#I’m actually having an art style crisis

[calebsrottingcorpse]

Little bro did indeed get upset

[bianc0re]

In all my years of being an artist, I've never had the courage to ask someone this. However, I'm having an ✨existential crisis✨ and figured "eeehhh why the f not". Anyway, I adore the way you draw anatomy. Any tips / tutorials / favourite references or books/ etc?

Welcome to the ✨existential crisis✨ club,i’m still currently learning anatomy in school and one of my professor gave me this useful advice to make a habit of sitting down and sketching at least 15 minutes daily from photographs on either one of these websites (it’s timed)

http://reference.sketchdaily.net/

https://quickposes.com/en

or even from ones you find on Pinterest, just keep them simple at first and try to not spend too much time on each pose.

If you find it too hard at first focus on parts of the body (ex. hands) then once in a while try to draw from imagination.

I also still always use references and when i don’t it shows 💀 so if i can’t find any good ones for a pose i have in mind i either take a picture of myself or make it in Magic Poser, an app to pose models in any way you want. I even bought the full version so you know it’s that useful.

As for tutorials i used to religiously watch on youtube Sinix Design and Ethan Becker, as for books i liked Point Character Drawing by Taco and art books of styles i like.

just keep drawing and if you can get some critic from someone skilled to point you in the right direction, i used to get it from art discord servers as there’s some channels just for that.

as i said before i still don’t think i’m at a level to give actual good advice so try what’s good for you, good luck! don’t be afraid to ask stuff, it’s what the internet is for

goofy example:

[moonlightpearl27]

So thanks to my friend @good-guy-2006 I finally watched Tron Uprising on Disney plus (I’ve only watched Tron Legacy but I absolutely love that movie and Quorra was my bisexual awakening) and ohhh my goodness it’s sosososoSO GOOD AND I’M VERY SAD AND UPSET THAT IT GOT CANCELLED UGHHH

I love Beck so much but oh man do I relate to him and kin him (that is a bit concerning for the people who’ve seen and know this show but that won’t stop me from making a Beck kinsona) and Beck X Paige and Zed X Mara are peak (also dang Beck is shippable but man got a trauma buffet throughout the series </3) and Pavel is very, very puntable /vneg

Oh man I have so many meme ideas and AU ideas brewing and fanart ideas etc etc but I don’t want to tell anyone because the haters will sabotage me </3 /lh /hj (it’s actually more that I want to keep them a surprise lol, but I’m open to talking to new people/potential friends and existing friends about it if they’ve seen the show)

I need to be more active on Tumblr and I wish I could easily do some Tron Uprising fanart right now but I’m going through an art style crisis/revamp, I’m art blocked a bit and I have boring college art classes I have to do work for *sobs* anyways TRON LIVES

[numbuh-1507]

Some time ago, I made a journal (https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/10927368) stating how I’m getting worried about what might happen in the upcoming Jellystone! crossover special.

Basically, Joesanchez has told me that, due to the “mean-spirited” nature of the show, the episode might end with all of the 19 universes featured on it being erased from existence forever. It doesn’t help that 1. it’s named after a DC crossover event that did the same thing; 2. in real life Cartoon Network lost their studio and their website, so the special ending with all the classics being purged could be sort of a “Reality Subtext”.

Besides, DC already eliminated the 2003 Teen Titans series in the recent animated adaptation of Infinite Earths, so it’s not out of the question that Warner Bros is willing to greenlight this special not to celebrate Cartoon Network, but to tell everyone “Here, Robot Jones’ world is gone forever, which means we don’t have to make a sequel or reboot of it ever. Tough break.” This will be the ultimate “Torch the Franchise(s) and Run”.

The worst part is that the crappy CN shows such as Steven Universe and Gumball are not part of this special, which means they’ll get to survive even though they don’t deserve it. We will have to endure more of their beanmouth styles and crappy tumblr fanfiction writing that makes Hazbin Hotel look like a masterpiece in comparison. At least actually good shows were also spared like Generator Rex and Infinity Train… which isn’t saying much considering their real life fates.

Of course, there is the possibility that I’ll be proven wrong and the special has a decent ending (for Jellystone! standards anyway) that will do these characters justice, and I’ve wasted my time drawing this and writing this rant about your precious CalArts Style crap. But for now, it looks like it’s curtains for Dexter, Aron City, Cow and Chicken, Townsville, Peach Creek, the Time Squad, Samurai Jack, Robot Jones, Endsville, Bunny Island, Sector V, Foster’s, Camp Kidney, Charles Darwin Middle School, Ben Tennyson, Marzipan City, Stormalong Harbor, the Land of Ooo, the park and 18 years of continuity. It’s the Super Genesis Wave all over again, and this time is personal.

All of these belong to Warner Bros. Discovery. Art based off a panel of DC’s Infinite Crisis.

 “24 hours, 7 days a week, from now to the end of times”… which turned out to be 2024.

You must be wondering though, why is Yogi crying? You’ll see soon enough.

[lampochkaart]

DRV3 Exlibrium AU introduction

Exlibrium (Экслибриум) is an urban fantasy comic book series published by Bubble Comics about the adventures of a young girl named Lilia Romanova who accidentally becomes part of the Order of Book Sorcerers (official translated name is Bookwizards but it sounded kinda funny so i call them Book Sorcerers).

The comics are great. They’re written very well, the characters are all cool and interesting and the art styles (there are several artists working on the series, and they switch from time to time) are simply amaising. But keep in mind that those comics can get pretty dark at times (and contain horror elements).

I really like this series (actually I like a lot of Bubble comic series) and recently I got an idea for a DRV3 AU. This AU doesn’t really follow the plot of the series, but the world building and lore are cool, so I thought it might be cool to expore the situations that DRV3 cast might find themselves in.

While technically I could explore the possibility that they are all fictional characters and what might happen to them then, I prefer to just leave them as Book Sorcerers fighting with runaway characters.

Now, I’m gonna expain about the main information about this AU. Obviously there will be some spoilers for the comic.

(Most of this part was taken from the wiki page)

The duty of the Order is to protect the boundaries between the real world and the world of fiction. Their main task is to catch literary characters who have escaped from their books and who are causing damage to the real world due to mutations of their body, caused by their presence in our objective reality.

The Order of Book Sorcerers owns Libraries, which are used as headquarters, as well as training places for new mages. Every Library has its administrator, who is similar to the school principal, and tutors. All Libraries obey the council of the Order, called the Circle. The Circle includes four people and an equal number of senior Shadows of the Library (a special kind, more intelligent and powerful than their smaller colleagues). Together, the participants of the Circle solve global problems of the Libraries crisis.

Every ordinary person can become a Book Sorcerer, after being infected by literary ink from awoken books. However, a person affected by the ink begins to attract the attention of "mad" books that spit out everything they have inside into the real world. The infected person must go through initiation in the House of Bones, which is an astral place, where shadow-like creatures live.

(Picture from the comic)

If the shadows take over, the ink absorbs the person and they become a Shadow of the Library, a little phantom creature, serving the Book Sorcerers. In that case they will be forgotten by anyone who ever knew them before transformation (except Book Sorcerers).

Shadows of the Library

If the person takes over, then they gain the ability to control the ink inside of them. During the initiation, the ink color is also being defined, which affects the supernatural abilities that Book Sorcerer obtains.

Going through the House of Bones

There are ten colors in total: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, purple, gray, black, and white (the last two are called "monochrome colors" and are special and extremely rare) and their shades. With the help of the first 8 colors, Book Sorcerers can influence the subjective reality of books in various ways, while black and white let their owners control our reality, opening up perspectives to limitless possibilities (the abilities of both can only be used together with the opposite color, which means that two sorcerers are required to activate them; they can't be used separately).

Warm spectrum: Attack

Cold spectrum: Defence, influencing the battlefield

It is technically possible to go through the House of Bones several times to get other colors, but this is rarely done because it is very risky (and going through the House is a rather nasty and painful process overall).

Persons color represented by Exlibrium — something like a magical tattoo that appears where the ink has settled after infection — after successfully going through the House of Bones. Exlibriums are used to seal the books.

(I decided to use their former high school emblems as Exlibriums)

Colors often connected to personality. All colors have their element and their power.

(I tried my best to get more information, but a lot of what is written below are just my observations and guesses based on what I saw in comics)

Colors

Red — fire. Attack (fire and explosions). Traits: Hot-tempered, passionate

Orange — sand(?). Attack (high durability low mobility, can be used as defence). Traits: ?

Yellow — light. Attack (glow, destructive rays of light). Traits: Anxious, nervous

Green — plants(?). Defence (healing, buffing abilities). Traits: Calm, collected

Cyan — air. Defence (speed, flight). Traits: Energetic??

Blue — water. Defence (capture, invisibility, disguise). Traits: Calm, kind?

Purple — ? Neither attack nor defence (is inbetween cold and warm spectrum). Abilities: freezing creatures and objects in time, stopping time. Also some kind of conceptual (?) magic like being able to share damage between two people. Traits: ?

Only members of one family are allowed to have purple ink.

There were also characters with turquoise and pink ink. Probably those are variations of cyan and red (?) respecively. Turquoise ink allowes to create portal doors.

Monochrome

Owning monochrome colors are prohibited, all owners are killed.

Grey — stone. Defence (kinda like orange but even more defence and durability and not a lot of damage). Can be reluctanlty allowed but owners are under constant pressure

White — absolute light. Creation and destruction (only with black)

Black — absolute darkness. Creation and destruction (only with white)

Characters

Kaede Akamatsu — Purple (from family). Control (time manipulation, support) Exlibrium: chest

Shuichi Saihara — Yellow. Attack (light bullets) Exlibrium: right arm

Maki Harukawa — Red. Attack (crossbow) Exlibrium: shoulders

Kaito Momota — Red. Attack (fire, exposions) Exlibrium: fists

Kokichi Ouma — Purple* Control (time manipulation, support) Exlibrium: back

Gonta Gokuhara — Yellow. Attack (swarms of insects) Exlibrium: hands and arms

Ryoma Hoshi — Cyan. Defence (speed) Exlibrium: legs

Kirumi Tojo — Green. Defence (healing, buffing abilities) Exlibrium: throat

Tsumugi Shirogane — Blue. Defence (invisibility, disguise) Exlibrium: left eye

Rantaro Amami — Blue. Defence (lasso, some expedition equipment?) Exlibrium: chest

Korekiyo Shinguji — Green? Defence (healing, buffing abilities) Exlibrium: neck

Angie Yonaga — Orange. Attack (divine punishment, sculptures as shields or weapons?) Exlibrium: Belly

Tenko Chabashira — Cyan. Defence (flight?) Exlibrium: back

Himiko Yumeno — Orange. Attack (magic cards) Exlibrium: legs

Miu Iruma — Yellow. Attack (bombs+electrohammers or laser guns?) Exlibrium: Belly

K1-B0 — Character assigned to the library

*owns illegaly. Officially owns a different color

Red: Kaito, Maki

Orange: Himiko, Angie?

Yellow: Shuichi, Gonta, Miu

Green: Kirumi, Korekiyo?

Cyan: Ryoma, Tenko

Blue: Shirogane, Rantaro?

Purple: Kaede, Kokichi*

And now more clear explaination from me about what exactly Book Sorcerers do.

Every once in a while some characters from books may regain consciousness and try to leave the book. By doing this, they make the book "mad". Because if the book’s plot doesn’t go the way it’s supposted to, more characters start going insane and the book will “spit them out” into reality in hopes that they will bring back the escaped characters. When characters (and the books, since they’re directly connected) go insane, they start mutating. Usually it starts like appearance of extra eyes and limbs, but can deform bodies even more. In the most severe cases all characters can even be combined into one deformed mass. With each cycle the plot can’t go the way it’s supposted to, the book and the characters are getting more and more crazy. The shorter the book, the faster this happens.

Character going crazy

In order to stop that Book Sorcerers have to “feed” the characters to the book and then seal that book with their Exlibrium. After this characters can’t run away from their book (until they somehow gain consciousness and escape again), and when the book cycle starts again, they forget everything about what happened and go back to following the plot. If a character dies (not according to the plot of the book) Book Sorcerers have to rewrite them again using their own ink (+ remaining ink of the character), which is very draining and require a lot of energy. If a book can’t be saved, it may have to be destroyed, but this is very bad so it can’t be done unless it’s REALLY necessary.

Books go insane not only when they’re missing something important, but also when something foreign gets inside them (like a character from different book or even Sorcerers themselves if they are not careful).

Normal people don’t see unusual looking characters and powers of Book Sorcerers because of a phenomenon called “false blindness”. It prevents people from going insane every time they encounter something that doesn’t fit into their idea of normal reality. Therefore, unless they are exposed to magical things for a long time or interact with them directly, they will not be able to see anything like that, even if it’s right in front of them.

It’s also important to note that fictional magic, both from characters and from the Sorcerers, can’t affect the material world and regular people. But it can affect everything influenced by ink (namely books, characters and sorcerers themselves).

Every library has an assigned character that belongs to the library administrator or just someone who is in charge of supervising the initiation. This character “awakens” the ink that the person has been infected with to start the initiation process. It’s a rather painful but necessary procedure. During this, the infected person is firmly fixated in the chair, because while consciousness is in the House of Bones, the body can behave unpredictably, and the chair prevents the person from hurting themselves or others (or at least it is meant to).

In this AU, the administrator of their library is Makoto, and Kiibo is a character he wrote, but Naegi is away so for now Hajime looks after the library.

Most of the time, Book Sorcerers use their ink’s “basic” abilities, but in some situations it’s not enough. In that case they can use glyphs (for example, healing and buffing abilities require making glyphs). The problem is that this is difficult to do in the heat of battle. So more often they prepare some most frequently used glyphs beforehand and carry them with them.

There are also special pens that are used for more powerful magic. Without them Sorcerers still have powers but they are a slightly weaker and more limited.

I’m not going to involve monochrome sorcerers in events of this AU because it’s a really complex topic and I don't want to go into it here. This AU is mainly just for the shenanigans of DRV3 cast. There’s gonna be enough drama and angst even without monochromes.

I think that’s all, at least for now. I also tried to avoid spoilers in my explaination, but I might later explain some things a bit more. If you have any questions about this AU (about characters, about mechanics, about AU in general, etc.), feel free to ask! I already have some things I wanna expain and draw, so I will definetly show more of this AU.

I already wrote a little introduction with some extra information about characters. I'll post it tomorrow👀

Tag for this AU is #drv3 exlibr au

[mrs-snape5984]

“It's true that I was made for you…”

“All of these lines across my face tell you the story of who I am. So many stories of where I've been and how I got to where I am. But these stories don't mean anything, when you've got no one to tell them to…” (“The Story” by Sara Ramírez)

“Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi"…these are the words, which are engraved on the Mirror of Erised. Reading it reversed, it becomes "I show not your face but your heart's desire"…and damn, this sentence couldn’t be more true.

I caught myself countless times contemplating about this magical artefact…and I know exactly, what I would perceive in there. My desire would be divided into three different parts.

I would see Sevy and Jules in their last year at Hogwarts. They’re close to their graduation and their whole promising future is still ahead of them. They’ve found their soulmates in each other…with trust as deep as the sea and love as strong as death.

But when my life with Severus would be one of these three parts - and certainly the biggest one of all - what would the other two parts look like? Well, the answer to this question is an easy one: They’re young…and they’re healthy. And yes, this might sound pathetically stupid, but I’m mourning my youth and I’m definitely drowning in grief over a life in health.

Maybe it’s just some random appearance of a midlife crisis, since I’ll turn 40 this year, but I’d do so many things differently if I could turn back time. And as the most important thing, I would advise my younger self to be more gentle, more lovingly with herself. You can’t save everyone around you…so turn your back on those people, whose only purpose is to hurt you by taking advantage of your good heart…and save yourself! Love yourself! Allow yourself the same amount of love, which you’re willing to offer to others. You are worthy of love, respect and happiness! I’d say the same things to Severus, so I guess, this connection is the reason for my special soft spot for his younger self.

For those of you, who know my previous posts, I don’t have to explain my wish for health. To put it briefly: ME/CFS is a cruel bitch! This disease has destroyed my life and made my entire existence a nightmare. I don’t want to go into detail this time….my former posts have been whiny enough and I don’t want to bother anyone with my misery.

For this stunning artwork of my actual self, longing for my deepest desires in front of the Mirror of Erised, I only wanted one particular artist to make my dream come true. @sleepybradipo, you have outdone yourself with this heart wrenching piece of art! When I had this idea in my mind, I just knew, that I wanted to see it in your unique, tender style. Your kindness and your love for details - like the little tattoo on my ring finger - have brought me some soothing warmth and comfort to my troubled heart and soul. Thank you for every message, for every sweet word and for the way, you’ve let me participate in the process of creating this beautiful drawing. You’re a gem of a human soul, my dear. 🫂🥹

Oh, and take a look at my very own Mirror of Erised. Who’s making his appearance in there? 😍 It has always been him…since 21 years, it’s only Severus. Undeniably. Unconditionally. Always. 🖤

🖤Severus & Julia🖤

🖤Sevy & Jules🖤

[koolcece22]

 My Symbiote spider-man 2099 review

(Disclaimer: I did started reading the spider-man 2099 comic after ATSV so my review may be lackluster at best but I will tell it how it is. Also spoiler warning on the whole comic.)

edit: at part of the review got cut off I fixed it

So this is my review of the spider-man 2099 symbiote comic: 

IT SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me explain, so the comic kicks off at the issue where Kron and the Venom got captured. Venom escapes and fuses with the fish guy. Miguel tries to stop him and get the symbiote back. That’s a strong start as it makes sense to start here due to how bad the original comic ending was.(Side note: they did the ironic page with spider-man 2099 again just so they can pull the nostalgia heart string to get us hooked.)

Miguel is now the CEO of Alchemax, which he hates and everyone hates him for it too. Also the fact he stressed from being the CEO and Spider-man. That was the first red flag of the comic. Miguel in 92 run didn’t like being the CEO but he knew it better than someone else taking over. 

 so the Venom made a new symbiote before it left and one of Miguel co-work was experimenting on it to control it and Miguel wasn’t having that and wanted it destroyed. He figured that co-worker wasn’t going to destroy it so he went in as spider-man to make sure it got destroyed. The co-worker tried to control the symbiote but it backfired and fused with Miguel. 

Kron also escape at the sametime and punisher was hot on his tale and ready to killed him till Venom found Kron again since it like Kron for some reason and Kron killed punisher (i’m pretty sure he not dead dead but who care)

The symbiote that fused with Miguel try to take over but Miguel have more will power. So Symbiote opt to let them work together. Kron sneaks back into Alchemax disguising as Miguel. Tylor trying to get back the company. Kron got caught by him and Miguel’s mom. Then real miguel came in and reveal to Kron there brothers and he spider-man. I was like ‘WTF’? On the Miguel revealing he spider-man to everyone in the room. 

Kron tries to convince Miguel that they are brothers and we should take over the city since they both have symbiotes. Even Miguel’s Symbiote tries to tell him they should work with Kron and Miguel agrees!? Also, there was a moment that Tylor was thrown out the window but it was cop out, it was all in Miguel’s head. God I wish that would happen. 

So Kron and Miguel having a brother moment in the next two issues goes nowhere. Like Kron and Miguel’s symbiote try to convince Miguel to kill people but he won’t so he still has control over his symbiote. Strange found out that Miguel is ‘possessed’ by the Symbiote and went to Doom for help. Also the moment when he and Vulture had a fight and Miguel was actually going to kill him but he was saved by Strange. Probably the one person you should kill is Strange.

(ok this was kind of funny)

Doom go get Gabriel who was bitter with his mom and Miguel. Also just found out that his mom cheated with his dad and Miguel and Kron are brothers. Doom tell Gabe to go free Miguel which how the fuck does Doom knows that Gabe is Miguel’s brother? Did I missed a issue in 92 comic?!

So Gabe found Miguel who was having an exponential crisis. Telling that this isn’t you, he gets stabbed by Kron and throw off a building (I'm pretty sure that happened). Miguel got pissed and tried to kill Kron. Miguel talked to Venom trying to convince them that Kron sucks and he better. Venom fused with Miguel and surprisingly killed Kron (I hope). Unfused with both of them and killing them? Sad that Gabe is dead but wait!! Gabe turns up a few days later and turns out that he is alive or what we think its him.

So the summary is over here the review part: first, the art style. It is terrible or at least not the best work. I know I came off straight from the movie so Miguel’s design I have high expectations for. But they used the 2019 comic design and let's just say it suck.he look way too much like Peter. Like, you could have made a fusion of the 92 comic design and the movie design. It has been done before by Mr.Dev and even fan made. Also other Spiders comics were starting to adapt the movie design, so why not Miguel? They also keep forgetting what Miguel suppose to have. Where are his red eyes? Where are his fangs? Where his sunglasses? Like come on! It 2024! You should know what he look like!! Everyone designs but Lyla is ugly. Only the cover were nice. Sidenote: if anyone can find a poster for issue one for me that be great.

Second, the pacing of the story was horrible. Like I get it they only had 5 issue but it was way rushed even for five issue. Like the plot went nowhere. Not only that but it looks like they change the plot midway. Like the first two issues look like they were going to pull the ‘which one is Miguel’ card. Are we reading about Miguel or the Symbiote or Kron since he was disgusting as Miguel. That would've been fun to read or would grab me to keep reading. There was also the whole Kron and Miguel trying to be brothers that just rubbed me the wrong way. Ugh, didn’t Kron just kill Dana? Like Miguel’s fiancée? The love of his life?! Also side note there was no mention of her or Xina in this whole comic. I don’t think Miguel don’t want to be brothers with Kron who:

A. killed his Fiancee. 

B. try to kill him when he was young. 

C. probably was going to kill his mom. 

D. killed Gabe, I know that one was after but it still counts. 

E. did a bunch of evil stuff. I know he killed Punisher’s wife and/or family

Miguel deciding going with Kron was a way out character even with the Symbiote. The Symbiote would try to convince him to kill Kron and feed off his negative emotion. 

Let's talk about Symbiote, the thing that pissed me off the most in this whole comic. The Symbiote was very disappointing. First the design, it looks very boring. Looking back at Gwen and Miles’s symbiote suits this very lackluster. Like the only thing I like about it is that he is bulky.

i'm most look like he got those 19ins

I saw better fan art designs for Miguel symbiote; it just looks very plain for a symbiote. 

Another issue with the Symbiote is its point in the story. So this whole comic hype this Symbiote to be a great threat to everyone but…it did nothing. All it did was try to convince Miguel to let it have control or to kill people. That's it. It was just the symbiote scream that Miguel's ear telling him to do stuff like Navi from Zelda or Paimon from Genshin. 

And biggest fucking problem I had for symbiote: 

ITS.DOESN’T.HAVE.A FUCKING.NAME!!!!

The reason why I've been calling it Miguel’s Symbiote is because it doesn’t have a name. I read this whole thing for 5 months for not to be named?! Like the main reason why I read this comic is because I love Symbiotes. It is the only thing I truly like about Spider-man (or least got me hooked read Spider-man) and when I heard Miguel getting one I was excited. But this whole comic was a huge disappointment that I wasted 5 months to read this to not only getting half ass writing from one of the original creators of 92’ 2099 run of all things. Like if this was written by someone else I would be that not too upset but this is worse. He already letting me down with other stuffs he did that I won’t talk about. It's like he barely looks back at his work when writing this. As a writer this hurts. Like look at your stuff to make sure your retcon is going to make sense otherwise there is no point. this prove a point that just because the original writer is back that its going to be any good

So overall this comic is 1/10 and the only reason it got a one for the last issue was because they had a good fight and Miguel was being cunning. I hope we spider-man 2099 fan get a good comic. Because the last comic was about so-what descent was like in 2015. Like no one in marvel can write Miguel, he is not that hard!

tell me your thoughts or comments

[giixiee]

I was having one of my usual artist crisis a couple of days ago and I felt so desperate that I didn’t know how to make digital art at all while being quite good at it if traditional, so desperate that I ACTUALLY stopped crying and drew SOMETHING COMPLETLY FROM SCRATCH on procreate because I really can’t keep whining about not knowing how to make digital art if I’m not even trying. So I drew Astarion. Btw I know this sketch is unclean and messy as hell I wanna make a disclaimer that my usual style isn’t this messy but as I said this is basically my first ever digital drawing I made from scratch after middle school….

[12thhouse-sun]

Writing Interview Tag Game!

Thanks for the tag @pouroverpaloma!

When did you start writing?

I’ve always been a highly creative person, visual art my usual and longest-standing vice, but writing I’ve always been interested in. At 15 years old I tried to write a book (didn’t finish it). I forget what the word count was but it was a high fantasy Percy Jackson-esque. I tried working on the worldbuilding for a book in college and afterwards but nothing concretely got…written. Not plot just worldbuilding lmao. That project has since turned into my D&D homebrew world that I have yet to subject to any players. 

I’ve done some short creative writing here and there, a spoken word-style poem a few years ago and I took part in Escapril 2020. Otherwise, I have not been writing creatively in quite some time. I majored in engineering in college so there weren’t a lot of opportunities for me to stretch those creative muscles. The writing I’ve done for my GalexTav fics are my first big dive into writing since high school. 

I would journal as a therapeutic device but I’m only ever to keep up with it when I’m in crisis as it’s very effective at emptying my brain but it’s not necessarily good writing, it’s often train of thought and very emotional.

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I read mainly fantasy and I write fantasy so there isn’t a lot of difference there. Maybe when I start branching out with my writing I’ll have an actual answer but for now, no!

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I haven’t had anyone compare my work but there’s lots of little things I see in the fic authors I read that I certainly feel strongly about but have yet to attempt to emulate. I want to be funny like goldenhearts (@yourworsttotebag). I want to go to poetry land like i88 (ao3). I wish I could figure out how to write 10K plus chapters every chapter like @linnetagain. I see so many little things in everything that I read that makes me want to try and be better.

I’m also still trying to figure out my own style. It’s been so long since I’ve tried to write anything longform that I am still exploring what my voice even sounds like. Even the first few chapters for you’re at the top of my lungs I wrote just a few months ago I cringe at when I read now. I’m in a high growth stage at the moment and I feel like I haven’t really settled into anything yet. But I’m in the midst of it and maybe if any of you who’ve read my fics notice anything please tell me lol I would appreciate the insight.

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

I have a few lmao. So I’m currently at work (if you’re my bosses, this is a joke I’m not at work rn) where I have two screens and as of today a fancy new click clack keyboard. Job-provided desk chair that’s okay and surrounded by work-related things. 

My office at home is much cozier. I have a blanket on my lap and around my shoulders, at least two drinks within arm’s reach (usually a water and an Olipop) and a fresh bag of Nutella biscuits waiting to be devoured. I also have a click clack keyboard there and I’ll put on my big gaming headphones to blast music as I write. 

I don’t like writing on my phone. If I do, it’s to quickly get down a rough idea while it’s still in my head but I can't do it for a long period of time as typing longform on my phone like that stresses me out. (Those who write entire fics in their notes app, I salute you.)

What's your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Reading other fics! Anything that gets me thinking of new ways to put the pookies into new situations. Great example is @yourworsttotebag (goldenhearts on AO3) just started posting a Parallel Universe fic where the Gales from two different universes get swapped. It got me thinking of how that would work with Gale and my Tav, and how that would go if my Tav was the one who got swapped. I’m not going to write this fic, but it’s fun to think about! It gets me thinking outside of my usual settings and it helps me think of situations and conversations that might end up applying to what I’m actually writing. 

I'm also constantly listening to music and while I'm horrible at being able to hear lyrics and therefore have a hard time linking song meaning to a scene or plot point, the flow and energy of a song can give me ideas just by themselves.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing? Do they surprise you?

I don’t think I’ve written enough variety to have developed anything. I actually went back and skimmed through my writing, posted or otherwise, with this lens to try and identify anything but other than the usual stuff you’d expect out of a Galefic I’ve got nothing.

What is your reason for writing?

Brain got too full of my Tav and Gale and I needed to drain it lmao. Now it’s just a constant flood. I’m also just enjoying it! I mention earlier that I’m usually a visual artist but the art block and imposter syndrome has been very bad. Writing fic has been freeing and has allowed me to create freely without judgment. (Or, well, the minimum amount of judgment required to even post something lmao).

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating?

Any, really. But especially if a commenter calls something out in a chapter they particularly enjoyed or related to that really gets me going. I’ll scream at any comment someone leaves even if it’s a “chapter kudos” or whatever. Seeing Hit # going up is gratifying in that I know that people are here and reading it but a comment really solidifies that a real person is here and enjoying it. Never be too scared to leave a comment. If I feel anything in any fic I read I try to comment because I know how much it makes my day as an author so I try to be that person for authors as well. 

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I hope they’re enjoying what I’m reading! I hope that the readers that are subscribed to me and my fics get just as excited when they see an AO3 email about one of my fics come through like it does when my faves update. That’s the dream.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I like my action and combat scenes, but I rarely write them. I have posted one I think and I have one in a WIP that won’t be posted until the whole thing’s done. But that unposted WIP chapter and then Chapter 4 of you’re at the top of my lungs are some of my favorite things I’ve written.

A lot of these questions have made me realize how little feedback I get as a writer and maybe I need to find a writing group or something. 

How do you feel about your own writing?

I honestly feel like it’s awkward and stilted. I find I have to try hard to make it all flow. I think that’s the years of having to write engineering reports coming through, being straight and to the point and all that. I usually feel like my writing is good and I am able to get across whatever point I’m trying to make but I would love to be more flowery and go to poetry land more often. I want to get across big feelings and big ideas and have it feel visceral and not like I’m just throwing words on a page.

Tagging @waterdeep-weavemoss, @dr-demi-bee, and @crimson-and-lavender

[initiumseries]

Across the Spiderverse Review

Okay! I will preface this saying, I want to see it a second time because there was SO MUCH STUFF, and it was beautiful and amazing and I just think there was so much detail in all of it that I need another watch so I can absorb what I missed in this pass. That being said, this will mostly be a stream of consciousness kind of thing but I will try to keep it into pros and cons. Naturally, there are **SPOILERS** here.

I’m going to start with cons because there were so few and I want to end on a good note. 

Con #1: We start with Gwen’s story. I came to see Miles Morales. The last movie we spent a lot of time with Peter too, and I just don’t like that Mile’s really interesting story is split between these secondary, less interesting, white characters. Miles is going through this huge crisis of identity, and I’m wasting time sitting here watching Gwen lamenting her own issues, only for her to turn around and betray Miles the way she did? Pass. I’m not interested in Gwen’s interiority, I don’t care how much she’s struggling with trying to do the right thing or whatever. This is Miles’ story. Let me get into Miles’ interiority. I felt like most of the time we were watching Miles instead of getting into Miles’ head, and going through those rollercoaster of emotions with him, and watching him struggle. Gwen gets a voice over about herself, her life, her best friend Peter, a LOT about Peter and a little of her friendship with Miles, Miles’ voice over is weighed down by his feelings about Gwen and rehashing what we already know. Like, a whole sketchbook full of Gwen? Really? Ugh. 

Now onto the pros: 

Art Pros: This movie is fucking beautiful.  

I LOVE that every universe has its own design style, and I LOVED how they made sure every web slinger had his own way of slanging them webs. Such amazing detail. I saw a storyboarder on twitter talking about how his approach with Gwen, since the note was that she be more like a ballerina, was having Gwen swing like a gymnast and use banned gymnastic moves in her webslinging. LOVE. 

I found out from a friend that Miles is animated on 2s and Miguel is animated on 1s and some other characters animated on 3s and 4s and that means nothing to you if you aren’t in animation, but again, the care and detail? Miguel being animated on 1s means his movements will be sharp, precise, piercing and fast. Which sums up his personality (barring the unhinged element). Miles being animated on 2s, how we normally would animate classically, means exactly that. I just think that’s SO WONDERFUL. *full geek out mode* 

I’m OBSESSED with the fact that you can see Spot’s construction lines?? 

I geeked out SO HARD when I saw these because it’s SO cool and fun, and construction lines are something you usually hide, so to include it I was like...oh this is ART art. 

This kind of animation???? 

The bowed legs, the reach in and wiggle?!?! The wiggle!?!??! THIS children, is what we call character animation. 

His hand just...flopping off the shelf? The impact of his weight as he leans on the shelf? GUYS. GUUUUUYSSSSS. 

These are small details but oh my god do they elevate a scene. These animators deserve ALL the awards. 

Hobie. Now Hobie...he’s gonna be in both story and art. Because omfg. 

When I found out he needed a hidden secret rig underneath his actual rig, before I saw the movie, I was like...why on EARTH would you do that? And then I saw the movie and was like...oh. YEAH. Sometimes you do that. And the results? Fucking phenomenal. Hobie said he was inconsistent and his style kept changing. BRILLIANT STUFF. 

 I love a tasteful meme jokey joke. 

Okay! I have to cut myself off, onto story pros: 

I love that Mile’s crisis of identity isn’t just rooted in his being spiderman and Miles. His mother being APPALLED he has a B in spanish, and then trying to talk to him in spanish and not just spanglish was such a nice additional layer to everything else going on with him. I love that when he finally works up the courage to tell his mother he’s Spiderman, he’s in the wrong universe (which I’ll get to). 

Miles wanting SO badly to be a part of something, and then finding out there’s a whole universe of spider folks, and just the successive disappointments in Gwen as he found out more information was good. I also like that because he wants so badly to be involved, he’s not being critical, and it’s Hobie who keeps trying to help him gain some perspective despite him being jealous over stupid Gwen. 

I love that Hobie says, I hate the AM and the PM (I did NOT catch that the first time! Hahaha brilliant). Him stealing throughout the fight over the collider? Then seeing the pay off later with Gwen? AMAZING. Him quitting when shit hits the fan? Perfect. Hobie is a fave.

THIS moment. 

The fact that when Miles finally figures out that Miguel means for him to let his canon event of his father dying go through without interruption, and decides he doesn’t actually want to be a part of this new crew, it’s Hobie’s advice and Spider Byte’s  choosing to not stop the machine, that helps him. After the serious disappointment of the white people around him, it’s Black people he just meets that step up to the plate to support him, young Black people on top of it. That wasn’t an accident and is a very typical experience. I am already shipping him and Spider Byte and i NEED that to be a thing in the final movie. 

I actually really like the idea that Miguel is a villain. He’s so rigid in his thinking, and so myopic, he refuses to see there’s any other way to do things. So while he thinks he’s the good guy, and is leading the good guys, he’s leading them astray, and I think it really speaks to how sometimes you can live long enough to see yourself become a villain and have to stay constantly vigilant and interrogate yourself a lot and not be closed to a new way of doing things, like Miles. MAN did that fight scene where he rips Miles to shreds about being an anomaly HURT. So good. 

Miles’ father struggling to relate to him, only for us to realize that he has a bigger impact on Miles than we think, especially with the way it seems like Miles is pushing him away. But then, we meet, fucking PROWLER MILES?!?! SO. FUCKING. GOOD. 

I noticed right away, when Prowler!Miles started talking and the way he rolled his Rs, even how he’s wearing his hair. With his father gone, Miles’ mother’s influence on him culturally is very clear. Not a bad thing, just a beautiful detail. His uncle’s influence on him leads him to be the prowler, where his dad kept him on the straight and narrow. I LOVE THAT. I love the possibility that Miles meeting himself in this other universe could solidify for him that saving his father is the right thing to do, the necessary thing to do. Or it could shake his confidence. I guess we’ll find out. 

Miles being sent to another universe was SO FUN. They’re very clear this machine uses your DNA to send you where you belong!! Why did it send him there? The theory that it’s because the spider that bit him was from another universe and that it altered his DNA so he ends up here, and I think that’s a salient theory and I love that idea. I think it’s so perfect and thorough. 

I loved that there were so many little moments in this movie that were subtle, but making a clear, progressive statement. This movie was so CLEARLY made by artists, for artists, but also for fans, for the average movie goer, and people who just like good stories. To be able to fold all that in together is amazing and fantastic, and there’s more I’d like to say but this post is already really long and I’ll be seeing it again and will be gushing about it then too. But if you haven’t seen it, or are on the fence, SEE THIS DAMN MOVIE. 

1500/10

[mumuqings]

anyway here is how the teru wip is going……. if no one else got me, default starry sky bg always got me

art is hard!!! I’m struggling!!!

[leidensygdom]

So, the summary of art is here! And 2022 has been yet another hell of a year. I'm very pleased with how my art went this time around, despite having gone through several art crisis and being in the middle of figuring out a new style of sorts. I finally got back to doing more painted style drawings, and I have a defined process figured out! Also, I've been doing a lot of references and character design stuff this year, which is something I really wanted to do. The start of the year here was a bit weak though, and the first picture was actually made on a friend's tablet since I wasn't home!

In that sense, 2022 has been a really wild year life-wise. I ran from home due to abuse, ended up two months at @boociforme 's, then I moved with my partner. The situation in this new place hasn't been too great either because their parents are equally abusive, but we're looking forward to moving soon enough, and I'll be starting freelancing (and opening commissions!) very soon. On a lighter note, I finally ended my degree this year officially, so I'm an Audiovisuals and Transmedia graduate now!

Here's hoping that 2023 will be a bit nicer at last. And finally, I want to thank everyone who has been around for this journey, it's been rocky but hopefully things will be improving very soon!

[take-me-to-valhalla]

Author Questionnaire Tag Game

Tagged by @ladyniniane! Thank you so much, it was very fun to do!

About me

When did you start writing?

I know exactly when and it’s a good story.

Sowhen I was 13 our Lit teacher wanted us to write a free-subject essay. I decided to write a short sci-fi story (it didn’t make the cut, but what matters is that it was the first time I was allowed to write on a free subject). Later in the year, he asked us to write an incipit for a book. I dug up this sci-fi short story, and I wrote a few more, thinking I was just getting ahead of the assignment...and then it dawned on me that I could write even if no one would tell me to do it. And I could write whatever I wanted.

It all started from there. In hindsight I think this teacher knew exactly what he was doing.

Are there genres/themes you enjoy reading different to the ones you write?

I read a bit of everything. Fiction, non-fiction, comics, fantasy, classics... The last book I read was A Moveable Feast, and it’s really far from what I write. I do it because I’m curious (and I feel like I’ve exhausted most of the great fantasy books...what a shame) and because it’s great to read great writing.

But I enjoy writing fantasy because it’s a way to explore fun stuff without being restrained by silly little things like « accuracy* » and « vampires don’t exist ».

* I say that and then will read 62105 books to see what people would eat for lunch in 1820.

Is there an author you want to emulate, or one to whom you're often compared?

When I started writing, I wanted to write like Pratchett or Gaiman (...alas). Pratchett because it’s genius, Gaiman because I loved the way he said very good things in a very plain style (...maybe that’s why I loved A Movable Feast. I think I’ll read some more Hemingway) and that’s something that’s hard to achieve when you’re just a 15 years-old who just discovered how to tell stories.

Recently, Marguerite Yourcenar sucker-punched me with Memoirs of Hadrien. But I could never hope to reach her level D :

Now, I don’t want to emulate anyone. Finding my own voice is enough.

Can you tell me a little about your writing space?

I have a dedicated study/art room (perks of being a single homeowner) and on my desk are dictionaries, thesauruses, grammar books, etc. along with several notepads that help when I brainstorm. But I write wherever, be it at work, at the library, etc.

What’s your most effective way to muster up some muse?

Listening to dedicated playlists. Walking. Driving. Fleshing my characters enough so that they can do stuff on their own and I just have to put them in situations.

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

I don’t think so. But maybe I wouldn’t write so much about old cities like Paris or London if I had actually lived there ?

Are there any recurring themes of your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

Running from things, changing names and identities. Loss. Justice, in its many forms. The way it can become distorted, perverted. Magic shaped by beliefs and superstitions. Angry women (and sad men). Also sly feminism.

It’s been there ever since my first attempt at a novel when I was 14. It's a mystery, even to me.

My Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favourite character?

Since I’m living in his head at the moment : Polidori.

He’s an edgelord’s dream : a feared, skilled vampire assassin. But he recently had a very, very bad day, lost all he had, and gained a very, very inconvenient awareness of his former life. Ever since, he’s on an ongoing indentity crisis (the inside of his head sounds something like this, on loop)

He’s not a good character. Really not. He did horrible things and plans to do others. He has no soul and cannot feel genuine love. But he has to come up with a solution to his problems, and will maybe learn a few things along the way.

All in all, a complex, but compelling character to write, and I really want to see him through his character arc.

Which of your characters do you think you’d be friends with in real life?

I do like Dante, who is basically me-at-15-but-as-a-boy. He would be unsufferable, but I could forgive him. Raphaëlle would be nice to hang out with too, I think. We'd go to cafés and museums.

Which of your characters would you dislike most if you met them?

Characters I wrote to be unpleasant, like Losim, who is an unrepentant egoistical dick, and Matthias, who is not bad, just very irritating.

Tell me more about the process of coming up with your characters.

Either they come up when I need a certain character for the story – like the five runaways in the story I am writing – and I let the story flesh them out as I write…

Or they are characters I invented when I was 13 and who, Ship-of-Theseus-style, became something else entirely. (oh, Raphaëlle, how you’ve grown).

Oh, and sometimes it’s entirely unplanned. Like Sid. He started as a joke character drawn for a comic. And I decided to write him in the novels, and here he is now. Traumatized and deserving better.

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

Women are angry, men are sad.

More precisely, women are always fighting for something either big (fighting the unfair government for Armoni, fighthing patriarchy for Isadora) or small (fighting to prove she can do everything on her own for Raphaëlle), while men tend to have terrible lives that they will overcome. Hopefully.

Probably because I like writing angry women ? Even when they are angry about petty things.

A third category would be « bastards ». Because these are always so fun to write.

How do you picture your characters?

I can draw some of them (and I take full advantage of it) but sometimes it’s hard...like Lionel is supposed to be astonishingly-good-looking, but I’m not good enough to picture him right. Some of them have a pretty defined physique, while others not as much. The longer I write them, the more precise their features become.

My Writing

What’s your reason for writing?

Because if I don’t write, I die.

More seriously, I don’t feel good when I’m not writing in a while. I have all these ideas and all these characters, and I really want to be able to tell their stories and share them with people.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

Sometimes I get fanart. This is like straight up heroin for me.

But most of the time I am happy when I managed to really get a reaction. Like YES tell me how this scene was so sad and horrible and that it made you feel so bad, that means I did a GOOD JOB.

Writers are sadistic.

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work?

I want to be seen as a good writer who writes good stories with great characters.

And who sometimes draws funny yokoma-type comics to go along with the greater story.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I’ve been told that I have a good, professional writing style. I also feel I am good at tying different plots and timelines together (not as good as, say, Brandon Sanderson, but one step at a time)

How do you feel about your own writing?

I feel like I’ve come pretty far. I know I write well – though it took some time accepting it –, but I’m worried it might never be « good » or « marketable » enough for it to reach a lot of people. But that’s something I cannot control. The best thing I can do is continue writing.

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

YES.

I often joke that I am my own fandom. So it wouldn’t change a thing for me, really.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? if it’s a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

I write for myself, so I write purely what I enjoy. I couldn’t ever be one of these writers who chain-write formulaic books that sell. Kudos to them, that sounds like a lot of work.

I don’t care about what’s popular or cool, I just want to have fun putting my homemade blorbos in situations.

I tag @searchingforakeythatdoesntexist, but if you see this and feel like answering it, feel free !

[adriansvetozaroff]

I have two Star Wars OCs - Lamarr and Sheeku, but I usually call them "Outlanders". These are two men with a complicated relationship and a desire to travel. Their story grew out of two ideas: the first was a reflection on how two representatives of different cultures can interact and gain understanding of each other, and whether sincere feelings can destroy the barriers imposed by society, and the second was more of a joke - what if in a galaxy far, far away there was a travel show, like the Ukrainian show "Orel i Reshka". Actually, these guys do just that - they host a show in almost such a format. They called it "Outlanders", after the club where they met. There was also an element of self-irony in this title: some might find it strange that both hosts speak the Basic language with an accent, albeit not very pronounced, but since they are outlanders, this is forgivable for them. They are very different, each of them has a lot of problems in his head, and yet they are together. Soon I would like to tell more about them, but for now I have collected all the sketches, starting from the very first ones.

1. The first sketch of Lamarr. Initially, he was a tragic character, going through a long mental crisis. The second character was his temporary partner and existed in the story more to reveal this Neimoidian's experiences (the feeling of the gap between him and the rest of the world) than as a full participant. I still have their first dialogue recorded: in the capital, Lamarr tried to pass himself off as a Duros to avoid potential problems or questions about what he had seen and experienced, which he did not want to answer. However, a true Duros would certainly have recognized him as a Neimoidian. "What gave me away?" he asked. "My hands or my accent?". "The eyes," his interlocutor answered. "They are very sad."

2. Sketches of Lamarr's appearance - he has changed a little since then. Here I already outlined the style of his everyday clothes, and his personal protocol droid appeared, who also participates in this story.

3. Sketches of Sheeku's appearance, as well as the logo of the travel show. At some point, Sheeku also got an assistant droid, and for contrast, I chose an astromech. I often call him simply B2.

4. The first rough sketch of Sheeku and Lamarr together, which I turned into a full-fledged art later. I still like it.

5. The process of working on the a sheet with all the information about them, which I will also publish soon.

6. At some point, I had doubts whether I should make story more consistent with the format of the original show, and also to make it such that it would be possible to publish it on more resources, some of which have very inhumane rules, knowing that some of my followers remain there. For a while, doubts even won, but I felt uncomfortable and false in what came out, it just didn’t work for me, and I went back to the original version. I just understood: if those who watched me really valued me, they would find a way to follow me to a place where I was ok being myself. Since then, there remains a character who is now called Sheerua - Sheeku’s younger sister. She masters the profession of a shuttle pilot, assisted by an astromech droid of the same series as B2, but of an updated model.

7. Another sketch, later became a full-fledged art, and before that underwent changes. And also the process of working on the poster of the holodrama, which the characters were watching in this art.

So far, I don’t know whether this idea will turn into a full-fledged work - a series of comics or stories - since I’m afraid to take on another big project. But small sketches with these guys allow me to relax and rejoice. I decided that I am making this story primarily for myself, and it is important to me that it brings pleasure to me. Although, of course, I want to share pleasant emotions with those who will also like it.

[jewishrizahawkeye]

my tldr version of the media around brat v ttpd would be: the media and a loud group of fans are so focused on the potential conflict and drama (for clicks/views) that they neglect to engage with the music as an art form and then everyone is disappointed bc instead of knowing the background that’s needed to appreciate the art they’re just listening so they can dig for gossip that may or may not be there

but maybe you’re thinking of something else, I think there’s a lot to discuss

this is also true! i was thinking more about how we’re in a massive media literacy crisis and more and more people are getting upset when art isn’t easily digestible.

before i start this:

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH LIKING STRAIGHT FORWARD ART!

but what i was thinking was that brat dives into complex emotions but in a more straight forward/simplistic way. that’s not an insult at charli xcx or the album at all! she isn’t going for the same type of lyricism as other artists (think taylor but also chappell roan or flyna boss). it’s all to personal preference. but a big issue with people discussing brat or preferring it is that they’re saying they don’t want to decipher a bunch of lyrics to relate to it, they just want it and can go. which is fine. but it does create a problem of people then misinterpreting other lyrics because they refuse to actually see what is being said or done. i really enjoyed ttpd:ta because im a pretentious english major but i knew i wasn’t gonna be for everyone or it would take awhile for others to understand it, which is fine. but instead of doing that people instead just conflated it all to being bad. which is where ive seen a lot of the two albums being compared to.

i saw people on tiktok (my first mistake was opening the app, i know) saying that charli is actually making GOOD pop music while taylor isn’t. and while ive already established “brat” isn’t for me i was still very surprised by how well recieved it was. it doesn’t seem like what mainstream pop music would want or like, and while charli has her fans and does deserve her praise and roses i was still surprised. i do stand by my statement that i think in 1-2 years a lot of the general public will say brat was an album of the time because it, to me in my opinion, won’t age well to the general public. i can be wrong, we’ll see. but i think people like it because charli is diving into emotions or relationships we’ve all had. sympathy is a knife and girl, so confused are at the top of my head because those are somewhat universal situations we all have been in. and with charli’s writing style she’s more straightforward so people don’t have to think to hard on it. they can get it on the first listen and go. but this is then tying back to what i wanted to discuss with the media literacy crisis.

i’m going to use my favorite album of all time, “the good witch” by maisie peters, to explain this since i think if i continue with ttpd and taylor people will ignore my point. but i loved tgw because it was not only phenomenal on my first listen but the more and more i listened the more details i noticed and the more i saw just how talented of a writer maisie is. history of man is a prime example obviously, but in watch she uses antanaclasis, which means using the same word but in different ways, with the line “I fought it, but I saw it and it sawed me right in half”! this is an incredible line and realizing she did that word play made me love the song more! and the more i listened the more i found stuff like this and became obsessed with it. and this was because i kept going back and listening to it because i wanted to know more. art and literature are supposed to do this, we’re supposed to sit and think about it and find deeper meaning. not all art but we’re supposed to sit and think on what we saw and what that means for us and the art.

another example with a movie is oppenheimer. i remember when the movie came out people were saying not to see it because it was problematic. and one review i saw even said “all biopics are problematic because the director controls the narrative and therefore controls how you’ll view the person” which was the worst take id EVER seen because this person just said they never think critically about any media they consume. they just let the person making it control them and don’t think about the implications. because oppenheimer is a great movie that explores and discusses war and destruction. and it is a good film to watch but i don’t think the guy who made the ATOMIC BOMB is a good guy and was rooting for him. i still think he is awful cause he is awful. but i still enjoyed the film and thought critically on it and what it means for society. like art should be. but not every movie is like that or intends to have that same meaning. another movie i like is bottoms, which is literally about lesbians starting a fight club to get pussy. no one meant for it to have a deeper meaning than that and it succeeds in what the plot is. this doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie but rather the art is doing something different. it’s a silly comedy for wlw to just have fun. and yet, both films are good.

or with books to. ali hazelwood is a fine author who writes cute romance stories and doesn’t go farther than that while RF kaung is writing books that ask you to think and contemplate what she’s discussing which has made people upset. i remember when babel came out a person read it and made a review talking about how she hated it because she thought it would be a fun fantasy book to read before going back to grad school and was instead confronted with colonialism and racism. she said she made this review to tell others it was okay to not like the book while missing the point that the book was literally describing people like her.

this has gotten slightly miss jointed and is all over the place, but my point is that people are slowly gravitating toward more simplistic or straightforward media that doesn’t necessarily ask them to think more on something. which isn’t inherently bad, you aren’t required to always think hard on everything you consume, sometimes you just wanna listen to fun club music or watch lesbians kill football players. there’s nothing wrong with that. but we’re in a media literacy crisis because a lot of people refuse to sit on media that makes them think. they refuse to think about how songs can have deeper meanings and will instead just focus on “the golden retriever line in the title track is stupid.” and ignore that it was intentionally done like that because taylor was trying to show her and her muse weren’t being smart or as tortured as they thought they were, they were just two idiots being high together. but people refuse to think on that and will only look at a surface level example.

which is what i was getting at, brat isn’t bad and if you like the album im happy! but ive seen a lot of people use this album to tear ttpd down and miss the albums are not only doing two separate things but also then trying to create unnecessary drama.

i hope this makes sense, it was why i wanted to kinda wait to post it so i can get my thoughts in order but this was what i was getting at. it’s not on charli or her album but im more so just talking about the general public.

[regallibellbright]

So I guess I’m liveblogging my reread now, and this ended up being a thing AFTER I've hit Chapter 10 of Mirror Dance, but whatever.

Mirror Dance, Page 4:

Lord Vorkosigan pretended to be Admiral Naismith. And so did he. What, after all, was the difference?

But what is your name really?

His vision darkened in a rush of despair, and rage.

I’d forgotten that Mark is in fact having existential crises at the idea of having an identity outside of being Miles Vorkosigan(‘s clone impersonating him,) somehow, when I'd previously brought up he was giving Mark an identity crisis. I have no idea how I forgot this fact. Mirror Dance is about Mark having an existential crisis. But I think what I forgot is that it's not until Miles shows up to save his ass, and dies, that Mark's willing to think of himself as Mark.

His first three chapters, he's just "he" in his own narration (and since he's impersonating Miles, can't say he's the clone anyway) and dodging the thought of being anyone. Chapter six, Miles shows up, Miles immediately starts taking control of the situation as much as it can be salvaged, Miles points out that if you'd hired the Dendarii outright, Mark, they would've made sure whatever plan they went with WOULDN'T have gone so thoroughly to shit, Miles dies, all from his POV. We go back to Mark's POV at basically that exact second, getting spattered with blood, and the first sentence calls him Mark. Either Miles showing up and going into Big Brother Mode or the trauma of the raid finally gets him willing to think of himself as Mark.

Breaking chronological order in favor of similarities, Page 6:

His resentment boiled up behind his eyes like sinus pain. All this bloody hero-worship, or whatever it was. All for Naismith. For Naismith, and not for me… never for me…

Meanwhile, the actual Miles: *Has the same thought process whenever he has to be Lord Vorkosigan.* Once again, if Mark hadn't been QUITE so caught up in the sibling rivalry, they'd have a LOT to bond over at this point. Which is part of the tragedy of this all.

Page 4:

… See Miles. See Miles run. See Miles get what he deserves.

I mean, as this is a reread… if your plan had gone off without a hitch, Mark, this would be pretty damn near Milesian Shenanigans, yeah. Miles would definitely deserve someone pulling those on him. But Milesian Shenanigans are dangerous even for experienced Vorkosigans, and you are not yet an Experienced Vorkosigan in the art of schemes and shenanigans. For a start, you don't yet realize how much the covert raid and abduction is NOT your style of scheme.

Page 6:

He could always tell, instantly, when someone he met thought they were facing “Naismith.” They all had that same stupid hyper-alert glow in their faces. They weren’t all worshipful; he’d met some of Naismith’s enemies once, but worshipful or homicidal, they reacted. As if they suddenly switched on, and became ten times more alive than ever before. How the hell did he do it? Make people light up like that? Granted, Naismith was a goddamn hyperactive, but how did he make it so freaking contagious?

… You know, Mark, when you put it that way, I guess the whole “start a cult of personality to stage a mass prison escape” thing isn’t all that unusual for Miles and is… basically what he did with the Dendarii, pretty much. Schemes so harebrained he forces you to start thinking like him just to keep up, and then you are unfortunately Thinking Like Miles Naismith Vorkosigan. A very dangerous habit.