hand into his.

My name– my legal name, at least– isn't Regulus. Sirius wrote to McGonagall before I started school to ask her to change it to Regulus.

Why would you need it changed? Evan asked.

I don't have a sister, Evan, Regulus said. I am the sister.

What do you mean? Pandora asked.

I was born a girl. But I'm a boy.

Dorcas felt them all contemplating that and then felt in-her-head Barty lean his head on Regulus's shoulder.

You can do that?

Evan's voice wasn't judging. He sounded considering, like he was looking back through his life.

Regulus cracked a smile. Got something you want to ask? Or share?

How'd you find out? Pandora asked.

It was always kind of there, I think. I always wondered why my parents put me with my cousins and not my brother. 

Both of the twins were considering that now, and Dorcas thought she knew what was going on. They'd say it when they were ready, not before, but she thought she understood. Every time Evan dreamed of his own death, he had all of Pandora's characteristics. It made sense, but she wouldn't push them.

The sun's coming up, she started, but Barty interrupted her.

Did you already know?

She did, Regulus cut in. Last winter, when my mother dropped me off. She called me by my old name and made me wear a dress.

Dorcas felt Evan stiffen. You're going back there over my dead body. She can't make you be somebody you're not. You can stay at mine and Dora's if your mother ever doesn't let you back her, she likes our parents.

She has to, Pandora said with a quiet contempt. We're related by marriage, after all. 

Thank you for telling us, Evan said, placing his real hand over Reg's. I'm glad you trusted us.

Dorcas looked at all of them and noticed that they'd all gotten closer. Barty was halfway in Reg's lap, his legs swung over Reg's and his feet resting on Evan's thigh. Evan's hand was on Regulus's and somehow, over the course of the conversation, Dorcas's feet had ended up resting on Barty's knees. Pandora was the only one not entirely intertwined, only curled up against Barty and looking like she was about twenty seconds from falling asleep or committing murder.

She understood why Dora wasn't trying to literally burrow under the skin of the others like it sometimes seemed Barty might. She'd always struggled with physical contact unless it was with Barty, really. Dorcas understood that– Jas had the same problem, though, having met Lord Rosier, Jas and Dora probably had different reasons.

The sun began to rise, but they didn't get up. Pandora fell asleep on Barty's shoulder and Dorcas began conjuring flowers to weave together to make flower crowns for the five of them and probably her siblings and Felix and one extra to leave out at the edge of the forest for Ilaria. Regulus fell asleep as well, and Evan, Barty and Dorcas talked about old gossip and theories from school and new ones from Dorcas's grandparents' jobs. Her grandparents kept all five kids in the house for them to be unbothered for hours, and Dorcas noticed that Regulus looked well-rested. 

It was a good look on him. Genuine happiness was a good look on him, she thought. 

-

Later that July saw Barty creeping into Dorcas's room after lights-out. 

"Cassie?" he whispered, and she rolled over to face him. 

"What's up?" she asked, yawning a bit.

"I had a nightmare," he admitted, scuffing his foot on the ground. "Will you talk to me, and can I stay with you?"

This wasn't the first time it had happened. Dorcas didn't know what was in the nightmares and hadn't asked. She knew the life he had with his father well enough to know that whatever it was, odds were good he wouldn't talk about it until he was ready. 

"Absolutely," Dorcas replied, pulling her blankets back so that he could climb in beside her and lean on her shoulder. "I, um, I think I realized something last night."

"Yeah?" Barty mumbled. 

"I've got a crush, I think."

"Oh?" Barty muttered, fisting his long fingers in her jumper. His nails were too short to do any damage, thankfully, as the one she had one was one of her favorites. 

"Yeah, but I think we'll be playing against each other in Quidditch this year."

"Against–" he started, pulling his face away to look at her with vague horror. "Please, Rowena, do not tell me you like Reg's brother. He does not seem like a great guy, Cassie."

She had to laugh. "No, Bat, no him."

"Then…" his voice trailed off and he looked away, contemplating. The only people in her year playing Quidditch were Sirius, Marlene, Dorcas, and some Hufflepuff no one liked for good reason. "McKinnon? Dorcas Meadowes, are you into McKinnon?"

"…Maybe?" she admitted, and he laughed.

"Cassie, I love and support you, and I am begging you to get this out of your mind before you end up staring at her so much you let them score and we lost to the Gryffindors."

She looked at him with a bit of curiosity at his wording. "We, is it? Since when are you a Slytherin?"

"I want to be, I think," he said. "I mean, it would disappoint my dad, which is most of the point, but the only reason I'm a Ravenclaw now is because the Hat thought I wanted to be there. It said it wanted me in Slytherin but I should be in Ravenclaw since I'm a Crouch."

She pulled him into her side. "Alright. Are you going back, or do you want to stay here?"

"I'll stay, I think," he said and curled back up into her side.

She reached out through their bond as he began to forcibly even out his breathing, finding the other three awake.

Dora, Reg, Ev, she called, excluding Barty so he could at least try to sleep. If you guys want to sleep here, you can.

Group sleepover! was Evan's immediate response, and Reg's laughter preceded his agreement. The three of them crept into the room as well, and Dorcas channeled some magic through her fingers to get the bed just a bit bigger. 

Reg climbed between the wall and Evan got between him and Dorcas, putting her in the middle as Dora simply crawled next to Barty. The warmth was overwhelming in the best way possible, and when the sun began to rise, five pairs of little feet would join them as well, causing all of them to sleep well past nine.

There weren't any nightmares.

There weren't any prophecies.

In the afternoon, when Dorcas told the other three, Regulus simply raised one eyebrow and said "Tell me something I don't know." Evan smiled and Dora got out of her armchair to get three Galleons to hand to her brother.

-

Of course, all good things had to come to an end. August nineteenth rolled around, and with it came Evan, Dora, Felix, and Barty's departures back to their homes. Felix and Ari tried to hide and pouted and cried and hugged and begged Dorcas to let him stay, but Dora had just tugged her little brother onto the train. 

Rosier Manor was just as cold as it had been, Lord Rosier nowhere to be found. Regulus stayed quiet and as out of the way as he could as Dorcas and Barty made small talk with Lady Rosier. She sent them on their way with a diplomatic smile and some pastries, and then it was time for the Crouchs'.

Dorcas hated it more than she first had, especially after all the stories Barty had told her in the dead of night, showing her the best of his scars. She hated his father for them, for the long scar under his hair from being shoved down the stairs, for the one on his back in the shape of the heel of a boot.

Luckily for him, he wasn't there. It was only Barty's mother, who he smiled at and hugged, and their house elf, who said something about a birthday present. Barty led her and Reg to his room to show them the present he'd supposedly gotten.

He opened his door, and his nonstop strem-of-consiousness words came to a halt.

Dorcas could only think that the room looked nothing like him. The walls were beige and the floor was a darker shade of the same color. There was no personalization, and the twin bed in the corner was devoid of color.

"W-what?" he said, face falling out of its usual bright smile.

Regulus put his hand on Barty's shoulder. Dorcas guessed that this was not how his room had looked when he'd left for her house.

"Where are the stars?" he said, stepping into the room and climbing on his bed to touch the ceiling. "They're gone. My guitars, my drums, my stars, my Ravenclaw banner, my books, my notebooks, my drawings from Dora, it's all gone. Why is it all gone?"

"I don't know, Bat," Reg said, looking around.

"Happy fucking birthday to me," Barty said desparingly.

"Hold that thought," Dorcas said. She concentrated, channeling her magic through Barty to reverse whatever his father had done. 

The first thing to show up was the stars. The ceiling became the navy of the night sky and the stars and moon, painted on, reflected what it would have looked like without the smoke in the sky. Drawings Dorcas recognized as Evan's were next, papering the walls. A bookshelf grew from the floor, filling itself with more books than it could reasonably hold and more simply piling around the shelf. A drum kit rested in the nook holding the window, three guitars and a viola leaning against one of the drums. The window lock snapped off. His bed became blue and green, and another one in the same colors appeared in the opposite corner. Exactly half of the room looked like Barty's personality had vomited all over it, while the other half must have belonged to Ilaria. The headboard of her bed was an unfinished mural of her and Barty, flowers weaving through their exposed ribs and various other bones. Only half of Ilaria's face was finished, but Dorcas could see who she should've been. Blonde hair down past her waist had been painted in painstaking detail. She had the same striking green eyes filled with laughter as Barty did and a huge scar crossing over her left eye that was entirely her. Barty had told her it was from their father throwing a vodka bottle at her, shattering near her head and a piece of the glass cutting her face.

The room was messy, but nothing was beige. It looked like Barty now, and Ilaria too, and Dorcas felt that if she spent enough time in the room, she would get to know Ilaria.

A short blond blur throwing its arms around her shoulders shook her out of her thoughts.

"Thank you, Cassie," Barty mumbled, clutching her like she'd disappear if he let go.

"Of course, Bat," she replied. 

He pulled away to look her in the eyes, those striking green eyes that he'd shared with his twin. He must have seen her every time he looked in the mirror, she thought. It was no wonder that he didn't like looking at himself. "You should go," he said, sniffing and wiping his nose with his sleeve. Dorcas realized that at some point, he'd started crying quietly. "My father will be home soon. I'll see you both at school and we'll be sharing a dorm, Reg."

Somehow, after all that, he mustered up a smile to see them out. 

Regulus and Dorcas rode back to her house in silence, their day in general weighing heavily on both of their minds.

Miss you guys, Barty's voice called out through their connection as Dorcas and Barty ate dinner with the kids. 

Miss you too, snakes, Dora's voice replied, and Dorcas felt her smile.

Both she and Reg counted down the days until they could see the smiles again.

[noxiatoxia]

Recently, I found a very strange Naegi sprite, and it's got me thinking a lot about the DR1 Sprite process.

It's from the promotional picture announcing Danganronpa Unlimited Battle, a now defunct iOS/Android game from 2015.

To some this sprite might look normal, but it is assuredly not. Also, Kirigiri's is off, too. But for the sake of the kind of discussion I'm heading, I'm only going to focus on Naegi for right now.

It's very difficult to navigate the game's files, but I *was* able to pull a clean version of the sprite.

This sprite is weird for so many reasons. I can't tell if it's even a beta sprite or not. If it is, it looks closer to an SDR2 beta.

To illustrate what I mean, please look at this infograph from a different post of mine, about the standard Naegi default sprite.

What sticks out to most people, I think, is how different each sprite is (with exception to the last two). The style itself seemed to change, and considering Danganronpa's history, this makes sense. DISTRUST, as it was once called, was going to look and play very differently. It is then no surprised the sprites went through a very different creative process than, say, the SDR2 sprites - when by that point, the team had a clear idea of what the Danganronpa art style was to look like.

For comparison, here's a linear look at how SDR2 sprites are largely created.

Please excuse the messiness of the chart.

What's notable is the most basic form of these sprites lack line weight. A pen with 0 pressure is used to draw the outline, then the illusion of pen pressure is added by erasing some of the ends. It's an incredibly interesting way to stylize the artwork.

Kuzuryuu is a great example as we have 3 main points in this specific graph: the "draft", the "beta" and the "final". But, as I've covered before, there is sometimes possible other sprites between these 3 points. Think of it like v.1.0, v.2.0, v.3.0 - while all the minor renditions (that, for some reason, Spike keeps around and keep accidentally misusing) are akin to v.1.1, v.2.1, v.2.2, etc...

And while I still believe my original theory I posed about SDR2 sprites being a 3-step-process is mostly true, I do think specific sprites or characters have more or less steps in between each "level".

For extra reference, here is some other sprite comparisons:

So, with all of these examples, I think you can see a clear process within SDR2's sprites.

Back to Naegi, and what confuses me...

I made a chart for this specific sprite.

This graph shows a clear, logical timeline from point A to B, to C.

Now, let me compare the Naegi from Unlimited Battle to the final, finished sprite.

It's very different, but in ways that don't make sense. His hand is completely different from all versions of the Naegi sprite we've seen. As well, why does this sprite have lower hair, when none of the Naegi sprites in that timeline do? His hoodie zipper, also, is different from all 3 sprites. If this was a beta of the v.2.0 sprite, why is the nose in the correct position as the 3.0 sprite? Or why is the right eyebrow cutting through the hair shading, like the 3.0 sprite? If this were earlier, should it not look closer to the 2.0 sprite?

So...I don't think it makes sense to be a beta sprite, despite the outlining looking like an SDR2 beta. Then what is it?

That, I have no clue. But I have some ideas.

Firstly, this may be a sprite made only for this game. I have 0 clue why this would be, or where it would be used in-game, as the game is unplayable these days. Why this sprite only, though? The SDR2 cast was featured prominently in this game, too, and Hinata did not get any re-drawn sprites. Why did Kirigiri randomly also have a redrawn sprite?

But, stuff like this has happened before. the Danganronpa LINE stickers have many redrawn sprites. Not all of them are weirdly, but that only makes it share more in common with this game which also has non-redrawn sprites.

But if not redrawn for this specific game, what else could it be?

Well...I only have 1 other theory.

1・2 Reload (the Vita remaster of DR1&SDR2) was released late 2013, while Unlimited Battle was released early 2015. The Vita version of DR1 did something interesting that the Vita version of SDR2 did not do: go back and touch up sprites.

I'm still in the midst of finding all the characters who were edited, but the most noticeable and abundant is Kuwata's.

I'll cover this more in-depth once I get to my "DR1 PSP -> PSVita Revisions" post, but the change is clear. They added much thicker outlines to Kuwata's sprites - almost all of them. This is clearly a purposeful change and not them reusing betas on accident, as Kuwata's actual beta sprites (observed in the DR1 Demo version) lack these bold outlines.

So...what if everyone was going to get this treatment? It may be a stretch, but it's the only thing that makes sense to me. Perhaps everyone's sprites were going to be heavily edited to look more like SDR2 sprites, and perhaps this process was even started before they gave up for one reason or another. So, we only have a few characters who ever got this treatment...and then some of those sprites were accidentally used in this iOS game.

Of course, that's only my theory. There could be a million other reasons for why this Naegi sprite exists - along with Kirigiri's and...Oogami.

Yes, in the files, I also found an odd Oogami sprite with the same quirks to it as Naegi's and Kirigiri's. I'll make gifs for them both now.

All I can say is this is really strange. I wish I had a more definitive answer for what's going on here.

[dewwshi]

princess of mithral hall

[age-of-moonknight]

“Hunter’s Moon,” Vengeance of the Moon Knight, (Vol. 2/2024), #4.

Writer: Jed MacKay; Penciler and Inker: Alessandro Cappuccio; Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg; Letterer: Cory Petit

[aeb-art]

i was trying to make up side characters for @8um8le's space friends and thought "every show needs a grump"

i'm not gonna finish this though, so y'all can have it now o7

[dragonowlie]

My internet is back! *holds my downstairs neighbours like a cat that knocked over a potted plant* YOU!

anyway the second I realised my internet was fully back I immediately put on castlevania nocturne and there is so much I could say about it and if I had more energy I might but tldr

BAROQUE MUSIC

[silvvergears]

So I guess I'm going to spend the next four to five business days hyperfocusing on a potential Dishonored au for TOG ft. Hunter as Emily, Eda as Corvo, and Belos as the Royal Spymaster. I've already figured out most of the casting and how the storyline will shift and change (Hunter is older than Emily was and has a much more active role) for both games, and as soon as work is done I'm going to work on some art for it

[dan-crimes]

I don't personally enjoy death in my stories for one because I have no experience with it personally and for two because you can't torture a character anymore once they've died 😇

[thaliagrayce]

do NOT understand why will was complaining about nico's dark edgy powers. the pro to dating the king of all emo kids is that you get to date the king of all emo kids. whats not clicking

[weedle-testaburger]

You know, since it's Pride Month (and also I miss them), I feel like reminding everyone how fucking important Ruby and Sapphire were.

The way they were both unambiguously conceived as queer characters and let the writers make an established character queer retroactively. The fact that as soon as they share the screen, they immediately show how in love they are, without any ambiguity to please the censors, and they do that almost every episode they're in.

How their relationship isn't always 100% perfect, and they do conflict and fall out, but make up in the end because they genuinely love each other. How they were allowed to be iconic parts of the show, not just through being the focus of two of its most famous songs (Stronger Than You and Here Comes A Thought) but also through the book version of The Answer.

The fact they got the first gay kiss...

...and the first gay wedding in the history of kid's TV.

The way their reception showed networks that yes, people do enjoy media with queer characters, and so they contributed to many other series with prominent LGBTQ characters getting greenlit.

I honestly don't think it's exaggerating to say they're among the most important queer characters in the history of fiction for all that. And people need to say it more, and demand stuff like them more.

[silkentine]

Me when they are the sisters ever: 😭😭😭 They came out soooo freaking well. I won’t lie, they took me a thousand years to finish but through the constant support from all of my buds (and my latent bisexuality), we made it 😤

Hopefully you guys know the deal by now: design choices, easter eggs, and (NEW!) closeup shots below the read more. ⬇️

I wanted Ace to have a very down-to-earth vibe and looked at Aussie beach-girls, coastal cowgirls, and vaqueras for reference. (IDK, I’ve just always envisioned Ace as part-Australian🌺 and Mexican 🏴‍☠️) Her clothing choices are mostly natural or utilitarian materials like the painted wooden beads on her top, her woven fabric and leather belts, and her denim jumpsuit. I gave her bikini top a zen-garden kind of feel because I read the first Ace’s Story Novel and I loved how idyllic and peaceful they made Sixis Island sound so I wanted to invoke that in some way.

Speaking of her painted wooden beads, they hang off the back of her top and represent her connection to Sabo and Luffy. They watch her back once she sets sail. She only wears one red glass bead earring because the other one got ripped out of her ear when a child, leaving her earlobe torn (don’t think about it too much 😢). Also, YES! she does wear a hibiscus flower just like Rouge (because I hate you and I want to make you cry, muhwahahahaha).

Also, I really wanted her to have super textured curly hair that licks behind her like flames. I am always considering whether or not a character should have long hair or not because I don’t want it to be a hindrance if they’re in a fight (or if they ARE a fighter with long hair, how to they avoid an enemy making use of that?). Ace is, of course, a Logia-type Devil Fruit User so I think she wouldn’t have trouble with people grabbing it LOL I get the feeling that she doesn’t take very good care of it even though it looks amazing. Like you’d think it would be soft and bouncy just by looking at it but if you ever get the chance to run your fingers through it, it’s a total rat’s nest and there’s sand and food all up in it. She still falls asleep while eating 😂 but she tries her best to only do it around people she can trust (woman moment 😔).

Honestly, her design is not that different from Ace’s canon look. It feels really vital to Ace’s character to have a lot of skin showing. And he’s always hanging all over himself with his hips all cocked like the weight of the world is too much to stand up straight. It is certainly not my OWN preference to make her an absolute smoke show. That’s just the character, okay? (I’m partially lying and the proof is that I turned the emblem on Ace’s hat strap into a sternum tattoo for no other reason than that it is sexy af.)

Here are some closeups of Ace:

Now for Sabo, I’ve made her very girly. I tried putting her in pants or something more militant but she told me that she’d wear the big poofy sleeves and hiked-up ruffled skirt. I think Sabo has always had a strong grasp on his fashion sense and individual flair and I truly believe that his personal style is one of the major influences for the rest of the Revolutionary Army resulting in the very flashy, queer, steampunk aesthetic (aside from Dragon’s plain-ass cloak). So of course I had to implement her nonconformist look when reimagining her as a woman and dress her up to the nines.

I’ve given her very ornate jewelry that is there to tell a story, even if she herself doesn’t know it. I like to think she picks up stuff from her travels that resonate with her, such as a damaged set of earrings with one stone missing or red cup-shaped shells featuring three nestled pearls. Another accessory that cannot go unmentioned is her dragon claw hat pin that keeps her top hat resting on top of her hair (and is definitely used as a weapon when the situation simply doesn’t call for trusty metal pipe). She also has a veil that obscures her prominent facial scar. I imagine she’s not very keen on the reminder of the incident from her childhood that took away her memories. I also kept her chipped toothed because 1) it’s fucking adorable and 2) is a visual reminder that she no longer aligns herself with the nobility who would have gotten such a thing fixed. She is so poised in almost every outward facet of her life from her dignified role as the Chief of Staff to the elegant materials in her clothing that it can be easy to forget she was also a rough and tumble forest dweller. Every time Koala remembers this, he lets out the biggest sigh.

Her hair is inspired by Gibson Girls and Elizabeth Swann from the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I wanted it to be fussy and tidy but fall apart when she’s in moments of distress. For example, when she remembers her sisters, her hair starts to look like Ace’s flaming mane. I’m so in love with her, I think she looks like an adorable little porcelain doll that would fuck you up. I made an effort to keep her eyes a little bit manic. I get lost in her steely black orbs (and also Ace’s warm brown ones, but we’re talking about Sabo rn).

Here are her close-ups:

Plot notes for this AU:

For this series of character designs, I wanted the expressions and outfits to be aligned with the canon plot but I don’t know if I have the heart to kill fem!Ace in my AU. I’m too attached and ASL has suffered enough!!!!! But Ace’s death is also a major defining moment for Luffy so it feels disingenuous to completely avoid it. Also a huge aspect of Sabo’s character is carrying on Ace’s will and I have so many thoughts about how the Dressrosa Colosseum scene would play out if they were all women. Oh well, I’ll cross that tragic bridge when I get to it. I’m definitely going to draw some Modern AU Girl Piece ASL though. They deserve to hang out with no stakes 😭 They are sisters!!!

Check out the tag “girl piece” on my blog for my other One Piece genderbends! 🥰

[tohruies]

a realisation that home was here. home was now. and it had been all along … 🥺💘

— ☆ 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐂𝐇𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐌𝐀𝐒

alhaitham x ryu. this is obviously a selfship piece for ryuhaitham and it’s in first person. canon au. comfort. fluff. read here if you want more context on us. 0.7k wc

I sat curled on the couch with a blanket drawn tightly around me, staring at the modest decorations I’d strung up days ago when Alhaitham first left for Akademiya business. The lights, the strings of ribbon—they felt out of place here, like foreign embellishments in a world that had no meaning for them.

Christmas. Once upon a time, it had been everywhere—woven into every light, every note of music, every breath of winter air. It wasn’t as though I’d celebrated Christmas extravagantly but the absence of it here made the ache of displacement settle heavy in my chest. Even if I’d only half-participated in the holiday back then, its laughter and warmth had always been a comforting constant.

Teyvat moved without pause. The winds of Mondstadt whipped across snow-buried plains, Sumeru’s ever-shifting leaves played on the breeze and Liyue’s lanterns flickered against a fading sky. It was timeless and unchanging, as if the universe was indifferent to the celebration I longed for. But like the decorations I’d strung up, Christmas had no place here. And in that knowledge, my homesickness deepened, the distance between my old world and this one stretching farther.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, and I startled, my gaze snapped to the figure entering. Alhaitham’s silhouette was outlined against the dim light of Teyvat’s evening and in his hand was a small neatly wrapped package, the paper a rich shade of crimson, tied with thin, silver silk that shimmered softly in the light.

“You’re back,” I mustered, rising slightly from my seat.

“I am,” His gaze swept over me, and a crease formed between his brows. “You look troubled.”

I offered a fragile smile, “Just thinking about… you know.” I trailed off, eyes drifting to the window where whimsy unbeknownst to me twinkled in the inky expanse above.

Without preamble, he extended the gift toward me. “Here.”

I blinked in surprise, looking from his hand to his face. “What’s this for?”

“Isn’t it customary to exchange gifts for… Christmas?”

The word fell from his lips tentatively, as though testing its weight. His eyes searched mine for any sign that he had mispronounced it. Then, a bittersweet ache unfurled in my chest.

“You… remembered?”

He remembered. Even in passing, even if I hadn’t explained it in detail, he had remembered. And more than that, he had acted on it.

“You mentioned it once,” he replied, the faintest hint of awkwardness colouring his tone. “I don’t fully understand the tradition, but it seemed important to you.” He paused, then added softly, “I thought it might remind you of home.”

My fingers brushed the wrapping paper, tracing its edges as a quiet laugh escaped me. “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble.”

“It matters to you. If it makes this place feel less foreign, then it’s no trouble at all.” He spoke as though his sentiment was the simplest truth in the world.

I bit my lip, his words filling the emptiness in my heart like the flickering flame of a candle in the dark. Slowly, I unwrapped the gift, the paper falling away to reveal a delicate glass ornament, its shape a perfect, crystalline star. It caught the lamplight, scattering prisms across the room like a reflection of something celestial—like fragments of a distant sky.

“It’s not much,” he almost sounded apologetic, “but stars seem to hold significance in your world’s imagery for this holiday.”

I stared down at the gift, my vision blurring as the sting of tears welled unexpectedly. The ornament trembled in my grasp, held close to my chest as the first drops slipped free, unstoppable. “Thank you,” I whispered, so softly it felt like the words might dissolve and me with it.

Watching me closely, a shadow of concern crossed his face, as though uncertain whether he had made me uncomfortable. “You’re crying…” His voice wavered, caught somewhere between a statement and a question.

I wiped at my tears, smiling through them. “They’re happy tears,” I told him. “I really needed this.”

Alhaitham sat beside me with the same calmness that defined his every action. The silence now brimmed with a bubbling warmth, deeply felt like a steadfast anchor.

“If you’d like,” he started, “then we’ll celebrate it. Here, every year. However you wish.”

His offer settled gently. “I would like that,” I said, already untethered.

Alhaitham nodded, brushing his hands against mine, the touch so tender it seemed to carry a promise with a three word phrase hanging in the air. As the glass star shimmered between us, the ache of homesickness began to ebb. In its place bloomed a sense of belonging.

A realisation that home was here. Home was now. And it had been all along.

© 2024 grimmweepers — do not repost, copy, translate, modify my work on any platform

divider: @/adornedwithlight

[creatingblackcharacters]

No, That’s Not ‘How Color Works’. - Whitewashing

Whitewashing, as defined by Merriam-Webster:

"to alter (something) in a way that favors, features, or caters to white people: such as a) to portray (the past) in a way that increases the prominence, relevance, or impact of white people and minimizes or misrepresents that of nonwhite people and B) to alter (an original story) by casting a white performer in a role based on a nonwhite person or fictional character"

In fandom context, we know it to include:

Making someone’s skin lighter

Making someone’s hair a thinner texture

Changing someone’s nose to be thinner

Shrinking their lips

Changing the character in their entirety to be someone else

The Normalization of Whitewashing

Remember how I mentioned last lesson that despite the nature of poorly drawn Black characters, most audiences are not turned off enough to discourage the action in professional works? Similar idea with whitewashing. Not the same- unlike the Ambiguously Brown Character, which claims to have plausible deniability, overt whitewashing is usually enough to make fans speak up! But that’s the key word here- overt! It has to be “bad enough” to make enough people speak up, but as we’ve seen many a time, “bad enough” seems to have a much higher threshold for nonblack viewership (sometimes the limit doesn’t exist!)

Some visual examples

This is a link to my personal thread on a Netflix show I was watching- Worst Ex Ever. Now, while the show itself was quite enlightening, there was something I could not get over. I thought I was going crazy. And that was that no matter how dark the person of color would be in real life, the animated portions would draw this light pinkish-brown. Every. Single. Time. It's like they couldn't fathom scrolling down the color wheel. And this is a Netflix original! Netflix has plenty of money for someone to have caught this in creation. But... it was produced. And put out. And they're making more of it.

I asked all of the Dragon Age fans about the series, and uh… I didn’t know things were this bad, guys! Apparently this is a man of color, but it doesn't seem like the creators want you to know that 🤣. Jokes aside, as I’ve discussed before, the noticeable whitewashing- and that was one of many racist things I was told- was not enough to prevent sales... so why would they stop? I can only hope this new game, with all the updates, is enough to turn the tide. But the series has gone on for a while now, that if they’d chosen to do ye same olde… there clearly would not be a lack of financial support to prevent it.

Colorism as a Tool

Even when actors of color are cast, colorism often plays a role in normalizing whitewashing to audiences, even to Black audiences! People think “oh well at least they’re Black!” as if that is the only important part. It is not.

While Aaron Pierre, the actor cast for John Stewart of Green Lantern fame, is a GORGEOUS, STUNNING man, he is not the dark-skinned man that John Stewart is supposed to be and should not have been cast! To me, this is overt colorism, but clearly for many people this is not “enough” to warrant concern or even prevent the casting itself- including the studio behind the movie! Black fans have plead for years for the character of Storm to be played by a dark-skinned, preferably African, woman, and it has never happened.

It naturally happens in fan spaces as well, which is another indicator that colorism as a tool for whitewashing is quite effective for audiences. If I see one more Zendaya fan cast for Kida from Atlantis, I will scream. It’s been happening for years, and I don’t think any of the people who just want to see her and Tom on screen either understand or care that Kida is a dark-skinned character. Zendaya doesn’t look anything like Kida- it doesn’t matter if she’s Black too! Just because someone is Black does not mean they can play every single Black character! I’ve even seen people fancast Emilia Clarke of Game of Thrones fame, to which… I don’t have the words. I can’t fathom what would cause these decisions other than racism.

The Common Excuses

I must be honest. I don’t really feel like re-iterating how certain things are not okay and how to fix them, because I’ve already discussed these things in massive detail. So I’m just going to direct the excuses I regularly hear to my lessons, where you can read up on them.

“Their hair/eyes are like that because they’re biracial so-”

Relevant Lessons: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 8, 9, 10

There is nothing wrong with having biracial characters with a range of features. I am not saying that! Because yeah, genetics do happen!

But I mentioned this in my last lesson, and I will re-emphasize here, that using biracial identity as a way to whitewash is a sinister form of racism. The intention here- the real intention- is the issue here! The idea that somehow this character can only look the way you want them to look by "diluting" their Blackness… I don’t know how you can explain yourselves out of that one.

You don’t get to use us as an excuse for diversity while still trying to maintain your preference for Eurocentric beauty standards. Black biracial people don’t always look light skinned, thin-haired and ambiguous, and even the ones that do don’t deserve to be treated as your fetish for pretend antiracism. If you just want to draw a white person with a tan, do that. But don’t change a character’s entire look just so you can work in some whiteness. If you want to claim that canon Black character’s mother was white, then I guess they inherited some of her personality because their features should not change.

“It’s my style/It’s the color-”

Relevant Lessons: 3, 4, 10

I hate all excuses for whitewashing, but I’ve grown to despise, hate, abhor and loathe this one the most as I’ve become an artist. I wish there were stronger words to describe just how much I hate the “style” and “color” excuse.

Are style and use of color oft intertwined? Absolutely. I’m not saying they aren’t. But out of everything, there are two things I want artists to understand:

1. Style does not cancel out racism! No style forces you to choose ashy greys and to change peoples’ features. That’s you! If you look at something, and it looks offensive, you change the style. You grow as an artist!

2. “Everyone who is brown will look ashy so I just-” if you recognize that your Black characters look strange in comparison to your nonblack characters, then it’s time to try something else! I don’t understand this sudden need for “realism” when it comes to color and lighting, but not when it comes to hair, for example. No one cares about realism when giving every and all Black characters wavy tresses they probably wouldn’t have, but suddenly milquetoast watercolor attempts at brown and off-putting lighting is “how it works”. That’s not fair.

The color picker is an available tool! I use it often!

Dead giveaway of purposeful whitewashing: if someone gets the outfit color palette right via color picking, but the skin color is multiple shades lighter. That means they were looking at that character and chose not to proceed.

Dead giveaway of purposeful whitewashing: if the white characters in the show are completely correct in their palettes. Again, that means they cared enough to look at everyone else… and not the Black characters.

If you use the color picker and the color picked is… disrespectful, you do not have to use that! You can simply choose a better color that is still similar to the brown that ought to be depicted!

“It’s the lighting-”

Relevant Lessons: 4, 5

If your white characters do not shine like snow in the sunlight because of your lighting, then your lighting does not make your Black characters suddenly light tan.

If your Black characters look bad in your lighting of choice- for example, putting a very dark-skinned character in electric white lighting can be ghastly- try changing the intensity or the color of the lighting. DON’T change your character’s skin color!

I'm going to show you some pictures of South Sudanese model Nyakim Gatwech. Pay attention to the choices of light, color, and makeup.

Look how BEAUTIFUL she is! Look at the choices of intensity and color of light, and how they make her look different in each image.

Now look at this image in comparison:

In this image, whoever did her makeup and took this picture did not take into consideration her skin tone. She's also under this really intense lighting. This is an example of "increasing the lighting does NOT make an image "better"". She didn't need to have lighter skin or "more lighting" to look good. She needed BETTER lighting, lighting that worked with HER.

To see this as an example in drawn art, @dsm7 makes an excellent argument for proper lighting and color, why it is an issue to use it as an excuse, and how to solve that problem.

‼️DISCLAIMER FOR NEXT EXAMPLE‼️

Okay. I am about to show y’all a fan-created example from my personal experience. It is a TEACHING EXPERIENCE ONLY. I am not including the artist’s name in this image. It happened a couple years ago, and it’s over- they’ve chosen to be who they are despite me kindly confronting them about it. The only reason I’m including it at all is because I feel like it would be remiss to have such a clear-cut, multi-level example, and not teach with it. That said, no, I am not telling anyone to act out towards them. Again, that is not what I’m telling you to do. The last thing I need is a literal lynch mob of angry nonblack viewership for trying to teach you all, and y’all sitting there watching it happen to me. Every example of whitewashing is not going to be so obvious, but I hope you learn how to spot the examples in the art you see and share.

I'm obviously a Hades fan, particularly of Patroclus- despite my disdain for the lack of effort in his canon character design. So I've seen a lot of things. That said:

“Well it’s just MY design of them-”

Relevant Lessons: ALL

The sepia coloring did not do this. The lighting did not do this. The design is the exact same as the Hades version, even down to the shape of the hair curling in the back. The only thing that is different… is the man himself.

Y'all. Y'all! You CANNOT take a pre-existing Black character and say “oh well this is my design of them” …and the design is of a whole white person. Because if the rest of the fit is the same, and the only thing that changed is the Blackness… Racism. If you’re going to “make up your own design”, then do that!

“Blackwashing”

Speaking of: I’m sure someone edgy out there thinks they’re so smart as they retort to the screen: “but if that’s not okay, then why is Blackwashing okay?” To which I say- shut up. 😐

The “definition” by fandom: making a nonblack character Black, usually an anime character, but characters in general.

Funny enough, the actual definition in the dictionary (or closest to) is “to defame”, in contrast with whitewash (as in whitewashing history). Maybe racist fans ARE using it correctly when they say you’re blackwashing their characters, when they mean you’re making them “less likable because they’re Black now”. 🤔

Anyway: Blackwashing is not real for the same reason reverse racism is not real.

Me painting these characters brown is not going to take away from the fact that there are far more of you in media than there is of me. Me saying that I ‘headcanon a character as Black with 4C hair’ is not going to make the studio go “oh! Well they must be Black with 4C hair now!” Me saying “oh I think I’d like this character better if they were Black” as a beta tester (less overtly, obviously, because I’m not racist!) will never make a studio change that character. Black viewers have minimal value in comparison to the power of the white viewer’s dollar. I could draw white characters Black every single day of every single game media… and they would still produce majority white characters. There has not been centuries- if not millennia, when we consider Jesus Christ himself, even- of purposeful “Blackwashing” with the intent of removing the original ethnicity- and thus importance- of white people. No one has ever been allowed to forget when someone is white. No one has ever been allowed to forget or not acknowledge white people.

How it could be "solved"

Personally, I love Black edits and I welcome them here. I find them creative and fun. But if you really, REALLY didn’t want us to make those edits, then naturally, we need more Black characters in all of our media!

I wouldn’t have to make edits if I saw more of me to begin with in the things I like to watch- but when we have those characters, racists act an ass about them. We’re not allowed to even be present! I’ve seen too many gamer bros mocking the existence of Yasuke in Assassin’s Creed, and he was a real ass man. But if we made a game about African peoples in African societies, how many of the gamer bros would actually play those games? Do you think there’d be as much support, when we hear so much about Black characters that are treated so abhorrently? How many games do we have where people would love their faves just as much if they were Black? I even learned that Solas was apparently supposed to be a man of color. IMAGINE how many people would not have liked that man, with the same exact plot and characterization.

Something I’ve noticed recently: apparently "Blackwashing" is not a thing when White fans “allow” it. Take this recent trend with Miku. International Miku was beloved! But if you draw any other character as Black on any other day, there will be people that are horrid about it. Ask any artist, Black artists and Black cosplayers especially, who’s ever done it what their comments are like. I’ve read entire missives akin to white supremacist drivel on how it’s somehow morally wrong to make characters Black. Meanwhile no amount of “hey maybe you shouldn’t do this” prevented the movie Gods of Egypt from being created, with a cast full of British White people.

Solutions to Avoiding Whitewashing!

1) Using References!!

Do I think you should know what Black people look like? Yes. We’re humans. It’s 2024. Everyone knows what we look like when it’s time to hate and discriminate against us, so you know what we look like when it’s time to love and depict us. If you’re on Tumblr, you have access to the Internet. ESPECIALLY if you’re in the U.S., as Black people are the source of damn near every piece of online pop culture. If you can find my dialect to make my jokes, you can find pictures of me.

Would I rather you use a reference every single time so that you can only strengthen your depiction of my people? ABSOLUTELY.

Anyone on the Internet telling you not to use a reference or that you shouldn’t need a reference? Unfollow them. You don’t need that negativity in your life. Why would you deprive yourself of a tool to create? The greatest portrait painters in history had to look at their subjects! You are not getting paid nearly as much to do this as Hans Holbein, and he had to stare at Henry VIII correct else lose his head- you can pull up multiple references. I’d far rather be judged for using hella references than be judged for being a racist!

Part of the issue is people draw what they’re used to, what they’re comfortable with (thus last lesson). But if what you’re used to is not what someone will look like… That’s not okay. Their features are not the issue, your skills are the issue. Learn! Practice! There is no rush. No one is rushing you to be perfect at drawing Black characters, and no one is rushing you to post them. You can just practice! If you’re not a professional, you can take as long as you need to draw! If you need to draw that piece of hair over and over until you feel like you have down the shape, you do that! If you need to use a tool that would draw the hair for you, you get that tool!

If you want to post, you can say you are practicing! If you make clear you are practicing, then be willing to accept that people may have feedback. I’d far rather deal with someone saying they’re unconfident and practicing, than someone posting a whitewashed caricature and closing their ears because “well at least I’m trying!”

2) Empathize! Care about actual Black people when you create a Black character!

Imagine, if you will, in the Twilight Zone: you went to an artist, and you asked for a white character (I typed in “regular looking white dude” on google). There’s hardly ever any white characters, you’re so super excited about this one! You paid good money, because you’ve seen just how amazing this artist creates! They’re so good at drawing characters of color! But no matter how many times you ask, they send you back an image of… Assad Zaman.

That man might be fine as hell! Gorgeous! Beautifully done! Chef’s kiss. Stunning! But… He’s not white. That’s not what you asked or paid for. You can’t even fathom how they mixed this up, they don’t even look alike! And when you confront them, they gaslight you, they call YOU the issue for not understanding how you can’t tell that this is a white man! They would never get this wrong! They have white friends, you’re the racist! But you’re not stupid, and you have functioning eyes- you can SEE what this drawing looks like! And… It’s not you.

It’s dehumanizing. It’s being told that there’s a “better way” to look like you, and that’s by… Not looking like you. You, as you exist, are what’s incorrect. Your identity is incorrect, not their drawing. It’s better to have thinner hair instead of an afro or locs, it’s better to have lighter skin, it’s better to have a straighter, thinner nose over a round one, and smaller lips.

And what makes it worse is knowing that people who don’t look like you? Probably won’t care. They won’t be willing to see- not unable, but unwilling- that playing with this caricature is harmful, that they’re propagating harm by not acknowledging it. They’re letting you know that your humanity means less to them than the clout received with a whitewashed or half-assed Black character, and that people will applaud them for that ‘attempt at inclusion’. And people will applaud! They will be entertained by the mere performance! And that hurts.

I’m going to say this, and it’s awkward and I try not to say it directly on here, but… Having Black friends and/or being around actual, real life Black people would help. I can tell from some of the questions I receive that Black characters and their traits- especially things like our hair and our cultures- are being treated as… alien concepts. But even if, for whatever reason, you legitimately don’t know any Black people, you do not need to know us individually to care about our humanity as a whole! Even if you do not know we’re there, we are, and we could possibly see your work!

By acknowledging Blackness and making room to understand what it means- and that includes how we can look- you are doing the bare minimum of acknowledging our personhood. If you cannot do even that, you don’t need to be drawing us.

Conclusion

Here’s the thing: if you want to draw a white man with tanned skin, do that. Just do it! You do NOT have to erase me to have more of you! There is not a single fandom where the majority of the white fans ever said “gee, not another white guy!” It simply doesn’t happen. God knows we wish it did sometimes. You will always have an audience for white characters. There’s no danger to any of you of “being erased”.

(Without putting on my political hat, I will say that a lot of white people who consider themselves to be far from white supremacist will express beliefs in line with great replacement theory if you push them hard enough. It is unfortunately not as uncommon an idea as you might think. I would do some self-evaluation.)

People are going to notice that you only ever draw white people, but… To be frank, that has never stopped anybody from being successful. Again, Jen Zee, at Supergiant with the terrible dark-skinned characters… Still has a job. at Supergiant. A professional studio. Dragon Age. Multiple games of consistent whitewashing and racist writing. Still going. If racism prevented creation and popularity, I wouldn’t have to have this blog. Alas, that is the society we currently live in.

But if you ACTUALLY want to depict Black characters, if you ACTUALLY want to do right and be respectful- not because you want the clout, but because it’s the right damn thing to do- then you need to commit! This means drawing them as they are meant to be! Accept that you’ll likely lose some fan base, who was there (whether they were aware of it or not) for the white and lighter skinned characters. Accept that this means that trying to appeal to those people by whitewashing characters is 1) wrong, 2) racist, which is 3) something you chose to do when you could simply have just… Drawn more white people.

I’ll say it again: antiracism is hard. It’s hard doing the right thing in a society that rewards racism so easily. It’s really hard knowing that people will stop supporting you or caring as much about your work when you start including Black characters as actively as you do white ones, especially if you start talking about the importance of it. But in my honest opinion, I’d far rather be someone that cared about others, with genuine fans, than someone that was racist for the fleeting internet clout of strangers. And that may be less ‘hopeful’ than I normally am in these lessons, but… People make choices. And people who have been informed- as you are now- are aware of the choices they are making. It’s the thought that counts, but the action that delivers- let’s choose better actions.

[the-ellia-west]

HOW TO WRITE ROMANTIC ATTRACTION FOR DUMMIES

For anyone who wants to learn, (especially aro/ACE, aspec, ect.)

Requested by the lovely @darkandstormydolls

Alrighty! Welcome back or welcome to my blog! I'm dipping my toes back into the category of posts that gained me my exposure!

So if you're here, you want to know how to write romantic attraction/romance!

Strap in and let's begin!

(Pls spread this to people you think would benefit from seeing it, or anyone who requested it bc I forgot, ANY ASPECS)

Step one -

Your characters must admire one another at the beginning, Romantic feelings usually do not present themselves as obvious until you really think them through, meaning your characters may not notice they have a crush until it's too late

These are general statistics and light stereotypes. So feel free to not use this tip:

Male characters usually tend to notice physical things first, like body shape, hair, skin, clothing, the way their lover moves, ect

And Female Characters Generally tend to notice more small things and personality-based traits first, like their lover's humor, speaking mannerisms, shifts in expression, ways they fidget, emotion in their voice, ect.

And someone who is in love will generally show more interest in this particular person's movements, actions, words, and anything in general.

Step 2 -

The character will show more interest in sharing their love language with their lover/crush

Physical touch - People with physical touch love languages may want to hold hands, cuddle, hug, or just lean on their crush whenever they are close to them moreso than they want to with others

Gift giving - Gift givers will want to get more gifts more often for their crush, probably thinking of them whenever they see little trinkets or wanting to get them big gifts for special occasions or signs of appreciation

Acts of Service - Acts of service people will offer to do extra favors and a bunch of extra stuff they don't have to do twice as much as normal

Words of Affirmation - Flattery, they will generally flood their crush with kind words and compliments

Quality time - Quality time people will want to spend time with their crush at almost every turn, and when they want company, will turn to their crush first

Step 3 -

After a while, these urges while become very prominent and more noticeable to the person having them

They may find themselves fantasizing about their crush or having them show up in their thoughts more and more, feeling nicer and happier when they're around, or when they're thinking about them

Smiling when they think about them, cutsey little fluff thingies like that

A crush is essentially: I want to date that, I want to be near that always, I want to marry that, I want that to snuggle me (or other love languages)

Or in simpler terms: if that asked me out, I would say yes (or at least want to say yes if your character is in denial)

Step 4 -

The character's urges to be close to this person grows strong enough that they do smth about it, whether prompted by another character. Or they just don't know I how to not anymore (like when you wanna eat candy and you don't want to, but you do anyway bc I JUST NEED THE CHOCOLATE OKAY?)

(Or for Aro/Ace, garlic bread)

People who are in love are generally very prone to be all dreamy and poetic and VERY EXTREMELY BIASED towards their crush

Then Yada Yada they kiss & shit

You're welcome, BYEEEEEEEE 👋

Happy writing!

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