#I LIKE GRIMMS STYLE A LOT AND ITS SO HARD TO DRAW LOL

[nanu-arts]

Respectful appreciation for @the-artist-grimm ❤️‍🩹

[gothamcityneedsme]

I saw this bouncing around my dash and decided to fill it out myself for fun :)  I decided to not double-list any games, and I tried to mix up the companies I used too so that the list would be more unique.

Long post, so I’m doing a readmore for my longwinded part lol.

(read more)

Favorite Game: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords - I could talk about this game forever.  How it tears apart the Star Wars universe from within, how it creates a compelling story while challenging the usual themes, etc.  I could talk for ages about the characters and how their motivations slot in place, and how this game lends itself to interpretation and analysis alongside roleplay.  It’s just a wonderful game, one I deeply love and will always love.  It’s a game that isn’t afraid to have you talk to other characters for twenty or thirty minutes at a time and honestly I’m always riveted at every line.  This game deserves the cult fanbase it has, but I think there’s a lot the fanbase misses in appreciating this game.  (Note...gameplay is a little janky and a community made mod restores a lot content that was cut before shipping-the game wasn’t properly finished).

Best Story:  Fallout New Vegas - It’s the setting that makes the story here, and all the moving pieces and factions alongside the main conflict really make this game stand out.  There’s so many little pieces to find along the way in the world and the way the main quest splits based on who you want in power feels important--and you are choosing a future for this whole region.

Favorite Art Style: The Witness - This game is peacefully wonderful with its visuals.  There are wonderful nature scenes and nests of wires and panels spreading in various parts of the island that are fascinating to look at.  The environment is half of the gameplay in most areas, so it’s important to look around even though exploration is not really the gameplay.  You find puzzles in the world, even in nature, and it’s fascinating.  The colors are bright and beautiful.  There is even a map in the middle of the island inside of a lake that helps you track your progress if you notice it (it isn’t like a normal ‘map’).

Favorite Soundtrack: Shin Megami Tensei IV - I love video game soundtracks, but SMTIV is something special.  The music booms in ways that make you really understand the atmosphere of the world, and there’s a great mix of different kinds of tracks for different places.  I love the tracks for the other worlds you enter, and the themes of the different routes are done so well.  Some of the music draws from past SMT games, but the remixes done for this game really are stunning to me, and there’s so many fantastic original tracks.

Hardest Game: I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream - I love this game but I literally never touch it without a walkthrough, which is why it gets to be the hardest game on the list, despite being a point and click adventure game lol.  Also just emotionally this game is challenging too, but I definitely mean this more in terms of getting a ‘perfect run’.

Funniest Game: The Stanley Parable - Trying to make this list has taught me that I don’t really play many ‘funny games’.  I don’t know if a game where multiple endings demand that you kill yourself should count as a ‘funniest game’, but it is also a game where the narrator tells you to stare at a fern and memorize its features, so....it counts.

Game I Like that is Hated: RWBY Grimm Eclipse - I’ve been playing this game since it was in early access and have loved it the whole time.  I find the gameplay soothing and fun, and I like playing the different characters.  It’s a game I play to chill out and just enjoy some fun battle mechanics.  It’s a fun game and I’ve spent over 100 hours in it, so I hope I like it, lol.

Game I Hate that is Liked:  Nier Automata - Neither this game’s gameplay or story impress me, and the fact that you have to replay basically the same stuff from a more boring-to-play-character’s pov in order to SEE all of the plot is a huge damper on the experience.  The story, to me, someone who engages with a lot of robot-focused fiction, is far from impressive or new, and it hardly engages with genre specifics at all, let alone in a new or interesting way.  I view this game as ‘a story with robots in it’ rather than ‘a story about robots’, which, to me, is a detriment.

Underrated: Nevermind - This game is amazing and very unheard of--and when it is heard of, it has been marketed incorrectly.  Nevermind seems like a horror game, and does market itself as one a bit, but it’s much more than that.  It’s more about trauma, recovery, therapy, etc.  This is a game that is so mindful about the topics it engages in that I am impressed by it every time.  It’s heavy with symbolism and character, despite lacking conversations or other similar game mechanics.  This is a lovely game that I really wish more people knew about-`p5-all of the patients are so interesting, and the focus on recovery and mental health is impressive.

Overrated:  Fire Emblem - I sort of mean this as the series as a whole really.  I have enjoyed the entries I have played somewhat, but I overall consider the series much less impressive than I was led to believe by others.  The gameplay especially is not impressive to me in any regard, even though I sometimes do find myself enjoying it.  The stories are alright, but many of them are weighed down by the gameplay and as a writer and person who likes to analyze writing, it’s very hard to do so when it isn’t able to fully exist under the chains the gameplay forces on it.  There are ways to mix gameplay and story well, Fire Emblem has not really done that in any of the entries I’ve played.  That being said, I don’t regret playing them, and I will occasionally replay, but I consider them mediocre games at best.

Best Voice Acting: Devil Survivor 2 - I love the voice acting in this game.  I feel like all the characters are really suited to their voices, and it’s really easy for me to visualize their voices.  They really bring the game to life and make both the dramatic and the funny scenes more enjoyable.

Worst Voice Acting: Jedi Knight Jedi Academy - I love this game, I really do, but some of the voice acting is janky.  Some of it is okay too--I think Kyle Katarn’s voice actor does fine, and some of the others I like NOW but hated when I was a kid, but the male protagonist voice in this game is just awful.  Which is bad when Jennifer Hale is the female voice actress lol.  His performance is passable though unless you’re playing darksided--the darksided ending to the game lacks all punch when you’re playing the male protagonist.

Favorite Male:  Battler Ushiromiya from Umineko no Naku Koro Ni - He’s the protagonist for most of the visual novels and I adore him utterly, especially once you move past episode 2.  He’s a wonderful character who I care about deeply.  I love his drive and how he fights--he’s someone who is easy to cheer for.  He matures well throughout the series and his character development is just wonderful.

Favorite Female:  Naoto Shirogane from Persona 4 - I really like how Naoto fits so well in the game, especially for being a final recruit--oftentimes the final recruit of Persona games (post 3) have a bit of a more difficult time feeling right with the group.  Naoto works really well though, and I love her struggles and story as well.  I think the difficulties she has concerning living as a woman in her field hit very deep to a problem that has existed for a very long time.

Favorite Protagonist: Connor of Daventry from King’s Quest 8 Mask of Eternity - I’m like, one of four fans of this character in the world, lol.  KQ8 is not a very well liked game and it does have a lot of issues, both with age and with how much of a departure it is from the series prior to it.  It’s strange to take a puzzle adventure game and make it a hybrid with what basically is a shooter, and it doesn’t really work.  Add to that the fact that you spend most of your time in the game without anyone around to talk to and it leads to this really polarizing and weird experience.  For me, Conner goes through what I would consider to be the ‘Ultimate Nightmare Scenario”.  Everyone in the world is turned to stone except him (and he survived out of mere chance) and so now it’s up to him, practically alone, to save the entire world.  There is no game lonelier than this.  I adore him for his bravery in the face of it, and how he just picks up to do what must be done because someone should do it, and if no one else can, then he will.  I also really love how he apologizes to people who are encased in stone while he takes money from their houses to help him on his journey.  I really do think he went back after the game was over and gave everyone heaps of gold to pay them back with interest lol.

Favorite Village:  Oakvale from Fable - The first Fable is the only one I really like, and it was one of the games I played when I was little, so the hometown in the game always meant a lot to me.  I like how you grow up there and how your tragic backstory is there--and then how you get to return to the town years later after you’ve come into your own, and you can see it completely rebuilt.  I like to spend a lot of my time in this town, just wandering around it and playing the minigames.  Even though I have a house in every town, Oakvale is where my hero calls home.

Most Hated Character:  Merril from Dragon Age 2 - I don’t really want to lay into how I feel about Merril, but what I will say is that it was suggested to me that I totally ignore her when playing, and I did so.  I only met her for her quest, dropped her off in town, and literally never spoke to her or interacted for the rest of the game.  I had a much better experience for it, honestly.  She appeared after I made my choice in the end of the game, which felt weird since I hadn’t spoken to her in several ingame years, but other than that, the game was totally fine without her.  I sort of just wish you could kill characters in DA2 the way you can in DAO, then I’d just do that, tbh.  It doesn’t suit very many (or any) of the characters I rp in DA2 to keep her around or support her in any way.

First Game I Played: Mixed up Mother Goose Deluxe - I’m not actually sure if this is the FIRST game I’ve ever played or not, but it’s one of the first I played alone as a kid.  I really loved it--this is probably what created my love for point and click adventures, and the game was very silly and fun.

Favorite Company: Bioware - I’ve always been a sucker for Bioware games, ever since Knights of the Old Republic 1 was my favorite childhood game.  I love how they do stories and party members, and while I’m not a fan of all of their games, I really love what they’ve made and their style of storytelling and character driven plot.  Even though sometimes their stories get cliche, I think the suit video games well and most of my early gaming was within their games.

Hated Company: EA - Bioware truly only started to go to shit after the EA acquisition, so I fucking hate EA.   I know Bioware had issues before EA too, but I definitely don’t think EA has helped the situation whatsoever.

Depressing Game: The Beginner’s Guide - I relate to this game as a creator and a writer, and it affects me deeply because of the story it tells and the questions it raises.  It makes me reflect on how I think of myself as a creator, and it reminds me of friendships I used to have.

Creepy Game:  The Path - God, I love this game.  It’s just aimlessly wandering around and finding symbolic scenery and watching your current character comment on it.  Then, you go off to find your girl’s wolf, and each one is different and unique to her, and you watch it ‘kill’ her--and facing her wolf is the only way each girl can truly mature.  Whenever you get to grandmother’s house, the camera switches to first person, and your eyes keep closing, so you can only see while clicking to move.  It forces you to keep moving so that you can see, but since you are moving, you only get to see things somewhat vaguely.  It’s got a great atmosphere, and I love the symbolic storytelling.

Happy Game: Eastshade - This game is so sweet.  There’s some drama around to with many of the quests, but I like this as an rpg without combat, and I think this would be a really good kids game.  There’s a lot to see and explore, and the game was made to be really pretty so that you want to paint several aspects of it.  It’s really lovely to just wander around in this game and bike around the area, painting anything that suits your fancy.  As long as you don’t finish the main quest, you’re free to wander, and materials do respawn, so you essentially can infinitely paint once you get far enough.

Favorite Ending: Virtue’s Last Reward - I love the questions this game asks and where the ending goes.  It thematically ties together--the whole reason the game itself exists is to get the attention of a ‘higher being’--the player, essentially.  I love how it plays with that concept, and even though the final game in the series doesn’t entirely pick this idea up where this game left it, standalone this game is stunning in how it comes together.

[emsartwork]

Can I ask why you chose those specific fairy tales/mythological/folk figures for the Mythix redesign? Very much enjoy how unique the designs are and how they draw from multiple different cultures thnx

Yeah so Mythix was a process and had a lot of concept brain work before i ever put anything down on paper. I think I had a few ladies in mind from the very beginning (Scheherazade is one of my favorite folk lore ladies just in general lol) but i wanted to pull from as many different cultures as possible, and have fit the winx girls’ ethnicity when possible. 

So for a character like Musa, who is Asian even if she is technically from an alien planet, I wanted to draw from mostly north east asia(even tho south and south east asia have super cool stories too), and I know a good amount of japanese folklore because of...... anime reasons and at first I was trying to find a japanese figure related to music, voice, or mouth, but I kind of hit a wall with that one because the only one i could think of/find was the tongue-cut sparrow story or the Split mouth woman which, while interesting, aren’t all that fitting for a powerful magic lady. You of course have momotaro, princess kaguya, or, a personal favorite, the boy who drew cats but none of those felt right either so I expanded my range to China and IMMEDIATELY landed on Mulan, I like to think at least some of her story was true, but even if she is just a legend WHAT A FUCKING LEGEND AMIRIGHT. she was perfect for a powerful magic lady, strong, honorable, selfless, protective, and smart. Even if her “power” wasn’t realted at all to music she was a perfect fit. 

With Flora I wanted to draw from Mexican or native american(aztec or mayan) folklore, I actually did consider making her Scheherazade for a hot minute cus I draw a lot of inspo for Flora and Lynphea from Persia/the middle east in general, but ultimately decided against it. La Muerte is another favorite figure of mine, partially because she has such an interesting origin from an anthropological point of view. with the blending of catholic saints and native cultures in Mexico and possibly some influence from what would eventually become voodoo. Also, Dia de Muertos has that whole marigold flower petal association which perfectly links to Flora. 

Aisha was a little more difficult because she’s black, and black people are, ethnically, from Africa, and Africa has SO MANY DIFFERENT CULTURES AND STORIES AND EVEN JUST GEOGRAPHY. and i know from past experiences its stupidly hard to find good reliable references for any of the native cultures in Africa, or america for that matter, because racism and colonialism. So I tried going by Aisha’s name, which is of Arabic and Swahili in origin, but arabic and swahili are both spoken in many countries across south Africa North Africa and the Middle East, so I used her parent’s names Niobe and Teredor which are both Greek sounding so that pulled it towards North Africa/Saudi Arabia(where there was a lot of Greek influence). SO i thought to myself, what about egypt??? Didn’t the Cinderella story originate in Egypt with an eagle and a sandal and a prince or something?????? UNFORTUNATELY THAT’S A LIE(as far as my research showed). So I was mega stumped with Aisha, and I tried applying Scheherazade to her as a last ditch effort because Saudi Arabia, and.,,,....,, it fit???? like weirdly well???? like Aisha and Scheherazade are both BAMFs with unrelenting determination, an urge to protect the innocent, and punish the unjust they just do it very differently, but I liked the contrast between Aisha’s more active aggressive style and her switching to a more subtle story teller’s methods. So somehow I got it to work out ethnically, geographically, personality, and using my lady Scheherazade AND the design + the colors came out fantastic imo.

Stella was easier, I knew I wanted to pull from Greece, and possibly link to Apollo if possible so I looked up the temple of Delphi to see if there were any notable priestesses. Pythia came up right away, and had a gorgeous classical painting to use as reference so that was a snap tbh

Bloom was pretty easy, I’ve based Domino off of Scotland and a lil’bit of China but appearance wise she’s VERY white. But I was already pulling HEAVILY from Scotland and Ireland for Morgana and Tir Nan Og, so I broadened to Europe in general(which means I had a lot to work with because fairytales are so Eurocentric *eye roll emoji*) I decided to go with cinderella because CINDERS come from FIRE(aren’t I clever) and glass making requires a lot of heat. I mentioned earlier that there are theories as to where the “cinderella” story truly originated, The most popular being China, Egypt, or Germany(as far as I researched the Egyptian and Chinese “versions” of Cinderella barely resemble the story?).  Aschenputtle is the iconic one from Grimm Brother’s collections in 1812 but I chose to use the edition that popularized the story in 1698 by Charles Perrault since thats the “classic cinderella” modern audiences still recognize(even tho i am very partial to the more violent german version lmao). Her outfit design was a bit of challenge but I really like what I came up with.

Tecna was..... troublesome. Pink hair doesn’t exist irl unless it’s dyed, so I had only a partial appearance to base ethnicity on. I pull a lot from Russia for Zenith tho, so I figured I would start with Baba Yaga(who is already a villain in world of winx so I wasn’t gonna use her anyways) and see where that lead me. I came across Vasilisa the Fair/Beautiful/Wise, she featured in a lot of Russian folklore and had a lot of different aspects/personalities/stories so I kinda tried to pull from all of them (which gave me difficulties later on in the design process) She was one of the only Fairytale figures I could find that had a direct connection to intelligence (not that other fairytale ladies aren’t smart ofc). Because of Vasilisa’s many different roles and some physical transformations (russian frog princess) I made her the Fairy of Transformations. Tecna is probably the one I’m least satisfied but I’m not changing it lmao 

[silverskye13]

I absolutely love the art style and character designs of Hollow Knight but I am /terrible/ at that sort of game. Do you remember what Let’s Play you watched for it? None of the people I usually watch have played it.

Ah yeah! One moment !

//Does a Youtube search//

The first Let’s Play I ever watched was the Wanderbots playthrough, which was before any of the DLC came out. I remember enjoying it, however he never finished the DLC packs because he’d moved on to other games before the DLC came out, and by the time he got back to it he was so bad at the game he couldn’t beat the new bosses [ which is understandable, honestly, because the bosses added to HK were super difficult ]. Anyway his playthrough is here.

The guy I’ve been watching recently [ i put him in the background whenever I draw now ] is Keith Ballard. He’s a really good Let’s Player, and I say this because he has.... no idea how to play the game lol. I don’t know how, but he managed to meander his way into a lot of the hardest areas of the game first. As someone who knows a lot about the game by now, it’s both awe inspiring and infuriating to watch him, because I want to jump through the screen and go “HEY WAIT GO BACK YOU MISSED SOMETHING IMPORTANT.” Anyway, if you know nothing about the game like he does, I’d wager it’s a lot less frustrating to deal with lol. I haven’t finished his playthrough yet, and that I know of he also played the game before all the DLC was out [ he has the Grimm Troupe DLC, but none of the others I don’t think ]. But that’s par for the course with most of these lets plays, because few people are playing the game absolutely fresh and new like...... 3 years after it came out lol. Anyway, his playthrough is here.

And finally if you’d like two guys who discuss the lore and stuff for the game a lot [ since a lot of the lore is hidden and hard to find and convoluted as all heck ] there’s two guys I recommend! Firstly there’s mossbag, who I personally don’t like all that much because he pitches the “I’m an asshole” youtube personna a little too hard for my taste. But he does really in depth analysis of stuff, and isn’t afraid to let you know when he thinks his own theories could be wrong, which is good. The other guy is RUSTY - The Superforge, who also does a lot of lore but in a more storytelling fashion. He makes some generalizations and assumptions that are probably embellished, but its still really interesting so I like it. He does curse a lot though, so be warned for that. Otherwise I really love the way he discusses lore, and he isn’t afraid to give you his personal opinions on how crappy he thinks some bosses are and stuff like that. His lists are always entertaining lol.

[haeddoti]

Hey there everyone! Though I already uploaded another post, I’ve always loved to write these kinds of self-checklists and therefore chose 50 questions from a random internet site. Without further due, let’s get started!

What is your full name?

My name is Marie and I sadly don’t have a second name…

What does your name mean?

Apparently it’s Hebrew and/or Egyptian and means either the well-fed or the loved one. Guess which origin I prefer lmao.

Are you named after anyone?

No, no one in my immediate family is named Marie, I guess my parents just liked the name. My sister is named Eve but my family is like, not religious at all.

Does your name make any interesting anagrams?

Well it makes Maier, which is a surname in my country but other than that, no.

If you had to change your first name, what would you change it to?

I always loved the name Louisa or any name that can be shortened into a cute nickname since Marie doesn’t have any options in that area. Probably never gonna change my name tho, since “Louise” is the name of my grandmas hated step-mom...

Where are you from?

I’m German and I’m pretty sure 99% of my family is ethnically west/centre-european.

Where were you born?

I was born Germany.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in the rural/suburban areas of Hesse, a federal German state, so basically between fields and LOTS of forest.

Who did you look up to growing up?

I looked up to a lot of football players and now I don’t even play football anymore. Sad times.

What are your best characteristics?

I consider myself to be very optimistic and I’m able to talk to anyone about anything.

What are your favorite things about yourself?

That sounds weird, but I am really good at picking up on the atmosphere in a room, a conversation or somebody’s mood. Like I feel like the emotions and the ~vibes~ of the room as… colors? It’s weird to describe but I’m really proud of that ability.

Which of your parents are you closest to?

I think I’m on a similar level of “closeness” but if I had to pick it would probably be my dad since we have a lot of the same interests.

Which of your parents are you more like?

My character is basically carbon copy of my mom, so yeah.

Are your grandparents still married?

Yes they are!

What relative was important to you growing up & why?

My cousins! I have 6 of them and two are really close to my age (one is less than 30 days and one is a year and a half) and I used to spend practically every week-end at their place since they lived so close by.

What is one thing that you’ve never revealed to your parents?

My sexuality and my concerns about my mental health oompf #dontbelikeme

What would your parents have named you if you were the opposite gender?

Felix or Oskar

What do you call your grandparents?

Oma and Opa

What is your best physical feature?

I have really curly blond hair which I guess is nice? As I previously said, I’m pretty strong and I have a lot of inner strength and muscle mass. I’m not bulky tho.

What is your biggest accomplishment?

No idea.

What is your biggest fear?

Spiders, Heights and being left alone.

What is your biggest regret?

Not expressing my appreciation for my friends/family enough.

What is your eye color?

The average person would call it light brown, my best friend called it diarrhea-swamp-dirt-brown. Lovely, isn’t she.

What inspires you?

Books and written pieces in general. Music videos, songs and the like, so things that I guess are meant to inspire others.

What is the most important thing in your life?

My own happiness.

What has required the most courage of you in your life so far?

Talking to my friends about my mental health issues. Still got a lot of things to tell and lots of things to do.

Who is your favorite actor?

… Tom Holland? I dunno.

Who is your favorite actress?

Scarlett Johansson. Black Widow is cool. And she can sing well too.

Who is your favorite celebrity?

I don’t really care about celebrity culture nor can I name someone rn that I really like, follow and keep up with.

Who is your favorite musician?

I like lots of different artists from lots of different genres so picking a favorite is hard…

Who’s your favorite person in the world?

Once again, I don’t have one favorite person, I have a group of people who I consider to be my favorite people in the world, people with whom I get along great.

What is your favorite childhood memory?

Summer at my cousins place, role-playing as warrior cats, playing Dragon Quest IX until 2 am and them sleep till 10 and repeat.

What is your favorite color?

Sunflower yellow, light blue, gold and really soft purple-pinks.

What is your favorite cultural activity?

(had to google what that meant lol) uhh, I like visiting old cities and looking at old architecture and castles. City tours and museums and getting a feeling for the atmosphere within the town.

What is your favorite drink?

Sparkling water (I’m German, what did you expect), coffee, smoothies and hot cocoa.

What is your favorite fairytale?

Rapunzel! I’m from the town where the fairytale originated and also the general area the Grimm brothers lived.

What is your favorite food?

Dampfnudeln (lit. translated steamed noodles, but its more dough-y and sweet), Spaghetti con salmone, eggplant anything (I love eggplants), veggies with feta and salmon and my moms cherry-chocolate-cake.

What is your favorite holiday destination?

I like visiting new places but I love the alps.

What is your favorite ice-cream flavor?

Yogurt and stracciatella.

What is your favorite music genre?

I enjoy most genres except metal and german music in general.

What is your favorite physical activity?

Volleyball. I played volleyball for nearly 8 years now (but I’m not that good lol)

What is your favorite quote?

Be as you wish to seem -Socrates

What is your favorite snack?

Strawberries

What is your favorite song?

Oof, too many. I’ll make a separate post lmao.

What is your favorite sport?

Apart from obv Volleyball, Ice skating and dancing but I’m not good with either.

What is your favorite time of the day?

The morning. Since my windows face east, the sun lightens and heats my room really early in the morning, so I can sleep no longer than 8am max in the summer. Not too bad tho, I’m a morning person.

What is your favorite type of clothing?

If I could, I’d like to steal Jasmines (cup of jasmine on youtube) wardrobe. I really like “asian street style” type of clothes. But I don’t have the confidence, the money or the willpower to change my clothes like that. So rn, my clothe are pretty basic.

What is your favorite way to pass time?

Drawing.

What are the names of your favorite restaurants?

“La Siesta”, “La dolce vita” and “Schalander”.

What is your all-time favorite town or city? Why?

Stockholm and Munich are very high up there even tho I only visited both cities only one time. Hamburg is nice too.

Oh well, that were 50 questions! I got some more ideas what I could post so I will update sometime soon since summer holidays are approaching and there will no more school work.

Till then, see you around!