#This is like the third time ive posted this link sorry

[dtwof]

Every weekend I am here trying to do my horrible evil dissertation

[lucyfrankenstein]

dont talk to me about this song

[iloveb1ur]

Colin didnt deserve Penelope

i didnt believe that colin deserved penelope or even properly liked her for who she is as a person but instead liked the valedation he got from her.

i know this is contreversial but hear me out ,

colin's whole character arc is based around the fact that he for one isnt taken seriously by his family and second that he doesnt know who he is. he's the third son in a rich family and doesnt really stand out in any way.

so penelope who always since their first meeting has looked at colin like he hung the moon and always cared for him greatly is always going to appeal to him because she makes him feel important and valued.

i also was not convinced that colin wasnt just sexually attracted to Pen, like the proposal in the carriage scene when he fingered her was not romantic at all.

listen, its probably different in the book but i felt that the showrunner and screenwriters didnt believe in polin's romance enough so filled the story with 94 other sideplots. this is a shame because there is so much potential with polin and they just fumbled the bag MASSIVELY.

childhood best friends to lovers is literally my favourite trope for so many reasons - i just fw the slowburn for like 16yrs lol. but WE DIDNT SEE THE RELATIONSHIP ENOUGH it was so rushed. WE DIDNT EVEN SEE THE FIRST TIME PEN AND COLIN MEET WHAT A FLOP, they had a scene where they talked about it WHAT HAPPENED TO SHOW NOT TELL GUYS.

and i get we need the whistledown reveal but i genuinely believe that people dont watch bridgerton for drama and suspense but for good romance, period drama vibes and hot men and women.

i just didnt believe in the romance guys im sorry and this obviously has nothing to do with luke and nicola i love them both dearly but both me and my friend rose were left feeling indifferent by season 3's main couple.

but i promise there was a lot i did love about bridgerton s3 like francesca and john, eloise and cressida and the bridgerton family together as a whole!

anyways, if you like me are a massive bridgerton fan you are definitely going to love the podcast episode me and my friend rose recorded talking all things bridgerton s3! we deepdive and expand on what ive talked about here in regards to pen and colin's romance, why we love francesca and john and talk on ALL the side plots. its basically an hour of us unpacking all things bridgerton s3 and theres certainly a lot to like!

the link is at the top of this post and the episode is also available on spotify, apple podcasts and amazon podcasts on the confession club podcast where we talk a lot about our fave romance media!!

i hope you enjoy and thanks for reading :)

[outnumberedsins]

what is a side system vs sub system vs layer? ive heard multiple definitions of subsystem and im confused (I'm sorry if this sends multiple times my wifi is bad)

No problem! All of these terms are very similar and rely heavily on inner structure. I hope this helps:

'Subsystem' can mean multiple things. The first meaning refers to groups of alters that are somehow linked together and separate from other alters somehow. This could be a group of alters very similar to one another, ones with better communication between one another, or separate in other ways. Subsystems may reside in specific areas of the innerworld or have a separate inner world themselves.

The second definition refers to 'alter-in-alter' subsystems. Think of it like a russian nesting doll - an alter has their own alters. These subsystems may have their own innerworlds and struggle with communicating with those in the main system when fronting.

The third definition is an overarching term for any groupings of alters, including layers and sidesystems. Basically, it's a catch-all term. This definition is the most common within clinical literature, so when reading them, it might be confusing.

Here's an attempt at a visual representation:

The larger subsystem has good communication with the rest of the system and resides in its own area of the innerworld. These parts could have all split to deal with the same specific trauma and are considered a subsystem because they sort of stick together.

The smaller subsystem is a possible example of an alter-in-alter subsystem. The part that's inside the main system may be the "host alter" for that subsystem. Their innerworld is disconnected from the main one and may have communication difficulties.

'Sidesystem' can refer to a programming-specific phenomenon where programmers specifically create programmed parts somewhere completely separate from the main system. I'm using this definition because it's what I was referring to in my previous post, and I don't feel like debating if non-programmed systems can have structures that are similar. In literature, this is seen referred to as 'Left' and 'Right' sides of systems, but they don't necessarily have to be right next to each other. Despite the name, they don't have to be left/right, that's just how some people describe them.

Sidesystems typically have their own innerworld and are used by programmers to keep programmed parts hidden and separate from the main system or those that deal with day to day life. Sidesystems themselves can be layers. There may be one or two higher ups that can travel between sidesystems.

A notable difference between sidesystems and other groupings of alters is the amnesia level. Amnesia barriers between sidesystem alters and non sidesystem alters are huge. While there can be amnesia between other groups, the whole point of sidesystems is to create a completely separate "system," and thus, very heavy amnesia is present.

An attempt at a visual representation:

Sidesystems have no connection with the main system. This can be changed through integration of course, but as a base, they are completely seperate. Ideally, none but a couple alters will know about each other.

'Layers' refers to groups of alters that are separate from the main system, often "stacked" on top of one another. Despite the name, they don't have to be stacked. That's just how some people describe them. Layers are very common within polyfragmented systems, especially programmed systems. Layers often have their own themed innerworld, for example, a city or forest. Alters are typically separated by purpose or other split patterns and may have communication difficulties with other layers. In programming, layers are often seen within sidesystems or are sidesystems themselves. There may be some connection between layers.

An attempt at a visual representation:

In this, there are three layers stacked on each other. The main system has a connection to the layer below them and may be able to communicate more easily. The layer above, however, has no connection, and it may require a higher up part to communicate with them.

As you can see, all of these terms are very similar and can overlap with one another, and all can exist within the same system. At the end of the day, use what you are most comfortable with. Do you just want to call everything a subsystem? That's fine. If you like the specification? That's also fine.

For example, one person says "I kind of visualise it as descending 'containers' of alters. Like it goes, 'sidesystem -> has multiple layers -> has multiple subsystems.' but I know that that isn't everyone's experience."

Another says, "I can't be assed to specify what kind of group it is. I call everything a subsystem. It works for me."

All in all, I hope this helped. Let me know if you have any other questions, and I'll do my best to answer them.

[waarmsalad]

james x reader friends to lovers? james and reader are on vacation at the beach and on the boardwalk there’s fireworks, so jame decides to confess his feelings for her underneath them???

IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK FOREVER MAN😭

(Third attempt was in fact the charm)

Anyways, this is just a fluffy little thing that probably isnt the best but only the third fic ive posted on here so i hope you guys dont think this is dogshit🤷‍♀️

Wooden planks creaked beneath your feet with each step, another pair of legs producing the same sound beside you on the boardwalk. With your best friend, James Hetfeild, you had driven down from the hotel you were staying at. The two of you were on a little group vacation with a few other mutual friends, a time to get away from repeated cycles of work and stress.

His arm was linked with yours, a silent reminder of your connection as you strided alongside the man. He guided you down the boardwalk stairs, carefully as you looked up at the starry night sky.

This was your time with James, it was his goal to take you to see fireworks every year for your country's celebration, a special tradition between you and him. Conveniently this was the date that celebrating not only the 'birthday' of the land you walked on but also the day that you two had met.

"Makes it a shit ton easier to remember," James would always tell you.

All around the beach were whipsers and light chatting about the awaited fireworks that you came downtown to see in the first place. Luckily, underneath the boardwalk was a lot less crowded than above, only a few other couples or families sat in lawn chairs on the beach.

You seeked a spot to sit or stand with james, two wooden beams shaped into a v, meeting at the bottom came into view soon enough. The planks that stretched out inbetween served as some sort of bench. You pointed them out to james, dragging him over once he nodded at your choice.

The look in his eyes when he did so was the same look he had given you when you were driving, as well as this morning when you picked him up. The glint expressed happiness, of course, but also sometjing you couldnt quite place. It was farmiliar, but it wasnt quite recognizable.

Pushing any thoughts you had aside, you dragged him over to the spot you had picked out, hopping onto the plank inbetween beams as soon as you came close enough. James rested his back up against the beam, eyes flickering to the sky, deciding to look back to you after the lack of excitement.

Yes of course the stars alone were gorgeous, but he had something else on his mind. He had been nervous all day, but was careful enough not to let it show. He figured that tonight would be perfect to convey his feelings to you, one perk of many being easy to remember the date if you didnt turn him down. Apart from your future input he felt like he was set for the traditions and possible anniversaries to  come.

James, though bouncing back with more confidence each time you smiled at him, couldnt help but shrink every time he thought of the possible alternate version of the of the confession, ending up haywire, which could ruin your entire night, let alone your current relationship. That alone would be a kick in the teeth for him.

As his eyes scanned over your hyped features, he decided to breathe and let out any existing stress. You were looking up at the sky with excitement, smiling at people just arriving and getting settled.

You saw the freed look on his face, the deep thoughts slowly dissipating as you called out his name softly.

"James! Something up?" You asked. He simply nodded, wanting to avoid fumbling or stuttering by not talking at all.

It was strange, because even though he was a bit on the shyer side, he never ceased to speak up with you.

"Are you sure? Seems like somethings up, I dont wanna pry, but-" you spoke before be started overtop of you "I'm alright, I'll tell you about it later yeah?"

You nodded, opting to leave him be. The silence after that was not entirely sufferable to say the least.

He was a tad guilty, had he given you a bit of attitude and all. He knew you liked things to be perfect, even though you had your own definition, nothing ever panned out that way anyways.

Pushing down his worries, he inhales and parts his mouth to speak, but before he could utter a single word, you were pointing at the sky, seeing the beginning of a firework shoot into the sky from the distance. Loud crackles echoed over the water only miliseconds after the firework split and divided, the colours casting a different brightness over the city.

James sighed, believing that he had missed his moment. After some more fireworks started building up in the sky, their colours fading downward, you proved him wrong. "Sorry, were you about to say something just now?" You apologised, tilting your head while allowing him to elaborate about what he was going to tell you about.

"Um, yeah..." he nodded, feeling a tad anxious once again. James couldn't help it. He just really didn't want to screw this up. You hopped off of the bench-like plank and sat on the ground.

"C'mere."

You patted the dense sand beside you, gesturing him over, and as soon as he sat down he felt more grounded, sighing through his nose.

"Are you okay? I didnt want to bug you but you've been a little off today" you told him. You werent pushy about it, and the sincereness in your eyes made james smile, remembering the exact reason he had so desperately wanted to do this.

"Yeah im fine," he brushed off, moving his hand to pat down a stray hair of yours. "I just wanted to make this perfect" he sighed, bringing you into an embrace by wrapping his burly arm around your shoulders.  For a moment he fixed his eyes upon the variety of explosive colours emitting from the sky.

"Make what perfect?" You grinned, though puzzled at his statement. The glimmer in his eyes when he turned back to you held a deep meaning a very similar look to the ones he'd been hinting to you before. This time, more open, less worried, as if finally uncovering the full story of the secret hed been carrying. Which is exactly what was about to happen.

"I love you..." he said.

Those three words had been said many times through your freindship, but jis words werent accompanied by a teasing tone, and it was just now that you realized that all the times he had said it before werent neccesarily platonic either. This time he said it like he meant it, and he did.

The sound of the fireworks and cheering were cancelled out as your breath caught in your throat. You had been too much of a wimp to admit the feelings of your own to him before, suppressing them as an alternative.

"Really..?" You asked, not sure what else to think or say. You just reached out to touch his face. It was a small act, but that alone was enough to block any of James's doubts.

"Yeah of course I love you" he said again, placing a gentle kiss on your forehead. The second he pulled away, his eyes migrated to your lips. It was something he'd wanted to do since he met you. "What're ya' looking at?" You said, clocking him, wrapping her arms around his neck in a sly attempt.

He paused, letting his silly little giggle tumble from his lips. "Your pretty face," he said. The smile on your face only grew wider. You thought for a moment before kissing him. It was unexpected, being only moments after the confession, but he wasnt complaining,ba hum of approval gracing through him.

To you it seemed absolutely perfect, you werent sure quite what he was worrying about. The fireworks shot high and burst, mimicking the way your entire body felt at the moment. The kiss drawled on, and the people cheering for the fireworks made both you and James feel like the center of the world, as if this was their moment.

[evelili]

I just finished your Magnum Opus, and it was super great. I especially loved the Pinkie chapter (which surprised me because she’s my least favorite character!). Anyway, do you have any mlp fic recommendations?

oh boy do i have a list for you, strap in!

if you read my magnum opus writeup, you may have seen i mentioned three authors that dragged me back into mlp. if you're interested in sciset (and what's probably the most popular eqg fic on the entire site), Long Road to Friendship by Albi is a longfic that started after the first eqg movie and is a rlly lighthearted read. i don't normally care for OCs but gosh if i dont accept Albi's version of trixie's parents as canon in my heart haha. if you're interested in pony adventure fic, i also rlly liked Sunset of Time, another rlly well done longfic ive carried in my brain since i first read it xd

the second author, Monochromatic, aka the raritwi authority aka someone who has a GREAT taste in editors, has written three of the most formative longfic ive ever read: The Enchanted Library, its sequel The Enchanted Kingdom, and Crimson Lips which i unfortunately can no longer link since she's taken it down, but i believe you can still buy physically through PFP if you wanted to take a gamble on it (it would be a very good gamble). apart from her longfic though i also adore some of her shorter works, including but not limited to The Choices We Make, a really interesting Pinkie study that's definitely shaped how i view her, Your Own Worst Enemy, which is just. peak rarity content, and Injuring Eternity, which while being one of her older works still has certain passages that wreck me emotionally on sight.

and the third author responsible for my magnum opus is the one and only Aragon, who i can not only recommend for his fics but ALSO for his blog posts and comics (see the comic index on his profile for links to all of them, as well as this amazing blogpost about his neighbour that is just peak comedy). he's also the writer responsible for the banger longfic Crime and Funishment which absolutely defined my writing aspirations for a few years and is the definition of comedy if you looked it up in my heart, as well as In Hindsight, yet another banger rarity fic, and Love Is In Doom which is just bloody, silly, stupid fun (and has sunset shimmer in it)

and then if we want to talk fics i love written by other authors, Sleepless Knights by r5h has my favourite brand of scitwi written right into the margins, Administrative Angel by horizon has one of the most amazing endings to an opening chapter ive ever read AND an amazing celestia, The Best Night Ever by Capn_Chryssalid is a fandom classic with a groundhog day twist on the gala episode from s1, Side by Side by Krickis is a feel-good rarijack oneshot w a focus on lgbt (specifically trans) themes, Wax Earplugs by Reedhoarse has a dysfunctional mess of an adagio dazzle that i adore, Merge Request by FanOfMostEverything has all the scitwi/midnight shenanigans you could ask for wrapped up in the relatable content of github hell, Guppy Love by PaulAsaran is a rarijack longfic with an incredibly realistic setting and an interpretation of mermaids that i love so much, Doused Flame by heartlessons has me handshaking on the "sopping wet pathetic relatable guy" flash sentry interpretation that won me over recently, 80 Days 'Til the World's Farthest Shore by Cynewulf feels like reading a professionally published short story (and i mean that in the best of ways, it's enthralling), and finally if you'll allow me to be self-centred a bit i also am very proud of my two oneshots Heartstrings and Something About Midnights if you wanted to check em out too xd

oops long post!! im not sorry for it, i hope you can find something in here that catches your fancy (or even all of it haha), there's soooo many incredible fics in the fandom it floors me every day that i can read all these incredible works for free!!!

[desire-mona]

dead poets society chars but i assign them random things ive seen happen on the internet / random videos or posts i remember (not based on anything it is genuinely at random):

neil - tony crynight's fnaf animation series which i dont entirely remember the plot of but i'll try to describe. so basically its fake mangle lore to say that mangle is the way they are (all broken and shit) because Mangle kissed Foxy and Chica got jealous so she took a Machete to Mangle to Mangled them. and then the gang tries to save mangle or whatever

todd - fluffle puff, someones pink fluffy mlp oc who was in lesbians with chrysalis (i think thats her name, i never watched mlp). mosy notably known for the animation to pink fluffy unicorns dancing on rainbows. also the creator is a pedophile i think

charlie - sorrow tv and his entire existence. sorrow tv was a youtuber who made videos reading out reddit videos in silly voices. there was a whole posse of youtubers who did this, and he was the most popular just bc his voice acting was rly good. i still watch him every couple months even tho he hasnt posted since 2021.

cameron - does bruno mars is gay? i think about cameron man door hand hook car door every day, so i obviously need to point to my third favourite silly trying to be serious sentence. most ppl know this from game grumps but im not linking a game grumps video on here. rumour come out!

knox - venturiantale, the youtube channel usually consisting of 4? siblings playing gmod together usually. the channel itself was ran by this guy named jordan i think? and his siblings has their own channels. i knew them best for their fnaf gmod videos and their fanmail videos. turns out they were all very christian? and the whole family was abusive and way deep into said christianity if i remember correctly, one of the siblings who left first made a video on it. the venturiantale channel hasnt posted in like 2 yrs and the slow death was kinda sad to see bc he (jordan) blamed it all on The Algorithm.

meeks - that one nagito komaeda kinnie back in Whenever it was cutting off their finger to. i guess prove that they were a nagito kinnie frfr? if u dont know danganronpa lore then nagito gets his hand cut off and replaced with junko enoshima's hand because sheeeee got... executed? i wont lie i dont remember this part of the games story sorry. but essentially that one person was like I Gotta Do That........ anyway im jk the audio was faked and nothing actually happened + the person is fine LAWL

pitts - the key of awesome's parody of tiktok by kesha called glitter puke. theres no lore to this the key of awesome is / was ? a silly little song parody channel. this video was made in 2010 and it kinda shows in some moments but other than that it holds up. just checked and the key of awesome is Not still going, it ended 6 years ago and the last video was actually rly good and genuine

keating - onma island is buried a treasure chest. ok so basically mr beast made a video talking abt a private island and he buried. a treasure chest for a viewer to find. during the video he said "on my island is buried a treasure chest" but it sounded like "onma" which this one youtuber (pinely) found rly funny. it became an inside joke with his friends (one of whom got a tattoo) which then became a lowkey meme. mr beast even tweeted it so. good lord thats a lot of links sorry there isnt a know your meme page or anything

chris - i dont have any links for this one sorry, im just gonna tell the story and u have to believe me when i say i swear it happened (its very a believable fandom story im sure you will). so back when the genshin impact was still in its fairly early days (late 2020-early 2021) the phrase "hear me out" to refer to characters n stuff started becoming popular I THINK at the same time. so people in the genshin fandom were like hear me out with increasingly more heinous shit. started with characters, then npcs, then enemies, then bosses, then weapons, the stamina bar at one point, etc. a lot of these were jokes or straight up bait but back then (maybe now too - i havent been part of the genshin fandom for a LONG time) people took bait far more often than they didnt. so it became a "genshin fandom bad" gotcha to point out That One stamina bar post.

ginny - $300 junko enoshima wig! sorry for double dipping with danganronpa it was just the first fandom i actually started like. on purpose noting fandom happenings with + a lot of shit happens in that fandom. this one cosplayer who at the time was called snowthesaltqueen / badguyincorporated started selling pre-made (and styled) junko enoshima cosplay wigs for $300. which WOULD be fair (i think? idk how cosplay commissions work) if said wig was styled well or quality at all, but what was ACTUALLY provided was a rly basic wig base and few clips with no note or no nothing, and rly flat. like on purpose. like that was "the styling". also you may recognise this cosplayer for 1) getting in trouble when they did a cosplay photoshoot (danganronpa cosplay funnily enough) in a graveyard, posing ON a gravestone. 2) KILLING SOMEONE. they were screwing around with a firearm and fake pointing it at someone and then they accidentally shot them.

i could do this forever like actually. i have SO many internet stories in my brain its actually bad.

[1moreff-creator]

Happy Birthday Arei Naegishi!

I am so bad at remembering birthdays I almost missed this one. But it's still the third in my time zone, so I'm still gonna do it! Arei's our birthday girl, and the best character ever (<- her opinion) gets a birthday post too! Spoilers below the cut as always.

-Arei's backstory was revealed in CH 2 EP 5. She was bullied heavily by her sisters, Fuyuko and Natsuko, and we see an example of them doing so by forcefully cutting part of the right side of her hair. You can even see, to this day, she seems to have more hair on her left than on her right. She also mentions "If [she] had to go to the hospital once or twice, then it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience for [her sisters]." Which, uh, huh. That's... quite awful. The point is that Arei hated her life back then, and rightfully hated her sisters as well.

-Despite that, it seems Arei tried to be kind for the longest time. She's far from an innately cruel person, but eventually, she felt the only way out was turning the table on her sisters and starting to bully them. Her secret is "Blackmailing, rumors, lying, stealing, slander. You did everything you could to ruin your sisters' lives" and she confessed that she framed them for everything she could to get them unlawfully sent to reform school. This included planting things in their bags and lying to authorities, as well as driving her mother's car into a ditch and blaming it on her sister drunk driving. Okay so bullying is maybe an understatement but the idea stands.

-And it worked! She managed to get them sent to reform school, and her life improved drastically. Morally dubious queen shit, etc. However, this made her develop a harmful ideology that being kind is a weakness and will get you treated badly. Which is why she acts unnecesarily mean during the killing game.

-However, deep down, Arei is still nice. She doesn't really like doing the things she does, she just feels they're necessary for her to survive. Even right before her secret reveal, she was trying to justify her actions to herself, saying it's normal for people to be like her:

Arei (laughing nervously): You [David] do want to hear my secret after all. As I guessed, everyone has that burning curiosity inside of them to hear bad things about other people. It's not just me.

-Which is why Eden's existence led her to a breakdown. Because Eden is nice and kind and is exactly the type of person Arei thinks would be destroyed in """the real world.""" And yet, Eden keeps going, she's still nice. Eden is what Arei wishes she could have been, she sees her past Arei in current Eden. Which is why she bullied her originally; to "teach her how the world works." Because Arei doesn't want to do real harm, so it's better if she does it than someone else later down the line.

-That doesn't go well. She breaks down in front of David, who comforts her quite successfully... so much so that she seems to forget she wanted to talk to David about his secret oops.

-This is what leads to her apologizing to Eden and promising to be her friend and a better person... and then she died. Well, under the most common interpretation.

-Her birthday lands on November 3rd, just three days after Ace's. This coincides with:

+Fountain Pen Day (Min reference?)

+National Sandwich Day.

+National Homemaker Day.

+Jellyfish Day. (?)

+Give Someone a Dollar Day (??)

+Love Your Lawyer Day (???????)

Among other things. I still have no idea where these come from.

-The roman numeral assigned to her in the LGI MV is IV (4), a number associated with death because yeeeeaaaah... This is: "right now, why do you cry?"

Ignoring the intentional mistranslation, this is probably just referencing Arei's breakdown in the playground.

-Color Theory (I'm sorry but I'm done linking that post) assigns her... well, I believe dark blue, so I'm going with that. This is cry, big and the Mandarin laugh (哈哈哈) in the rain scene.

(The good thing about having done this fucking video is that I have all the damn screenshots you could ever ask for in relation to it)

"Cry" for the same reasoning as her numeral. "Big" in this context is "proud", which fits. And the laugh is long to explain, but basically it's the "applause crew" (Cheery David, Xander, Hu, Arei) overwhelming David. Watch that part of the video for a better explanation.

-Arei had an FTE with J, which she starts off by tickling her, later claiming she would, uhm.

Arei: I'll tie you down and force you to wear maid dresses and bunny suits until you change your mind! [About acting girly]

Arei what. This screenshot feels like it should be fake what do you mean it's canon. It's great, don't get me wrong, it just feels extremely outta pocket. Listen, I (aro/ace) don't feel qualified to unpack whatever the fuck is going on here, I'm just gonna leave this to the shippers.

-What I will unpack is the other stuff in the FTE related to Arei. Which is-

Arei: C'mere! I'll tickle you until you laugh so hard that your heart stops! Then I'll defibrillate you and tickle you some more! Tickle tickle tickle!

I said the OTHER stuff

-Mainly, that she feels like being the favorite child would be great (you can figure out why yourself I imagine), and she likes acting girly.

-We also learn she categorizes people based on how she likes to bully them. "Cool and suave wannabe boys" like J (as in, she acts like a boy who tries and fails to be cool and suave), "spineless pushovers" like Levi (she "uses as maids"), "adorably sweet people" like Eden (she """likes""" to make them cry), and the people who don't like her, which would presumably include her sisters, as she says she likes to destroy these people's lives. Foreshadowing!

Fun facts!

-She likes gossip and dislikes being ignored.

-Her subtitle quote in the cast page is "If I tell you a secret, will you promise to keep it?" Which is insane foreshadowing given the chapter she (allegedly) died in.

-Her secret quote is "Because that’s what friends do", which she said to Eden in the trial flashback. The quote associated to her in Mai's page is "She doesn’t like it when her friends fight." Friendship is evidently something of a running theme.

-She likes "cute" food (?), her favorite color is azure (because she's blue), her favorite ice cream flavor is birthday cake flavor (oh, fitting!). Her least favorite color is green because it "looks like puke", which... I wonder if it has something to do with being bullied by her sisters given the apparent hospital visits.

-Her name in Kanji is written 投石【なげ ・ いし】亜鈴【あ ・ れい】. Cool! Don't know what any of that means.

-Like most of the cast, her hair color is natural and she's American.

-She's ambidextrous! The only ambidextrous person in the cast, in fact, and the only one apart from Teruko to not be a righty.

Finally songs!

+Candle Queen by Ghost & Pals (literally her song, don't @ me)

+Those Who Carried On by Ghost & Pals (it's sorta a similar attitude to how she felt about Eden, do you see my vision?)

+SCAPEG∞AT by Ghost & Pals (I will make you all listen to Ghost & Pals!)

+Perfectly Sweet by Vane Lily

+Karma by CreepP

+Bad B!tch Magic by HalaCG + others

+i DO what i WANT by KIRA

+Aishite by Kikuo

+It's Not My Fault by DECO*27 (listen Milgram had to bleed into these eventually)

+Teen Idle by Marina and the Diamonds (again I think it works)

+Pyrite Girl by RIProducer / RIP (I think it works kinda at least)

And Happy Birthday! Hope you enjoy some birthday cake ice cream, girl! Go do it!

[blazehedgehog]

2024 in Movies: First Quarter

So around this time last year I made a post about how I'd started attending a group movie night my friends do. I usually only attended around Halloween, but they started streaming movies as a group year-round, every Monday and Tuesday, and after a few months, I started setting a reminder so I could participate. It's kind of complicated and involves installing special browser scripts and may not entirely be above board, but it's only for like five people, so whatever.

Last year I listed out all the movies I'd watched. People do "challenges" to ingest 52 pieces of media a year. One a week. So they'll do 52 books, or 52 movies, etc. I think after six months of attending my group movie night, I was up to around 60 or 70 movies.

But that was 2023. It's 2024. I attended most movie nights, on top of this putting me in the mood to watch more movies on my own time. This year? 153 movies. Three times what's supposed to be a challenge for some people! Here's what I watched this year.

Unfortunately, Tumblr absolutely refuses to let me post the entire thing in full. I assume it's because it's a giant list of 153 links. It doesn't actually tell me what the problem is, it just gives me a vague "Sorry, there was an error saving your post." So we'll have to break it up by quarters:

📆 January 2024 Merry Little Batman ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 Ralph Bakshi's Wizards ⭐⭐⭐ Belle ⭐⭐⭐1/2 Lupin the Third: Castle of Cagliostro ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking ⭐⭐⭐ Coneheads ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 Child's Play ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Land Before Time ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fantastic Planet ⭐⭐⭐ Fantastic Mr. Fox ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mad Monster Party? ⭐⭐ Frankenweenie (2012) ⭐⭐ 1/2 Planes, Trains and Automobiles ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Paddington ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Paddington 2 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Looney Tunes: Back in Action ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Justice League: Warworld ⭐

📆 February 2024 Ginger Snaps ⭐⭐⭐ Gremlins 2: The New Batch ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ From a Whisper to a Scream ⭐ 1/2 Wonka ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 The Stepfather ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 Stepfather 2 ⭐⭐ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ⭐⭐ 1/2 Puppet Master 4 ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 Nimona ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 Puppet Master 5 ⭐⭐ Spooky House ⭐ Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III ⭐ Joy Ride ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

📆 March 2024 Star Trek: The Motion Picture ⭐⭐⭐⭐ James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Human Tornado ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2 The Lighthouse ⭐⭐⭐ Star Trek III: The Search for Spock ⭐⭐⭐ Dolemite is My Name ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Dune (1984) ⭐⭐

[micamicster]

tell me how you'd adapt the book you're most itching to talk about at this moment!

ok so for this one im going to talk about rivers of london, a book series that is theoretically going to actually GET a tv adaptation (ben aaronovitch i am FREE i have THOUGHTS you can hear those thoughts at micamicster dot tumblr dot com).

I have a LOT of thoughts please brace yourselves.

I've talked about it on here before, but to recap: it's a series of detective novels set in a fantasy london of the 2000s. The narrator and protagonist, a biracial police officer (im so sorry for posting about cops. this series and elementary get me every time), discovers the existence of magic when he interviews a ghost as a witness to a murder. In the first book he apprentices with a wizard, becomes embroiled in a territory dispute between the gods of the titular Rivers (most of whom are black women), and attempts to solve the murder the story opened with.

There's like 9(? im not caught up) novels that follow this, so there's a lot of material to work with. They're all solid detective novels in their own right, with each one following a specific case, as well as expanding the magical universe, and contributing to a series-long arc.

Okay I think the biggest draws a potential tv show would have are a) the addictive combination of the detective/mystery genre and the fantasy elements. The rivers are both an intriguing element of the magic system and great characters in their own right. b) the protagonist (funny. observant. self-deprecating. immediately begins conducting scientific experiments on magic in an attempt to establish units... i love you peter). So any tv show would need to make the most of those elements! We would need equal attention paid to the central mystery and to developing the unique magic system. And, as the author himself has said, we would need a charismatic powerhouse of a lead actor to carry the show!

I think that the first book could easily be a single season of tv--there's a TON going on, and a lot of characters to introduce! However I do really love the idea of having multiple cases per season, in a nod to the detective procedural format. So i would most likely have the first 3 books cases happen in the first season, with 2-3 episodes dedicated to each case, while the rivers conflict is a season long arc. This would give us more time with the rivers in general and beverly specifically (beverly brooke my beloved <3) to compensate for the fact that the second and third books in the series don't deal as much with the rivers, so they won't feel absent while those cases are being dealt with.

I might push leslie's arc back slightly, so that as the rivers conflict gets solved she shows up again? And then end season 2 with the broken homes arc. This would require adding some additional cases to season 2 but with the graphic novels and the novellas i think there's a wealth of material to draw from for some straightforward 2-episode cases, while giving more room to the personal stuff and character arcs.

I've been fantasizing about an opening credit sequence that's like an animated map of london's rivers, beginning in antiquity and with the city springing up around it over the centuries until we reach the modern day. Would that i could animate! or draw for that matter...

I also have a soundtrack ive made for this show that does not exist yet. ben aaronovitch i am available! i can make time in my residency to contribute to this show i swear i can! I'll link to it if anyone would like <3

The tv show is unlikely to get made tbh but i just think it could be SO much fun :(

[syrupspinner]

top 10 most anticipated indie games!

in no particular order, not affiliated with any of em, etc etc

of the Devil

so, funny story. i had some fanart of this game set as my phone background when i went to get a new phone. check it out here! anyway, the cleric who only really plays ff14 looked at it and went "woah, what's that? it looks like danganronpa." and i was like. yeah buddy! sure does! then, of course, i began proselytizing, about how the game's demo did an amazing job at establishing not only the game's wonderfully directed art style, with the ui and the music and everything else working together to make a perfectly opressive cyberpunk atmosphere, but how the writing of the mystery and morgans character is so intriguing and compelling and auuuugh i wanna play this fucking game dude. i love morgans smile i hope she makes me eat a bomb

2. UNBEATABLE

so imagine muse dash, but instead of high-contrast anime girls and dubious dlc practices, it's just punk as fuck. theres nothing i can say about the game other than linking the side-story/demo and telling you to just go with the flow and dig the vibes. the soundtrack rocks hard, and the visuals are so well done. everything looks like a poster collage for a garage band youve never heard of. also the trailer for the full game showed off a graffiti mechanic and thats all i need

3. Demonschool

i talked about demonschool a lot back in my nextfest post, and my thoughts havent changed at all. im a slut for strategy rpgs, and a big reason for that is i like planning my moves in advance and seeing what the best use of all my ally's abilities are. so the game's mechanic of the shared ability meter that you use for multiple moves over one turn, plus the ability to rewind moves before committing to them, AND the high level of combo potential in everything's interactivity? pumped as hell. there was recently a dev update about how you can light yourself on fire and spread that damage to the environment with every attack if that helps sell you

4. Roman Sands RE:Build

i dont need to say shit. just look at it. LOOK at it. this is so ridiculously catered to my tastes on presentation alone that i cant even come up with a hyperbolic simile. its y2k dreamcast beach artstyle, its time loop with routing optimization, its arbitrary celestial puzzle with unexplained mechanics, its stupid gomotion noodle people, its abstract nonsense that is actively and literally hostile towards the player for trying to understand it. im gonna CUM dude

5. Sorry We're Closed

how often do you see a fixed-camera shooter about a woman with three eyes? the fucking atmosphere, man. even from the demo i can tell that a la mode knows what theyre doing. i love how there isnt like, a limit or meter on your third eye, thats something i can easily see another game doing. but the downsides of only being able to hurt enemies in range AND having to aim at their weak spots is already a good balance to encourage you to switch it up. its so deliciously frictional that you have to go in first person to attack anything, and theres a delay when you do it so youve gotta be really cautious and defensive. and oh man, the cleaver enemy! that was so tense, and so much of that was from the expert audio design that made it so unclear how close he is or where exactly he is, just that hes getting closer. im gonna lose my shit about this game when the full thing drops. fun fact: this releases tomorrow, so this is literally the last day that i can post this. oops!

6. .45 PARABELLUM BLOODHOUND

how often do you see a fixed-camera shooter about a woman with three eyes? ive never played parasite eve, which this is purported to be a spiritual successor to, but the action seems really interesting. sukeban's website explains it like this: "you move and dodge in real time while you wait for an Action bar to fill at a speed determined by character and weapon stats. Once that’s done you can then stop time and plan your offensive". that sounds stupidly fun. judging by the trailers and shit, theres gonna be a big focus on combo chains and your character having multiple attacks she can switch between, but theres not much i can really say about that until theres a demo or something.

7. YIIK: A Postmodern RPG (Update I.V)

i know an update is cheating a bit, but ackk studios considers it to be a thorough enough reimagining that it almost constitutes a sequel. if you havent played the demo then you should give it a shot. my only experience with yiik before it was secondary, through discussions and lets play compilations, and i was totally blown away. the combat was totally reworked, so instead of those repetitive and drawn-out minigames its a way more engaging system where you can use "karta" as defensive shields with passive buffs or sacrifice them for spells. its one of those things that sounds weird and complicated when you explain it, but in gameplay it just kinda clicks. it also seemed to double down on he surrealism and abstract psychological themes, which is my fucking jam. i think missed potential is the worst flaw something can have, so hearing that yiik is growing into its most flawless form is exciting as hell

8. FreeJack Online

unfortunately, i found out about this game about a month after its last online playtest. the dev's discord says they wont reopen unless they find a publisher, and theyre not sure if thats gonna happen reasonably soon. but secondhand, this game looks like a killer time. you guys know im super into this hip hop skatepunk urban style, so even if the gameplay is total shit ill still be all over the ost and character design. but this gameplay doesnt look like shit! you build up trick combos and that contributes to your speed as you parkour around and try to win races. its been a while since ive sunk myself in a competitive online game and i think thisll be what gets me back into it, someday

9. Hyper Light Breaker

yknow im kinda surprised this list hasnt been more roguelikes considering how much i play em. hlb looks like its aiming for an interesting combo of roguelike and open-world, and im really interested in how that shakes out. the combat looks like a really good transition of the speedy high-stakes fighting from hld into 3d. im really hopeful for this game, especially everything heart machine is going through with gearbox and the fanbase backlash for the delays.

10. The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-

im saying this counts as indie because im in denial. so, i mentioned how the phone clerk guy was a danganronpa fan, right? he played all the mainline games, and even got into zero escape looking for more (he played VLR before 999? lmao) but he had no idea what too kyo games was. never heard of Death Come True, or Akudama Drive, or World's End Club, or Rain Code, or Tribe Nine. really goes to show how much publicity matters, huh? anyway, in case you couldnt tell, i am a 'fan' of danganronpa. theres a lot you could say about it, like how the writing is juvenile and contrarian and how it consistently struggles to write unpredictable mysteries despite this and also how kodaka just fundamentally fails at writing minorities and the pacing issues and flat characters and... you get it. but its never boring. and considering they officially hired the guy who wrote the spin-off novel where kirigiri gets cloned into a houseplant, i feel like its just gonna get less boring from here

look at this shit. im along for the ride at this point

[yuukei-yikes]

Tell us about Shinaya’s breakup :D

HEHDJEIDNEKFJEKDKEK ive had this ask since i posted i was thinking abt it MAN i cannot express to u i just. I WANNA WRITE A FIC SO BAD but AUGH im so bad at it it makes me cringe i cant do that but its basically like all my damn posts together u know. i keep thinking of shintaro's disastrous relationships post str going from ayano to kano to takane etcetc sorry im playing with him like a stress toy making him go thru hell but its so fun

srry i dont wanna have to rewrite a lot of stuff so erm im liking this answer 🫡🫡🫡 and i could link a bunch more just so u SEE MY VISION... but i think linking that is enough. ON AND OFF SHINAYA MY BELOVED

shintaro and ayano sort of having this ridiculous relationship because both are hurting and jumped in a relationship too quick but fighting/being sad about stupid shit is so much easier than dealing with their actual issues that they've got with themselves. like focusing on each other and what they don't like about each other and their relationship is so much easier than crying about how suicidal they are. lollllll SO LIKE this insanity sort of saves them at the same time??

i mean the most ideal would be that instead of getting together they got therapy and the normal kind not the relationship kind. you know. but also theyre traumatized and ugh. its so much easier to resent each other than themselves. its so much easier to be petty. its such a relief to cry over relationship problems than over timeline resets or dead parents and etc. YOU GET ME?????

they keep breaking up and getting back together ridiculously like it is 1000% so dramatic each and everytime. ayano crying her eyes out like its the end of the world and shintaro making 100 sad playlists. and it happens at least monthly. the first time everyone's like WHOA THEY BROKE UP!?!? SHIT!! the second time its like heyyy maybe they'll work it out like last time!! third time its like are you joking. fourth time they're already begging them to stop. by they i mean the dan but especially takane by the way. who do you think is picking up the pieces.

and by the way the one breaking up all the time and being dramatic as hell is shintaro. he gets angry and annoyed and weaponizes the LETS BREAK UP thing because he DOESNT MEAN IT. like he knows he and ayano will work it out later. he gets comfortable again. not to get on the ayano surviving thing, but i think ayano (and hiyori but especially ayano) making it out alive undoes a big part of the message abt moving on. like i love her so im not complaining thats i love having her alive :3 but i like to translate this into shintaro like. he's intensely trying to repress/process all the memories of the other timelines to cope and have a normal life and ends up being this way because he's sort of self sabotaging himself. like ayano's alive and she likes me??? lol. ok?? ill wake up any moment now!! and he feels guilty and undeserving and is sort of a dickhead to her in an unconscious attempt of keeping her away because that's what he deserves according to him. also why he's accepting of takane's intense obsession with him lol bc she's familiar and she is comfortable, unlike ayano who is so rare and one in its kind in all the timelines. he is sort of terrified of her in a way.

the lets break up isnt rly a breakup. its just a leave me alone see u later. LOL i think we talk too much abt kanoshin bringing the worst in each other but what about shinaya. they do that too. yeah we CAN have fluffy shinaya. but like i said it is so easy to focus all this bitterness and sadness into each other and it's so relieving to be sad and angry about this rather than everything else. because this is sort of in their control while everything else isn't, wasn't. and its so unfair. of course its unfair!! but they cant do anything abt it. so they just go crazy on each other. ayano is DESPERATE to be needed. i could link more replies but i will hold myself back. basically her siblings are used to being alone/know she has her own problems and ayano is dealing with this emptiness and feeling of failure bc no one needs her, from her perspective her sacrifice still failed to save everyone, her parents are gone so she needs to step up. like she puts herself under all this pressure and feels Not Good Enough for ANYTHING. and she is dating shintaro.

it's EASY to bother him and try to get him to open up and etc so she ridiculously focuses on that. but it gets on shintaro's nerves to say the least LOL plus all his other issues i mentioned 🫡plus she keeps being like we have to be normal. lets kiss and hold hands and cuddle. but she's too embarrassed to say it/do it and shintaro is even more pathetic about it. so theyre both frustrated about everything and can barely even sit next to each other without acting insane.

AND SORRY BUT I WILL TALK ABT TAKANE🫡💞💗💖💝💕💘ofc. codependent shintaka. of course. it drives ayano CRAZY because on top of all their problems takane is able to talk sense into shintaro each and every single time. and she is soooo jealous like she knows its stupid but she cant help ittt i ALSO TALKED ABT THIS SORRY I KEEP REPEATING MYSELF IM JUST SO CRzy abt it. hehe......the whole mess bringing drama to harutaka too bc shintaro and ayano are so messy theyre contagious is so fun to me. when it comes to shintaro and takane's horrible relationship both their romantic relationships suffer for it but deal with it completely differently. while both haruka and ayano deal with jealousy somewhat, ayano is so hurt and already at the verge of a mental breakdown so she's focusing so many negative emotions on it and AGAIN it just serves as another point of argument between shintaro and ayano while haruka is like. his mental state isnt as convoluted as ayanos, he's rather freaking out and terrified of being left alone. THIS IS ABT SHINAYA so i wont get into harutaka side but lol. heh. Looks at it. zooms in it. like what i mean is that haruka and takane talk and work through it and are like sighs yeah...this is messed up while shintaro and ayano are using it against each other instead of working on it LMAO

ANYWAYS. ayano breaks up with shintaro. vine boom. total breakdown moment like everyone out of the room i wanna talk to you alone. and this time its for REAL. like ayano isnt confrontational at all, all their arguments are always her being pushy abt idk mental health and shintaro's like godddd STOPPPPP and ayano crying and shintaro being like I CANNOT DEAL WITH THAT. IM SORRY I GUESS. CAN U GET OUT OF THE ROOM. WE'LL TALK LATER. but he also sucks so bad at letting the other person know they can count on him so he kind of assumes ayano will do it when she's ready because he KNOWS she's in pain. like. ofc it could go well. ofc shintaro and ayano could work through everything with kindness and comprehension for each other but they're both so sad and suddenly find themselves annoyed at each other one time and it felt so freeing to do that that they just keep doing it. especially shintaro. having ayano be mad at him is sort of relieving because he feels undeserving of her and its like yeah. Yeah!! i know its ooc but shinaya screaming match.god. sorry but all their bottled up emotions abt everything and they take it out on each other for no reason other than theyre giving each other the space and it plays out that way. theyre acting crazy about something so stupid like shintaro not wanting ayano to wear his clothes or whatever. like they scream about that but its not about that. it just feels so good to scream. it feels so good to scream and let it out even if they haven't given themselves the time to process that theyre not... actually screaming abt that at all. theyre screaming about everything else. not even about each other. its about themselves. its always been.its never been about each other. when it is, its stupid. thats why they do it. its just easier. God. they were just not ready for a relationship, especially not one with each other out of all people.

ayano breaks first, therefore dumps shintaro lol. he goes thru his own fucked up arc afterwards while ayano gets help. my man spirals DOWN. whether they get back together or not depends on my mood 🤨 but if they do, its by the time theyre in their mid twenties or something so a few years later LOL i picture them dating like for over a year maybe?? when theyre 18/19. hehe.

like. do you get it.

[atomiciva]

Hi hi!! Just so say in advance but for some reason i cant write questionmarks so ive just put them in brackets of where they go lmao. I wanted to shoot you a message and so I hope you dont mind but I was wondering what sort of portfolio you submitted to be able to work on Unicorn Warriors Eternal, I currently am an animator who has been struggling on getting a 2d animation job for a few years now and I was wondering if you would have any advice for someone who feels like they are struggling to get into the industry (Questionmark) Your animation for the show is amazing and I love the little bit of fanart that you made of melinda and edred too!! Once again, sorry if this is a bother but I figured that I would atleast try to ask :)

Heya! No worries at all!

I still feel super lucky honestly and I've only ever been at this one studio so far, so I don't know how helpful this is gonna be but I'll give it my best shot haha

This was my old showreel straight from the end of university which I had on my portfolio site when I applied:

https://youtu.be/42ubnrPGx2Y

I was lucky in the fact that the main thing I enjoyed doing during uni was animation clean-up in TVPaint, aaaand then I saw the job listing looking for... animation clean-up in TVPaint! I'm still not the best at rough animation, but as you can see my reel had lots and lots of clean-up examples, and that was exactly what Studio Zmei was looking for.

So, first tip: Focus your showreel on what you want to get a job for! If you're applying for rough traditional animation, show your roughs vs the final thing, or a clean-up heavy reel like mine if you wanna do clean-up, or a reel just for ToonBoom rigged animation if that's what you're applying for.

Second? Tip? Look for more obscure studios, or ask around your local studios (if you have any) if they offer internships or even junior level jobs? Studios are often really biased towards local people, and I was lucky that Zmei just happened to be situated in my home city. We often get interns not from any listings but just from people showing interest in an email. But I also know that's a bit unusual and a lot of studios are more closed off?? And going back to the more obscure studios part: The more well known a studio is, the more insane the competition to get a spot is, hence why usually it's not so much your portfolio's fault rather than the huge influx of candidates. This is where looking at general animation job listings sites can help a lot, and I even found Zmei's listing here in the first place:

https://animatedjobs.com/

aaand there's one for games too: https://gamejobs.work/

Lots of studios use these and they also have twitter/instagram pages to keep you updated as well. If a job is listed as remote, go for it! A lot of smaller studios that handle outsource animation are often starved for animators. (a lot of those do 2D rigged animation in ToonBoom or Adobe too, so it's def worth making a fresh reel for that if it's up your alley) Following a lot of studios on social media and especially LinkedIn helps too, as some of them post listings there exclusively.

And, third tip - there's no shame in starting small. I constantly get spammed by studios looking for mobile game animators or educational video animators on LinkedIn. Sure not all of those are gonna be worth looking into, but a lot of my friends started off like that. Every little bit of experience counts and builds up your CV. It's really hard to jump straight into being a rough animator, or a designer, or a storyboarder. Even my role of doing clean-up is considered more junior, and we had lots of people who did only coloring and shading too. And the more entry level version of a storyboard artist would be a storyboard revisionist. Everyone starts somewhere!

Other things like putting a direct link or linktree to your portfolio site or showreel easily accessible on all of your social medias could also help, as recruiters often have no time to dig for that stuff. (altho I'll be honest I've only ever been approached once (1) by a local studio on just instagram, so that's a really rare occurrence. still helps to be prepared though!)

I hope this was somewhat helpful haha. Good luck!!!

[alicetgwdlm]

THE GUY WHO DIDN’T LIKE MUSICALS as a netflix original series

x / x / x

spies are forever | tgwdlm | black friday

[meruz]

once again i am answering asks in a big compilation post. included is... gotham, patrick stump, tips about drawing backgrounds, tips about drawing in general, links to my faq, and infinity train

like.... the tv series? No... I’ve drawn dc comics fanart before, though. But it’s been years since I’ve been really into it. I like jumped ship like 10 years ago when the New 52 happened LOL.

AFJHDSLKGH I’m sorry I (probably) won’t do it again??

Actually full disclosure I have a truly cringe amount of p stump drawings/photo studies in my sketchbook right now LOL. He’s just fun to draw... hats, glasses, guitar, a good shape... but I don’t think I’ll rly post those until I can hide them in another big sketchbook pdf.. probably Jan 2022. Stay tuned........ (ominous) 

(ominous preview)

These are all sort of related to backgrounds/painting so I grouped them together even though they’re pretty much entirely separate questions.... ANYWAYS

a) How is it working as a BG artist? Is it hard? What show are you drawing for?

I think you’re the first person to ever ask me about my job! Being a background artist is great. It’s definitely labor intensive but I think that could describe pretty much any art job (If something were rote or easy to automate, you wouldn’t hire an artist to do it) and I hesitate to say whether its harder or easier than any other role in the animation pipeline. Plus, so much of what truly makes a job difficult varies from one production to the next, schedule, working environment, co-workers etc. But I will say that I think while BGs are generally a lot of work on the upfront, I think they’re subject to less scrutiny/revisions than something like character/props/effects design and you don’t have to pitch them to a room like boards. So I guess it’s good if you don’t like to talk to people? LOL

A lot of my previous projects + the show I’ve worked on the longest aren’t public yet so I can’t talk about em (but I assure you if/when the news does break I won’t shut up about it). But I’m currently working on Archer Season 12 LOL. I’m like 90% sure I’m allowed to say that.

b) ~~~THANK YOU!! ~~~

c) What exactly do you like to draw most [in a background]?

@kaitomiury​ Lots of stuff! I really like to draw clutter! Because it’s a great opportunity for environmental storytelling and also you can be kind of messy with it because the sheer mass will supersede any details LOL. 

I like to draw clouds... I like to draw grass but not trees lol,,, I like to draw anything that sells perspective really easily like tiled floors and ceilings, shelves, lamp posts on a street etc.

d) Do you have any tips on how to paint (observational)?

god there’s so much to say. painting is really a whole ass discipline like someone can paint their whole life and still discover new things about it. I guess if you’re really just starting out my best advice is that habit is more important than product. especially with traditional plein air painting, I find that the procedure of going outside and setting up your paints is almost harder than the actual painting. There’s a lot of artists who say “I want to do plein air sometime!!” and then never actually get around to doing it. A lot of people just end up working from google streetview or photos on their computer.

But going outside to paint is a really good challenge because it forces you to make and commit to lighting and composition decisions really quickly. And to work through your mistakes instead of against them via undo button.

My last tip is to check out James Gurney’s youtube channel because hes probably the best and most consistent resource on observational painting out there rn. There’s lots other artists doing the same thing (off the top of my head I know a lot of the Warrior Painters group has people regularly posting plein air stuff and lightbox expo had a Jesse Schmidt lecture abt it last year) but Gurney’s probably the most prolific poster and one of the best at explaining the more technical stuff - his books are great too.

e) Do you have tips for drawing cleanly on heavypaint?

@marigoldfool​ UMM LOL I LIKE ONLY USE THE FILL TOOL so maybe use the fill tool? Fill and rectangle are good for edge control as opposed to the rest of the heavy paint tools which can get sort of muddles. And also I use a stylus so maybe if you’re using your finger, find a stylus that works with your device instead. That’s all I’ve got, frankly I don’t think my drawings are particularly clean lol.

f) Tips on improving backgrounds/scenes making them more dynamic practicing etc?

Ive given some tips about backgrounds/scenes before so I’m not gonna re-tread those but here’s another thing that might be helpful...

I think a good way to approach backgrounds is to think of the specific story or even mood you want to convey with the background first. Thinking “I just need to put something behind this character” is going to lead you to drawing like... a green screen tourist photo backdrop. But if you think “I need this bg to make the characters feel small” or “I need this bg to make the world feel colorful” then it gives you requirements and cues to work off of.

If I know a character needs to feel overwhelmed and small, then I know I need to create environment elements that will cage them in and corner them. If a character needs to feel triumphant/on top of the world then I know I need to let the environment open up around them. etc. If I know my focal point/ where I want to draw attention, I can build the background around that.

Also, backgrounds like figure compositions will have focal points of their own and you can draw attention to it/ the relationship the characters have with the bg element via scale or directionality or color, any number of cues. I think of it almost as a second/third character in a scene.

Not every composition is gonna have something so obvious like this but it helps me to think about these because then the characters feel connected and integrated with the environment.

Some more general art questions

a) Do you have any process/tips to start drawing character/bodies/heads?

I tried to kind of draw something to answer this but honestly this is difficult for me to answer because I don’t think I’m that great at drawing characters LOL. Ok, I think I have two tips.

1) flip your canvas often. A lot about what makes human bodies look correct and believable is symmetry and balance. Even if someone has asymmetrical features, the body will often pull and push in a way to counterbalance it. we often have inherent biases to one side or another like dominant hands dominant eyes etc. you know how right-handed artists will often favor drawing characters facing 45 degrees facing (the artist’s) left? that’s part of it. so viewing your drawing flipped even just to evaluate it helps compensate for that bias and makes you more aware of balance.

2) draw the whole figure often. I feel like a lot of beginner artists (myself included for a long time) defer to just drawing headshots or busts because it’s easier, you dont have to think about posing limbs etc. But drawing a full body allows you to better gauge proportion, perspective, body language, everything that makes a character look believable and grounded.

Like if you (me) have that issue where you draw the head too big and then have to resize it to fit the proportions of the rest of the body, it’s probably because you (I) drew the head first and are treating the body as an afterthought/attachment. Sketching out the whole figure first or even just quick drawing guides for it will help you think of it more holistically. I learned this figure drawing in charcoal at art school LOL.

oh. third mini tip - try to draw people from life often! its the best study. if you can get into a figure drawing/nude drawing class EVEN BETTER and if you have a local college/art space/museum that hosts those for free TREASURE IT AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT, that’s a huge boon that a lot of artists (me again) wish they had. though if youre not so lucky and youre sitting in a park trying to creeper draw people and they keep moving.. don’t let that stop you! that’s good practice because it’s forcing you to work fast to get the important stuff down LOL. its a challenge!

b) I’ve been pretty out of energy and have had no inspiration to draw but I have the desire to. Any advice?

Dude, take a walk or something.... Or a nap? Low energy is going to effect everything else so you gotta hit that problem at its source.

If you’re looking for inspiration though, I’d recommend stuff like watching a movie, reading a book, playing video games etc. Fill up your idea bank with content and then give yourself time/space to gestate it into new concepts. Sometimes looking at other art works but sometimes it can work against you because it’s too close. 

Also something that helps me is remembering that art doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking... like it’s okay to make something shitty and stupid that you don’t post online and only show to your friend. That’s all part of the process imo. If you want to hit a home run you gotta warm up first, right? Sports.

I should probably compile everytime i give tips on stuff like this but that’s getting dangerously close to being a social media artist who makes stupid boiled down art tutorials for clout which is the last thing i want to be... the thing I want to stress is that art is a whole visual language and there are widely agreed upon rules and customs but they exist in large part to be broken. Like there's an infinite number of ways to reach an infinite number of solutions and that’s actually what makes it really cool and personal for both the artist and the viewer. So when you make work you like or you find someone else’s work you like, take a step back and ask yourself what about it speaks for you, what about it works for you, what makes it effective, how to recreate that effect and how to break that effect completely, etc. And have a good time with it or else what’s the point.

for the first 2, I direct you to my FAQ

For the last one, I don’t actually believe I’ve ever addressed artwork as insp for stories/rp but I’ll say here and now yeah go ahead! As long as you’re not making profit or taking credit for my work then I’m normally ok with it. Especially anything thats private and purely recreational, that’s generally 100% green light go. I only ask that if you post it anywhere public that you please credit me.

(and I reserve the right to ask you to take it down if I see it and don’t approve of it’s use but I think that case is pretty rare.)

a) @lemuelzero101 Thank you!!! I haven’t played Life is Strange but actually  that series’ vis dev artist Edouard Caplain is one of my bigger art inspirations lately so that’s a really high compliment lol. And yeah I hope we get 5-8 too...!

b) Thank you for sticking around! I’ve been thinking about Digimon and Infinity Train in tandem lately, actually. They’re a little similar? Enter a dangerous alternate world and have wacky adventures with monsters/inanimate objects that have weird powers... there’s like weird engineers and mechanisms behind the scenes... also frontier literally starts with them getting on a train. Anyways if anyone else followed me for digimon... maybe you’d like Infinity Train? LOL

c) @king-wens-king I’M GLAD MY ART JUST HAS PINOY VIBES LOL I hope you are having a good day too :^)

a, b, c, d) yessss my Watch Infinity Train agenda is working....

e) aw thank you!! i think you should watch infinity train :)

[grubloved]

ive been following you for about a year and a half now, and I just want to say that your posts have given me some of the first hope I’ve had in a while. thank you

sidenote, what music have you been listening to lately? Looking for some recs

this is very sweet of you to say! i collect things here that give me hope so i am glad that they can also be a little helpful to other people sometimes :) im sorry its been a while since your last brush with hope. i hope u can find enough kindling to keep her for a while this time :)

re: music -- i put songs i really like under my scrapbook playlist tag! and heres some albums ive had on a lot lately :)

from top left (click for youtube link!). first row: modal soul by nujabes - jazzy, chill hiphop; all ashore by punch brothers - progressive bluegrass; mr morale and the big steppers by kendrick lamar - its kendrick you already know whats going on

second row: birds and the bee9 by sampa the great - r&b; motomami by rosalía - it's listed as "alt reggaeton"!; and dragon new warm mountain i believe in you by big thief - folk

third row: a bird flies out by deb talan - folk, couldn't find youtube link so this is spotify; sleep well beast by the national - indie rock; and floss by injury reserve - hip hop