#I guess it's better than explaining it

[veryspecialfungus]

Donatella. Augustus. Classpects. Please?

How about I just do all the adults in a "Probably Would Actually Die and Be Prototyped But Let's Have Fun" set? Minus Truman because I just honest to god couldn't come up with anything. I tried, I really did, but I just couldn't figure him out.

Also this'll be the last one. I'm not doing the Whispering Rocks kids or the Thorny Towers gang. I honestly struggled with these which tells me I've hit a wall and so I'm calling it here. Highly encourage anyone who wants to do them though.

Donatella: Witch of Blood. Donatella, like all the Aquatos, are all about family and bonds. Donatella's character arc would be about, y'know, using her powers responsibly. Like I feel like Aquatos door is always open, but also they will try to drag you inside if you know what I mean.

Augustus: Heir of Void. I mean, it makes sense right? His entire family structure was based on a big lie, a giant mystery. I sort of conceived this as working in tandem with Donatella. Like Donatella works out the team to go explore the mysteries that Augustus trips over?

Sasha: Knight of Doom. I just think it's high time that Sasha gets out of his lab and uses all his creepy experiments to protect others directly. I picture him having to run a brain under his arm like a football past the consorts who hate/fear him because he's experimented on them. I feel like it'd be so easy to make things harder on himself and so hard to improve them that it would be fun to watch him try.

Milla: Maid of Space. This one was interesting, because it was more like everything else didn't really fit? Maybe Hope would also work, but I feel like commanding space would allow Milla to make the universe into the party she wants it to be? Hopefully she listens to her teammates and doesn't make it TOO excessive.

Coach: Prince of Rage. I don't have a fully formed reason for this one, but I do notice that Coach often diffuses the tension and provides comic relief in certain scenes, and I think he could learn to weaponize this. Also I think it'd be funny to see him in those little shorts so...thematic.

Hollis: Rouge of Time. The ultimate organization project. Hollis needs to trust her own skills to determine where all that time needs to go and how to do it right. It's her true final challenge.

Loboto: Page of Mind. I don't know how else to put this, but Loboto has a lot of things wrong with him, through his own mental makeup and the things that have been done to him, which is a good set up for a Page that needs to tap the potential of something. Rebuilding his rational mind on his own terms would be a good way for him to regain some of things that have been taken from him over the course of his life.

[bulbabutt]

theyre vibing

[egophiliac]

I was wanting to try doing an art piece in the style of the signature spell poster art pieces you create. But I’m not really the best at coming up with a composition for such a thing.

Do you have a process for how you come up with the compositions for them?

oh, awesome! it is an INCREDIBLY enjoyable style to work in; I hope you have fun with it! :D

I'm not great at putting my thought/art process into words, so my apologies if this doesn't make a lot of sense, but I'll try! my first step is always to do a LOT of thumbnails to figure out both the idea and how I want to show it; not trying to do a real sketch or anything, just little doodles to figure out what exactly I'm trying to portray. (I also call these "garbage passes" because they're not meant to be any good, they're just there to throw things out. aha. ha. ...anyway.) I think it's important during that first stage to really focus on the idea and the layout and not to get too bogged down in the actual drawing yet!

I tend to save my final thumbnails, so I'll use 'em as examples (I posted the ones up through episode 5 here if you're interested!) (and, uhhh, spoilers through episode 5 also in this post, hopefully that won't be an issue!)

the main thing I try to think about in composition is balance -- not necessarily in terms of symmetry, but in where each element is placed and how much space it's taking up. remember, empty space is still space! it's also really important to think about the parts that don't have anything in them, as much as the parts that do!

personally, I like to divide things up roughly by both halves and by thirds -- there's a lot more in-depth info out there on why the "rule of thirds" in particular works well visually, but in short, our brains tend to focus on things that are placed closer to imaginary division lines, instead of in the exact center of an image. so even when I'm doing something that is very centered and symmetrical, I try to keep that in mind and generally aim around those for landmarks like faces/eyes (or...where they would be, anyway) and other focal points.

it's not a formula of "the character's face should be in this division of this grid" or anything, more like "our minds like to focus on these areas, let's think about how to use that", if that makes sense! and of course rules are made to be broken, art is lawless anarchy, and so on. but it can be a good starting place for deciding where you want to put things!

(blue - thirds, red - half)

and against the finished versions, because they do usually end up changing a lot (including the empty space of the border):

(...these actually lined up a lot better than I thought they would. :') it makes me look like I do things way more intentionally than I do.)

other stuff I just try to keep in mind is that our eyes like following arcs and paths, which can be a good way to guide the eye:

and frame and control the focus:

honestly, composition is one of those things I feel like I struggle with a lot, so I'm not sure how much of this is helpful or actually makes sense outside of my head. but hopefully it helps a little! it's all just stuff to think about while drawing and not anything hard-and-fast, so don't, like, stress out about making sure things are lining up exactly on the thirds or anything. again, it's more "our brains think these are the dopest parts of the rectangle" than anything else! take advantage of the cool parts of the rectangle!

NOW GO HAVE FUN DRAWING seriously though, it is always super cool that other people like this idea and style enough to want to do it themselves and for other/their own characters! thank you! ❤️❤️❤️

[writeouswriter]

I love how ominous such basic names like "The Organization" or "The Institute" or "The Initiative" or "The Facility" or etc. are when placed in like a shady sci-fi context, like there's no reason for them to sound that suspicious, but without elaboration, it's like here is a place where they are doing things™ and I am like ooohh, because the blank state, the refusal to give you any more detail makes you think they're hiding something on purpose and leaves the darkest corner of the imagination left to fill in the rest.

[trainingdummyrabbit]

(this isn't my first anything.)

[cathodic-clairvoyant]

Oh hi there transfem discussing her experience in the trans community i just had a quick question about your post

What does tme mean?

Oh okay i see i understand, thank you.

What does transmisogyny mean?

Ah I see, I get it.

What's a trans woman?

Oof scary. One last question.

What's a woman?

Thank you for being my own personal google (not like you had anything better to do right?) and derailing the point of your post for my own personal education. I will now add nothing of value to this post in return. Bye bye!

[kozzax]

Back during the time between us knowing The Book existed and us knowing it was the Revival Book, I spent. Way too many hours thinking about it? And about what it could be, what it could mean. Something so powerful and dangerous and something that gave Schlatt so much power throughout his reign-- what could it possibly be?

I had two big ideas that I proposed to my friends at the time. One of them was what we got: the written directions for resurrection. I... was never as attached to this idea as I was to my other thought. Resurrection was a big topic on the server at the time and it seemed like other people were researching it too, as my qpp pointed out, but even if that weren't true-- my other idea was always more compelling to me.

Because my other idea? Was that it was the script.

[puhpandas]

ideal ggy reveal for me right now is some sort of game whatever format theyd use (for example sb vs hw is very different storytelling) about vanny killing dr rabbit and it leads up to the beginning of sb at the end

[clamsjams]

felps would understand the joe hills difference™️ and joe hills would understand the felps square™️. do not argue with me on this one i know in my heart of hearts that it is true

[maliciousalice]

Hear me out (or don't... it's fine I'm just venting and mean) yeah um I don't believe Chakotay was saved in Prod*gy s2.

[uncannycookie]

OC-tober Day 7, Day 8: Likes, Dislikes

Generally, Emri likes stuff that makes him feel safe and in control. Small spaces are good because he can see all the exits. Warm drinks/warm clothes etc. are good because warmth = survival.

Cats are just good. They purr.

And he dislikes things that make him feel unsafe, of course. Wide open spaces are hard to overlook and hide in. Loud = danger. Touch = pain. Conversations are scary because people lie and don't say what they mean and you can never really know their true intentions.

Also he's been living on his own in the wild for 20 years so his social skills aren't exactly, uh... present. At all.

[normystical]

aaaaaaaa

ok i have no idea how else or where else to ask this so ig ill shoot my shot this way. could anyone (preferably 17–20something in age as I am 18 and this is... a very explicit thing tbh) help me with. a thing

[dark-elf-writes]

Okay but you know I’m very clearly on the edge of losing my shit when my mother Notorious Energy Drink Hater™️ agrees to get me one while she’s at the store picking up things for me it’s so good to know that I look as bad as I feel

[mwagneto]

the fact that almost every character in ofmd is specifically a gay man is seriously so fucking special like usually a show will have 1 character from a minority group and then that character has to be every single thing - a person the straight/homophobic audience can accept and even like, someone that deals with their issues the way they "should" be dealt with, someone who's not too much of anything but simultaneously everything because every expected trait has to be displayed at some point or another.... versus this show with its massive cast of characters who are all able to embody specific (and extremely varying) ways to be a gay man where all of their journeys and personalities and approaches to their sexualities are so unique to them but so true to people that exist in real life........ i wish i could express this better coz it's such an incredible thing to see it genuinely makes my chest hurt with how much it means to me

[jane-lynndrake-t]

//OOC

Hey I don't want to be rude but not knowing how Janet Drake dies is a red flag for an RP blog about Janet Drake. Don't get me wrong, the multiverse means characters like Janet die in different ways but I feel like you should know this.

I'm really not here to step on your toes but I feel like planning ahead is your friend. Especially with your take on Janet.

Ooc

Hi! Thanks for the concern! I want to reassure you and say, "Yes, her death is how it was canonically in DC Comic's Rite of Passage."

Just to be clear, I mean that she died from poisoned water right as Batman tried to save both her and Jack from being kidnapped and ransomed to America by terrorists based in Haiti.

The memory she has of the earth quake was just incidental and part of how Jack and Janet decided to become a couple.

So I'm not really sure what you mean when you say that I am unaware of how she died.

the set up of this blog is this:

After being dead for 4 years, she suddenly wakes up in the hands of a group with access to Lazarus Pits.

She does not remember the past 20 years before she died, nor does she remember her own death.

This “blog” is actually a journal to her that she uses to help express her feelings and organize her thoughts and actions. Fortunately, this isn’t a normal journal, as it allows beings from different multiverses (you!!) to help her and give her advice and also help her remember her past!

This means initially,

She doesn't remember that she died while on business/archeology trip.

She doesn't know she died to a terrorist group in haiti

She doesn't know that Gotham's biggest issues are no longer the mob.

As for knowing how she died, the previous posts hint at her remembering her death.

Here

Here

Here is her finding out how she died via her obituary.

This is an interactive story, so it’s up to you guys to help her figure out the answers to mysteries like,

Why did Janet Drake get resurrected now out of all times?

Who kidnapped her and nursed her back to health using the lazurus pits?

Why did they do that?

And other mysteries that are going to come as old ones get solved.

I also wanted to explore what her character might be like outside of being a fridged character.

That means taking a look into how she might view her marriage, how she views her ambitions, how she views motherhood and how she views her work.

I also wanted to explore her canonical hobbies.

Tim describes it as haute couture but I think she likes it, not for the outward reputation, but because she has personal stake and nuanced thoughts and theories on different ones.

Please rest assured, I did a lot of research on her canonical depiction, not only as how she appeared but also to other character's reflections of her.

I also have an overall plot that I’ve planned and reworked for twoish weeks. So I genuinely have planned ahead. My goal on my take of her character is also more canonically aligned than not.

This was all meant to be a fic but i don’t have time for that right now so I thought this would be a fun different way to tell this story.

Janet Drake is genuinely my favourite fridged character ever.

If you have any questions, please send in an ask! If you have any other thoughts, either the Missus or me can answer for you.

Thanks again for interacting!

[eclaire-went-bam]

bcs i'm aware of how i automatically percieve people, i earnestly try to give the benefit of the doubt a lot. i tend to believe people are Actually Just That Dumb™ when they're joking about something, so i try to get ahead of that & tell myself people are joking when they say something stupid, so that i don't look stupid

all i've learnt in doing that, is most of the time, people aren't joking. they actually did mean what they say, & i made the situation 10× worse by laughing at what they said.

not only does it reinforce the idea in my head that people are Dumb so i need to take the reins on literally Everything, but it also leads people to believe i'm making fun of them for saying something silly & talking to me less, when, if i knew it were a genuine thing they thought, i would have gladly explained it without judgement

but i don't really know how to stop treating them as jokes, because what if they ARE joking so they laugh at me for how Stupid i am for taking the bait? i can't handle being made a fool of, i think i'd rather die