#I've never really done a tweeting animation before-

[benetnvsch]

nasty dog kunikida wip #2 :> refined sketch. next few days will be clean lining coloring and tweening yipppeee

[cha0s-boyy]

revamp of my old creeper design from like... 10... years ago... minecraft old (notes under the cut)

[ID: two cartoony digital drawings of an interpretation of a Minecraft creeper, one fullbody and one headshot. it has a long neck, a short body that sits at an angle, due to its forelegs being longer than its hind legs, short floppy ears, a short duck-like tail, conjoined claws on its feet, and a deer-like nose that is joined to a prominent lip, making the iconic creeper frown shape. it is fluffy and green, with ticked markings suggesting a mottled coloration. its scleras are dark green, and its pupils/irises, nose and lip skin, and claws, are all green-tinted black. /end ID]

design notes!

i've always personally much preferred fluffy creepers over the more popular "irradiated flesh-melting humanoid mutant" interpretation. i know that a tweet doesn't exactly make something "canon" to the game, but i do like to think this fits with the "leaf-like texture" they were described as having. i do enjoy the "plant creature that explodes to spread pollen" theory, but even if you want to just interpret them as furry not actually leafy it makes sense from a camouflage standpoint. i used to give them pointier more upright ears (actually i usually made them back-pointing ears), but given that their model doesn't prominently display ears (like say, the wolf model does) i decided to allude to their "pig mistake" origins and give them triangular floppy ears like some pigs have. also, everyone always staunchly refused to give them ears despite only ONE mob at the time actually having modeled ears (that being wolves), so the idea of a creature having ears but not having them be individually modeled in the game was 100% plausible. nose and mouth! i am SO PROUD of this interpretation. i always found giving them a huge frown always looked a little goofy, so i tried to think of other ways to get that iconic shape, and i think joining the skin of a nose and a defined lip together really accomplishes this well. not to mention, it's actually closer to the pixelated shape, due to the nose sticking up higher than the lip. (that's just me being self-aggrandizing at this point tho. i don't think i've actually got the "better more correct" interpretation here or anything.) long neck / body plan - i NEVER understood why everyone always INSISTED on giving them humanoid torsos with no arms and four mutant legs when the option of having a LONG NECK was right there???? i mean if you're leaning into the rotated pig body thing it makes sense, but istg it was every. single. one. no matter how un-pig-like they were in every other respect. and besides it was usually a humanoid torso not a pig torso anyway. giving them slightly bent digitigrade legs i think also captures the "sticking out" look of their legs. again, i always preferred a more vertebrate look for creepers rather than the "alien walking around on spindles" look, but this was 100% done back in the day so i'm not as mad about it. also i'm proud of myself for the higher shoulders resulting in an angled body, because that lets me have the body a little longer without having to make something that would have absolutely 100% been modeled with another block for the body. tail is the same deal as ears - the only mob with a modeled tail (wolf) had an extremely prominent tail on its real counterpart, so the idea of the creature having a tail but not having it be modeled is 100% possible. actually snout too - i still don't give my creepers a very prominent snout/muzzle just to keep them recognizable, but long-faced/snouted animals like cows and (at the time) pigs were modeled with square heads, so a real creeper could 100% have a big ol' muzzle. i actually thought creepers had hooves for a long time before i realized the dark texture was only on the front of their legs, not all the way around. i could interpret this as them having longer fur that partially covers their hooves, but i like them with claws as well. they seem like they'd want grip. i did still give them partially joined claws to allude back to the hoof thing tho. but who knows? maybe i'll give them cloven pig-hooves in the future. nothing to say about coloration except that i obviously did a more simplified pattern to match my cartoony style rather than giving this drawing realistic mottling and brindling.

overall i guess my main deal with creepers is that i always wanted creepers to be animals (and specifically fairly large, terrestrial animals, that existed commonly within the world), rather than either insectoid cyborg aliens or cubes of melting flesh (that's one i didn't really touch on - many people were so unwilling to stray from making them cubic in their non-minecraft interpretations of creepers. i understand why for recognizability, but from a "actual creature vs minecraft model" standpoint, mobs just. aren't as square as they are in the game).

also disclaimer - i talk a lot about things that "everyone always did," and the keyword here is "did"- interpretations of creepers are more varied nowadays. it's been like 15 years! design tropes that were widespread through inescapable back in the day are no longer so.

[amysgiantbees]

Dead Boy Detectives Cat King Spoilers

I ADORE the Cat King and I'm really fascinated by him and I just love how detailed everything about him is.

A few thoughts on him...

I love that he's living at Empire fish company to harken to his royal status.

I adore the head-cannon that he's Desire's child. With his golden eyes that remain no matter his form. Desire's actor even tweeted about it!

He asked which boy put the spell on his cat. Also, the cat's comment in the murder house ep that "the Cat king won't like this" and the implied rest of that sentence I feel is "when he finds out, when we report back." But at the end of the Dragons ep we can see the cat's eyes glow, implying he's magically looking through them. I know I'm assuming a lot but he seems to let the cats do their thing most of the time and report to him if they feel like it. It might even be a two way thing where they allow him to look through their eyes, he can't force it. I just think it's interesting what powers he has. Also it's interesting how his relationship with the cats work. Knowing cats, they have to want to report back. They don't just do it out of obligation. So, I'd like to think he's a pretty decent ruler. Or even my head-cannon that he doesn't really rule them more protects and acts as their go between, between themselves and other creatures.

His powers so far: Personal resurrection. Teleportation (but maybe just to pocket dimensions). Shapeshifting. Binding spells or just magic in general much like Edwin can practice magic from books. All very indirect kinds of magic which really suit his trickster spirit vibes.

I love that his loneliness is tied in to almost every interaction he has with Edwin. From insisting that he likes to keep things consensual then putting a spell that forces them to be closer. To watching out for/stalking Edwin with his cats. To forcing him to tell the truth but only a little bit in a kind of desperate attempt to get Edwin to see he cares about him and embraces him for who he is. Edwin calling him lonely really doesn't come from nowhere to humanize him which I love. It's great that even the minor character's motivations are well thought through in the show.

I feel like he took to Edwin so quick possibly just out of pure desire. But also people love to say animals are great judges of character, especially cats, they're discerning. So I love the idea that even if Thomas was repressing the fact that he is lonely a part of him knew it and recognized that loneliness in Edwin. As well as what his actor's mentioned in interviews that Thomas is so free and has so few inhibitions and thus just enjoys messing with stuffy old Edwin so much.

Me enjoying Thomas' moral greyness does not mean I'm condoning his behaivour. But it certainly doesn't bother me for multiple reasons. Firstly, his actor is SO charismatic. It really does make a difference that he's just SO fun to watch. Also, not that I've never been harassed by a queer guy before, but him being not straight does help beat the creep vibes in my mind. Also, the way that he will push a boundary but say or do something that softens what he's done helps. Like ranting and raving in the woods that Edwin will regret this but instead continuing to try to protect him from Esther. I think he clearly cares enough about Edwin that if Edwin was REALLY that uninterested in him and uncomfortable he would of just have given him a different punishment. Also, it's a fair punishment. He binds Edwin just like Edwin bound that cat. He's an ambiguous trickster fantasy creature, I'm willing to let a lot slide due to the fact that he clearly has an important role in the story and people's lives as a disrupting and mischievous influence.

I also am not particularly bothered by any potential creepiness from the Cat King as the way in interviews everyone talks about him is that he had a very specific role to play. He was made to be Edwin's sexual awakening. Yes he could have just been a guy that like always seems to be obliviously shirtless going on runs or something like that and it would have been less problematic. But, for one, I'm sure Edwin's seen that before and just looks away when it happens. Two, Edwin is SO repressed I think it makes a lot of narrative sense that he needs someone SO pushy and desperate in return to wake him up. And also he then contrasts against the purity and sweetness of Edwin's love for Charles. I don't see this as condoning this behaivour because real people aren't deeply repressed Edwardian ghosts that couldn't access therapy even if they wanted to on account of being dead.

Furthermore, as I'm sure many people have seen in recent popular discourses media does not need to be morally pure. I don't think that should be a get out of jail free card though. Or that creatives should be allowed to make whatever offensive shit they want and then say but "it's art" or "it's satire". Context matters. It's important how you frame something. And sure the Cat King is not punished for his bad behaivour but he is framed in such a way that I feel like he is not supported for it either. He doesn't get "rewarded" with Edwin in the end. He's not even guaranteed to have his company in even a platonic way since they're heading back to London and he, presumably, has to stay in his kingdom (he calls himself A cat king so I'm assuming there's others elsewhere so he probably can't go to London and intrude on another's territory. Or maybe he's A cat king in that there's just one at a time but there's a history of them).

Also, I've seen some people be uncomfortable at the age gap between Edwin and the Cat King, but to quote one of my favourite YouTubers Kennie J.D. "They're brooding hot 25 year old teenagers". They're both actors in their 20's. They could both theoretically be playing immortals frozen in their teens. I get that Thomas looks older but none of them look like teens. Edwin's actor has a 5 o'clock shadow. The most info we get about Thomas' age that he's meant to be appearing as is that he says "he's not a daddy type" according to him. Admittedly his actor says that when he was imagining a backstory for him part it was that he thought he and Esther were ex's. So that does lend to the idea of him being frozen as an adult. So I'd definitely say it's a grey area. But also people arguing it's not weird because they're all kind of ageless anyway, I do disagree with. As a TikToker, Babbity Kate, I like pointed out just because Edward is over 100 years old doesn't mean Bella dating him isn't less weird than her dating Carlisle. There's a difference, it matter's a person's maturity.

I just hope we get a Season 2 and the Cat King sticks around for it. Hope Edwin misses him XD

Other people with great takes on him: https://www.tumblr.com/weareinastormoffuck/749853517024559104?source=share

[thecrazygamingzombie]

How Viviziepop kickstarted the third wave of indie animation.

Okay, I've been seeing a lot of people talk about the tweet below and how Viv doesn't deserve to take credit for the success of other indie animation projects online but the fact of the matter is...she does, in an indirect way at least.

First, let's start off with a brief history of indie animation:

everything started out on a site called newgrounds, I'm sure you've all heard of it. Created by Tom Fulp in the 90s to show case some of his half baked game ideas. Which eventually evolved into a place where indie creators could post anything they wanted without fear of censorship; the rating system that automatically removed any posts that dropped too low being the only source of quality control.

This gave indie animation it's initial foothold online but without any way of obtaining a revenue stream it never really moved beyond a fun hobby done to practice one's art/coding skills or just screw around with friends online.

This problem got more significant as time went on and many of the teenage artists that gave newgrounds it's inital success, such as RicePirate and Tom Fulp, grew into young adults who needed a revenue stream. Luckily they found one in the form of youtube.

With these monetization policies, many indie animators were actually able to go into animation practically full time. Their pre-existing income bolstered by that of youtube and what followed was a golden era of animation, just an explosion of content across the board. You had stuff like Eddsworld, Salad Fingers, ASDF movie, and tons of other creators bursting onto the scene.

all putting their content out there on Youtube for the world to see. All bolstered by revenue coming in from Youtube...but the good times never last

See, back then youtube's monetization policies were pretty simple: the more views your channel got, the more money you'd make. Great for short form animators and also great for clickbait youtubers who abused the system with deceiving thumbnails and titles!

To combat this, Youtube changed it's monetization policies in March of 2012: instead of being rewarded on view count, monetization would instead reward the time watched during a video. Which created a system where longer videos with frequent uploads were rewarded

In theory this was supposed to stop clickbait videos as people would just watch for a few seconds and leave. But in practice? It meant that animators were put at a heavy disadvantage as now they'd have to put in significantly more work for the same result.

This caused a complete and total crash of indie animation online. Between an unfair algorithm and the rise of gaming channels, most indie animators couldn't gather the same level of funding they could before and had to either quit or scale back.

Only the big name animators who could coast by on brand recognition such as Harry Partridge and TomSka among several others, or larger channels with dedicated teams similar to tv studios such as Mondo Media and Rooster Teeth. Were able to keep going.

This started a brief dark age for online animation until the advent of story time animators. People like Jaiden Animations, Swoozie, and TheOdd1sOut who relied on simplistic art styles with minimalist animation that focused on content reminiscent of old vlogs where the animators simply share stories from their everyday lives that allowed them to put out longer videos faster; thus working around the monetization system that had put so many animators out in the cold.

While they didn't solve the problem, in some ways they made it worse by starting a trend that attracted countless copycats, they did help sustain an interest in indie animation online and ensure there was a consistent audience for such a medium.

Now it wasn't a total wasteland mind you, as I said there were still plenty of animators who survived the purge. There were even a few channels such as Shut Up Cartoons and Mondo Media, again, that helped produce dozens of animated series from indie creators.

But even at it's best, these series were still very amateurish. The passion was obviously there but these were still very simplistic flash or stop motion animations with low budgets and small teams, focusing more on episodic skits than any sort of overarching plot

This environment of amateur passion projects, where animated series were usually very small scale and never really escaped from the limited sphere of youtube, went on for several years and kept the animation community alive. Until Viv posted Hazbin Hotel and brought about the third wave of indie animation.

Unlike the previous examples, Hazbin Hotel was a VERY different beast from most indie animation. Not only did it have an extremely distinct visual style but the animation was so fluid, so professionally made, it felt like something you'd see out of a mainstream studio. It felt leagues above the average indie project in terms of quality.

Now Viv had already a decent audience from her Zoophobia webcomic, her speed draws, and the die young video. So it wasn't like she was starting from nothing. But there was no denying that this new form of animation caught people's attention and caught it FAST.

You all can probably recall the explosion of discussion that surrounded the original pilot and how it was all the internet was talking about for awhile. Viv road that wave and used the momentum to launch 'Helluva Boss' another indie production with a similar style.

This made her even more popular, especially when she started cranking out new episodes of the latter series with the same high quality as before, and soon her fanbase swelled to millions. A fanbase that was more than happy to crowdfund Viv's work through patreon and merch sales. Then other animators saw this and realized that there was a sizable audience for animated content; one that could not only sustain professional level animation, but was desperate for more content of this scale. Soon several other series started cropping up like MurderDrones, Lackadaisy, Monkey Wrench, and the Amazing Digital Circus. All of which followed Viv's lead of producing high quality, fluid animation with overarching plots that drew funding entirely from legions of online fans.

For the first time in a long time, indie animation was breaking out of it's original platform and reaching far more mainstream audiences than it ever has in the past on a scale never before seen and it's all because Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss kicked off this new animation renaissance!

Now I'm not gonna say Viv was solely responsible, the series we enjoy now have thrived primarily on their own merits and the creative minds behind them.

But as it stands, her work played a big role in setting the stage for other indie animation projects and creating the perfect conditions for them to thrive amidst the current digital landscape. Like it or not, Viv is the catalyst for modern indie animation. To deny Viv her rightful place in history out of spite is nothing short of historical revisionism.

Give the gal her due, she's done some amazing things for this crazy world we live in.

Here's the videos I got most of my info from, it's important to cite one's sources after all!

[dragon-ball-meta]

Akio Iyoku And The Future Of Dragon Ball

Got a huge news drop last night, courtesy of @SupaChronicles on Twitter. I've linked the full tweet if you want to read his translation of the original article sans editorializing, but I wanted to attempt to explain a few things here. This is unprecedented for the franchise, and we're in untested, but very exciting times right now. The short version is this: Akio Iyoku and Capsule Corporation Tokyo have succeeded in gaining control of the rights to the Dragon Ball Franchise, in all but the manga side of things, for the next ten years. DAIMA is actually their first project. Now, some excerpts from the translated article: "Indomitable Dragon Ball, Inheriting the Mission: A Global Strategy to Reach the Next Generation" featuring Akio Iyoku, the President of Capsule Corporation Tokyo 'Dragon Ball' will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2024. Dragon Ball is a unique and amazing work. Rather than thinking of the work in relative or uniform terms, the keynote is to think about how it should be done as a work of art. As the Executive Producer of a work with unprecedented longevity, my mission is to expand and convey what the original creator, Akira Toriyama, has created. I will continue to produce works, such as anime series, movies, and games, over the next 10 years. (...) Adopting what is popular at the moment does not increase the probability of success. I will not be swayed by the current trends, but will create works that I feel will be 'good enough'."

Iyoku is saying that, in his new capacity as the executive producer of Dragon Ball, he's doing this as a means of protecting the Dragon Ball IP as a work of art, and wants to release content that he feels upholds that integrity, rather than trying to use the IP simply to chase current trends and try to cling to relevancy. He says he also wants to keep the spirit of the series Toriyama intended. Now what's especially interesting to ME is this bit. He stops short of making any sort of direct confirmation, but this really, REALLY seems to lend credence to the reports that Shueisha was deliberately leaving Dragon Ball out to dry in favor of One Piece. "There was a time when the Dragon Ball craze, which had spread around the world over the past 40 years, had died down. When I became the head of Shueisha's Dragon Ball Room in 2016, I could not visualize what was really happening. 7-8 years ago, I went to a huge event in Brazil called "CCXP." I was told that Japanese anime were popular in South America, but there was a discrepancy from what I was told. The feedback from fans was weak. It may have been at the peak of its popularity when it was on-air in South America. (...) I also thought it was the result of relying on old-fashioned zeal. Therefore, starting with the 'Dragon Ball Super Broly' movie in 2018, we took steps such as actively participating in events. I felt concerned that Dragon Ball has not been expanded worldwide. Originally, we didn't see the strength and diffusion power of the work. We need to take a closer look at this and see if we can do more. We are not looking for a "one-size-fits-all" approach, but rather, we are looking for events such as the Dragon Ball World Championships, the expansion of games, creating facilities, and anything else that we can do. We will work on them in parallel."

And this bit: "Never before was there such a simultaneous worldwide reception of anime. (...) It can be said that we are now able to do things that we had not even considered before. From the beginning, I began to think about the overseas expansion of Dragon Ball. With 'Dragon Ball DAIMA,' which will be released in Fall 2024, we are taking on the challenge of creating an anime series with a completely original story. I am glad that all our works have been well-received overseas. 'DAIMA' was announced at New York Comic Con. The 'Dragon Ball' series is recognized around the world. It makes no sense to announce it somewhere domestic. Comic-Con is a great place to announce your work. People who understand the value of the culture are gathered there, to begin with, and we chose Comic-Con because of its ability to spread our work throughout the world. Overseas expansion is currently being considered as a necessary means of spreading the word about our work. If we compare the flow of manga titles selling in book format and then finally becoming anime to a river, the overseas developments were the ones that followed the river, meaning that in the past it was a "fan" (in the sense that the overseas expansion followed later.) I am convinced that Dragon Ball has pioneered many things as a Japanese anime. I have a sense of mission that if there is something that no one else has done, I must continue to challenge it." That sounds to me as if this was done at least in part because he felt the series was being mishandled, both on a promotional and quality control front. He also feels that there needs to be content created at least semi-regularly to keep the franchise relevant, as opposed to announcing something and then leaving long gaps of nothing, as almost happened after the Super anime went on hiatus. There's also some more implication about the series not being promoted to its fullest. "- The industry is over-competitive. It is tough to see the competition among anime (due to the emergence of streaming sites, etc.). Competition has become excessive. We must not create a situation where a manga becomes anime, and when the anime is over, the content ends as is. The ideal situation is to create a situation where the average viewer sees the content. We are in a cycle of consumption, and in some aspects, the cycle is becoming short-lived. I don't think it's good at all to have a boom that builds up and then burns down, which can be a factor in the content not lasting long. It will be tough if we do not create a place to compete differently from anime as content. It is advisable for works that are popular now to be distributed simultaneously around the world to repeat generations and reach the next stage of popularity. (...) In order to bring in overseas strength, a leading role is needed. In order for a producer to take on this role, they must transcend the boundaries of the corporate organization. There must be someone who has a "birds-eye view" of the work and is in a position to say to each company, "I think you should do this." I push myself to be a catalyst for this through various discussions. For Japanese content to continue, it is necessary to have someone who can say, "The status quo is not good enough."" So essentially, we're going to see more content. We're going to see more quality control ON said content. Both are being done to respect Toriyama's work, and to actually try to be competitive as opposed to simply relying on the legacy and the baked-in fandom to carry it in the sea of anime and manga franchises out there. He also feels that they shouldn't try to solely rely on adapting things, and create original content as well, while keeping it in line with the spirit of the series as opposed to just chasing whatever's popular. That's the intent, at least. Now we just need to wait and see how this all shakes out.

[hankbot0-9]

Disappointment and frustration

Hellop. Never done something like this before, but here we go. This is going to be basically a large splurge of disappointment and frustration on one, particular person, Vivienne Medrano.

So to start this off, I've known about, and have been a fan, of Viv for a long while, ever since the Hazbin Polit. I've followed her work, been inspired by it, and found great fun with the characters and world.

Without Viv, I would not be a furry (debatable if this is good or bad), I would not have found characters I've found comfort in (Jackson Wells, Zoophobia), or other creators in the indie community. However, for a while now I've been seeing how Viv and her works have greatly fallen from there highs, and how Viv has, really dropped the ball in being professional.

Her tweets and general attitude have given off all the wrong vibes, and show a person who could care less about being professional. From the whole "Cain, I am your bitch" situation, how she handles ANY form of criticism that is even slightly negative, the way she tweets and responds to others etc. It all just compounds on her image, basically holding up a mirror.

Her show (or shows, Hazbis quality is to be debated when it releases), started out, in my opinion, rough yet charming, clearly having passion behind it and a fun time to watch, has degraded to a point of being a bland, misguided and unplanned mess where the main character now feels like a side character to another character who's derailed the premise and show as a whole. Don't get me started on the inconsistent animation quality, cause holy shit.

There is also the leaked, behind the scenes, screenshots stuff that, yes should be looked at skeptically, is slowly, and in some cases basically confirmed, to be true. Largely owing to her on twitter and some behind the scenes stuff that should make you do a double take. I.e. Treatment of female characters, the constant hiring of new employees, etc.

This also ties into how the Fandom treats these characters and situations, and is where a lot of my frustrations come into play. To explain, the Fandom surrounding Viv and her works is one of the most apparent toxic fandoms I have ever seen, all it takes for them to turn on you is a couple of tweets or posts about something you disagree with or being slightly critical of Viv, and they turn on you. The amount of harassment and death threats flung around is concerning to a high degree and Viv, doesn't do anything about it, not even an ask to stop, largely because she encourages it. Sure, it's not a tweet saying to attack someone, but all the likes she gives to her fans on any post talking about what someone said or done that didn't align with the greater fandom opinion, it encourages them because they see it, they see that the person they look up to has liked what they said and so they keep doing it, so they get more likes form her. It's, sad to see really. The Fandom treats these characters above people really, holding them up and parading them around like they can do no wrong, and the same is for Viv.

There's more I could say, but many have already said it before and will continue to say it until, Viv basically fades away, because the way Viv handles herself, the Fandom that surrounds her and much more, wont survive the fact that when Hazbin drops, and is reviewed, and those critical comments and reviews come about it that are even slightly negative, the Fandoms going to get bloodthirsty and destroy any good will left or they would've had with the general public.

Sincerely, Hankbot0-9... tired of, alot.

[steakout-05]

various sketches and doodles ft. craig <3

i haven't posted any drawings in a while so here are some doodles i've done in my sketchbook from yesterday :D

this one is based off that one tweet that says "some people really need a hug, a forehead kiss and a grilled cheese cut diagonally" and it really reminded me of Salesman Barry for some reason so here he is in a hugged, kissed and grilled-cheese-cut-diagonally-enjoying state :) (also that is a little love-heart shaped kiss mark on his forehead but it looks odd because of the angle i was drawing at lol. i should fix it maybe)

i did a couple of doodles of my hc Craig design too and updated his hair a bit to be more defined and less messy :D it kinds looks like some vaguely apple-shaped hairstyle now which i find oddly appealing. someone in the HB discord said that one of the scientists in the new 4th of July JJ2 art looked like Craig wearing a hawaiian shirt so behold.... a man

i should make an actual ref sheet for Craig some time, i need to fully solidify his design so i can draw him consistently lmao. he's fun to draw :)

ahh Dook Larue my beloved <3 he's one of my favourite RAE characters, he's so silly and his voice is absolutely beautiful!! he has an april in his melt :) (also yes that is an Antioch doodle up in the corner) (i should post that later)

convict this man he's DRUNK!!! i have not drawn Peppino in quite a while that my entire way of drawing him changed completely holy moly. this is a reference to that one Neil Cicierega shitpost song from Mouth Dreams called "Aammoorree" and it is literally one of the funniest fucking things i have heard. it's like Everywhere At the End Of Time except you're a horribly drunk italian. bells

(this is just how he lives day to day honestly)

here's a character i haven't drawn in literal years before now! good ol Dan Mandel from Dan Vs. :D i've always known about this show in passing for years from watching those old Fluffle Puff animations, but i never really properly got into it until it suddenly got a resurgence in popularity around 2021, and i, to this day, still think it is so funny how this show managed to air alongside My Little Pony and Littlest Pet Shop. this man almost said whore out loud in one of the episodes and it got through the censors. not even kidding it's from the wedding episode it's so funny. he's such a grimy little man <3

also bonus Peppina doodle. she is so silly

[teeth-cable]

Helluva boss fandom is turn into a cult that is very true. Fandom can be turn into a cult so whenever someone bring up some of the problematic thing that has done by certain individual the fans get defensive instead of holding accountable they infantilized the individual

When somebody bring up about how vivziepop is antisemitic, racist, the fans will always bring she doesn't know. Really giving a bad look it show how they don't care about valid concern and criticism surrounding helluva boss & it's creator

When a fandom grows in popularity and size, there is alway a belief it's now a cult. I don't believe Helluva Boss has hit peak cult status but it's bordering. Out of all the fandoms I've been in, Helluva Boss takes the cake for toxicity because instead of dumb kids being toxic to each other, it's grown ass adults who think it is totally fine to harass each other and children because they had criticism about the show or are against Stotliz.

This is a true story, a popular artist in the fandom @NOT_THE_BEEEES QT a tweet expressing their disappointment at the show for making Stolas, the damsel in the distress for shipping purposes (Stolas being tied up by Striker, this was before the EP aired) and then they RT their tweet with their own version of an evil Stolas and the fandom flipped. Adult fans were angry, spamming harassment towards them, insulting them, and being happy that a 17 year old was getting dogpiled because they criticized the show. Also during this, fans started to believe they straight-washed Stolas because their AU design for evil Stolas wasn't stereotypically gay. Bee had been critiquing the show and Stotliz for a while before then so the majority of the fandom hated them and were waiting for them to slip up, but they never thought to block them.

Same grown ass adults are also very blinded to Vivzie's past and the current valid criticisms around her but you know, damn well if someone else who wasn't Viv had the same controversial past as her and they slipped up, the fans would criticize them.

But to be fair the critical side of the fandom isn't free from this either. Some "critics'" advice is to ignore the show's good traits and the impact it has on indie animation to just stomp and complain how terrible Viv and the show is. People who clearly hate the show get easily work up and can't even write a cohesive critique without exploding from rage and critics forget Viv isn't the only one working on Helluva. Yes, Viv has more power as the directer of the show but they are still other people responsible for the bad writing, Adam and Brandon. Also we should focus more on how Viv's friends are toxic too. We tend to forget Viv's close friends, Sam, Sam Haft, Morgana Ignis etc are all as toxic and insufferable as she is.

[adorawasright]

What are your personal thoughts on the idea of Catra acting/being treated like an animal as a latina-coded character?

Some other SPoP criticals say that this is a terrible stereotype (Idk if they're latina or not, tho), but I'd like to hear your thoughts on this since you're a brown latina yourself

Oh, I agree with them, I think it's terrible mainly because it was not planned out. It doesn't make any sense, either. Catra doesn't have brown skin, she has fur. She doesn't have a latina voice actress when other characters of color, as far as I'm concerned, do. Even Adora has a latina VA, so I don't get why they couldn't get one for Catra if they really wanted her to be a WOC.

While I don't think it was intentional, Catra does allude to some stereotypes against latina women, such as her being abusive, sexualized and, of course, animalized. There's also the fact she needs to be calmed down by her white savior girlfriend.

But honestly, I doubt it was planned from the beginning. Personally, it felt that Nate just wanted to make fans happy so he made Catra a WOC without any supporting material. He said, "she's absolutely a WOC", but literally WHERE? Based on WHAT? Nate also sums Catra up as a literal cat plenty of times, so to me it's pretty distasteful. He should really have thought over it before making it "official".

Again, I don't think this was done in bad faith, but Nate is just painfully white (once he even considered himself latino because... his grandmother was latina?). Even then, at the very least Nate acknowledges it was never confirmed in the show, so he said in the same tweet, "it doesn't feel right to take credit for it." But of course, the fandom uncritically made this canon, because stans will call you racist if you criticize Catra, when in reality they could not care less about the ACTUAL POC of SPOP. (Besides, I've seen fans making "la chancla" jokes with Catra and I don't have to explain why those jokes are awful, right)

Anyway, I think latina Catra should've remained a headcanon. I know some fans of color relate to Catra and I don't want to take that away from them. But some POC, including myself, have the right to be uncomfortable with how latina Catra is handled. She should've just been a cat like she was always meant to be.

[idollandhero]

MMM37 hosted a poll on Twitter that got over 2000 responses; they asked about people who are/were playing Idol Land.

(note this post is translated from Japanese to English using Google translate, you can see the original here)

Only 10% of respondents are still playing the game, where as the majority of respondents either never installed it at all, or have uninstalled since starting.

Likewise, after they removed name changing, I've come across multiple long tweet threads in Japanese or Korean that consist of people complaining about Idol Land. From things like it's buggy and unfinished, to I wish they cancelled the game and just gave us the anime, or they're trying to replace King of Prism with this [DanPri] and it isn't working, and this game goes EOS next July. I don't know if it's just who the algorithm has decided to show me, but from what I'm seeing now some opinions have changed from unhappy but hopeful, to upset and done. One person even called for the company who made the game to go bankrupt.

I'm sure the majority of players don't hold opinions that extreme, and again the Twitter algorithm really really likes showing people posts that are negative because of engagement or something :) but in general only a few months after launch these aren't good things to have being shared around about your new game.

I don't hold opinions that negative about the game, but I have spoken out against its weak points before, and still continue to. I'm not sure what the future holds for Idol Land, but I hope they do something to win back the good will of the PriPara fans. This is a mobile game though, they could just cater to whales and leave it to float for as long as they'd like. We'll see. If anything I don't see EOS before all 12 episodes of the anime premiere (and the tweets I've been seeing share that sentiment.)

[gaystan]

well dear gaystan i have seen maybe 10 episodes total, actually maybe closer to 20. i know about a lot more though i observe.. i listen....! Also i have a mutual who's kinda into the show but not a part of the fandom exactly and he's provided some insight but to be honest, the answer to the million dollar question, to why am i here, is this: once i read a fic on ao3 that really touched me, like made me cry and stare up at the ceiling and genuinely think about my life and about who i am, real catharsis, it was fucked up and beautiful etc and with tears literally still streaming down my face i checked the author's profile and, i never do this i really don't i don't know why i would but this time i checked their bookmarks. and what did i find there. south park rpf. the south park guys having a DIVORCE i was flabbergasted i couldn't conceptualize something like south park rpf before. and i found it through an author i was ready to become a fan, nay, a devotee of. that immediately snapped me out of whatever i was doing previously ngl i laughed so hard.. still find this a wee bit funny. ever since then i've been fascinated with whatever gay tumblr users are doing and have done with south park

that tweet that's like im probably nonbinary but i have a job so idrc about that rn. that's me with south park i'm drawn to it i've always liked controversy and getting to hate parts of the things i love and i like animation for adults in general and at some point i started having a positive attitude towards it but i honestly don't have time for this shit rn i'm busy almost dropping out of college. maybe when i'm more stable i'll be able to take a blow in personal development like "becoming a south park fan". or rather a hostage of south park and/or trey parker as that is the vibe i'm picking up <3

this is SOOOO fascinating love you man continue on your journey namaste. what was the fic

[allthefujoshiunite]

Hi, first of all this is my first ask to you (sorry if it sounds weird, cause I'm nervous while writing this).... I'm your fan (have followed your twitter and tumblr) and really love your reviews and recs, thanks to you I know which BL manga/manhwa to read next and because of you they also become few of my favorite BL manga/manhwa/manhua....

Can i ask, why do you love BL romance better than het romance? What makes them better? I did not mean anything negative, and I know everyone have their own like and dislike but I want to know your thoughts....

Also what do you think that made Asian MLM (BL manga/manhwa/manhua) romances better than western MLM romances?

Before I found your blog, I already love anime and manga but have never tried watching or reading BL, and then I found danmei novel and fell in love with them.....after that, I start reading BL manga and still continue.....Funny thing is, since I was younger I love reading novels (especially romance het western) and suddenly I lost interest....But after found MLM romamce I start love reading again...

Sorry for this long ask and rant of myself, feel free if you want to ignore it....just want to let you know, that most of the BL manga that I read until now are thanks to you.....I can't thank you enough.....Thanks for your hard work on your blog...

Okay, this is going to get long and at times, personal so... idk maybe you'd like to get a cup of hot bevarage of your choice? Buckle up!

First of all, I hope you don't apologize for sending asks in the future because I don't get them often anyway, and respond when I have time. Plus, I find great joy in answering them, and your words have made me incredibly happy. I intend to write a lengthy post about it one day but I write with the hopes that other people read them, my blog is not my personal diary. And over the years, I came to detest the so-called-advice "Just do it for yourself!". 

To be honest, I've been feeling frustrated and lost about my blog & my social media accounts, especially Twitter, for a while now. I love the small circle of mutuals I have and am grateful for them. Because, when you boil it down, I'm not entitled to their time, attention, likes/RTs/RBs, in short, their support. Just because they have been, let's say, liking my tweets at one point doesn't mean they now have an obligation to fulfill. This is the reason why I've never voiced my frustrations on Twitter, the least I'd want is to seem like I'm accusing others of something they aren't obligated to do. Still, it doesn't change the fact that there's been a sharp decline in my engagement there and I feel invisible. Or ignored. But at the same time, my blog post tweets still get 2-3 likes and I can't help but feel I'm ungrateful towards them.

In the end, there's no way of pinpointing what's "wrong". Is it the way I write my posts? Is it the content in them? Is it the Twitter algorithm? According to the view count, my tweets are seen, so am I being ignored now? I have no idea. I've been considering leaving the platform for a while now, the only reason I haven't done so is because the short tweeting format is something I really like and it suits me. But with the way things are, I'll just leave it as an update account as my Tumblr once was. Tl;dr, long asks where people talk about themselves, the questions they have in mind, and what they think about the stuff I write (positive or negative, as long as there's courtesy), that exchange is the reason I write. No need to apologize for doing something that I've been wanting others to do. : )

And if my posts had contributed to helping you find something you enjoy, no matter how small, I couldn't be happier.

As for your questions, I hope you don't mind me answering them in a separate post. Because 1. my answer will be long, and 2. I'd like it to stay as a post itself instead of being buried under my personal social media rant. It'll be better if someone wants to RB it in the future as well.

Once again, thank you so much for sending me this lovely message, it made my night! See you around ~

[mellowgoop]

I hope tumblr is different enough from twitter in that I won't be found and shot if my thoughts on subculture are a little inaccurate here while I am (checks notes) learning and voicing thoughts and feelings from my own life so far

I've been looking at more fashion stuff less in a like "damn I really want to wear these fancy edgy pants I never knew it was ok to wear" and more wanting to know about how subculture is getting dragged out and aestheticized, its not something that I've ever actively read about or studied as a concept but rather something that interests me on a case by case basis (I started doing research wanting to know more about gyaru subculture and having a vague background interest in subculture because of lgbt stuff and anime fandom)

I'm not exactly looking for an answer (I will find one soon) but at this point I think my understanding of subculture is very confused and I like my confusion... I think when I was a kid, I microdosed on belonging (very lonely/ hid in the back of the class in a hoodie with headphones/ called emo even though i was Not brave or gender enough to be enjoying the thrill of 2011 scene culture like some kids were) because in my small town the only people who were visibly "into anime" were my best friends older sister's Gay Friend Group. They were like... The Gay Ones in middle school and super into FMA and Black Butler and stuff so when I got into anime it was this very sneaky thing I had to know a guy to know a guy about, and the medium itself has always done So Much for my gender as a nb person that there was definitely something going on there. I think I was conflating LGBT spaces and anime fan spaces for sure because thats all I knew before my cooler friends got loudly and visibly into shounen in 2015

What really did it though was anime twitter in 2013... I talk a lot about this because it gave me a lot of my sense of humor and worldview honestly. I followed these anonymous accounts who were some radical leftist transfeminine people in their late twenties (I later mathed out) tweeting all day long about anime, games, crazy ass politics and definitely some of my first sights openly gay horsing around... even if there was nothing that actually made anime fandom a subculture at this point (again I have not really read up on this yet, I imagine me wandering in on twitter signaled the death of it if it was ever one) again, the mix of LGBT leftists finding a place nobody would look for them to talk while also getting so passionately into something that was then just a little bit off from mainstream gave me a taste of what it was like to kinda... sneak out the back door and belong someplace else where your other friends who don't super get you don't

These days, I'm actually friends with a pretty relevant hyperpop DJ guy making a living off of that anime aesthetic stuff and its a ton of fun having more people than ever to talk about anime with. I'm also realizing I lived in a huge bubble growing up and for some people anime/manga were already super mainstream by the time I was finding it around 2009. But when people talk about their subculture dying and the meaning going away as gen Z turns the visual indicators as just fashion (I may well be part of this problem, its quite a bit wave) I do feel like I got some budget version of that feeling put in me as the people who joke about kinning and kissing anime girls become less and less emotionally invested in the fact that they even folks to talk to about it.

Not ok to reblog LOL i sound like a half-assed gatekeeper here

[consistantly-changing]

[Image descriptions in order: a twitter thread by @/shockproofbeats "Seamas It Ever Was", starting with the tweet "Got my days wrong and ended up alone in a room with my boss and the President of Ireland while I was on ketamine."

This is said in response to a tweet by @/b3ta "b3ta", which says "We want to hear about your work related fuck-ups. Reply, quote tweet, do your worst."]

[The thread continues as follows: "Right, this was when I was eighteen so don't judge me too harshly. Or if you think drugs are cool and I'm a legend, fill your boots. Anyway, at the time I was working through college in Dublin with bar shifts at [redacted] music venue. One day I get a call on my day off.

"Way the gig worked, you'd either get Fri or Sat off. This week it was Fri, happy days. My manager, let's call her Dympna, pipes up on the phone: "So, when you come in this evening, just a few things to remember". I'm like, hold on Dympz, I'm off this eve, jog on. She corrects me.

"quote "Remember I said you could get all of Saturday off if you just worked 2 hours tonight?" Unquote. And of course THEN, I did suddenly remember, she'd said it to me as I was leaving the building and my conscious work brain was doing somersaults to get out of the place.]

["She could have told me I was to have my foreskin tattooed with a harpoon and I would have given her a smile, thumbs up, and a flurry of yeps to get out of the place. I was eighteen. On minimum wage, and - bear in mind this is really saying something - my absolute minimum effort.

"So, I'm bang to rights and I say quote "yeaaah, of course, sorry just got my days mixed up, I'll be there no problem" unquote, and she says, quote "this evening will be fine, just the head of the [redacted] and some VIPs, few hours then you can take off" unquote.

All good. Except for the one thing.

"At that very moment, I was in a mate's house on Dame St, relaxing with (I thought) nothing to do for the evening.

Now you have to remember that, before dabbing and fortnite, kids used "drugs" to get high and I was, occasionally, adjacent to them.]

["I was a fairly sheltered kid before college, and didn't even drink til I was well into my late teens, never smoked even. I was very green. So too, coincidentally, was the homebrew ketamine that said pal was making IN HIS OVEN when I arrived.

"My pal had gotten it in liquid form and, for some reason, it had been dyed green - he has subsequently told me he thought it was a St Patrick's Day promotion, and I've always thought it a charming entrepreneurial flourish on the part of his enterprising ketamine wholesaler.

"(Ketamine wholesalers are often vets, and the stuff originally for cats. People always say horse tranquiliser, either to make it sound more sordid or more badass, but ketamine is used on many animals, and vets have more use for cat tranqs than horses. Not quite as sexy is it?)]

["Anyway, for want of a better idea, I took him up on his offer of a line of this thick, vaguely slightly clumpy bright green powder, knowing I had nothing else to do for the evening. Felt nothing. Had a tiny further bump 10 mins later. It was at this point that my phone rang.

"FLASHBACK ENDS, WE'RE BACK IN THE ROOM. So I'm definitely sweating after the call, not like instant come-up, more worried ABOUT the come-up. Never done this in my life, I've no idea how it's going to feel. But, absent any other idea, I get my stuff together and head to work.

"On way to work, starts kicking in. You know when the roof of your mouth starts politely folding your brain in half, and your chest flutters like a cathedral filled with bees? I was holding it together but knew if I stopped concentrating for one second, I would become time itself.]

["By the time I reach work (twenty mins later) I am sweating like microwaved bread, eyes on hinges, convinced my fingernails owe me money. I have an overwelming urge to yawn, just to get the memories out WHEN in comes Dympna with the rota for the evening.

"D: Thanks again, know it's short- oh, you look a bit hot and bothered, did you run here ha?"

Me: Hmnnnnnyes, I did - the dids is"

D: OK, just you tonight and the top man, he's showing the President what's going on for the next while"

[one beat] Me: Sorr din you sez de presddyen?"

"D: Yes, Mary McAleese is in to see this season's programme of events.

Me: Hmmnggg

D: All you need to do is stand in the corner and offer them drinks every fifteen minutes. Me: Ahhh yesssshnshh

D: Maybe have a wash beforehand]

["So the gig is this: Mary McAleese (the *original* MMA) was to go round this room upstairs which had upcoming acts for the season illustrated with photographs and programme notes. The director of [redacted] would walk her around and say "fricken great, Madge innit?" or whatever.

"My role is pretty weird, I have to stand in the corner and then every 15 mins, INTERRUPT this live-wire pair to offer them drinks, which protocol dictates they must refuse. I have barely processed any of this before I'm grabbing a tray and heading upstairs.

"The tray, btw, contains a white wine, a red wine, a G&T, a whiskey, a rum and coke and some mineral waters. Always found that mix weird. Imagine the President of Ireland seeing the rum and coke and going "oooooh nice one, ta - now tell me about this Latvian choir again".]

["Right now I can hold it together when stimulated, when the adrenaline and fear is keeping me just ticking over - I'm weird but with it. Problem is, my job is now to stand silent and motionless in a room on my own until the President of Ireland arrives.

"Time passes on my own. Empires crumble and glaciers dissolve, stars die and oceans melt, out on the dusty planes of mother earth, hot bursts of young love gift the miracle of life; children are born, raised, stricken infirm and die of old age.

And then Mary McAleese walks in.

"By now, having been alone with my thoughts for the entire Cretaceous period, I am no longer mildly weird but deeply, extravagantly deranged. As the President of Ireland walks in, with my boss's boss's boss's boss, my first impulse is to greet them like I own the place.]

["It would be rude, surely, to not acknowledge their presence? Out of order even. Best thing to do would obviously be to say "hello guys" like it's my home and I live there, in this big white room, where I stand in the corner, alone, holding a tray of drinks, like you do, at home.

"Me: hello guys

"(All capitals) "HELLO GUYS". Attached is an image of a plastic baby doll, with the head squished vertically.]

["Anyway, by the divine grace of the infant Christ, they somehow do not hear me say this, and begin their itinerary round the room. I clench my entire head and focus on not shouting across the room to let them know that they should always feel at home here in this room of ours.

"I become extremely aware of my hands, and how I haven't felt them in a very long time. They're detuned to static, which would be worrying even if they weren't holding a tray of drinks filled with noise. and judgement. I hold no faith or creed other than "do not drop these plz".

"Just when dropping everything seems to become less urgent, I realise it's time to go over and offer these motherfuckers some fucken drinks, let's get this party started wooooooo]

["I begin walking over to them and I move so abruptly that the glasses clink and they turn to look at me. I did this too fast. Now I'm thinking wooooah slow down there martina hingis, so I self-correct to a much slower speed. Watching my breath, nice and casual, you got this buddy.

"Guys. GUYS. Now, I'm moving far too slow. I started at this speed and I'm to embarassed to change and now it's gonna take me like 5 mins to cross the room. They are watching me, frowning and sweaty, traversing the 5 foot between us like it's a wooden plank on the Crystal Maze.

'I'm moving so slow my legs are cramping. I think they're wondering why it's taking me so long. It's way harder than walking at normal speed. I'm shaking so the drinks are making noise again. For what feels like minutes.

Anyway, I offer them the drinks and they say no.]

["Do this another two times - how long was this presentation anyway, is this what the President does all day? Give her a brochure and a carryout ffs - and they say no. By the end, I've calmed down a bit in physical side (sweating, shaking) but I still feel completely batshit.

"At one point I clearly remember believing that my mind had escaped my body and was watching me hold the tray of drinks from the wallspace behind my head. Only out-of-body experience I've ever had.

At the very end, they do accept a drink. It was at this point she spoke to me.

"Just some inane pleasantries, to which I reply with some off-the-hook pablum about work and college, at which point she says;

Quote "Oh, is that a Northern accent I detect?" Unquote.

Dawgs, you know I'm down for the Nordie solidarity vibe, but this is the last thing I need right now.]

["Quote "Yeeerrrsh" unquote, I say, with a goalkeeper's glove in my mouth. She starts talking about her experience coming down to study here, how it can be a real scenic change, but the making of you if you keep your eyes open to new experiences.

I can tell she definitely means green ketamine.

"She's a lovely woman, and very open and generous with her time, giving me ample space to answer her questions which I mostly do with sheepish, one-or-two-word answers. Finally, she asks me if Dublin is everything I thought it wou-

Me: YES I LIKE IT I THINK IT'S GOOD

"I'd been paying such fierce attention, I'd mis-timed my reply AND badly modulated my volume. She actually recoiled a little. I think the head of the venue actually stepped back and said "jesus!".]

["Mary McAleese flinched for what seemed like half a second, then flashed her best your-mum's-sound-mate smile and replaced her white wine on my tray. The boss man nodded at me, they walked out of the room and I waited a few seconds before making my way downstairs to the kitchen.

"So at this point I'm thinking, wellll, I'm definitely fired but this will one day make a great story on an Nazi-riddled microblogging platform. I make my way to the staff area, wipe my sopping face and check my phone. I had only been in the room for 35 minutes.

"Dympna pads in all smiles, thanking me for my help at short notice. She sees that I'm a bit freaked and says, almost with a wink, quote "you could have told me you'd be like this, by the way" unquote.]

["I'm thinking, of course, Dympna gets what's up, it's the service industry, people mistime their vibes, I bet this isn't the first time she's seen some-

"I had no idea you were such a huge fan of Mary McAleese"

I'm sorry what again was that did you mean

"The boss man had indeed related the events upstairs to Dympna, but rather than a frightened waif hepped up on cat tranqs, he'd seen a political nerd deeply, irretrievably starstruck by contact with the 8th President of the Irish Republic, Mary McAleese.

"Presumably a political nerd with a gland problem, and low-grade artritis in both legs, and a tendency to welcome people into their workspaces, but a political nerd all the same.

Me: Oh, yeah well, you know, it's embarassing. She's, just amazing.]

["And you know what, she kinda is. She was always very nice to me each of the subsequent times we met - me doling out the drinks, her asking me how Dublin was getting on, all the while the other staff eyeing me to see how I was dealing with such close contact with my hero.

"I'd gurn and fret, play up to it when she'd be coming in, "oh what am I like". I'd bat away suggestions I fancied her from the more ribald members of the changing room, and laugh along with the usual jibes, safe in the knowledge my nerdy affect had saved my bacon.

"So take ketamine at work, it's great.

END."]

please read the best twitter story i’ve seen all week

[tinseltownevents]

Post tweets, gif chat starters, open paras/f2f.

Please tag EVERYTHING ttownhw24.

Please @tinseltownevents​ for all gif chat starters and open paras/f2f.

Participation is NOT mandatory.

12 PM - 8 PM: ZOMBIE CRAWL; VENDORS, MUSIC, FOOD 6 PM - 8 PM: ZOMBIE CRAWL; PARADE 8 PM - 11 PM: ZOMIE CRAWL; AFTER PARTY

ZOMBIE 101

In this guide, we'll explain how to look and act like a zombie. No death required!

GETTING INTO CHARACTER

When establishing your zombie persona, you first need to decide just how dead you want to look. Are you a recent victim with fresh bloody wounds, or are you a Thriller style ghoul with shrunken skin and disintegrating clothing that just surfaced from the local cemetery grounds? Plan your wardrobe accordingly. If your skin is falling from your bones, your clothing probably should be, too. And if you just popped up out of the grave after 100 years of subterranean slumber, your fashions should reflect this. Time to hit the thrift stores! (Note: This is still a family event, so please no naked zombies! Wear clothes that you don't care very much about, as they'll probably collect makeup and fake blood stains!)

ZOMBIE MAKEUP: THE BASICS

Once you've established your zombie's post-mortem age (and perhaps a cause of death), and you've assembled some appropriate undead attire, it's time for makeup! There are lots of great videos online that can show you how the pros do it. It all depends on how much time you want to spend applying makeup (and removing it later), and how comfortable you want to feel in your new face. (And don't forget your ears, neck and hands, or any other exposed skin - decay isn't limited to the face.)

ZOMBIE MAKEUP: PEELING SKIN

For peeling skin, first coat all or part of your face with liquid latex, school glue, or cosmetic face peel. Liquid latex makeup can be found online or at any Halloween costume shop. Stock up, as you can never have enough when building up fake wounds. Latex should be brushed or sponged on in multiple thin layers. Thicker layers will take longer to dry and may be harder to work with.

If liquid latex makeup isn't your thing, you still have several other options. Elmer's school glue is non-toxic and can be smeared on your face and will peel and crackle once it dries, but it takes a while to finally dry and won't last as long. My preference is for a tube of facial peel-off mask from the cosmetics department. Better yet, you can try mixing cream makeup with it and get some of your base makeup coloring done in the same step. I generally add some white cream, maybe gray, and blend it together in my hands before applying to my face. Any extra left on your hands can also be rubbed on your neck and ears, or even through your hair. I find that it makes me look more monochrome and lifeless. (Note: I have short hair, so it's easy for me to clean it out later. Not sure about you long-hair types. Also, before applying anything to your face, you may want to test it out beforehand on an unexposed arm or leg to ensure that you aren't allergic.)

To get the crackled appearance of dead, dried out flesh, you can also embed thin strips of toilet/tissue paper in latex and carefully tug at it as it dries. This is also good for creating fake torn skin. School glue or cosmetic facial peel will crackle, peel, and flake on its own as your facial expressions naturally stretch it out. You can accelerate this effect by making very animated faces at those around you. Go ahead - it's fun.

ZOMBIE MAKEUP: ADDING/REMOVING COLOR

Once the base makeup layer is nearly dry, you can start adding in some more color. Start with white cream makeup, (if you didn't already mix it with a facial peel) and add/mix darker colors sparingly. Decaying zombies will probably sport gray-toned skin, and a tiny (and I mean tiny) bit of black creme mixed with white goes a long way. Some companies sell a "zombie gray" that's a good, pre-mixed tone. I've also tried mixing in a dab of blue or green, but you really need to be sparing or you'll end up looking like the Blue Man Group or the Wicked Witch of the West.

ZOMBIE MAKEUP: POWDER YOUR FACE

When I'm done applying cream makeup, I like to dust my entire face with baby powder. CAUTION: Be careful not to inhale baby powder! This gives me a less tacky finish and removes any sheen. You want an "ashen" appearance, after all. Again, I also run it through my hair. On top of the baby powder you can then brush on some dark eye shadow around your eye sockets, under your cheekbones, and along those lines that run from the corners of your nostrils to the corners of the mouth. Blend it in with a dry brush. This will provide the sunken eyes and gaunt facial effect one typically expects to see on a corpse. Shake off excess powder when done.

ZOMBIE MAKEUP: BLOOD SPLATTER

To top things off, dip a small stiff brush in fake blood and gently flick it near you so that you get some blood splatter effects. Wear creepy contacts if you've got 'em.

ZOMBIE BEHAVIOR: HOW TO WALK AND ACT

Although zombie makeup effects are important, the ultimate success or failure of your zombie crawl persona will really depend on your ability to stay in character. "Just great," you're probably thinking, "not only do I have to wear all of this annoying makeup, but now I gotta be an actor, too?" Have no fear! There are no lines to remember, and no strenuous stunts to perform. You're just taking a relaxing stroll down Spring Street…as a zombie.

Zombies are stiff. Rigor mortis has made sure of that. Their muscles and joints don't function very well. They shuffle. They stumble. They crawl.

In the early films, zombies moved slow. They weren't very intelligent. The fast zombies in newer movies are cool too, but let's face it - if you run through the zombie crawl, it's going to be over as soon as it begins, and where's the fun in that? So please, take it slow, make it last, and remember that this is a crawl, not a race.

ZOMBIE BEHAVIOR: TALKING AND TECHNOLOGY

Zombies don't laugh. They don't giggle. Few of them have a reason to smile. They don't chat with their friends, or talk on a cellphone, and they certainly don't have the dexterity to text or take photos.

They may moan and/or drool blood as they move. Maybe they're in pain, or just in a flesh-hungry trance. Some of them might drag a foot or bum leg behind them. They either stare blankly, or quite intensely at a would-be meal. They're the walking dead. They have no hopes, dreams, or ambitions. They just want to eat your flesh. Maybe your brain. They're just zombies. So please do your best to stay in character during the crawl, and enjoy the spectacle!

SELFIE ZONE

Once the parade begins, watch for signs for the designated Selfie Zone! This is your chance to cut loose, act silly, get your giggles out, break character, and take some selfies before we return to the mindless, evil, unified shuffling horde.

[pumpkin-spike18]

✨Weekly Progress #51-52✨ +Happy New Year 2024✨

I've been thinking about the past year for the last few days and struggled with how to talk about it.

But, let's start with the weekly progress reports, before I miss the ability to do it for 2023.

Weekly Progress #51

Linearted 4 SYVNH BGs

Answered more BWOBK edit comments

Yes, it's the same image as last time since... the 4 linearts were done by the time I posted the last update.

Weekly Progress #52

Scripted BWOBK S1-S3

Submitted the demo for The Beauty Which Only Beast Knows to Winter VN Jam and Once Upon a Time VN Jam

The demo is now available for download here!

...Oh my god, I forgot I start my weeks on Mondays. My brain got really confused for the twitter version of this update 😅

I'll be making a separate post for it tomorrow (or Akua would), but BWOBK is finally out! ...Well, the demo for it anyways. The last week has been a blur of editing, scripting, and final playtesting. I was working quite frantically so I didn't record all of my tasks for the past week.

...Which, to be fair, didn't amount to much other than working on BWOBK. Our team wanted to accomplish a lot for this jam, but as the final week approached, we knew we had to cut back a bit if we wanted to submit anything to the two jams so we discussed and agreed to submit a demo.

Please look forward to a full release in January 2024!

Looking Back at 2023 ⏳

Visual Novel Development

Last year I made this tweet to celebrate what I accomplished in 2022.

A total of 5 VNs was an amazing feat I didn't think I'd accomplish. I was prepared to never beat this record again. Yet, lo and behold...

This year, I submitted nine projects.

1 Updated Demo:

I counted this as a submission since my update was about 50k new words, all new BGs, and like 14 CGs (I forgot the exact number). Sadly, I couldn't make it to the finish line of a full game. That'll be 2024!

4 Solo Projects:

These are four short visual novels I did for a variety of jams (three of them were for about week long game jams). They're all playable in browser and shouldn't take longer than 20 minutes each to play.

one last time. is a standalone entry.

kill your feelings., spirit killing curse, and Exorcist Killing Lie are separate stories set in the same world of ghosts, unreliable gods, and exorcists. I've been calling it the Kill Series and I hope to work on it more in 2024.

4 Team Projects:

I participated in another four visual novel projects this year! Two of which were demos, and one even won second place in the Spooktober Visual Novel Game Jam!! That was a real surprise! Although everyone in the team worked super hard, I don't think any of us expected it. So it was really a great and amazing surprise that had all of us shocked with happiness!

The Beauty Which Only Beast Knows is a demo I'm the main writer for. I also wrote one of the routes for The Final Prize is Soup, which is the second place Spooktober 2023 winner!

I provided the art for For the First Time.

And I did the programming for Saintess Alasdair is Dead.

All of these visual novels (plus more from previous years!) can be found free to play on my itch profile!

I think, next year, I won't be able to beat this record 😂 In fact, I hope I don't... As happy as I am to have performed such a feat, it was very exhausting and took a lot of energy out of me. I just hope to finish my ongoing projects in 2024.

Other Creative Goals

Here is another tweet from early 2023:

I wasn't able to spend a lot more time animating, and it's hard to gauge improvement on my own, but...

I did it! I completed 24 illustrations!

This has been a mix of OC art, fanart, a couple gifts, and a couple commissions. Hopefully, next year I'll be able to not "cheat" by adding commissions to the mix... 😂 I'm very proud of my commission works, but I did say it was supposed to be personal art.

I actually spend the last three months drawing 10 of the illustrations. To be exact, I drew 14/24 drawings in the second half of 2023... This was alongside working on a variety of CGs and BGs for games, a couple fancomics, and some design work that didn't feel quite "illustration" worthy.

Other

As a number of you might have noticed, or if you're one of my closer friends in devtalk... I quit my job!! Which, may sound like a bad thing, but I'm actually quite relieved. I finally freed myself from something that felt like it had been chaining me down for years.

I did it with no plans, just enough savings for a short while. Hopefully, this will be the wake up call I need to improve my life and find a job I enjoy. I took a few months off so I'm ready and back for the job hunt in 2024! (...So in about an hour from me writing this, haha)

Speaking of the job hunt... I also started accepting commissions on vgen! I don't know if I want to pursue a creative career, but it isn't out of the question.

If you're interested, I'll be opening for a week or so in 2024 before I close to work on projects again until June or something. (wink wonk 😉😉)

Finally, I'm really happy to have joined the Ace Attorney fandom this year. I started replaying the games around September and searched for a fandom discord on a whim. I've met some really great writers and artists since! Everyday getting to talk about gay lawyers have been great and reminded me of an almost lost fun from my childhood.

So if any of you from there see this post, hello! Thank you for giving me such a warm welcome! I really enjoy spending time with you all!

And someday, I WILL kidnap you guys into making a visual novel with me.

I participated in my first online fan event thanks to everyone there and it was a lot of fun. I hope to do more with everyone soon!

Well, that's all! If you made it all the way down here, thank you for reading! 2023 has been an interesting ride and I look forward to 2024.

It's currently 11:12PM for me here (I made it, I finished writing before midnight!) but, this is probably as close as I can get before getting distracted by a video or other work so...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!