#I helped to start this convention and this is my own art that I animated for the con

[flukeoffateart]

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Everyone at PopCult Anime Con is excited to see you on August 24-25 in the Westin Waltham-Boston Hotel, in Waltham, MA

[runningwithscizzorz]

(1)Learn the rules before you break them + Gather proper references

(2) Understand what you want to break and how

(3) Can't do it? Find someone who can

(4) It's going to look really bad for a while

(5) Have fun with it!

(1) -Yes, I am that kind of artist. Yet, not in the conventional way. I encourage people to go in guns blazing when it comes to drawing something new, then coming out analyzing what they know, and what they need to learn more of right away.

-Here, I broke down the anatomical pieces of Nour and Narinder's face with the same labels so you guys can understand this weird invisible pattern that I follow in my work. Doing this with any animal you're attempting to draw greatly improves your line confidence when drawing different face shapes. Also understanding the biological function for why animals look a certain way helps you keep consistency.

(3) Time to throw any artistic guilt you have for heavily referencing people's art OUT THE WINDOW and start ANALYZING PEOPLE'S WORK YOU WANT TO BE LIKE✨ I've always done this, having a reference of someone else's amazing work right next to my own drawing so I can try and understand how they make their magic work! No shame, no embarrassment, nada. Pure, unadulterated will and spite that I would be just as good as the artist who made me so motivated and happy with their work! I couldn't figure out how to make Nour's face both sheep-like, and humanly expressive, so I looked at a LOT of Zootopia and old Disney art for help!

(2) With how I draw narilamb, I'm still working on it (as you can see) but I wanted to break Narinder's face to be fluffier and slimmer, while Nour's face would be shorter and flatter. If you look at it for too long, it's absolutely going to look weird, in the way that if you look at Anna from Frozen for too long she starts looking really weird. The anatomy isn't meant to be correct or consistent, it's meant to convey the emotion and energy I want out of the characters in that moment. If you're able to properly get that across, then you don't need to think about how broken something looks, as long as your eye is happy enough to trick your brain into thinking what you're seeing is canny.

(4) Yeah, I hate this part too. It's going to look like shit at first. I can't even look at my art from a few months ago when I was figuring out their designs... God, so fucking ugly. If it weren't for the shittiness of those drawings, I would have never gotten here! Wading through the "trust the process" stage always really sucks, but it's absolutely worth the relief of when you finally get something to look right.

(5) Art is work, yes. It's stressful, it's long, it's straining, its draining, it's exclaiming, blah blah blah. But, I try to keep my art FUN. If I find my artwork becoming slow as I depressingly drag my pen over my tablet, I'm failing. You MUST keep spirit and life in your work. The spirit of emptiness or the life of sadness can have a very meaningful place in art, but those can only exist with keeping work light, easy, and fun! If you're stressing how a specific thing looks or how you can't get something to look right no matter what, FUCK IT. Draw something to bring the flavor back in your work! I'm kind of rambling, but just, HAVE FUN!✨️ Be messy, scream, laugh, slash canvases, throw paint, smash sculptures, tear apart books, GO CRAZY

[art]

Creator Spotlight: @66sharkteeth

66 is a comic artist and the creator of City of Blank, a WEBTOON original series. They worked in the game industry at companies such as 2K Games before entering the field of comics. They began their career in comics at Tapas, where they worked as an editor and lead typesetter, before being signed to create their own original series on WEBTOON.

Check out our interview with 66 below!

Have you ever had an art block? If so, how did you overcome it?

The short answer is yeah, I’ve definitely had one. Overall, I feel like doing a lot of style studies during that time and trying to use new brushes helps a lot. In addition, because I’m a comic artist, I feel like writer’s block is in the same field, and with that, I’m really fortunate that I have an editor that I can work with, who helps me a lot there. Whenever I am stuck at a plot point in my comic, I can always go to my editor, who helps me hammer things out.

What medium have you always been intrigued by but would never use yourself?

Animation. Of course, everyone loves animation. I went to school for game art and design and even did some animation courses, and I am just not cut out for it. I don’t enjoy the process, and I am not good at it. Animation is beautiful, and I admire people who can do it. I’d love for my work to be animated some day, I’m just not capable of being the one to do it haha.

Warm tones or cool tones?

It really depends on the scene! Especially in my comic, I really go with both of them, just depending on the moment in the comic. There was a major character death, and that scene was almost black and white. But normally, the comic is very vibrant, and people really like it, so when I switch it to a more cold tone, it makes the scene that much more impactful.

What is a recent creative project that you are proud of?

Honestly, my current comic, City of Blank, takes up 100% of my time. But recently, I did a plushie campaign where I worked with Makeship through Webtoon to design the plushies and do a little bit of marketing for them. So that’s fun and different from what I normally do!

When planning a comic or a story, what do you do first, character design or character outline?

Normally, I have a design, and I fall in love with the character design, and then I find a role for them. That’s how a lot of my characters have started. Also, that’s how I’ve been tackling new projects that I want to work on after City of Blank. I just came up with a character, and I’m trying to make a story around them.

What is a convention experience that has stuck with you?

Meeting readers and realizing how much my work means to some of them. Some of them have started their own comics, having been inspired by mine. Learning that I’m part of the reason they started their own comic journey, the same way I looked to other inspiring comic artists to start mine—it means the world that I’m in that position now.

Top tips on setting up an Artist Alley booth?

Let’s see…bright, sparkly colors! I think just trying to make sure that the booth is eye-catching. I ended up making a big shiny banner for New York Comic Con, and I know many people stopped by because it caught their eye and they’re curious about what it is. I know a lot of people are selling merchandise of popular media. Even just a banner of your brand to get them curious about who you are and maybe interested in seeing what you make and taking a business card so they can look you up later. It’s better than someone just buying a pin and forgetting you exist. Lastly, put out a tip jar. You never know just how generous your fans are feeling.

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

I’m mostly involved in the webtoon sphere! I am definitely inspired by my fellow Webtoon creators, @lark-wren, who created the series Woven. I love their work and seeing them interact with their readers on Tumblr. Same with fellow Webtoon creators, @miranda-mundt-art and @astrobleme-enterprises, who created Lovebot.

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing, 66! Be sure to check out their Tumblr blog over at @66sharkteeth and follow their webcomic, City of Blank, over at WEBTOON.

[mcromwell]

Genuine question, sorry if it's dumb -

How do you work when there's something on the line? I find I freeze, and it's just so much more difficult to properly organize myself to produce something I'm proud of. But you've been to conventions, and you sell your work, so I'm assuming you feel pressure at least *sometimes.* do you work with it? Around it?

Hey Tymbul, it's not a dumb question, it's actually a really good one. I can only answer it to the best of my own abilities, in regards to my own art and practice, so mileage may vary.

This feeling of something being is "on the line" was what burned me out hard in 2019/20. I'd been making and sharing art for decades and all the while my thoughts took the shape of, "it has to be GOOD, it has to SAY something, it needs to hit X and Y requirement to be worthy" etc. Wherever that habit of pressuring myself came from, it wasn't helpful. I would glare at the blank page and curse every sketch I made because it (and by extension, myself) wasn't ever good enough.

I knew something had to change, so I changed. I began trying to make art with no pressure. Instead of pushing myself I let my foot off the brake. I changed the way I talked to myself about art. "I'm going to make this as good as I can. And if I can't, there's always next painting." I began starting a piece with fast, easy, not-precious stuff--random paint smears, doodles, gesture sketches. The pressure was off when all I had to do was start with trash and play around. If it just wasn't working and I had to scrap it or start over, oh well, it was just trash. I still run into this pressure today, though. Growth ain't linear and all that. Old habits die hard. I have to snap myself out of it with a feral screeching JUST THROW PAINT ON IT RRRRRRRRGH and I can usually let up on the brakes enough to get it going. It's a journey.

I like to think of this in terms of dog training. If you punch your dog and yell at it, that dog is going to have fear and doubt and won't be a healthy dog capable of performing the tasks you ask of it. But if you use positive reinforcement, they develop confidence and become dependable and sturdy. If you sit down to make art and every time its a barrage of IT HAS TO BE GOOD! YOU HAVE TO BE PROUD OF IT! EVERY NEW PIECE HAS TO BE BETTER! IF IT ISN'T YOU'LL BE A FAILURE! WHY AREN'T YOU DRAWING YET then man, that dog is cowering in the corner, it is not going to sit or fetch or anything. What if instead you said, "Okay! Time to make something. Let's do warm-ups and thumbnails to prepare so I'm ready to jump in. I am open to surprising myself by making something I'm excited about, but I won't beat myself up if today isn't that day. I know by doing this I'm practicing and getting better, it is never a waste." You are much more likely to Do a Thing if that thing feels good to do. That's just being an animal, man. Positive feedback.

To be honest, though, I still haven't found a successful way to make commissions less like pulling teeth. My method of art-making is to fuck around and find out and that's not a conducive method for a comm, which usually has a ton more expectation and strict parameters and my nemesis: Should-Look-Like. I am good at some things, I am not good at comms. Progress is not linear. I am still learning. My efforts to let up on the brakes made it so the car was a lot harder to control... for better or worse.

Hope this helps. Mostly, my advice is to find out how making art can feel good to you and then make a ton of it. Make more art than you think you should. It gets easier. And don't punch your dog.

[jennamoran]

The Far Roofs

cover art by Isip Xin

Hi!

Today I'm going to talk a little bit more about my forthcoming RPG, the Far Roofs. I've previously talked about

general principles,

the rats,

and the campaign.

Today, I want to talk about the Mysteries.

Up on the distant roofs, you see, the rats hunt, and are hunted, by these ... things. These vast, impossible god-monsters.

The Mysteries.

These things that are as much experiences as beings.

I like to anchor them to real-world myths. That's mostly an authorial choice, rather than something intrinsic to their character---

I think if I named them all in some made-up language of my own, called them all things like, I dunno, Alolitha or Eidumir, then they'd come across as cooler ... but also harder to get a handle on.

You'd have to be immersed in the setting to really get what they're about.

So I give most of them a byname that's more accessible. Something like Harpy, Hoop Snake, Lennan-Shee---whatever---so that you can tap into your memories or impressions of real-world mythology and the work of fantasists and cultural tropes and monster manuals from other games and the stories of your childhood and all of that.

Even still, they are vast things.

You might be forgiven, if I just named them without that prelude, in thinking that they seem vast to the rats because the rats are small. Thinking, perhaps, that you could fight off a Mystery like Jackalope, say, or Hippocampus ... if you were lucky, or had a gun ... whereas a rat might have a harder time.

The thing is, to walk in the realm of myth is to lose your grounding in the world. On the Far Roofs you can't rely on your ability to frame a story or a conflict through a rationalistic lens. The Mysteries are not physical creatures of a certain size, but rather the animating spirits of dramatic, life-changing experiences. Like the starring monster of a horror movie, or divinity that visits you in dreams, it's loosely possible to pay them off, or punch them out, or argue with them about Naruto, or whatever, but you can't really extrapolate out from that to resolve whatever underlying problem they can be.

Jackalope isn't a thing you shoot, or whatever:

It's a thing you encounter on dark nights, sometimes, and can't ever really prove you've seen. Maybe you don't even encounter it, just ... find its tracks.

It's not a conflict you can easily rewrite.

As for something like Harpy ... she is dead, the rats have killed her ... and even dead and disembodied your fate is very likely in her hands.

.

This kind of thing is why the rats are valid protagonists in this world:

In the face of the Mysteries, there's not much difference between the standings of a human and a rat. We are all such small, imperiled things.

.

Each of the Mysteries is tied to some internal state. Some mood or emotion or whatever. It's not clear how much that's true, and how much that's a game convention, and how much that's how the rats, who you're going to be getting most of your basic information from, understand them.

... but it's at least a little bit "all three."

This is, fundamentally, an authorial choice. The Far Roofs is an expressionist game. It's a game about emotion bleeding out into reality, about moods and experiences taking on physical or quasi-physical form in the world or narrative around us. So that's part of why I made the Mysteries like this.

The other part is, if you want to make up your own Mysteries, it helps a lot that you can start with an internal state.

Deciding to make up "Centaur" as a Mystery is kind of boring. I think.

Deciding to make a Mystery named Centaur that is on some level "about" mind-body duality or immersion in the body, or wisdom, or the post-exercise endorphin mood, or having ADHD ("I'm stuck on a horse that's going where it wants"), or whatever ... that's a bit more interesting.

Starting with a mood you want to talk about, I think, like ... Sorrow ... and figuring out what mythical entity best matches that (I'd go with Banshee), and then figuring out how its stories work from there:

I think that's the most interesting option of them all.

.

I do give some of them fancy made-up names, to be clear. I'm not opposed to having an Alolitha or Eidumir or whatever around! But that's not the default or primary approach.

.

In theory, the game expects you to make up most of the Mysteries you encounter.

In practice, there's a built-in campaign that features a bunch of them, so there are enough worked examples in the book that you might never have to come up with one from scratch:

there's solid summaries of about three dozen, plus

in-depth writeups of Goblin, Harpy, Hoop Snake, Unicorn, and four other Mysteries that map a bit less precisely to established myths.

.

There's a lot in those in-depth writeups, but my favorite parts are the pages that are just questions the GM can ask the players when that Mystery is at hand.

(Questions, sometimes statements, sometimes actions or power uses, but ... it's the questions that I love.)

I have spent the better part of a decade working on power sets for spiritual, mystical, and divine entities, and you can find some cool rules toys for the more purely mechanically minded here. I like how their game-mechanical writeups all turned out.

... but in both practice and theory, none of that is as cool to me as the list of asides and questions the GM can crib from when the Mystery is involved. Simple stuff like "the wind is rising" or "speak to me of solitude." More nuanced stuff like GM-as-Death playing a spade suit card and saying, "tell me of a nasty accident, and how you avoided or survived it." In every case, a bunch of options.

As a reader, I love the detailed mechanics more. As a reader, I don't really care that much about the actual how of how the Mysteries do things but I love that there is a how. It tickles an important part of my brain, deep down.

... but when I'm actually GMing, I love the lists of phenomena and questions so very much.

I am admittedly usually in a constant state of panic when GMing, so perhaps I get more value out of both the cue card function and the ability to hand off responsibility to the player than others would.

Perhaps.

.

If you're curious about those examples:

The wind rises when you're dealing with Harpy because a lot of her story is the story about how being on the Far Roofs is like falling, like flying, like losing the stable influence of the ground. So naturally you feel the air. You feel the motion. It arises. Naturally you become isolated, or at least experience intermittent solitude, because the ground ultimately mediates almost every social connection and interaction.

Maybe not love or skydiving teams, I guess.

When Death's presence is weighty in your life ... well, it's in your life, so you're probably not dead yet, but stuff happens! You nearly died!

I like that you don't have to think through that theory when playing with this stuff, but it's still all right there, implicit, presented in a couple of different forms.

That's what I have to say tonight!

.

From the Cutting Room Floor for this Post:

... there is still a part of my brain that loves it when you write up the power that lets the Christian God be three species of hypostasis and a single ousia, or whatever, and loves it even more when you can use the same power to combine three mechs.

I have not written up that specific power, though, to be clear, as I rarely put either Christianity or mecha in my games (albeit, see Invisible Mecha) ...

[stychu-stych]

Hi, sorry if this is weird but I'm saw in your bio that your a tattoo artist but I found your account theough some cult of the lamb art (it looks cool af) and I've been planning to do illustration and animation at unj but I've also been considering a tattoo artist apprenticeship after i finish that msybe? could you possibly tell me what irs like as an apprentice and if you think I could do my courses at uni and then do an apprenticeship after? I've really been struggling considering my choices and if you had any advice or information about being a tattoo artist weather its on an apprenticeship or actually as a career I would really appreciate it if you had any information for me! I'm so sorry if this is weird and of course you dont have to tell me anything if you don't want to or am uncomfortable too but I'm really curious and with no other sources 😭 (also finding your account may just be like my idol and inspiration while I struggle through school and what I do in the future 😭❤️)

That took me a while to answer because I never feel experienced enough to advise people 😭 Or maybe I should say - I don't feel in a position to advise because, as I once said, I'm mostly a self-taught working at home studio (now almost in my own art workshop with my fiancée) and I don't have much experience working in typical tattoo studio and with other tattoo artists. But I'll try my best ✨

There're many differences between apprenticeship in different countries (and tattooing in general) for example - Poland has one of the lowest price list in Europe but still a lot of people can't afford tattoos. Or that in UK being a tattoo apprentice is a long process. I know for sure that a lot of tattoo artists I know struggle with number of clients compared to previous years. And it won't change for a long time for sure because of inflation. So if you want to start tattooing you need to know that you won't earn much money for a year at least (as I said- it might looks different in another countries)

Also as a tattoo artist (even as a apprentice) you still need to take care of your social media which sometimes can be exhausting and depressing. And I'm telling all of this because I know that you probably won't find this kind of information on other tattoo artists' profiles (unfortunately strategy "look how my life is perfect" works for social media and for getting clients)

But on the brighter side - being a tattoo apprentice isn't something you have to dedicate your whole life to it. Lot of people I know have a second job to be financially stable. I myself don't live only from tattooing - I also help my fiancée with our online store (with our fanmerch and original artworks) and go on conventions with our booth. So you always can do multiple things at once and if you'll decide that tattooing isn't for you - nothing is lost!

The best way to know more about tattoo apprenticeship in your area is to check some groups - for example on facebook- dedicated to learning tattooing

I know that this post is sooo long but believe me, I barely touched the topic. I could write an entire essay about that topic djdbdjdh

Have some wolf lady because I like adding pics to posts sjdbsjsb

[catcake24]

Okay so I’m only kind of into Rottmnt and tmnt 2012, but I came across some old discourse and so I wanted to share my opinion no one asked for lol

Basically a lot of fans argue that the Rise turtles would be more powerful or better fighters then the other continuities, because they were created to be great warriors and were able to become heroes even without a lot of training, with the addition of their ninpo which allows them to basically have magic. However, I disagree. (Explanation under the cut)

In martial arts movies and anime, one thing that is repeated a lot is that martial arts technique, skill, and training, always overcomes raw power. Dragon Ball Z shows this brilliantly in its early arcs - Goku fought warriors from other planets who had superior power used power levels as a way of determining strength, but beat their asses because he was a better fighter in martial arts technique and trained more. He wasn’t more powerful, but instead put in the work to be a better fighter.

So the way I see it, turtles like the TMNT 2012 (or almost any other continuity really) would be overall better fighters than the ROTTMNT turtles. It wouldn’t be EASY, and they definitely wouldn’t win the first time they fight since they don’t know what they’re going up against, but they trump the ROTTMNT turtles with sheer experience, skill, and training. It’s shown in the 2012 show that they put effort every day into their skills by training against one another and learning new skills, and it takes April a long time before she even starts approaching the turtles in skill, and they have fought (and beaten) magical/more powerful opponents before.

Meanwhile the Rottmnt turtles have much more situational skill, and their ninpo helps a lot, but are shown that their training is much less rigorous and that they often win because of their enemies having a weakness or some other outside advantage rather than overcoming them on their own. It’s why the finale hits so hard, they are out of other options and need to tap into their own inner power to win. I’m not saying wither show is better or worse for this, just how I see it and how writing conventions of both shows would play into this.

The Rottmnt turtles would go into this overconfident and loose, to comedic effect, while the 2012 turtles tend to be under confident and win by using their skills and teamwork.

Also the whole ROTTMNT vs TMNT 2012 “rivalry” is dumb and I hate it (and was why I left the fandom, it just became too common to see in fanfic and got really toxic). Just let them be friends after beating eachother up like every other action show crossover.

[thegorgonist]

this is maybe a silly question. how do you go about getting represented by an agency as an illustrator? i dont expect you to have the one true definite answer of course. but i was curious of your artist career journey!

Not a silly question! And you're right, I don't have the one true definitive answer, but I do have some insight! The honest answer is--you look up agencies, read their submissions policies, and contact them! Find someone looking to rep what you're looking to have repped, send some nice emails, and wait. There are a lot of rejections in publishing/illustration, and you'll probably face some here. It's terrible but not personal, it's just a lot of people trying to find the right match! Some people participate in portfolio days, submissions events, and hashtags like #kidlitpostcard day on twitter and get "discovered" that way. My own personal answer is weirder. I was supposed to be doing that, but I was also building a career making art prints/merch and selling directly at comic/anime conventions--and that put me in front of some agents. I also went to SCBWI (society for children's book writers and illustrators) conferences and paid for seminars/participated in portfolio shows that got my work directly in front of editors and agents. The conventions were actually where things happened for me. In the same year (I think? Around 2015-2016) I was tapped for a panel at ECCC called Hire That Woman! And I was the only illustrator, so I met some awesome comics writers. I hit it of great with one of them and we ended up developing a book together and pitching it--and my dream publisher picked it up! I also met an agent at ECCC who was interested in repping for picture books AND graphic novels at a time few kidlit agents were comfy with comics. I signed with her, and we've been working together ever since! I owe so much to Mairghread Scott (who wrote The City on the Other Side, my debut gn) for dragging me out of obscurity and getting my work in front of a publisher--who did have my on their radar but that was the clincher. My story is a combo of luck and making my own luck--I was making comics, indie picture books, tons of illustration, and children's book portfolios constantly, so I was prepared with manuscripts and ideas when someone did tap me. But the truth is, I am not a confident person and have crushing insecurities that I try not to let escape onto the internet, so I was too scared to send emails to agencies for years. When my current agent approached me, it was pretty much the exact month I'd promised myself to start doing it. I'm terrible at asking for advice and approaching people who have more experience than me (eldest sibling syndrome) so I try to make up for that by being helpful when someone reaches out to me!

[betweengenesisfrogs]

Desynced

So I really like Desynced.

Strictly speaking, it doesn't 100% fit what I was talking about in my Homestuck manifesto, since it's technically a Homestuck fan adventure rather than a brand new work.

However…for a fanwork, it feels more like a new piece of Homestuckian art than many others I've seen?

I'm reminded of an old Hussie formspring response, where the question was about what would happen if siblings living in the same house played SBURB. Hussie's response was that one shouldn't try to solve this with the rules of Homestuck, but instead imagine the kind of story and plot that would suit such a scenario.

Desynced is like that - playing by its own rules. A lot of other fan adventures feel too stuck (ha) in adhering to the rules of SBURB and Paradox Space. Desynced is quite literally playing an entirely different game. It lets go of so much about the way a fan story is traditionally conceived, and brings in its own set of laws and ideas that fit its own story better.

Some things I like, in no particular order:

-The depiction of parents and children - Desynced knocks this out of the park by splitting the difference between faceless authority figures and relatable kids by playing with perception and letting the parents talk to each other as adults, even when they're faceless to their kids. There is some really phenomenal parent-child content here. The relationship between Kate and her father, for instance, is fraught and filled with missed conversations that break my heart

-That in 2024, everybody in the main group gets to be queer and trans from the very start

-That the protagonist kids are Zoomers, and we see that their interests tend not toward 80s movies but things like Minecraft and Discord chats

-That we seem to be building towards a "war in heaven" theme, where different members of the future gods and Carapacians will take different sides in a cosmic struggle

-The music, which is full of bangers and feels like the sequel to the Homestuck bandcamp page that I never knew I needed

-The total reimagining of Jack Noir, which seems like it shouldn't work, but totally does

-The genius way that the game's equivalent of Denizens tie into weird cosmic mysteries

-Alien kids who appear at first glance to be trolls but are quickly revealed to not be trolls at all (maybe they're tieflings)

-The way in this universe, Trollsonas only exist in connection to an obscure game called Hiveswap

-The fact that the fantasy land inhabitants, the equivalent of consorts, are more fleshed out and have their own lives going on instead of just being silly animals - which hints that we're taking 'their existence more seriously and sincerely.

-That when Desynced does "play the Homestuck hits," it reminds you of how good those narrative structures are. Examples include:

Ordinary internet friend group discovers they are all interconnected and inveigled in a vast conspiracy

Making sense of the rules of a confusing alternate gamey-reality that suggests a sense of purpose but doesn't give you instructions for achieving it

Oh, and also, you have to do this while the world is ending and you're about to die

Villain narrator makes fun of you, the reader

Alien kids interrupt your game session to ramble at you about how they know much more about the game than you do, but it turns out they're just a tiny bit ahead and they're as confused about most things as you are

Ascending to godhood helps you redefine your identity but also causes as many problems as it solves

It's like, woah, Homestuck was really cooking, wasn't it?

We're all so used to the Homestuck plot structures and conventions that I think it's very easy to lose sight of why we fell in love with it in the first place. Reading Desynced made me remember how much I love the premise of Homestuck. Desynced achieves this by detaching from convention and focusing on Homestuck's themes: parent-child relationships, the limitations of one's ideology, the double-edged sword of finding identity in fantasy, and more.

So yes, Desynced is a Homestuck fanwork. But if we're asking where a Homestuck literary movement might go in the future, Desynched offers us a really neat glimpse of part of the answer.

I highly recommend checking it out, if you're interested.

-Ari

[avocadoraisin]

Hello. We were wondering on how you grew your art account. Did it take years or months. Did you start on your main and then make a sideblog. Or just put it all on the sideblog. Of was it somewhere else and you moved it all here.

Thanks if you answer. -G

sup! its hard to say, because Im pretty sure any following i have was just simply built up over time. i will get influxes of new people when my art gets attention, so ive got a mix of people who followed from a number of different fandoms over the years

(shoutout to people who followed when my Animal Crossing stuff was popping off....... I hope you like Saw.......)

i did used to simply have all my art on my main blog! if you go far back enough on this blog you will hit a wall, but i have art going back to when i was 16 on main (before that, it was deviantart etc)

i decided to split my art off onto its own blog a few fandoms ago just because I like organizing and i wanted my art to live in a place that was free from reblogs and memes and unrelated stuff, and so i could have a kind of art-only "brand" to use in the future if i wanted to.

and i do! the few times its come up from people who asked where they could find my art, or when ive tried vending at conventions, its helpful to just go "im AvocadoRaisin on most places" and have the peace of mind that person will find what they're looking for and not my personal nonsense :) (for the most part)

[einsatzzz]

For the artist ask game:

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

There are so many good questions 😭😭😭 I hope it's okay that i just spamed a bit 👉👈🥺

It's ok bro !!! Ask as much as you want !!! So that l can keep yapping about art as much as I want too lmaooo Thank you for sending this over hehehe 🫡✨💜

Weirdly Specific Artist Ask Game

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

Since it's you sending this ask, the fave I got to answer this with has to be the one and only, Hib/ari Ky/oya 🤣🤣🤣 The first look at his design, it looks so simple. Nothing really too complicated with his hairstyle. He would fit into that one meme where this user is trying to compile "basic black hair guy" from various media (basic black hair guy??? but he's so ikemen and popular??? that's how you know he has 10000 aura & charisma *biased*). But then when you actually try to draw him, there's just something about him that I find hard to capture. Or maybe it's because he's my fave, that my brain just hyperfocuses on the tiny details that makes him *HIM* that sets him apart from other characters with similar designs. Then, I just end up overthinking how I draw him. And that makes him such a bitch to draw.

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

Game OSTs and maps/areas! I listened to the whole playlist of Enka//nomiya (from Gen/shin) so much, it lowkey ended up as an inspiration for Kana's character and general vibes, especially for a certain part of her lore. I originally listened to it for just studying because it helps me focus, then somehow the whole playlist AND the map/area itself is Kana-core now.

If I just have to rec a few from this playlist though, these are the ones: Soft Moans of the Remains, Sink Into Oblivion, Tearless Souls of Byakuya, Hope or Nostalgia, Vanished Beyond Recall, Combat Beneath the Waves (most of the titles ahahaha...🙃)

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

The first one that came to mind for this is Hiro/hiko Ar/aki-sensei! He's the mangaka who made Jo/jo's Biz/arre Adv/enture. His style is so legendary and iconic, I'm very sure you've seen it at least once. It's so different from mine that leans more towards the conventional pretty anime character style, but I LOVE Ara/ki-sensei's art so much, especially the fashion, poses and his grasp with drawing the forms/shape of his characters with such a god-level of consistency.

I remember someone making a gif of his character in different panels, arranging them so that they're facing in different angles. The result is so smooth, it's like you're rotating a 3d model with how consistent he drew the face structure, even if each one is from a different manga panel! 🤯🤯🤯✨✨✨

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

It's a 50-50! Sometimes I do when I remember, then sometimes I don't because I either forgot to or it's just that good of a day for me to draw. And when I do forget, I would only remember because it kind of feels off for no reason, especially when I'm just at the sketching stage. When I realize that, I would open another canvas asap and start drawing random stuff. If it's coloring then, I usually don't need to warm up.

For my warm up subjects, I usually go for Kana or Kurumi, depending on my mood. I drew them so much, so they're the easiest and quickest to draw for me, they're great for warm-up sketches for that very reason. They're also a test to see rq if a certain day is a good drawing day. Because if I can't even draw KanaRumi properly, then I know my brain is not in the right setting to draw at that particular time just yet. I can stop the clownery very early and just switch to doing something else.

[damnfandomproblems]

regarding #5796

there needs to be some form of... of regulations (and I know fellow adults are going to be wary of that word) that helps better tune which groups interact. there's the adults who want to indulge in age appropriate content (be that NSFW, heavy and mature themes like psychological issues or in depth socioecologic issues, or gore), there are adults who don't want to engage with that content, or maybe only the mature themes, there are teens who want to engage in age appropriate mature themes like in YA novels kids shouldn't be reading yet... and there are the very young teens who find their way to the internet even though, speaking from experience, they really shouldn't

there needs to be a way to keep that in check, and I don't mean something done by the people who use the site/social media, I mean the ones who own and run the site/social media

minors have been on the Internet since it's inception, adults have had to be there by design and those with the knowledge of how were likely the ones to first start forming groups around similar topics or for them. there's no two ways about this, we both have been here since the beginning and minors will always try to get where they shouldn't be (I have an alt Twitter with several minors blocked for trying to interact with/post in NSFW circles... seriously why did they not just wait?) and no that's not safe, and no, we adults are not their parents, so there should be something in place that helps keep them away from content they don't want to/shouldn't see at their age

third spaces are disappearing for everyone. I'm a night owl and just have to have discord calls with friends at night while drawing/playing games because even adult oriented late night spaces are disappearing unless I want to drive 2 hours to a major city (I don't) and back (I really don't). there used to be parks, stores, restaurants, random places that small towns had for both adults and minors to hang out, but that's dying out and we're all turning to the internet to have those spaces

and while minors do contribute to fandom (I have a personal policy in place to only like posts because personally I feel very odd and awkward even attempting to interact with anyone under like 23 much less under 18), y'all do need to recognize that it's not just for and by you. we have been here since before we were your age (I've been interacting with some fandoms since I was 10! yes, that's why I say there's people who are too young to be on the Internet), we have followed in the footsteps of the adults who started conventions, cosplay, fanzines, fan meetups, themed parties and the like, we now continue their work with fangames, Multi Animator Projects, webcomics, etc. and yes, there are and can be exceptionally talented minors but they are exceptions because everyone goes at their own pace and some of y'all learn fast. I have adult friends in fandom who are starting in art, who are just now learning the skills to make their fanart and OCs, and writing from both can be very hit or miss for the same reasons

listen what I'm saying is that both groups need better help from social media sites and companies to keep us separated because as many Internet safety tips as can be shared or genuinely needed warning posts can be made we are both stuck in this mess due to outside society. we need the ability to keep our different types of groups to themselves so minors can have their fun safely and talk and ramble and be as 'cringe' as they want, but so can adults in their respective areas because we are going to make the content regardless of someone else's ideals or demands. there needs to be better rules in place to keep us from clashing and to keep minors safe because it feels like (so my opinion) Internet safety is being forgotten

Posting as a response to a previous problem.

[reimenaashelyee]

do you have any tips for young artists struggling to make it in the professional world? I'm about to graduate and I feel so lost and unprepared!

It's a bit difficult to tailor advice for situations like this because it really comes down to the specifics. Did you study animation? Comics? Illustration? Breaking into the industries of each specific field has their own specific outlets/contexts/resources - so me, a cartoonist/illustrator mainly in traditional publishing, can't give you pragmatic tips for a field I have no experience in. The other thing is I don't know how you are struggling and what level of struggling you are at. Have you already had a portfolio? Been sending postcards to art directors? Queried an agent? Or you have no idea how to start a business?

And another thing is; I didn't go to school for art. I went to school for an entirely different career path in the academic sciences and jumped ship to commit full-time to a semi-official arts practice - a thing I had nurtured since I was a teen, had done work in, and I already knew the shape of. Things really came together at the right time to allow me the career I have now and totally avoid the situation where my family would be disappointed at the risk I took. So while I do know what it's like to be lost and be in a quarter-life crisis before graduation, our pre-graduation situations are different.

So the advice you get from me is going to be generic - whether that's helpful or not, YMMV.

If you're still unsure about breaking in to your industry, you'll have to start securing some kind of dayjob right away. It could be retail, or it could be a trade job. If you're able to afford the time/money, start learning skills that aren't art: trade skills, or spreadsheets, or whatever that could help weasel you in to an office job. The point of this is to give yourself the cushion (for money and to avoid questions from family) while you're figuring out/building your arts practice. It also doesn't matter how long it takes for you to reach the point where you feel secure to pivot to art; things take their own time, and what matters is survival and consistent effort. Then you've to commit to being involved in your industry in whatever way you are able. So that could be visiting a festival or convention and engaging with your colleagues. You could go with your friends. You could also start making work digitally and share. Even if that piece doesn't go viral, it is a piece that contributes to momentum, and it'll build up to a presence. It's not easy to break into an industry unless you're at least somewhat recognisable as a familiar presence (I mean, you should build some relationships anyway even if you weren't going to join the industry, because if it's a medium you love, you'll want to know the people who are making the work you enjoy). Arts is really small, and we know who's currently working. There are also resources from arts organisations and artists that collate opportunities and resources. Again, since I don't know what field you are in, I cannot give you adequate advice. Would be unhelpful if you're in animation and I accidentally give you information for a writer's residency, you know? You'll have to ask for these resources through Google or through anyone who's older and in your industry.

[cosplayinamerica]

 Corey Paul of @bebopbountybigband

 I was immediately drawn to Cowboy Bebop the first time I heard the theme song play on Toonami in the mid-2000s. As a young band geek and anime lover, I was instantly captivated. You could say I fell in love with the soundtrack before I ever even watched the show, but wow. It’s not often all the elements come together to create a magnificent piece of art and storytelling with unique and exciting music interwoven with equally unique and exciting story lines. The characters and dialogue are every bit as poetic and thrilling as the music written to accompany them.

There’s so much I’m still learning and at the beginning I was making it up as I went along! The music transcription was a long process of sitting down with these recordings and painstakingly listening for each and every note that the band plays so that I could write it down and recreate it. Thankfully, it was such a joy to get intimately familiar with Yoko Kanno’s writing. She’s such a genius! Putting it together was the easy part. I’ve played professionally in Florida for many years now and I have a lot of world-class musicians that aren’t just my close friends, but are absolutely perfect for the band. Each member has been hand picked for their unique skills and style to put together the best show possible! In terms of finance and marketing, at first it was super confusing. I’m a musician first <B>after all! Luckily, I now have a wonderful administrative team that helps me with the non-music stuff.

The members I chose to make up the band include the greatest musicians I’ve had the pleasure of playing with. Much of the band is made up of pros from the Jazz at Lincoln Center franchise, the World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra, the Walt Disney Company, and solo artists with followings of their own. Most of the band became Cowboy Bebop fans after joining the band and playing the music. Others, like myself, have been long time fans. Now we all mutually love the series and all that it has to offer!

We have 2 tours currently announced and a lot more on the way! Our first tour ever is coming up starting on November 30th in Atlanta and we are all super excited to show what we’ve made to people all over the country. Eventually, even the world! We have some more awesome shows involving new cities and new conventions that we’re getting ready to announce soon for Cowboy Bebop LIVE! 

____________________________

Bebop Bunty Big Band o tour currently

Cowboybeboplive.com

[verdemoun]

I know that the time warp is mostly just VDL gang but hypothetically if it wasn’t how do you think characters like Hamish and Albert Mason would act in present time? They are my absolute favorite side mission things and I already finished them :[

Albert Mason would struggle so much god bless him but man could barely survive 1899 let alone trying to cross a street in any major city in modern era.

Arthur just has to pick him up by the scruff of his shirt to stop the poor guy getting hit by a car 90% of the time. albert mason needs a monkey backpack for his own safety moreso than sean does.

it's so fun imagining albert interacting with the rest of the VDLs. lenny would help teach him about photoshop and photo editing and after the initial moral dilemma of 'am i doctoring photos to suit my own goals? :c' albert would love photoshop. cackles maniacally as he removes his thumb from photos.

he would have multiple phones just because he liked the cameras on them differently. honestly he would just have a shelf of cameras. side point when people time warp they have everything that was on their persons at the time so he would still have his original camera but the struggle to get prints for an 1880s camera would force him to convert to modern technology. his favorite would be disposable film cameras even if the guilt over the environmental impact would keep him awake at night.

albert would also get along with kieran super well because he has such great vibes and they could infodump on one another. you know when two people with wildly different hyperfixations both just listen to one another talk? that's kieran and albert.

they adore sitting in the backyard as a little window of flourishing nature in the suburbia. arthur is still supervising nervously in case either one of them finds a way to get themselves killed but kieran is merrily tending to his vegetable patch while albert is taking photos of hummingbirds and butterflies

ALBERT WOULD GET SO INTO ENTOMOLOGY AND MACRO PHOTOGRAPHY HE WOULD BE SO PASSIONATE ABOUT SAVING THE BEES. he wanted to save the environment in 1880 imagine him learning about how much diversity there was in insects. this would have only started because there was a spider in his place and he was too scared of it and squeamish to kill it.

he would be a freelance photographer who would still hate pomp. hates taking wedding photos, any kind of formal event, even pet photography would bother him because he's used to real, wild animals not overgroomed dogs that barely look like dogs

but the second other creators asked him to take photos he would be so excited he would really struggle to ask a fair price for his services.

if he had a gun and knew how to use it he would shoot influencers on sight but he loves cosplayers and those hyper-realistic fantasy posable art dolls. he can be caught at any convention very much wondering how much to charge people because he's just so honored to be able to take photos of their creations like artists supporting artists he doesn't want to take their money but he's hella tired of instant noodles too

his true passion would be trying to photograph cryptids he would have an x-files i want to believe tshirt and arthur would go on expeditions to find mothman with him

phew one down lost my mind a little there I ALSO JUST FINISHED HAMISH'S QUESTS I LOVE HIM

he adjusts the fastest purely based on levels of 'do i look like i give a fuck'. oh, we're in the future now? wild.

getting a modern day prosthetic after walking around with a slab of wood for decades would be so mind boggling. let hamish sinclair get a running blade and after a realistic learning period he would love running and getting to enjoy the outdoors and hiking trails with far more independence than 1899 could afford an amputee

he would still share stories about the civil war making it clear he was talking about the civil war and people would just roll with it because what are you meant to do when an otherwise super chill and friendly veteran seems delusional. he has such a captivating way of telling stories it's frankly worth it

he haunts local fishing spots complaining about folks these days and their fancy high tech gear and no one knows how to make their own lure anymore but they all love him

he has the most hideous souped up all terrain all weather fwd mobility scooter he also named buell and he absolutely should not be allowed to drive it because he never received lessons and just decided to figure it out himself at the expense of every pedestrian in his way but he would love being able to go shopping by himself and not needing to rely on people

isaac calls him grandpa but always calls him hamish to his face because hamish would hate being called grandpa but hamish does 110% believe the kids are alright. he lets isaac tie a rope to the back of his scooter and hoons around with the kid on a skateboard.

pulling up to the matthews house blaring the shrill horn of his scooter 'get in loser we're gon' hunting'

he would still live on his own in a prefab cabin arthur very illegally helped him build on public land by the water in his own house building chapter. the fact it is still standing by the time john gets there is a miracle and they practically have to rebuild it from scratch

hamish is blissfully aware/pretending to be blissfully unaware of the absolute glare hosea gives him because arthur will always complain and whine when hosea wants to go fishing with him but if hamish asks arthur's skipping out the door with his fishing rod

no one is allowed to hate on hamish. as much as hosea is bitterly jealous of how well hamish and arthur get along because 'that's my son' hosea, hamish, javier and kieran would all meet up and go fishing on the pier together sharing tips, bait, handmade lures and cook fish on an open fire on the shore

when charles gets there arthur is as nervous about charles meeting hamish as a kid introducing his partner to his parents for the first time. they would get along so well but it wouldn't seem like it. they go hunting together and arthur is so anxious because charles and hamish have pretty much only said hello to each other and are otherwise silent the entire trip but asking each privately later they absolutely adored the other's company and can't wait to see each other again.

[sublimenol]

Sonic OC Questionnaire time!

Since the @sonic-oc-showdown is starting up soon I thought I should do something to write up a bit more about my OC Deirdre. Shoutout to @bunnymajo and @nintendoni-art for bringing this easy to chew set of questions to my attention. Art here is done by the always wonderful @bunniibones.

✨- How did you come up with the OC’s name?

Short answer, it's a pun. Long answer is that I was playing around with the way naming conventions seem to exist in Sonic where you have Word-the-Animal but also some characters have "proper" names, but tend to be playfully named. Sally Acorn, Bunny Rabbot and such. Deirdre was made with a bit more of Archie in mind at the time and as such she was dubbed Deirdre Whitetail. Since she's a deer.

���� - How old are they? (Or approximate age range)

I'm always leery of specific age when it comes to these characters given the overall aesthetic is fairly neotenic. She is intended to be a young adult though. Experienced enough to have gone through a few troubles and to set out on her own, but she's yet to be worn down much. So probably an early 20s.

🌺- Do they have any love interest(s)?

She currently does not have any love interests in any official capacity. At one time a friend was considering a roboticized one but that never got beyond the idea phase and isn't really "canon" for any value of the term.

🍕 - What is their favorite food?

Cocoa. Deirdre takes her hot chocolate very seriously. She sticks to the finest ingredients. Particularly in her own dried and crushed chili that she uses to add heat to the sweet.

💼 - What do they do for a living?

She considers herself a modern knight errant. Her family is old nobility that hold no real application in the modern world but she still holds herself to noblesse oblige. As she doesn't have any skills she considers worthwhile besides physical conflict, she works for the Restoration in trying to put a stop to the seemingly endless problems in Sonic's world. Especially if she can whack a badnik with an axe.

🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?

She's yet to really find any hobby. She's trying to break out of keeping herself busy through self appointed responsibilities.

🎯 -What do they do best?

She's a fighter and that's what she does best. She was raised with the fantasy of knights in heroes and that's been what she's put her all into becoming.

🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?

She absolutely loves the moment of conflict. The world is simpler and more direct then. She can lead and she can put everything into fight. Directing allies, protecting allies, swinging an axe through a robot, all of that is where she feels most alive.

She really hates social situations. She loves other people and she enjoys being around them, she is just woefully outclassed when it comes to things like parties and gatherings. She tends to default to being silent, aloof and posing gracefully to carry through the fact she's screaming internally about looking like an idiot.

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

During the Resistance Era against the Eggman Empire, where she was surrounded by others trying to get by. The hope and comradery she felt during the conflict was the closest she's felt to comfort, despite the physical dangers.

✂️ - What is one of your OC’s worst memories?

Metal Virus. She discovered early that a weapon was of no use. She was not infected, but forced to flee to her mountainside home. There she lived with the ghosts of her failure and perceived cowardice as she hunkered alone in a big empty house knowing there was nothing she could do to help anyone.

🧊 - Is their current design the first one?

Yes, she hasn't changed much except her hair has gone from lilac to a more pinkish color. And before she was a deer she was almost a fisher cat.

Story wise she has gone from a more Archie era character to one that's more set in a slightly AU take on the IDW series.

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

A friend wanted to do some RP and at the time I had no Sonic OCs to do anything with. So I sort of cobbled some stuff together from things I remembered from the mid 90s comics and cartoons.

🌂 - What genre do they belong in?

She is firmly in the Action genre. Fairly Shonen too with the bouts of melodrama and emotions.

💚 - What is your OC’s gender identity and sexuality?

She is female. Sexuality is not fully defined. Biromantic Asexual is probably the most likely.

🙌 - How many sibling does your OC have?

She is but an only babby. A lonely only babby.

🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?

They are fine, but very independent and professional. It appears cold on the surface but they do love and respect each other deeply.

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

Honestly because she's kind of a brainworm. She really should have just been one a million discarded one off RP characters and not have clawed her way back again and again when I've wavered on the Sonic fandom in general.

✏️ - How often do you draw/write about the OC?

Nerve issues have kept drawing off the table for me on a regular basis. I should write more, and love creating things for her, but I usually don't write because I figure no one wants to know much about OCs

💎 - Do you ever see yourself killing off the OC?

Probably not. There's just always more story to tell.

💀 - Does your OC have any phobias?

Nothing so overt or direct. Mostly existential fears related to her utility to the world and her past failures.

🍩 -Who is your OC’s arch-nemesis or rival?

Most of her antagonists aren't "arch-nemesis or rival" levels. So I'm going to say no to this. There just hasn't been quite that emotional tie to any of them to make them something other than enemies at cross-purposes.

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

Probably since around 2015 or 16 in concept and off hand use in RP. She has only been formally designed and really made solid in the last 5 or 6 years though.