#also sorry for the art inconsistencies I tend to do that when I draw for a long period of time

[bear-remn]

Girl, I’m addicted to your blog! It’s so creative and captivating; I can feel the vibrant energy between the characters. It’s truly rewarding to have so many brilliant artists in the fandom <3

I can’t wait to see a headcanon about Subaru; I think I’m going to die when that moment arrives.

(I'm sorry for any inconsistencies; my english isn't the best yet, and I sometimes need help :T)

— subaru headcanons!

omg ♡⸜(˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝ ty so much for your kind words! i felt appreciated reading it so thanks for making my day! youre such a sweetheart, ty again for support my blog and my art (๑´>᎑<)~*

here i bring subaru, and it was a little more difficult than with the rest of the sakamakis, maybe bc i dont get most of subarus actions, i think he is the one with more inconcistencias in his development so i hope i dont dissapoint with it, he is so difficult but so easy at the same time im going crazy.

tw: this post contains nsfw (+18)!!! if you dont like that content dont read it!

i spent so much time drawing this and it was so worth it, and i really was a little off with drawing him angry or neutral so i draw him with two cute little smiles, i also hated his hair during sketching this, fk desing, but i love it so much ٩(^ᗜ^ )و ´-

his looks and selfcare

i think subaru is very handsome, like his brothers, but he dont know it, he dont realize how good looking he is. i can imagine subaru being constantly approached by his classmates, both woman and men, but since he ghe way he is, his appearance got overpowered by his personality.

i also think, maybe a little too out of the clue but, i think subaru face most of the time is like a little angry, without realizing it, his eyebrows furrow giving an angry image, even if he is not, it is like his face of rest. angry rest face.

i think subaru is very similar to his mother, but with the structure of his father, i imagine subaru with slanted eyes, a straight nose, and his strong jaw makes his face come together so well. i like to think subaru has a gentle gaze, not a killer one like ayato, maybe bc he is constantly on his past and feels pity for another living being, something in between.

i think subaru has one of the most hipnotizing eyes, not like his brothers tho. i like to think he is has more the kind of eyes shu has, like a deep color and with a fixed expression. i like to think they, shu and subaru, are very alike even if they have different mothers.

i belive subaru is the kind of man that don't sweat much, even so, i do think subaru likes to shower often, i think he is more into long hot boiling baths, and if he is more stress than normal, he totally is gonna ask for ayatos bath bombs or so, dont like candles tho. and i also think sometimes he fell asleep during some baths.

i think subaru might like sweet scents even if he deny it, he loves sweet smells. maybe a good vanilla or a coconut one, but i do see him liking sweet fruits, such as strawberries, peaches, and apples. specially peaches. he likes it on his shampoo, his conditiones, his bar soap and even the liquid soap for hands. but not on perfume.

i think subaru likes more mint, lemon or so when it comes to perfume.

oh, i think subaru also has more of straight hair than curly hair, you know when a part of your is more curly or has more volume than another part? thats subarus hair for sure, so he tends to make it even by brushing it.

i think subaru's body is... very very... like... hot you know? like he is tall and more thick than his brothers, with a wide back and shoulders. i also love imagine subaru with big arms and his forearms?? his hands?? just thick. very strong and definetly has veins in his arms without making an effort. and as shu, he also as a thick waist and a very strong and gooooood looking v line. and also has a happy trail. i mean. do you imagine him shaving often? his beautiful silver hair? no, he doesnt shave too much.

i think subaru, as rare as it might sound, gets hair on his chest, that hair he shaves it, but the hair of the rest of his body not too much, and its not visible either. like, white hair on his pale skin? not on easy sight.

oh, and he also has thick fingers and his nails are pretty avegare, but for some reason the nail of his pinky grows faster than the others, so he thens to bite that one.

and about his style, i do belive subaru only likes basics and neutrals clothes, but don't like to feel things around his neck, it get on his nerves, dont like oversize clothes either.

and to finish, subaru is like his two olders brothers and can't grow a hole beard, subaru shaves it right away when he sees a little bit of hair, makes him feel old too.

random stuff

to start off with this man. i have some thought on his behavior. like have you guys seen how jelaous he is? he is maybe the most childish one out the sakamakis when it comes to jealousy. and thats canon for me.

but i do see him being very passive aggressive with the people he enjoys to hang out, like if you are with him and you ask him for a pencil, he will just say no and then pass it to you. and with a dead ass angry face. no reason for it. or if you ask him a favor he will say "fuck off" and then do it.

i hate the fact of subaru not having not one single fucking hobby, wtf?? i dont belive it. i do think he might have tried stuff and just dont get too into it. but not every hobby, like maybe reading existencial poetry or even drawing or painting, i do see him as a artist kind of guy lol. i imagine subaru in his teen years, some time has passed since his mother died, and he always tries to paint in oil white roses, just to keep her mother in his mind but he hates it so much he destroys every stencil he makes.

i also think he might have tried to draw animals in the woods close to the manor but the animals moved so much he got frustrated and never tried again.

and maybe, a little sad, but he hates to cry, so he just let his tears fall from his eyes and bites on his lips to not make a sound, he will hate his brotheres to see him cry.

i think, subaru used to bite his nails, thinking and trying to understand his mother but at his age it was so confusing for him. and the hate just for seeing his father will make him bites on his fingers as well. he was very anxious in his childhood and no one, even when he tried to get close to the triples bc he wanted to play with them, he was left apart, so he never felt a part of anything, but i do belive subaru still want to be a real brother even if he dont know how to.

i think, even if subaru says otherwise, subaru likes spicy food, like hot flaming food, likes how it feels in his troat.

i also think he is more into weight lifting, thats why his body is more thick than his brothers that does another kind of excersize.

and as ayato, always feels anxious when is close to something religios, just feels weird and ridiculous for him. church's specially.

and i like to think, i know he will do it, when subaru can't sleep he taps the wood of his coffin whith his fingers on the beat on songs, like really soft and just for him to hear. eventually his fingers will stop bc he fall asleep.

or if he is bored he definetly play with his knife, like when the moonlight is bright on his window room. subaru will take his knife out and reflect the light on the silver, playing a little with it. sometimes he does this with his brothers when they are in the garden just minding their bussiness, making the little light come into their eyes and then hiding behind the curtains in his room. can't laugh, either way his brothers will know he was the one messing with them.

nsfw

ok, so.... his dick....

i belive, on my knees, that he always have the same size, like, you know meat team? yea... that. i see him as a good 18 cm, its thick and heavy, his balls too, the man is just a little too big for his own good. also has two prominent veins coming from his crocht to the tip, wich is a pretty soft salmon color. he keeps some hair but not too long, just enough to have a slight happy trail of his silver hair.

i think subaru is definetly a dominant, but not a harsh one, something like a service dom, he don't mind if you are on top or start things, but do likes to have most control of situations. but he don't seek a too submissive partner either, he wants you to desire it as much as he does. bc he does.

i think subaru is not good at flirting so much... i mean, i have to say it, subaru is rather shy when it comes to romance, basically bc he thinks he does'nt deserve any kind of love or affection, so yea, kinda difficult. so i think his way to show you he cares for you or is interested in you is quality time, like, i imagine subaru hanging out with you and just listening to whatever you're saying, and talking for him really makes him more interested for you, he is not the kind of guy that will see first your looks, it has not a single one bit of appeal for your body at first. and definetly he will not make the firts move, and im not talking about kissing, i am talking about fucking holding hands. yes.

and when he is feeling more confortable with you, subaru will start to checking you out, like watching your legs when you cross them, even if you have pants, the man is intriged. or if you have your hair up he cannot take his eyes off your neck, he really craves your physical touch. and if you catch him looking at you he will simply mess with you "what? im not watching you, just a fly pass by" yea he's that.

in other ocasions if he smells a change of scent due your perfume, he will get close to you but not enought to touch your skin "peaches? uh... not bad i suppose" but the man is obsessed.

and when the times come, when you kiss him subaru is a little taken aback but will hold you close and look into your eyes "are you sure? if you get involved with me, you will never go back to your old life, think wise or else you'll end up like me" but ofc, you choose him.

since that moment, he will bite you more often, but more gentle and hold you more close to his body, i imagine him biting your neck and drinking a little of you blood to then lick the wounds and kiss them so they can heal better, his kisses go up until his lips reach yours.

oh and his kisses? omg.

but before talking of subaru kisses, i have to say this.

i think subaru is very... like, into physical touch but in a more intimate way of, like very sutile and mature. idk but. i imagine subaru hanging out with you, maybe watching a movie and if the pose while sitting fit. subaru will have one of his hands caressing you back under your shirt. like not sexually intended, just likes to feel your skin every chance he gets. and don't put his nails againts your back bc he know you may get ghostbumps. he definetly is more of a back guy than a boob or ass man.

and if the moment pops out, and you're sitting in subaru's lap, he will touch your belly gently while resting his head on your shoulder. he loves that kind of contact with you, it means a lot to him.

and if youre using a loose shirt he have more freedom to touch as he wish, and... im losing it.

subaru in some moment will get heated by your body, since vampires can't produce body heat like humans, and will mess with you for that, but in a different way you may think "lean more againts me... your back is more hot when you're on my lap huh... don't you dare to get up" his lips are in your nape, gently kissing it while touching your belly. and if youre moving too much on top of him he might get a little bit worked up. so he will take you by your jaw and make you face him for a wet kiss.

he is'nt much of words in those moments, for him, your eyes say everything he needs to know. so... his kisses.

little detail about subaru, i dont think he will do anything with someone he is'nt truly interested, i mean, really into you, so he is'nt dry or something like that, he is very much passionate about everything he does to you and with you.

so now, his kisses, finally.

subaru likes soft and tender smooches, i see him always trying to kiss you or give you a little peck, ofc when you two are alone, dont like to make things in front of people. don't put on a show. so when the kiss gets hotter, subaru will gently bite on your lip and explore with his tongue your mouth, slowly and with no rush. feeling how hot your tongue is really makes him moan a little into your mouth, can't control his hands when your body is so hot compared to his. loves it.

so, back to the lap situation. subaru will go straight into a wet kiss, sucking on your tongue and pressiong his croch into your ass while squeezing your thigh. his breath in your lips as you hold on his strong arms, feeling how he control himself. subaru will bite your little tongue on his mouth as his hands go to hold gently your tits "ya want it? wanna go to bed or..?" and yes... he tries to be as gentle with you as he can.

i think subaru likes to carry you to bed or his coffin, likes to get your scent into it so he can sleep better later, but can't deny the bed is more confortable.

but sometimes, when the situation is more desesperate, like after a walk or a public event, he will pin you down on the floor and start kissing and biting your neck and chest "you wanted this huh? dont act dumb on me, you know what you do to me" and his hungry eyes for you will melt you completly, subaru with needy eyes is dangerous.

i think subaru don't really likes to put nicknames on you, for him the pretty name of yours feels like sweet honey on his mouth to say, so he definetly calls you by your name always. but sometimes he feels freaky and likes to call you his good girl.

and sometimes while taking off your clothes he rips them apart but not intencionally "fuck, sorry hun, this stupid fabric always gets on the way... i'll buy you a new one, a better one... or maybe you should stay like this in bed forever hehe... " and since subaru is good and nice, he is a service dom.

i think subaru enjoys to make you suffer for his mouth every chance he gets, and he got to know your body so well that he knows how to make you tremble.

subaru loves eating you out, feeling your thighs trembles and holding around his head is everything for him. subaru will lick, suck and kiss your clit, not giving attention to any other part of you body, your climax will be more late but more intense. subaru moans while eating it, hold one of you legs with one hand while the other is holding your hand, feeling how you grip his big fingers and thick knucles. after you cum he don't stop, he will lick clean every part that is wet around your pussy. his chin and lips shiny from your liquids "what? want a taste? hehe" oh, and his eyes? omg his beautiful eyes look hipnotized by your body, watching into your eyes with a gentle yet intense gaze of desire. omfg.

and if you suck him off i imagine him seated and you in your knees, taking his dick in your mouth is kinda of a challenge, bc the man in a little too thick for your little mouth, and he tries not to push you but everything about you is so hot, literally, he sometimes is afraid you may burn him with you body "dont push yourself too much... yes... that's good... youre being such a good girl" but don't like to cum on your face, he has another plans for that.

i think subaru likes to make you cum on his fingers as well, and since his fingers are thick and long enough he easily abuse your g-spot so many times until you cum again, will lick his fingers to then start touching himself as you position yourself for him.

and about positions, i think he is rather simple sometimes but if hes feeling it, might do the pose where he is standing and you're holding in the air with your legs around his waist and your hands in his shoulders. ofc he has the strenght and the size so... yea. in that position subaru is the one in full control, holding you by your butt cheeks making you move up and down on his trobing dick, and your pussy feels so good in that positions, tight and so fucking wet for him. some of your liquids fall to his legs but he can't care less, he is too inmerse in how your jaw drop in every thrust, how your eyes look into his with a needy look and your pink cheeks shine under the soft moonlight "who's my good girl huh?... yes you are... fuck... ya' better milk me good ah.." and feeling how you tighten around him makes his hands hold you more rough and fuck you hard. the wet noises with your moans and his horny grunts makes the air hot to breath, almost like a sauna, your only body heat was enough to make everything around burn in desire.

another position can be reverse coswgirl, but again, he is the one moving your body, not completly tho. i imagine subaru gasping hard while watching how you move your hips and back to have a better access to a deep conection. oh and subaru? he has to bite his bottom lip for how good you look from behind, your back is everything to him and his abs contract at the mere sight of the curvature of your back. his pace become erratic for it. he goes hard and his voice grunts a little over how fast and hard he is pushing into you, eventually subaru push your face into the matress in all four and fuck you until he cums in your back, to then put it in again and slap your ass "wanna rematch? haha" he jokes, not entirely tho.

i also think if you two got into a second round, he will let you have more control than before, will let you ride him as much as you wanted to, but facing you. and he is all into your face expressions. loves to see how your jaw drops and your eyes go blank for some seconds. his hands will squeeze your tits that bounce a little and play with your nipples, loves to make them hard. subaru's eyes sometimes will look how you move your hips, in circles or from back to front or even bouncing a little. he finds your body cute in a sexy way, its little compared by his size, and your little efforts really put a smile in his face.

oh, i also belive subaru likes when you dig your nails into his skin, any part of it, his back, his arms, his abs or his chest, he likes that a lot.

and when you both cums he will do it inside you, feeling how you milk him makes subaru not to pull out never, he is so in love of how your body heat burns every part of him.

"you did good... c'me here... my good girl did so good..."

finally, the aftercare is nice and calm, sweet too. subaru will cuddle you hiding his face in your chest, while he hugs you and tap on your back gently, like he does to his coffin before going to sleep, he wants you to relax as much as he does with that little finger tap he does.

"i love you..."

── more of my content here!

[nebulousmedic]

Hihi! Love your art! I'm quite curious though. If there a specific reason why you draw sniper the way you do? For instance you have more darker skin, is that perhaps to make him look Maori? Either way I freaking love the way you draw him! (sorry if this offends you any way)

I'm not Maori or even remotely dark skin (I hate the sun), I have nothing to be offended about lmao

About his skin color: I just imagine that he... Spends time in the sun, but I'm too lazy to draw the tan lines or I just think that they don't fit the drawing, so I leave them out unless I'm going for a more realistic style

His eyes: the most striking feature of his design, I think. Besides from me thinking that heterochromia is really cool, I find it would make quite a bit of sense, like why always hide your eyes (even indoors, god) from other people? it's my headcanon that he kind of got bullied for it on his childhood, and when he was gifted a pair of shades he not only found himself looking very cool, but he also found that people didn't really notice his condition, so he just decided that he'd wear them pretty much all the time. He uses his shades to hide that he's high as well but, yknow

Facial hair: not much to see here, really. giving him a couple longer hairs on his upper lip and chin just kinda makes him look more rugged and feral

Hair: Come on, how could I not give him a mullet? in the game and the comics he already has a sort of.... mullet-y thing going on, so I just like to make it way longer, it makes him appear even more rugged and feral in my opinion. I will usually vary the length depending on what I feel like drawing, no particular reason for that specifically

Clothing: I want to make him look like a cowboy most of the time, but his comfortable and very casual attire is more dad-esque, I think? I want all the outdoor vibes, honestly. The hat and the shades are always a must, but you may notice that I tend to depict him with a fang pendant, I just headcanon that it's a trophy he kept from a particularly arduous hunt

As for his body, I like to make him sort of... Sharp-looking? To make him stand out from the other mercs a little more. He's tall, and a little gangly, but not skinny, he has muscle and a little fat on him. I also like to make him the hairiest out of all the mercs, because he deserves it

Color palette: I really like giving him a very warm and cozy sort of color palette, it just kinda fits with his vibe, I guess? certainly fits with the "cowboy" theme that he has going on

I want to note that my style for him specifically is inconsistent at times because I just cannot make up my mind on how to draw his facial features, but the one thing that I do keep is his nose and his ears, long and sort of triangular

Overall I think I just kinda took the canon Sniper and exaggerated him even more? Cowboy-ified him, maybe? Anyway, yeah, that's it that's why I draw him the way I do

I have changed how I draw some of the mercs since I made this but these are my pseudo references for them, if you're curious.

[cupcakeslushie]

i just discovered your au and i am so in love! seriously you’ve given me brain rot in the best way possible!!

smthg i noticed that could just be me and i’m not sure if you’ve answered before, if so my bad, but while leo’s w the foot his mask is black, and in some of your drawings after he’s w his family it’s blue. was this on purpose and if so does splinter give him the blue mask?? if you’ve answered this before or it’s just how you’ve drawn it you can disregard this lmao

also! if this is a spoiler it’s totally fine not to answer, but what are the details of leo being recaptured and how long before he’s rescued/freed from the shredders armor?

i love you, your art, and your au so much and i’m an official patreon subscriber!!

hope you’re doing well, and i can’t wait for new updates!!!

Well hello, and welcome! Sorry about the brain rot 😇!

Yes, Splints does gift Leo his blue mask and katana! But it takes a very long time before Leo works through his issues, and fully accepts them, and the name Hamato.

I did this little goofy comic back in November, where part of the reason Leo switches, is because Usagi tends to wear blue too, and Leo is a hopeless goober, but that was really just for a laugh and not actually canon.

When Leo does make the final switch, it will be more of a character growth moment. Closing out the whole Shredder!Leo arc at the end of season 1, he accepts the twin katana out of necessity, since his black pair gets broken, but he won’t make the big change to a blue mask until post season 2.

So, ideally (there might be one or two inconsistencies) every time you see Leo in blue, you can safely assume it’s post season 2 in the timeline. I think there’s some early F!Leo comics, where he’s got a blue scarf and black mask, but I decided to change that, as I delved deeper into creating the story. Post season two, and F!Leo wear a blue mask and carry blue katana, only keeping the black scarf (as we’ll see, his scarf is meaningful to him, so that’s one of the few things he keeps from his time in the foot clan.)

As for Leo getting recaptured. It’s after a bad fight with Raph, and Leo leaves the lair to blow off some steam. It’s a few weeks—close to a month of torture before the team finds, and breaks into Shredder’s personal compound and rescues him!

❤️👍

[tizeline]

Your art is so cool!! Can you share you digital art process sometime?

Ask and ye shall receive:

(Also thank you!!😭)

Aight so I have A Few digital art processes due to me being inconsistent and not being able to commit to one thing (I prefer calling it ✨having a creative and curious mind✨ but eh) so my processes are subject to change, but here are my more recent methods of drawing digitally.

First of all, my art software of choice in the last couple of years has been Procreate, with some of my most commonly used brushes being these:

Spectra is my brush of choice when it comes to sketching, I really like the texture and it has a nice feel when it comes to both size and opacity based on pressure.

Next up is lineart, what brushes I use in this stage goes hand in hand with what type of colouring process I'll use. When it comes to drawings with more flat shading (such as cellshading) I'll usually use Narinder Pencil. Again, nice texture, and I like it for situations where I want thinner lines with less variety in line-thickness.

When I use a colouring and shading process that's more complex/fully rendered of whatever tf you call it, I tend to use the Niko Rull or Eaglehawk (first drawing is the Niko Rull, second is Eaglehawk)

They are also the brushes I use for the actual rendering process of this particular colouring style (yeah guess we're going into to colouring stage now)

I have no idea how to describe my actual process on how I render my drawings lmao sorry I guess?? I kinda just improvise and hope it ends up looking decent haha. As you might be able to guess though, I am HEAVILY inspired by Arcane's art style (that show Awakened something in my istg) so uhhhhh go watch other people's tutorials on how to emulate the Arcane art style or smthn I dunno.

I will say though, the rendering process and the final look of the piece ends up being slightly different depending on which brush I use.

Niko Rull is rectangular as a base shape, and it doesn't really shade that easily on it's own. Because of that it takes a while to make the shading look good (trust the process!!) but I really like the end result (textureeeeee)

Eaglehawk is easier to blend and shade with (as in it takes a shorter amount of time) which leads to the end result being more smooth

Back to the drawings that use mainly flat shading! Here I will often use Eaglehawk to add that sweet sweet texture I keep going on about, basically I will just colour the areas that are either darker and/or more saturated (for example the cheeks, nose and ears in the latter case) with what is usually a warmer tone on a layer set to multiply, then I adjust the opacity to my liking.

Then I'll just cellshade using the Medium Hard Airbrush. I like using a cooler tone like blue often (like I did here in this example) but that changes a lot depending on what I think'll fit the art piece. Draw that on a layer set to multiply and again adjust the opacity to whatever looks good.

In the final stages of the drawing process I'll just add a bunch of filters until it looks good lmao. I am Bad At Colour Theory™, even though I KNOW the theory part of it, I have such a hard time actually using it practically. Basically, making the colour palette look good is HARD so I'll just CHEAT by using layers that's filled with a colour (whatever fits) and set it to like multiply or overlay or something like that and lower the opacity a bunch and BOOM people will think I know what I'm doing. One of my favorite is covering the entire drawing with a layer filled with a light blue colour, set that layer to Difference and lower the opacity to like 5%. The effect is subtle, but I like it.

Also, MORE TEXTURE!! Static texture!! Well, in procreate it's called "Noise" but it basically adds this static like texture to your selected layer. Use it on a layer that's filled with gray, set it to overlay lower the opacity a bunch and it gives this really nice grainy feel to your art. The colour filters I tend to use on all my coloured drawings, but the noise texture I mostly use the art with flat shading.

So yeah, sketching - lineart - colour flats - shading/rendering - add a bunch of filters - finished art piece, nothing really unusual there.

And lastly, some extra things I do:

In the lineart stage, I'll colour the sketch like red or something to differentiate between the sketch and lineart more easily.

I'll also lower the opacity of the sketch layer to help avoid accidentally drawing the lines on the same layer as the sketch (iykyk)

When filling in the flats, I'll first use a deep, saturated red or blue, and when I'm done filling in a section then I'll change the colour in that area to what it's actually supposed to be. This makes it easier to notice if there's a spot you missed to fill in because it'll contrast more!

I tend to prefer lineart that isn't pure black in my illustrations. With thinner lines I'll colour them a dark brown, blue, green etc, while with thicker lines I'll do the same but also lower the opacity slightly so that the colour underneath effects the lines colour as well.

You know how some people draw everything on like 1-3 layers? Yeah I'm the opposite, ONE MILLION LAYERS BABEYYYY you can never have too many!! (actually you can there's a limit but eh)

Sometimes, when I need to come up with a pose, I'll try posing in different ways myself to get ideas. I wont take any reference pics of myself tho because yikes

That's all I can think of for now! There's quite a lot to go into when it comes to art processes and I'm not great at explaining things, so if anyone has any questions just ask! :,)

[superfallingstars]

I love your Snape art! The way you draw him is *perfect*! I like how you can pull both a cozy soft vibe in a drawing and a creepy one in another and your Snapetober entries are very interesting (I'm thinking about the masks one and the one where Severus is surrounded by eyes)

first of all sorry it took me one million years to answer this. second of all THANK YOU!!! this is SO nice and makes me SO happy you have no idea <3

i meant to actually post a reflection about snapetober because it was such an interesting experience. it's been a long time since i've drawn so consistently (i used to draw every day as a kid but some time in high school i just sort of stopped and have been drawing weekly-to-monthly ever since) and i didn't realize how much i missed it! it was definitely hard to keep up with, but i'm really proud of what i was able to accomplish.

it was also a huge challenge for me to do more conceptual pieces (like the eyes and masks ones) and push through to finish them. i tend to get bogged down in character design and capturing someone's exact likeness (something i did with snape for a few months before even starting to post on here lol – it took a long time to get him to look the way i wanted!), and although i really enjoy doing that, i had been left feeling kind of disappointed with my art. most of my creations were just sketches and references, with no thought to composition or concept, to the point that i hadn't really "finished" a piece of art in probably years. so the pressure of the prompts and also having to post the results was actually really good for me.

i also really appreciate you saying that i can do both cozy and creepy types of drawings. i've always felt that my art style is kind of inconsistent, and especially when i first starting posting online (on deviantArt, eight years ago.... EIGHT YEARS AGO?!!!!), i thought that was a bad thing and that i should really just pick one style and stick with it. however i think i've finally accepted that i simply like a lot of different styles, and so i will incorporate them into my art as needed to achieve different effects. (hello that sketchbook page where i drew a hand squishing snape's cheeks with the caption "squish the snep" and then an inch away i drew him bleeding out.) and that's just kind of my thing, lol.

sorry i wrote a whole essay omg. but snapetober was so challenging and fun, and the people i've connected with and the interactions i've had on here because of it are something i'm really grateful for.

thank you again for your kind words :-)

[acourtofthought]

I’m curious to know more about you. What you do for a living (unless I missed that in a previous post). Where you’re from, hobbies, whatever you feel like sharing. 😅I’m a new(ish) follower, and haven’t had time for a deep dive just yet lol

I’m sorry if that sounds weird. I like learning about people and it makes things more personal/feel more connected 💚

Hello and thank you for the get to know you ask! 😊. I wouldn't expect anyone to go back through all my posts. Once I realized I had over 900 I created the Master List which at least points people in the direction of the theory based ones. No one has time to scroll through the other 750 😂

As for me, I live in the US, Eastern time.

I wish I would have realized sooner that I was interested in Interior Design because I would have definitely pursued that (walking into a Restoration Hardware / RH store was a religious experience for me 😂) but instead I ended up in the Health Care Insurance then Medical Billing fields (funny right? It's like working for the enemy).

As for hobbies, I like a little bit of everything. Sometimes I'm into photography and have taken photos for friends and family. I enjoy drawing but epically failed when I tried to teach myself digital art. I love traveling though I'm scared of flying, I like hunting for sea glass, playing games at an arcade, shooting pool, watching movies (I'm more an action / drama girl over rom com or reality type stuff). Though Blended is an exception, Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler together are magic! I love animals (dogs, cats, tigers, koalas, hippos, owls and so on). I used to snowboard and wouldn't mind getting back into that, I'm better at one on one conversations than I am hanging out in a big group and I love going out to eat. Appetizers, dinner and drinks is one of my favorite things to do 😂

I also really like singing and am not half bad but have extreme stage fright so I'll never be able to actually sing in front of anyone but my family 😂

I find that I tend to hop around with what I'm interested in at any given point in time (though I always love reading!). I'm consistently inconsistent 😁

If you're up for it, send me a message telling me about you! 💜

[demonidoodles]

Shall we Date? Actor AU (Pt 2/?)

Since everyone seemed to like this AU, here’s a Lucifer-centered headcannon for y’all while I work on other stuff for it :))

I like to think Lucifer’s actor has tattoos, that’s all lol.

[rotessaboggs]

How realistic should a work of fiction be? ~aka this is me rambling~

Warning: This is going to be more like me getting all of my messy thoughts out of my head than a coherent in-depth analysis. So read it at your own expense lol. Still, I would really love to read you guys’ thoughts and opinions on this topic. This is something I have been pondering upon for quite some time but I didn’t have the urge to write it down until I saw people on Twitter “arguing” over what a therapist said about Mike.

Also, English is not my native language so sorry in advance for any spelling/ grammatical mistakes or ambiguous/ confusing word choices. I won’t mind if you guys point it out for me.

First of all, let me start off with some chit-chats (you guys can skip it if you like). I have no intention of “forcing” my opinions on others so I want to make it clear how I am like which can affect my viewpoint intrinsically.

A few years ago, I generally didn’t care much about films or TV shows, to be honest. I did watch movie analysis for fun but I have always been a book lover and I tend to gravitate towards classic literature because they usually make heavier impacts on me (I may use some examples of classic lit later on). I usually opt for classic lit because I feel more certain that it has the thing I love - a character-driven narrative in which we get to dive deep into a character’s inner self, explore all their turmoils in exquisite detail, and observe a natural progression in their thoughts and feelings. 

It was in late 2017 or early 2018 that I watched a video explaining the first two seasons of Stranger Things that I got interested in the show. It was specifically Noah’s acting and Will’s possession arc in season 2 that made me become a fan, not gonna lie. I was super excited to watch season 3 right when it came out. And … It made me so disappointed that I felt weirdly left out when other people all seemed to enjoy it. I thought maybe it was just me and I didn’t think of the show at all during the three-year period between season 3 and 4. I clearly didn’t know that Will is gay or pay any attention to the underlying problem in mlvn’s relationship. That kinda qualifies me as one of the general audience, right? Volume 1 blew me away and made me hooked on this show again. And then I came across posts and analyses about Will and Mike (in season 4 and other seasons) and I was even more blown away by all the subtexts and parallels (you guys are AMAZING!). In one way or another, I support byler because if it is really the direction the show is heading towards, it proves that the piece of entertainment I am consuming at the moment has so much depth, breadth, and width. And that has always been the thing that gives me an amazing sensation of blissfulness and satisfaction when I enjoy art. It makes me feel like a diver making her way down the mysterious depth of the ocean, being fascinated by all the questions and wonders.

Thank you for getting through that. Let me get to the main question now. 

How realistic should a work of fiction be?

I have seen a lot of people say things like “Stranger Things is a show about a girl who throws off a car with her mind and alternate dimensions with monsters but gay characters in the 80s is where you draw the line, really?” Although I agree with the overall sentiment here, there is always something irking in the back of my mind about this argument, about when things should be realistic and when the writers can just do anything they want.

In this case, I won’t bring all the supernatural things into this discussion because I think the matter is not whether things are realistic or not, it’s more about whether all the supernatural elements really align with each other in the grand scheme of things, whether later discoveries explain or disrupt the set of established rules and norms (which can be absurdly unrealistic) we have from earlier seasons. Although there have been quite a few inconsistencies, especially in regard to the Upside Down as people pointed out, there is still the last season 5 in which more will be explained so yeah … let’s wait and see how it will pan out.

What I do care though is the characters, their personal developments, and the dynamics they have with each other.

Back to the therapist I mentioned earlier, I don’t know exactly what she said but as far as I hear from other people, she explained Mike’s behaviors in a way that is favorable to mvln so undoubtedly, mlvn shippers use it as their proof. Meanwhile, they are pretty much against an analysis of a person with film degrees and experience in media literacy. On the side of byler, there is an opposite response: more in favor of the latter, of course.

In my opinion, this is pretty much a gray area. On the one hand, I can see why people cling to the analysis of the therapist because characters are humans and their behaviors and thought process can be explained through the lens of psychology just as normal human beings. On the other hand, they are also fictional entities who play a part in a story, directly engage the audience into a narrative, and are the means through which the emotional impacts are created. Rather than seeing this in a black-and-white manner like “it’s not realistic to do this or that” or “oh come on it’s fiction,” I would say the boundary between the realistic and creative aspects is pretty blurry, especially when people are just talking generally about the show without specifically focusing on a character, relationship, or plotline.

A basic opinion that I first had about this is that: the journey that a character goes through should make sense and make the audience feel like it’s relatable  to a certain extent (or at least understandable). But to adhere strictly to reality for the sake of being realistic isn’t it. That personal journey, with its progression, climax, resolution, and aftermath, has to serve a purpose, or in another word, it has to be purposeful and consequential. 

People argue that Will being gay, in love with Mike and potentially having his feeling reciprocated + having a happy ending isn’t realistic because it’s the 1980s - a really homophobic period. They believe that it would be more realistic and accurate for Will to be rejected or something along the line. But if it is the path his arc is heading towards, then I wonder for what purpose then?

(This thought came after I finished this whole writing so I don’t know where to put it except here. Consider it an irrelevant note if you like) So … When I think of the word “realistic” when talking about fiction, I recall a quote that one of my professors mentioned in our class: “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” I question if it can be applied in this case. Although the 1980s was not a great period of time for gay people, was there anyone who actually got to have a happy ending? If those people exist, is it “unrealistic” for us to tell their stories instead of the conventional one - the one with no joy and happy ending at all? OK maybe that’s not what realistic actually means and maybe I’m way off base.

To be as close as the reality of the time is an obvious answer that some people may cling to but is it enough to be the drive of the arc of a main character?

I am currently reading “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'' by Anne Bronte and I am pleasantly surprised by how progressive the book’s ideology is considering that at the time it was published, women were devoid of any independence of their own and viewed as the properties of their husbands. To see a woman of that time (not only the heroine of the book but also the very author) deliberately going against that mindset is empowering indeed. The things happening in the book aren't necessarily “realistic” but sometimes we have to defy reality to get a message across and to create an emotional impact. Particularly when it comes to a progressive ideology like feminism or LGBT+ rights, by defying the reality, the writers are able to create a work that continues to be impactful decades or centuries later on. Or on a much more personal scale, we may say it’s a way of self-fulfillment for the authors who didn’t get a chance to live a better life (like Jane Austen with all of her books). Either way, there is a purpose.

On the other hand, there are also authors who don’t defy the rules and norms of the time and try to make their stories realistic. I always think about “Tess of the d’Urbervilles'' by Thomas Hardy in regard to this because that book hurts me like hell with its pessimistic progression and devastating ending. Spoiler alert, the main protagonist of the book doesn’t get a chance to escape the bleak reality of her life and the love story in the book doesn’t have a happy ending at all. Upsetting as it is, it makes sense when we learn more about Thomas Hardy. He is a person who is known for “his stoical pessimism and his sense of the inevitable tragedy of life.” Although one of his most popular books “Far from the madding crowd” has a happy ending, there are still a whole lot of pessimistic things and tragedies that plague nearly all the portions of the book. Also, sticking to a realistic portrayal of the society and having the characters suffer immensely can be a way of social critique, having the general audience confronted with unfairness and cruelty of this world, to encourage them to actually think about justice and equality instead of being indifferent towards those matters.

Now, based on what we know of the Duffer brothers (there are other writers as well, but overall, they created the whole thing in the first place so let’s just narrow it down to them), which side would you think they gravitate towards? 

Depressing as the show can get sometimes, it still offers us a message of hope and optimism, as well as emphasizing the power of self-esteem, friendship, and love. As someone who has always felt like an outcast, a second thought, and someone who tried to seek validation from other people to feel worthy in high school, I find the show relatable and inspiring, and I believe that it’s the effect the show creators want to bring about.

If Will’s feeling for Mike is not reciprocated and he somehow ends up sacrificing not only his heart but also himself in season 5, what message and effect do you think that would bring? Not just in the LGBT+ community but also people who find themselves resonate with Will in any certain ways.

Counter arguments

One may argue that well, if you want Mike and El to break up, it would still suck because she has suffered a lot and deserves love and happiness. Now I would support this if it were not for the things happening in episode 9 and her overall character arc. To be honest, I didn’t really care about El in earlier seasons because I tend to just hyper-fixate on one character at a time. But there are aspects of her arc this season that I find particularly relatable and touching. It’s her need to feel accepted, validated, and loved. 

At the beginning of the season, the foundation upon which she depends her self-esteem comes from the outside, which as we have all seen, causes even a lot more trouble to her mental health. All the bullies and harassment and then the lack of love received from Mike - all contribute to pushing her closer to the edge. At first, her coping mechanism is shrugging it off, putting it aside and pretending that all is good. It really doesn’t help that she can’t be honest with Mike about her struggles although hypothetically, they should be able to be so if their relationship is healthy and advantageous to both sides. I think all the lies are pretty much rooted in insecurity as she is an original person now without any superpower. She has been trying to find herself for several seasons but this is the first time there is no “superpower” - the main thing that many people see when they see El: a thing that they may depend upon in dire circumstances, or at worst weaponize for their own benefit. Her being left without it makes the issue of finding herself even more pressing because it seems now to her that she is no longer as helpful as before.

Despite the facade of happiness, all the distress is still there, waiting to surge up, breaking the dam when the time comes. That time being at the Rink-O-Mania. After that, we finally get the chance to see her true thoughts and feelings. We see that under the facade of happiness, those demeaning labels and names have really caught up to her and affected the way she defines her self-worth. It doesn’t just stop at “I’m different. I don’t fit in.” She literally sees herself in the worst light possible - a monster - something that brings destruction and death.

So the main character arc of El for the rest of the season (and I believe it will continue in season 5) revolves a lot around her defining her very self-worth (she alone knows herself best, not anyone around her; not Hopper, not Mike, her), making her own decisions despite the biggest authority figure in her life - Papa - saying “NO,” and most importantly, accepting herself (and her abilities) for what things are. If need be, she is going to use them in a violent way, like fighting against Vecna or the military, or use it to save Max - her dearest friend. When I first watched episode 9, I was a bit annoyed by the fact that they have El revive Max in such a way because it feels like they want to avoid a main character’s death. But when I ponder upon it a bit more, I see it as a beautiful contradiction with how her power has been used continuously in every season - something that causes damage and death vs. something that can revive life. There is no clear-cut definition like the monster or the superhero because these words imply certain qualities that completely contradict each other and cannot co-exist in one entity, that entity being El. She is Eleven and she is more complex than what those labels can ever describe.

Now this is exactly where I have issues with Mike’s monologue. Because he keeps going on and on about her power (a lot of which isn’t even accurate) and calls her a superhero. Many people have talked about this but let me put it down here just to make things clear: Mike is holding El back from her personal development. She cannot open up to Mike about her life in California, suppressing her negative feelings and thoughts all the way, because he has always looked up to her for her abilities and she can’t bear his pity if he knows the truth. She feels unloved because Mike cannot write the word “love” to her but once again she tries to put that aside. Mike’s words after she hits Angela triggers her traumatic experience at the lab - the one which makes her feel like a monster. And then when she finally gets to see that there is no such thing as a monster or hero, she being way more complicated than what others dictate her to be, Mike once again brings back the word “superhero.”

OK I didn’t intend to write that much about El, which is a bit funny considering that my favorite character is Will. I am feeling like I am driving at night without any headlight so let me end this part with a question: If she continues her relationship with Mike in season 5 without both resolving all the underlying problems in their relationship, it being the fact that they cannot really be themselves around each other and therefore, hindering their own personal development due to each being the main source of validation for the other, what purpose would it serve? What emotional impact and message can that bring about at the end of the day? What is potentially the climax of resolution of all these underlying issues that have lain around for seasons?

The psychological (realistic) and narrative (fictional) aspect of a character’s personal arc is so intricately interwoven to each other that to me, to erase one side from the argument (to completely cling to the analysis of a therapist) portrays a black-and-white way of looking at the show. I still love listening to character analysis of people who have knowledge of psychology though, because I love psychology a lot but I’m not going to forget that I’m watching a show in which everything has a sense of purpose and has to fit into a narrative. At the moment, we still have a whole season left and none of the characters have completed their arc yet, not to mention we are kept in the dark about some of the character’s actual thoughts and feelings and the only thing we can do now is deducing from what we see or hear from the show and other related sources of hint.

As you may realize, I have not mentioned anything like subtexts, parallels, foreshadows, etc. - things that are a part of the craft of storytelling, which further distances a work of fiction from real-life events. But as many people have already written amazing analyses in this respect, there is no need for me to mention it here.

So after all this rambling of mine, how realistic should a work of fiction be?

In my humble opinion, it should be realistic enough to make all the emotional and cognitive processes of the characters make sense, but reality should not shackle creative freedom. It should depend on the writers to decide whether to strictly stick to reality for social critique or to divert from it to present a message of hope. There should still be room for creativity and liberty to create a narrative (with all its parts like exposition, rising/falling actions, external/internal conflicts, climax and resolution) that serves to deliver the message of the writers as well as creating emotional impacts. These two aspects intertwine with and complement each other, and therefore, should not to be considered separately without mentioning the other.

In the case of Stranger Things, we have yet to get the whole picture of the narrative. Therefore, there is no conclusive answer as to why Mike behaves the way he does when his personal arc is still ongoing. Psychological knowledge may provide some theories but who knows if it actually aligns with what the writers have in mind. Until season 5 drops, it remains to be something like Schrödinger's cat.

If you get through this mess of a writing, thank you a lot. This is the first time I have ever written something this long without it being class assignments. As I said, this is me dumping all my thoughts out of my head so it’s really all over the place. Thank you a lot for reading! I would love to hear you guys’s opinions.

“Good morning! And in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and goodnight!”

[229zmi]

PAIRING: Iwaizumi Hajime/Reader

SUMMARY: Chronicles of you and Hajime, from the ages of thirteen to twenty-three.

THEMES/CONTENT: slice of life, coming of age, classmates to friends to lovers, fluff, tiny bit of angst if u squint reeeally hard, minor original characters, lots of timeskips ranging from a few weeks to several months, reader is referred to with they/them pronouns + gender neutral terms

NOTES: i was 15 when i started writing this, def not my best work, pacing is HORRIBLE, there isn’t really an overarching plot bc i wrote this mainly for funsies n to explore my writing style, i am sorry if there are any inconsistencies

WORD COUNT: 40k

Part 1: Kitagawa Daiichi, years 1-3 (17k)

You're no stranger to him.

Iwaizumi Hajime, like most of your other classmates, has always known you to be the designated art kid™. Your classmates ooh and aah whenever you showcase your artwork and boo when you decline their requests to draw them for free. They rush to be your partner for visual-based group projects even when they've never spoken to you before, but you've always preferred working alone anyway, initiating another boooo reaction.

But he also knows you're someone to avoid. Oh, don't bother talking to [L/N], they're not fun to talk to, he hears. You’re rude and unfriendly and conversation with you is always deader than a graveyard. And of course, Iwaizumi isn't one to indulge in such juvenile rumours, but considering the amount he's heard about you over the years, he's not entirely sure what to make of you.

Part 2: Aoba Jōsai, years 1-3 (20k)

When Iwaizumi thinks of time, it’s not quantified by the dates on a calendar, or a constant ticking clock counting every second of every day. Rather, he tends to imagine it in the form of a long, shallow stream that trickles down the earth, undemanding and deliberate; one adorned with all kinds of natural twists and turns and timeworn, flattened rocks that he’d use as stepping stones to get across because when he’s younger and hardly meeting the height requirements for all the big kid rollercoasters at amusement parks, everything always appears much more vast with neither beginning nor end in sight.

However, that was then; this is now.

It’s like this: he blinks and his first year of high school passes by in a blur. Another blink and there goes his second year. Seventeen is a fickle age, vicious and wayward. It is the age of in between and change, the cusp of adulthood. And Hajime — seventeen years old and fearing what lies in the future ahead of him — isn’t so sure what to do, though there’s one thing that he’s certain won’t change. It starts with your name and ends with his.

[L/N] [Y/N] and Iwaizumi Hajime — like two peas in a pod. (Maybe, just maybe, he’s liking the sound of that.)

Part 3: After High School Graduation, 4 years (3.2k)

Four years pass. Yet in the swinging pendulum of life and the theme of out with the old and in with the new, neither of you are willing to let go of one another any time soon.

PLAYLIST | April 6, 2021 - May 26, 2023

[vazaez]

(sort of¿) ANATOMY TUTORIAL!!!

More like how *i* do amatomy for my drawings because it's mostly not very relistic tbh

Letsgoooo

(this is mainly for @deadcolor but i'll post it anyways in case anyone else is interested)

Also i'm inconsistent af and i don't really pay a lot of atention to follow my own anatomy in most of my art because it's usually not worth it the effort for stuff that isnt even that important but when it's needed i actually have my own advice in mind lmao

Typical case of giving other people advice you don't actually follow but yeah lets get to it

1- i start with the good ol circle with a cross to do the head, usually i put the eyes over the red line and it's also where the cheek™ starts

2- body structure. Mostly shapes to know how i want the pose to look, the chest part is sort of a hexagon? With a line that will be the reference for the angle of the chest, this time it's from a bit low angle fue to the posture of our silly model guy so the line is curved up

Then a cilinder for the stomach and a triangle from where the legs will come out

All of these can be changed depending on how you wanna do your character, here it's some kinf of a beefy guy. But you can make the shapes a bit less wide for skinnier people or make them wider and less sharp for chub, etc... It's fun to play around with the shapes till you like the way it looks!

3- then i add the shoulders, just two circles at both sides of the chest, i usually tend to go in this order: shoulder-hand-elbow because from the distance between the shoulder and the hand i can find the middle part and put the elbow cirle there idk if i explained that well 💀💀

I also use the same lenght for both arms if the angle doesnt change them much, and since here it's in a 3/4 angle but sticking their hand up and slightly to the front it rlly doesnt change much

One more thing, for me it's easier to use rectangles and Squares as the hand shapes but that depends on how each artist finds it easier

4- the same goes for the legs just that i use some sort of triangles for the feet with semi circles at the front for the toes

5-now this is how the whole structure ends up looking

6- now this part is completely free, you can make the limbs thin or thick, with muscles or more smooth,

I usually do kinda muscular or sharp(?) arms in most characters, probably influenced by the rise style lol but if a character needs me to get out of my comfort zone then i adapt it

So yeah this is 100% personal choice of how you want ur characters to look

7- here it's once again up to personal choice whether you wanna make the body more smooth or just cleaning up the base shapes but leaving the body just as it is, i don't smooth it out because i like how it looks kinda sharp but yea this is all free choice

8- now the base shapes of the hands and feet, for the fingers i like to use rectangles or sausage-like fingers as reference to the positions i want them to be in, and for the feet i honestly have no idea??? Just kinda round shapes at the end of each foot 😭😭 im improvising w this one i never draw feet i'm sorry 🚶🚶

9- so i clean up the hands n stuff and it's done! I then just add the clothes on top and thats usually it

Idk i should practice feet and more anatomically correct bodies instead of just the bases to put the clothes on top but ion have enough time so rn it won't happen 🏃🏃

[mybg3notebook]

The Party Scene

Disclaimer Game Version: All these analyses were written up to the game version v4.1.104.3536 (Early access). As long as new content is added, and as long as I have free time for that, I will try to keep updating this information. Written in June 2021.

In these “scene posts” I will explore the scene of the title looking for the information in the dialogues. What I will be looking for is how much Gale “lies”, how much lore is provided, and any extra detail that may be of our interest to highlight. At the end of these posts there are summary points for those who don't want to read the whole post.

Additional disclaimers about meta-knowledge and interpretations in this (post) while disclaimers about Context in this (one).

The party scene, I personally think, needs plenty of polishing. The fact that many characters can have a "jealous" behaviour towards Tav no matter their approval looks suspicious to me. Gale's case is even weirder because if Tav did not romanced him at all, Gale will still share those judgemental comments that seem to come from jealousy, as well as strange dialogue options about “being a bad loser” when the context is not romantic at all. This would make some sense—to a certain extent—if Tav romanced him, but if Tav locked him as a friend, it has no purpose. Especially if Tav explores the option of suggesting him to spend the night together, which ends with Gale rejecting the situation because "they are just good companions" after such display of incoherent jealousy coming from a char who values privacy (and therefore would not meddle into Tav's personal affairs). It seems to contradict his character and therefore, it makes me suspect that the whole party scene is just very raw and unpolished in general. 

As I said, the party interaction is very confusing since it doesn't follow the relationship context created by Tav, and in Gale's case looks inconsistent with his char as well, inviting a strong misinterpretations of his character (this is probably a consequence of the decision of making Gale part of EA in the last moment). So this scene analysis may be a bit messy since the scenes are messy too (hence this post's length. I'm sorry). 

Whether Gale was locked into friendship or romance, Gale drops his famous line: 

As they say in Waterdeep: In wine there is truth. That's usually followed by: In water there is good sense. Good sense will have to wait till the morrow.

A great warning line from a narrative point of view: he is basically saying that what will be shared that day under the effect of wine is true, but it certainly won't be "good sense".

In a friendship path, he would not want to waste Tav's time any longer, and will bid them a good night while promising a bed-story the next day. In that case, the wine line could be interpreted as the final decision of a confession that will happen the next day: Gale has finally reached a degree of trust in Tav that gives him enough courage to finally speak about the details of the "orb" (and I emphasise details because in broader aspect, he already shared what's most important: the "orb" in his chest is a dangerous thing. If Tav assisted with his death protocol, this is undeniable by now, unless Tav allowed him to keep his privacy). 

In a romantic path, this wine line could be interpreted as the decision of inviting Tav to share a night, and explaining the details in the morning, the “good sense”. After the wine phrase, we have other piece of prose in which Gale describes a book that it's a bit more than a sexual book:

Gale: Allow me to make the following proposition: there is a book that circulates in Amn, detailing the first thousand nights of a newly-wed king and queen. They turned everything they did into an art. The art of conversation. The art of taste, time honoured and newly acquired. The art of the body. The exploration and acceptance of the self and the other. The art of the night itself. I say we take a page from their book. 

Considering that Gale is not only a verbose char, but also a poet and a scholar, the enumeration of the concepts in the description of the book speaks a lot in my opinion. Gale is not inviting Tav to a night of sex (let's remember he never uses that word in EA) but to a deeper degree of "intimacy", as he calls it. There is a lot more involved in what he asks for: confessions in the art of conversation, pleasures in the art of the body, and, hopefully, acceptance. For Gale, acceptance is a big deal: it’s not by chance that he left it last in the enumeration, summarising the whole concepts with the "art of the night". Gale is truly eager to access these concepts, and in doing so, I personally believe he shows a fair level of naivety on this matter. It seems (especially later with his unpolished arguments in the morning) he felt he needed this level of intimacy—of acceptance first—so he could speak the details openly. He wants to have this night before any confession because he thinks that it would allow him to acquire something that would prevent the abandonment that he viscerally fears: acceptance.

Any of the options taken by Tav keeps showing his eagerness. He wants this to happen in whatever terms Tav desires: as a brand new experience (“blank slates on blank sheets”) or with the promise of commitment (writing the prequel of a newly-wed couple). Or if Tav romanced Gale and then chose to spend the night with another companion, Gale will still insist in sleeping together, showing he was open for Tav to have casual sex as long as the "commitment" part would be established with him. This is reinforced by the fact that, if Tav never shared the Weave with Gale, there is no way to sleep with him: Gale is not a character for one-stand nights. He craves for deep connection, for commitment, in whatever fashion he can get it. Mystra taught him not to ask about exclusivity after all.

Gale is so desperate to have this deep connection that if Tav doubts about spending the night with him, he will drop a line which can trigger an alarm in the player:

Tav: I'm not sure you're the one I want. Gale: That's because you've yet to find out what you're missing. Doubt is a spoilsport. Cast it aside.

Gale, the scholar, the one who kept encouraging Tav to doubt and to think critically about everything, suggests to dismiss doubts. Once more we see he needs this to happen. Some players interpret this as manipulation as well. I personally think this also says something else in Gale: since the dev's notes show no second intentions in the only two scenes where dev's notes existed, and instead, they display how much fear Gale has for a second abandonment, Gale is showing here his inexperience with relationships as well as a constant fear for abandonment.

Gale is looking for commitment, for something that can last longer than Mystra's affair did: he wants something solid, but his inexperience in this field made him "acquire" knowledge of how things should work via romanticized means such as books and poetry. In his mind, the acceptance he needs can only be acquired due to the "art of the night", very well detailed in this book he describes. 

It's true that, all this part, if we completely ignore the narrative weight that the book has for a book-based character such as Gale, can be interpreted as Gale manipulating Tav to have sex alone; desperate to obtain it, doing everything in order to get it. We can also see the description of the book as a “bait”, as some people do. It's a valid interpretation, especially for a Tav who respected Gale's privacy during the Loss Scene and the protocol, so that Tav has no information with which to connect the dots. But I personally find it an over-magnification to see him as a "mastermind of manipulation". The few dev's notes we have about Gale seem to confirm that nothing shadier than his “orb” despair and his fear for abandonment are going on. These fears are constantly echoing in his mind, and they are, as I said in other posts, the main reasons why he becomes emotional and prone to make mistakes. 

Is this action manipulative? It can be seen as “withholding information” by any Tav who didn't push him to explain, otherwise, all the information in a general way has been offered already and there is no withholding at all. Is Gale a manipulative character? In EA we don't see a pattern of that behaviour to qualify him as such. He has been quite honest, explaining in all scenes what he can say and what he cannot, drawing his boundaries clean and clear. We saw him struggling with the explanation of what he lost. The few Dev's notes reinforce mainly his fear for abandonment, lacking any manipulative behaviour behind his actions. His pattern, in my opinion, is that he tends to make mistakes in his emotional state, which is mostly triggered by the “orb” and the concept of “abandonment”. Not so much with Mystra per ser. He seems to be nostalgic but more aware of what loving a God causes (his regret is explicit during the conversation of Karsus). He is quite done with "her love as a lover", but that doesn't mean he doesn't want to be forgiven nor he doesn't love her as the essence of Magic itself. More details in the post of "Mystra and her Chosen ones".

After the party, Tav can have a romantic conversation before the sex “intimacy” or can reject the chance. What seems incoherent in this part is when Tav is not in the mood for sex, and Gale simply cuts off the situation. He is a character who craves connection and intimacy, and pretty much like Wyll, he needs a bond before stepping into romance. To waste a night of celebration that could be used to share any other level of intimacy (let's say, talking? The man clearly LOVES to talk) seems strange. If this reaction is truly meant to be in the game, it would seem that he certainly was more desperate for sex than what all the previous scenes hinted, but in that case it would have done little sense to leave the tale of the wizard for the next night. Gale already knew Tav did not want to have sex, so no point in delaying the explanation of the details. I personally suspect these incoherences are a consequence of Gale being added into EA at the last moment, making him more “shadier” than he is meant to be. 

To justify my opinion that this seems to be an unpolished scene: if Gale is not romanced, and conditions are given, Lae'Zel will spend the night with him, talking. Why would Gale prefer to share a night of talks with a companion with whom he had not the Weave connection before, but he won't do it with a Tav who shared it? I see some incongruence here, probably as the result of being added into the EA in a rush. His scenes are less polished and much more messier than the other companions' (certainly not more than Wyll, though) and his bugs and triggering priority show it. 

This part is also seen as "coercive" by some players:

Tav: I’m sorry, but I actually don’t think I can do this. I’m just not in the mood. Gale: Not even a simple kiss would change your mind? Tav: No, it wouldn’t.

Tav: Maybe a kiss was enough Gale: Are you sure? One kiss is like one chord in an entire symphony. It begs for more.

Gale: (disapproval) What a pity. One should never be afraid to live life to the fullest. Before we part.. I know there are many things about me that remain shrouded in mystery. You’ve been very patient with me, and I appreciate that. You’ve brought me back from the grey shores of death. You know of my condition, and you know about my unfortunate efforts to win Mystra’s favour, but those are but the broad strokes. The time has come to paint you the true picture. So come find me another night, yes? No kisses, just words. (Leaves)

Asking seems to be coercive for some people just because there is a disapproval. I personally separate very clearly what Tav sees and receives as information from the NPCs and what I, the player, do. Tav should react to what they see, but the player is having a “meta-knowledge” of the situation with the info of the narrator and the approval system. The player knows Gale is disappointed in not having intimacy now, and he expresses it. Then he behaves completely natural, and continues talking (of course) about what he will explain about in the following morning (I don't understand what impedes him to say it in that moment: is it the wine? He fears his charisma checks are at a disadvantage due to the wine? Is it just a reflection of the rush in which he was added to the game? We will see in the full release. To me it looks inconsistent.)

Anyways. The scene continues in the early morning or simply the next night depending on what option Tav picked. Here, Gale presents the details of the revelation: “It is a story full of answers long overdue. It is a story of a man who fell in love with a goddess.”

Tav: You're really about to tell me about another lover? What's wrong with you? Gale :I couldn’t do it before. I couldn’t ruin the chance for us to happen. You were there. How could I say no to you? Dev's notes: Gale revealed he was in love with Mystra. He tells this the morning after. Understandably, the player can react negatively to his timing. He tries to explain himself. 

This line clearly shows that there was an intention in hiding the relationship he had with Mystra, which it's an “answer long overdue” (is it?). Now, some players consider this the proof of Gale's manipulations; the greatest betrayal, because people are entitled to know all the details of their partner's past before sleeping with them. Other players consider that it's in poor taste to disclose this exactly the morning after sharing the night with Gale. And I agree. However, I see a scene with a lot of over-magnifications and making things more problematic than they truly are. In my opinion, “the chance for us to happen” is deeply linked to the book of Amn for all the reasons explained before. It's not by chance that this book has such a weight in the scene. Gale also shows with this line that he has no experience nor idea how relationships develop. 

I also think that Gale fails so much in delivering decent lines in this scene because, 1) this is a very unpolished text in EA, or 2) this is very on purpose, emphasising that Gale is ready to speak about the two topics that turn him into an emotional disaster and his word choices could be attributed to as someone failing many charisma checks. Maybe that's the intention.

If Tav considers this the greatest of the betrayals they can tell him to leave and Gale will not resist the rejection, leaving the party immediately and facing one of his biggest fears: Abandonment. And once more, the abandonment as a consequence of his own mistake. The irony of this path. 

If Tav allows him to explain, Gale will accept any "judgement after telling his story". This is something very related to Gale's approvals: to have a complete grasp of a situation, you need to have all the evidence, hear all the details of the event, before drawing a conclusion. And curiously, no matter what aggressive option Tav picks, Gale gives no disapproval unless he is forced to leave the party. So, after some dramatic reaction, Gale will try to proceed with the telling.

Tav: It’s clear as day you are talking about yourself, you know Gale: I know, but a bit of narrative distance will make it all so much easier in the telling. Indulge me.

From here, Gale gives Tav another courtesy gesture: to pick the version in which this will be explained. He clarifies that the long version, more pompous and verbose and in third person, is the one he would prefer due to the distance. Since the first meeting on the road, or the stew scene, passing through the Loss Scene, we see this pattern again: Gale, the character who always has a lot of things to speak about, has also topics that are difficult to explain and needs to use narrative tricks to do it. Not by chance he is a reserved person: those topics he can't talk about are always personal. 

Long version

Gale: Once upon a time, not quite that long ago, there lived a wizard in a tower. The wizard was what one might call a prodigy, who from an early age could not only control the Weave, but compose it, like a musician or a poet. Such was his skill that it earned him the attention of the mother of magic herself. The Lady Of Mysteries, Mystra.

Tav: What did Mystra’s attention feel like? Gale: Love.  Dev's Notes: nostalgic, regretful, bitter, sad, lost romance–all with a bit of hesitation on the front of the line. Tav :He sounds like a very talented individual Gale: He was. Even though it was in Mystra’s affections that his true power lay. Tav: Teacher’s pet, was he? Gale: He fancied himself much more than that. He fancied himself favoured above all others. 

These three options give interesting additional information: Gale was convinced that Mystra's attention was love, because he was young and naive. He is now very aware that his talent meant little, because the true power he had was in Mystra's affections, meaning in being a loved Chosen one. He fancied himself unique, as a Chosen would do. 

Gale: Perhaps it was not quite love, Dev's Notes: A little embarrassed Gale: but you see, the wizard was but a very young man. It was most certainly love to him. Mystra showed him the secrets behind the veils. The gossamer veils first, draped across the Weave. The delicate veils next, draped across her body. ‘Chosen One’ she whispered, as she slipped them off completely.

This is another fragment with interesting, yet disturbing lines: Gale now, as a narrator, questions if that past feeling was Love. He has matured his sentiments for Mystra, they are less "teenager-like". He is convinced that in the past it was love to him, implying that now he has doubts (concept reinforced once more by the end of the scene). The disturbing line is the definition of "very young man", which I will talk about in the post of "Gale Hypotheses- Part 1", section: "Grooming". 

Tav: The veils draped across the Weave? Gale: Indeed. What most wizards perceive is but the ripple of the Weave’s surface. Untold wonders lie beyond. I enjoyed them for a while, as we enjoyed each other.

Once more, in these details, the narrative reinforces how intense is the connection of Mystra with a Chosen one. Again, this is lore information. Chosen ones have a deep connection with Mystra/the Weave/Magic, which is unique. More on this matter can be read in the post about "Mystra and her Chosen ones".

Gale: One day all too soon, the whispers stopped. The goddess spurned the mortal. The veils were drawn once more, and the wizard was left behind heartbroken.

Tav: Poor wizard Gale: Poor wizard. Silly wizard too, for he wouldn’t take no for an answer Tav: What happened next? // I hate to say it, but he really could have seen this coming Gale: He was blinded by love. Good stories are rife with lovers’ follies after all. Tav: Perhaps she, like you, had other lovers she didn’t tell him about. Gale : She might well have had, but that didn’t stop the wizard from trying to reclaim her affections.

Gale: Like so many of the heartbroken, he did something infinitely foolish. One has to think big if one seeks to win back a goddess. So the wizard thought big. [Here he explains all about Karsus who] sought to usurp the goddess of magic so that he could become a god himself. He almost managed but not quite, and his entire empire – Netheril – came crashing down around him as he turned to stone. The magic unleashed that day was phenomenal, rolling like the prime chaos that outdated creation. A fragment of it was caught and sealed away in a book. No ordinary book, mind you; a tome of gateways that contained within it a bubble of Astral Plane. It was a fragment of primal Weave locked out of time – locked away from Mystra herself. ‘What if’, the silly wizard thought. ‘What if after all this time, I could return this lost part of herself to the Goddess?”

Another part of the scene that keeps giving us a lot of information: Gale is very aware now how silly he was in his youth (at this point, one can almost remember his words during Arabella's quest: she is not innocent but that doesn't mean she is guilty) and his past young self was unable to take a no as an answer (which apparently Gale learnt very well when before this revelation or after, Tav can reject him and he simply leaves the party without putting much resistance, despite knowing that Tav only has a fragment of the big picture). The other answer reinforces his blindness by this strange concept that Gale thought it was love, and pretty much uses the word Folly for describing or making an analogy with his past, which again, it's not a casual word: Folly is a formal way to say stupidity and it's also a word that Gale uses to compare his mistake with Karsus' folly. As an extra, the last answer seems to explain very much what he does when Tav romanced him and then slept with another companion. Details of this in the post "Gale Hypotheses- Part 2", section: "Proposition to Cheat".

Short version: 

This version is shorter and more into the point without an excess of dramatic details that may end up annoying Tav more than making the process of comprehension better. The short version makes much more clear where Gale is standing: the facts are presented without his typical pattern of embellishing the story.

Gale: […] I am what one might call a wizard prodigy, who from an early age could not only control the Weave, but compose it like a virtuoso. Such was my skill that it earned me the attention of Mystra herself. I soon fell in love with her, and she returned my affections. […] Before long Mystra tired of me. What was I, after all, but a mortal plaything in sacred hands? You have to realise I was heartbroken. I was a young man, she was my first love. I thought it would last forever. 

This part reinforces once more that he is very aware that a relationship with a goddess was very unbalanced, that Mystra was his first love, he was a young man, and he thought it would last forever. 

For completion's sake, the goblin version has a different introduction:

Gale: Let's just get this over with. No doubt you've guessed by now there was something rather special about my relationship with the goddess Mystra. The thing is, we were lovers once. I am what one might call a wizard prodigy [...follows the same speech of the short version]

Three versions converge in the kneeling. The scene in this point has a different narrative value; a proud character as he is, who has a deep regret for his mistake with the “orb” (he says it explicitly in the "Loss Scene" post) kneels before Tav to humbly show the traumatic experience by placing their hand on his heart, where the “orb” resides:

Gale: Here. Place your hand over my heart. Let me show you Narrator: You feel the tadpole quiver as you realise Gale is letting you in. Into the dark. You see through Gale’s eyes, staring down the corridors of a dread memory. A book, bound, then suddenly opened. Inside there are no pages, only a swirling mass of blackest Weave that pounces. It’s teeth, it’s claws, it’s unstoppable as it digs through you and becomes part of you. And gods, is it ever hungry…

This scene speaks of opennesses in all senses, honest and without any interest of pretence: Gale is showing his greatest regret, the lowest of the lowest he reached, the despair that it inspires. For once, he is not talking, he is showing it (because the experience is the one that makes him speechless and its memory seems to cause him great pain too due to the facial gesticulation). And what Tav sees shows again that Gale has nothing extra to hide: this has been the same exact information that Tav could extract from him in earlier opportunities with successful tadpole intrusions. So, if Tav never reveals that they saw this in Gale during the stew scene, Tav will realise that Gale kept his promise: he was reserved for a while, trusting slowly in Tav, to finally open up and show that he was going to explain the “why” much more later, because it's truly difficult for Gale to speak about.

1-Yank your hand away Gale: Terrifying isn’t it? And that is only the beginning 3-Tav: Gods – why show me this? Gale: I’m sorry, but I had to. After all, that is only the beginning 4-Tav: I slept with a monster. Gale: I didn’t sleep with a monster despite the tadpole in your head. We are none of us monsters. We are merely hatcheries for monstrous things. So we fight them.

This is one of the most ominous information Gale gives us, in my opinion: The experience of how the “Black Weave” rushed into his body is grotesque and painful, and it's meant to cause despair. But that was only the beginning: Gale is everyday dealing with that feeling, but on a bigger scale as its hunger increases with each passing day. The descriptions of his emotions during the artefact scenes adds more despair and anxiety to it. Gale is living in the worst mental state that a person can, but he manages it thanks to his wizard training and the Weave he consumes (he is still alive thanks to Magic, of all things). This shows the mental power of a wizard in DnD. And if you read the post about "Well-known Characters" section: "Elminster", Gale could have been inspired in him since I can see this level of endured torture similar to the one that Elminster was exposed to when he was kidnapped and dragged to the Hells. 

Gale: This Netherese taint.. this orb, for lack of a better word, is balled up inside my chest. And it needs to be fed. As long as it absorbs Weave it remains stable – to an extent. The moment it becomes unstable, however..[...] It will erupt. I don’t know the exact magnitude of the eruption, but given my studies of Netherese magic, I’d say even a fragment as small as the one I carry…. It’d level a city the size of Waterdeep. Dev's Notes: He admits he’s a walking disaster waiting to happen. This is said very seriously. The truth is finally out and he has no idea how the player will react to such monstrous news.” 

Tav: I should godsdamned kill you Gale: Perhaps that is what I deserve, but you deserve no such thing. To kill me is to unleash the orb. I understand your anger, I do […]

Here is where we know that Gale calls it “orb”, but it's not an orb. For more details, read the post about the "Orb". Tav already knew since the Stew scene that Gale could cause a catastrophe without artefacts. In this scene we just get some extra details about it. 

Gale: It is my truth, finally revealed. It is this folly that led Mystra to abandon me completely. I can only hope you won’t abandon me as well. After all we’ve been through.. (After the night we spent together). Surely we can brave even this side by side. Dev's notes: Solemn. Full of yearning his news will not lead to him being abandoned by the player.

And there, Gale's “truth” is “revealed” (not truly, it is only more detailed in the information): We know that the Weave he consumes from the artefacts keeps this condition stable (something we already knew since the Stew Scene) and it will erupt if it doesn't consume artefacts (which is something we knew since the Stew Scene too). So the revelation scene is not so much of a revelation. The whole scene has a writing with a lot of weight in “shocking” revelations and “dramatic” reactions when the context provided shows that there is little to be shocked about, in my opinion. If anything, this whole scene needs serious polishing.

Then it follows the “coercive” part according to some players, which again... it's only Gale hoping this situation doesn't end in a second abandonment. The concept that the “intimacy” of the shared night gives more reasons to stay by his side seems pretty naïve, but maybe that was the intention (thus my suspicion that Gale has no experience at all in relationships, only what he learnt from romantic books). What it's clear is that after the detailed explanation, Gale is desperate to avoid a second abandonment, yet he knows it's unavoidable. This can be seen when Tav doesn't forgive his betrayal (?) of not saying anything about Mystra or the "orb" (he did in the Stew and following scenes, but this context is not acknowledged here), and Gale simply accepts it, showing that Mystra's experience made him learn to accept a no, leaving the party forever (in EA). 

Tav: No. This is too large a betrayal. Gale: I see. I am sorry. I am sorry that it had to come to this. All that’s left to say is farewell. Dev's Notes: A slight hesitation, hurt but understanding. He makes a polite little bow, then we see him walk away.

Really, I don't understand what happened with this scene because it's either ignoring any annoyance that the situation can cause on a Tav who didn't push Gale to talk, or it offers an over-reaction when all the information has been shared already, at least in a very generalised way during the Stew Scene. A Tav who doesn't push Gale to speak will have no more details than the ones provided during the Stew Scene at this point in the game, but one who pushed Gale will basically have the whole story covered. The Rpg-options we get here are so white-and-black, and not even coherent with the context, no wonder so many players turned Gale into a “mastermind in manipulation”. This scene is very unpolished in my opinion.

Tav: Gale, are you still in love with Mystra? Gale: I’ll be honest with you; I don’t know. She is my muse still, the embodiment of magic, but the embodiment of love? Only if we ever meet again will I know

Here we have once more confirmation that Gale questions what kind of love he has for Mystra. Considering all the context he gave us previously, it seems that his love for his Goddess as a devotee will never cease, but romantic love is a big question for him. He has given Tav all the hints to make them suspect that Gale probably never knew romantic love outside his experience with Mystra or what he could read in books.

Tav: What would permanently rid you of the orb? Gale: The orb was kept safe and inert in a pocket of Astral Plane, suspended in time. If I can somehow manage to expel it from my body while in the Astral Plane, it will be rendered inert again. Alternatively, I could learn to control it’s chaotic magic, that is; to succeed where I failed before. But without Mystra’s favour, I don’t see how that may come to pass. Of course there could be different answers as well. Faerûn brims with more magic than any one wizard could fathom, let alone comprehend. Who knows what outlandish solutions may yet present themselves?

The last bits of information are more interesting: Gale thought of two possible solutions to solve his “orb”problem. One is to expel the object out of his body in the Astral Plane where time doesn't exist so its hunger or ticking mechanism stops, so the magic will remain inert. The other option is to control Netherese magic. He informed Tav that he already tried this option, so it's clear that Gale's intention when obtaining this book was to master this strange piece of Weave and give the secrets of that control to Mystra. But he failed.

Summary of the post:

There is an important emphasis in acceptance: only through acceptance Gale can open up to share the details of his mistake. He wants to have this night before any confession because he wants to acquire this acceptance that, in his mind, would prevent the abandonment he viscerally fears.

In all the scenes there are many hints suggesting Gale is very inexperienced in relationships: the acceptance he needs can only be acquired due to the "art of the night'', which is one of the main points in this book. His notions related to relationships seem to have been acquired via romanticised means: books and poetry. He may believe that intimacy guarantees acceptance.

Gale “reveals” his truth: he was a Chosen of Mystra, he was Mystra's lover, and the “orb” problem was a mistake he made to earn Mystra's attention. All this information is now detailed here when it had been shared already. There is little “revelation” in it.

Gale's actions can be interpreted as manipulative for a Tav who respects his privacy and has little information about the “orb”. But hardly the pattern extends to his behaviour. His need for acceptance makes him make bad decisions.

A Tav who pushed Gale to speak in previous scenes finds little new information in this one: they will have a more detailed picture of the situation and they will know that Gale and Mystra were lovers.

Gale is very aware that Mystra's love was not exactly love, but it felt like that when he was young. He also knows that the true power of a Chosen is related to being loved by her. He is also aware that a relationship with a goddess is a very unbalanced one. He states that Mystra was his first love, the affair happened when he was a (very) young man, and he thought it would last forever. 

Potent narrative image: Gale, a proud character with great confidence, kneels before Tav to humbly show the traumatic experience by placing his hand on his heart, where the “orb”resides.

In general, the whole tone of the scene jumps constantly in my opinion. Tav's options are not toned to the general atmosphere of the scene: or they ignore completely the value of what Gale says, or over-react magnifying information as if it were the first time Gale says it, when a lot of it was shared during the Stew Scene and following scenes. It feels like a very unpolished scene, probably as the result of Gale being a companion added to the EA in a rush.

The Dev's notes explain the whole situation as: 

Dev's notes: synopsis: The principal portion of this dialog consists of two main parts: a romantic night intro that leads to a fade to black and implied intimacy, and a section in which Gale tells you his true story in either of two ways (chosen by the player). These are the ‘story’ variant in third person, and the slimmed down ‘story-light’ version in first person. It is the story of how he fell in love with the goddess Mystra, was spurned by her after a brief affair, and how he got himself into big trouble when trying to win her back. The dialog was originally meant to contain only the above, but for recording and cinematic purposes, the story sections of it are also used in a variety of other ways, that is to say, the dialog also contains an intro section in which the scene begins with no romantic intent. In specific cases though, Gale will still try his luck, which you’ll see in the repeat of some lines of an earlier dialog. 

This shows that, so far, the intention was always to make Gale explain the “true story” in this scene, which was the one we were told. I think that expecting more secrets would water down this intention here. In any case, the future secrets, if there are some left, may be secret even for Gale himself.

This post was written in June 2021. → For more Gale: Analysis Series Index

[chiaki-translation]

New Year! Red and White Kakushigei Tournament! Event Translation Ch1-4

Actually, I’ll be going for a short holiday after today, so expect the next few chapters next week~

Short note before the translation part, I actually don’t know how to translate Kakushigei Tournament, it’s like a hidden talent/art competition? If I’m not wrong, it’s a variety show kind of stuffs where you perform unique talents. Few examples can be seen from the cards from this event, things like belly dance, cigar box juggling, ventriloquism, etc. If anyone knows more about what it is, please tell me cause I’m actually not that clear either~

New Year! Kakushigei Tournament Ch1-4 / / Ch5-8 / / Ch9-Epilogue

Disclaimer:

A3! is owned by Liber’s Entertainment

Translator’s Note: I’m keeping it as Kakushigei throughout the story as it cannot be translated. ‘escape game’ refers to escape room type of game. The shrine that they visited in this story has already been visited during previous event in which I haven’t read the story, so do tell me if there’s any inconsistency in my translation.

Manager:

Then without further ado, I will announce the result of the voting…

A has 13 votes, B has 13 votes too!

It’s a draw!

Kumon:

Eh!?

Taichi:

Really!?

Kazunari:

But A is definitely better!

Citron:

No, no! It’s definitely B!

Itaru:

I think A is better.

Tasuku:

B’s better isn’t it.

Yuki:

A seems to be better.

Taichi:

It’s B! B should be the correct choice!

Director:

I didn’t expect this to be a draw. What to do…

Omi:

It’s a bit of a problem…

Tsumugi:

… Eh?

Anyway, where’s Chikage-san and Banri-kun?

Muku:

Ah, you’re right. They are not here.

Azami:

They were just here earlier, right?

Tsuzuru:

Ah, if it’s those two, most probably…

<Shifts to Road>

Banri:

… I managed to slip away, but I wonder if it’s alright.

Chikage:

It’s not a good idea to break the atmosphere isn’t it.

Banri:

Well, if it continues that way, we won’t be able to make it for the ‘escape game’, I guess there’s no other choice.

This ‘escape game’ is one that I’m really interested in.

Anyway, that voting before, what did you choose, Chikage-san.

Chikage:

I feel that both are fine… But I choose A.

Banri:

Really, me too.

Chikage:

Haha, so we chose the same thing.

Then, where are we going now?

Banri:

Today’s ‘escape game’ is a little bit different from the usual one.

… Look, this is the game’s website.

Chikage:

Eh, this place…

<Shifts to Shrine>

Chikage:

As I thought, it’s here.

I helped out here during the moon-viewing party before.

Banri:

Ah, that one.

If I remember correctly, I heard that you also danced for the offering ceremony.

Chikage:

You’re right.

Priest:

Oh, you are…

Chikage:

Good afternoon, long time no see.

Priest:

It’s been a while.

Thank you so much for your help during the moon-viewing party.

Chikage:

You’re welcome.

… So, this shrine also holds an ‘escape game’.

Priest:

You came to participate in the ‘escape game’ is it.

Thank you so much.

I’m doing this so that everyone can feel the friendliness of the shrine, in order for everyone to be more interested in this shrine.

We believe for the rabbits to be the divine messenger, there are a lot of rabbit paintings and decorations around, and people mostly visit during the moon-viewing season--.

That’s why, we’re trying to do a special event for end of year.

But during new year, people tend to visit other shrines and temples instead… To be honest, I’m having quite a hard time.

Banri:

It’s a real issue for the temple huh…

Chikage:

True that.

Priest:

… Anyway, what’s your theatre company planning to do at the end of the year?

Chikage:

New year huh?

Most probably it’s going to be the same as usual, end of year party and…

Banri:

That right?

The annual Kakushigei tournament.

Priest:

A Kakushigei tournament huh… I see.

If that’s the case…

<End of Chapter 1>

Banri:

I’m home.

Chikage:

I’m home.

Director:

The two of you, welcome back.

Citron:

Welcome~!

You were at an ‘escape game’ right?

Banri:

Yeah. Sorry for slipping out during the day.

So about that vote, have you guys made the decision?

Taichi:

About that, we still cannot decide~

Tsuzuru:

The discussion runs in parallel, and in the end we never get to decide.

Banri:

Seriously.

Tenma:

How’s the ‘escape game’?

Chikage:

They have quite elaborate content, it was fun.

Banri:

It’s located in a shrine, but it was fresh and interesting.

Chikage:

Yeah. Actually, the ‘escape game’ this time is held in the rabbit shrine where we did the moon-viewing party last time.

Kazunari:

For real!? So that shrine also holds an ‘escape  game’~!

Chikage:

We happened to meet the priest there too.

We were asked if we would like to appear at their end of year event as MANKAI company.

Director:

Is it a performance request!?

Banri:

When we told him that we usually do a Kakushigei tournament during new year, he asked if we would like to show it off as an event there instead.

Tsuzuru:

You mean, it won’t be a play, but a Kakushigei performance!?

Kazunari:

That’s lit!

It sounds interesting to do Kakushigei on the stage of a shrine!

Taichi:

It sounds really fun! I want to do it!

Citron:

… I, am inspired.

Tsuzuru:

What’s with that weird look.

Citron:

The previous voting was a draw. So—

We’ll divide the A and B into red and white group, and battle it out during the Kakushigei tournament, how about that!?

Taichi:

Damn! Citron’s a genius!

Tenma:

Huh!? Seriously.

Sakyo:

I have nothing to say…

Kazunari:

But, by doing that we can take the challenge more seriously, and it should hype out the event more, even the audiences will be more excited isn’t it!?

Director:

You’re right…

That shrine has taken care of us during the moon-viewing party too.

I think it’s a good idea to do this kind of performance once in a while.

Tsuzuru:

Well, it’s true that we haven’t decided on what to do for Kakushigei this year too.

Citron:

Yes!

The chance is here, Kakushigei tournament, everyone let’s hype it up!

Kazunari:

You can show off the different appeal of this theatre company as well!

Right, Frooch-san!

Sakyo:

Geez, fine…

But, if you want to do it, everyone has to give their all.

Taichi:

Alright!

This is so exciting~!

Banri:

Then, we’ll accept the Kakushigei tournament performance.

Director:

Yup, let’s do it!

Chikage:

… Then, there’s actually one more request that I’ve received.

Director:

?

<Flashback to Shrine>

Priest:

It’s different from the ‘Moon Recital’ that we did during the moon-viewing party, and we haven’t done it in years but…

The past end of year festival… We used to present a dance for the “Rabbit Lunar New Year Fair”.

Chikage:

Hmm, I see.

Priest:

The dance at the moon-viewing party was wonderful, even if it’s only this year, I would like to revive this tradition, I would like to request this from you.

<Back to Present>

Banri:

The priest also mentioned about a special reward.

Tsuzuru:

Something special from the priest?

It can’t be…

Chikage:

The reward is not a figurine this time, I have confirmed it.

Kazunari:

Oh, really?

Taichi:

What will the reward be~!?

I’m getting even more excited now!

Sakyo:

Even as theatre company, the moon-viewing party was one of good reputation.

I was grateful we received such request that time.

Director:

You’re right. Then, let’s accept the dance offer as well!

<Short Time Skip>

Director:

So, for the dance, I’ll leave it to the members here!

Banri:

Yup.

Chikage:

Please treat me well.

Hisoka:

Zzz…

Tsuzuru:

Mikage-san, please wake up.

Azuma:

Fufu, the line-up sounds good.

Director:

Chikage-san, Tsuzuru-kun, Hisoka-san, and Juza-kun, the four of you have participated in the moon-viewing party before right.

I’ll be counting on you.

Juza:

I’m going to give it my all for the performance this time too.

Tenma:

But, the Kakushigei will run in parallel with the performance, you have to practice for both, it’s going to be quite taxing.

Director:

For the details, I will be meeting the priest in the near future to discuss about it.

Tenma:

Hmm? Someone’s phone is ringing.

Banri:

Ah, it’s mine.

… My bad, it’s a phone call.

I’ll go out for a bit.

Azuma:

Go ahead.

<End of Chapter 2>

Chikage:

…Hmm?

Banri:

Eh, isn’t is Chikage-san.

It’s rare to see you around here.

Chikage:

I was on my favorite curry shop.

On my way back now.

Banri:

You’re a spice maniac as usual… So dedicated.

Chikage:

I’ll take it as a compliment.

Then, what are you doing, Banri?

Banri;

Shopping for the Kakushigei.

Chikage:

Oh, as expected of Banri.

You’re pretty dedicated as the leader of the red group.

Banri:

You said something nice for someone who partly got forced into that position…

Staff:

It’s amazake! Try it out!

Banri:

Hmm?

Staff!

I’m giving out amazake samples!

Would you like to try one?

Banri:

Why not, I’ll take it.

Staff:

Alright, there you go~

Chikage:

Thank you.

Banri:

It’s warm.

Chikage:

… Sweet.

Banri:

Is it really that sweet?

Amazake’s usually like this.

Chikage:

The one that I drink before had ginger in it, I could drink it because it wasn’t as sweet.

Banri:

Ah, I’m the opposite of that. When I was small, I drank amazake with ginger and it was a bit too much, it became kind of a trauma.

Since then, the amazake that’s served in my house was always the sweet malted rice kind and by the time we realized it, it has become a new year tradition for us.

Well, I feel that if I can choose, I prefer the sweet one.

Chikage:

Oh, I see.

Then, would you like to drink my share too?

Banri:

… If that, I have to refuse.

<Shifts to Dorm>

Director:

Then, let’s start the meeting for the dance team.

Juza:

Right.

Tsuzuru:

… Eh, why is Citron-san here?

Banri:

Citron-san is not a member of the dance team right.

Citron:

As White team, I’m going to latch on the Red team’s conversation and check if I can get any useful information!

Tenma:

What is that even.

Azuma:

As usual, the prince is an interesting one.

Director:

Anyway, let’s move on…

When I went to ask for the details, he requested for a casual dance performance for young people.

The acting part will also be similar to last time, and I’m going to ask Tsuzuru to arrange something for it.

Tsuzuru:

It will be a good learning experience to arrange a performance that has been handed down through generations, I’m more than happy to do it.

Director:

About the dance, the Priest will be training you.

Chikage:

He taught us during the moon-viewing party as well.

Tsuzuru:

Ah…

That priest’s training was really a strict one wasn’t it.

Juza:

… When it comes to training, his tone changes completely.

Hisoka:

… Yeah.

Azuma:

Really.

Banri:

On the contrary, I’m actually looking forward to it.

<Short Time Skip>

Director:

Then, that’s all for today’s meeting.

Thank you for your hard work.

Chikage:

Good work.

Citron:

Oh!

Everyone, look~!

Hisoka:

… Ah.

Director:

It’s snowing…!

Azuma:

Speaking of which, the weather forecast did say that it might snow today.

Banri:

No wonder it’s cold.

Tenma:

Oh, it’s beautiful.

Juza:

Yeah.

Tsuzuru:

It’s snowing quite heavily.

Chikage:

Yeah, it looks like it’s going to pile up soon.

<End of Chapter 3>

Kumon:

When there’s snow, of course we have to do snowball fight!

Let’s go~! Take this!

Taichi:

You did it huh~ I’m not going to lose either!

Taichi Special Blizzard Shot!!

Misumi:

Oh oops~!

Take this!

Kazunari:

Sakusaku, you’re wide open!

There!

Sakuya:

Woah!?

Muku:

Make the snow round, then…

Yuki:

A snowman?

Muku:

Yup! We don’t have much snow yet, so I think I can only make a small one.

Tsumugi:

I think even the small one is cute.

I’ll try to make one too.

Yuki:

Then, I think I have a button that will fit a snowman, I’ll bring it here.

Chikage:

The hype is up.

Tsuzuru:

Everyone’s so energetic.

Kumon:

Ah, Big Brother! Let’s play together~!

Juza:

My bad, but we’re going to practice at the shrine now.

Kumon:

Oh, I see~. That’s too bad…

Kazunari:

Everyone, fight on!

Misumi:

Have a safe trip!

<Shifts to Shrine>

Azuma:

When the shrine’s covered with snow, the atmosphere it gives out is quite different, it’s beautiful.

Tsuzuru:

You’re right. I feel like I’m starting to get some ideas too.

Banri:

Oh, there’s a rabbit hut.

Chikage:

The one over here, this rabbit is said to be the rabbit priest of the shrine.

Tenma:

Oh… So, it’s Mr. rabbit priest.

Tsuzuru:

I was utterly manipulated by this rabbit that escaped previously…

Juza:

Yeah…

Hisoka:

It was pretty hard to catch him, it was rough.

Chikage:

Well, it seems that he’s going to stay put today, isn’t it great.

Priest:

Everyone, thank you for coming.

Azuma:

Good afternoon.

I’m looking forward to work with you this time.

Priest:

Same here, pleased to work with you.

Banri:

Then, let’s start our practice immediately.

Priest:

Before that…

Banri:

?

<Short Time Skip>

Tenma:

Why does it have to be us, it becomes a snow shoveling session…

Hisoka:

Snooze…

Tsuzuru:

Mikage-san, please don’t fall asleep in the middle of the snow!

Chikage:

I’m more or less done getting rid of the snow over here.

Banri:

Azuma-san, how’s over there?

Azuma:

Is this alright?

Juza:

It’s a beautiful snow bunny.

Hisoka:

It’s fluffy, it’s cute.

Reminds me of Azuma.

Tsuzuru:

I understand about shoveling the snow in the main road, but I wonder what the snow bunny is about.

Banri:

I wonder. Well, it seems that he’s going to explain later anyway, for now, let’s just continue making them.

<Short Time Skip>

Juza:

…

Banri:

No, yours is not even a rabbit anymore!

Tsuzuru:

Somehow, it becomes a mysterious creature instead…

Tenma:

Banri-san’s snow bunny looks like the real thing.

Chikage:

As expected.

Banri:

Well, this much is pretty easy.

Hisoka:

Tenma’s one is just a round snowball with the leaf ears…

Tenma:

Uh, I don’t know how to make the shape of the snow bunny.

Azuma:

I think this kind of snow bunny is cute too though.

Banri:

Tsuzuru’s snow bunny… Somehow, it’s a bit disappointing.

Chikage:

You’re right.

Tsuzuru:

What do you even mean by that.

Juza:

Hisoka-san’s snow bunny looks great.

Hisoka:

It’s white, and round… I’m seeing marshmallow…

Banri:

Eh, wait! Don’t eat the snow!

Tsuzuru:

Chikage-san’s snow bunny… Somehow…

It has a unique shape to it.

Tenma:

I thought you would make a perfect snow bunny, just like Banri-san.

Azuma:

Fufu, it’s kind of surprising.

Chikage:

… If you are living the normal life of an office worker, not being able to make something like this is normal.

Hisoka:

… Be strong.

Chikage:

Shut up.

<End of Chapter 4>

[upthehillask]

Hello!

First I must let you know how much I like your art and how much I love that you have republished, even if it is every so often for the sake of your peace of mind haha. I'm also going to let you know that this is by no means a suggestion of sorts, it's just a question and I'll be fine with whatever the answer is.

Have you thought about drawing more about The Marauders Era? That is... other characters in addition to The Marauders (Lily and sometimes Snape and Regulus), such as Dorcas Meadowes and Marlene McKinnon... or other ships, such as Bartylus (Barty Crouch Jr and Regulus Black) or Dorlene (Dorcas appear again and Marlene haha).

I will repeat that this is NOT any kind of suggestion or request, it just made me curious since they are characters / ships that have begun to be seen more compared to previous times.

Finally I will apologize for any linguistic inconsistencies in this text, my main language is not English and I am using a translator.

Kisses!

Hey! :) Thank you so much!!

To reply to your question, my answer has always been that, aside from Wolfstar and just the Marauders themselves as a group, I'm not that invested in their era, at least not as much as Harry's. And when it comes to characters like Dorcas and Marlene and such, there is basically nothing about them in the books, and personally I do tend to need at least a little bit of details on a character to feel interest.. But it doesn't really matter "why," point is, I'm just not as invested and that hasn't yet changed (maybe one day it will, who knows haha). I'm sorry if that's disappointing to hear! <3 I'm glad that there IS a huge part of the fandom that's immersed in the Marauders Era, so lots of content to enjoy - for me as well, even if I don't draw that as much! :)

I hope this makes sense, I'm impressed by how well the translator translated your messaged! :D lol Kisses!

[rattyarts]

Huge-ask post (I am VERY funny)

Because I have so many questions that can be answered with just text, and I have mentioned my dislike of filling my art blog up with Words Words Words... let’s get them all done in one go!

(You guys can blacklist #rattytalks if you’re just here for the draws, btw)

A shit ton of asks under the cut!

Anonymous said: So for the center of the world, what with it being forcefully PG and all Bad Thoughts TM being prevented, how does having kids happen? Do parents just black out and wake up holding a child in their arms and vague memories of the last 9 months?

Ever seen a movie where they do that “and one day... a baby was born!” thing and a kid just appears offscreen with no explanation?

(This is how it works everywhere, Edgelands included; no one does the do or gets pregnant in this setting.)

Anonymous said: Hello! Quick question, and sorry if you’ve answered this before, but can other elves see the “intangible” bits of one another? Big fan of your work btw!

Nope! And thank you!

Anonymous said: Leopold was in my dream last night but I sadly cannot remember any of it.

I am SO sorry. I will try to keep my stinky murder men out of your head in the future.

Anonymous said: are the floaty bits stuck in one spot, or could the one they are attached to learn to move them around their body as long as its still within a certain distance? like, someone with the Floaty limbs, lets call him Ray, can move his limbs all over his body, allowing him to do all sorts of neat things that others with their attached limbs probably couldn't?

Whatever you want, honestly. As a general rule of thumb I don’t like putting down TOO many hard rules that prevent people from having fun with this setting. (Please ignore and scrap anything you think is stupid, I do this all the time and enjoy keeping this setting inconsistent and contradictory)

Anonymous said: Do elf names work off of Death Note rules, or is it like, if you know one elf’s name, all elves with that name are now unable to harm you? So if all the elf brothers are named Martin, for example, does it only work with blue?

I think it’s prolly just the one! Probably? Idk, might change if I think of something funnier.

Anonymous said: Can elves do magic on themselves or does thst go against the knowing name rule

Most people tend to know their own names, lol. So in my opinion, no, but don’t let me stop you if you got a fun idea.

Anonymous said: Could an Elf stitch on parts from another elf and have them work? i.e an Elf's finds the arm of another Elf. "Hey, free arm, might as well put it to good use", so they attach the arm and now they can give three high fives at once!

Same deal as previous questions, I personally would say no, but I also encourage people to do whatever the hell they want. It’s more fun that way!

Anonymous said: I bet elves are greasy to the touch.

They’re very powdery! Like if you rolled them in flour. And by flour I mean nasty glowing elf dandruff.

Anonymous said: Can elves fly or are their wings just for show?

No flying!!! (Unless you’re a mousefly)

Anonymous said: Something tells me that the elves would LOVE Obatzda.

Had to look that up, but definitely!

no1fan15: Not sure if someone asked already- Does Edgeworld have any equivalent to demons and angels? Like the old rubberhose cartoon kind?

Demons, yes! That’s what imps are: basically any demon, devil, or generic monster, but tiny! Even a couple of pop culture critters in there, there’s probably a very small gillman or robot monster running around there somewhere.

Angels, not so far. 

Anonymous said: How come Margaret hasn't yeeted George's jar into the Edge yet

I’d say being locked in a closet is good enough! (and also I need him for plot reasons, don’t tell anyone)

Anonymous said: If elves have knees bulges in the front then do they have butt bulges in the back?

i do not want to think about elf bulges

Anonymous said: So if you find a baby Therewoof and you say "aw you're so cute", their true name is So Cute?

Yep!

Anonymous said: Since a Therewoof's true name can be something like "cutie pie" or "dingus", does their name have to be spoken with "intent" for it to doggo-fy them? Or do they just have to live with the reality that any casual conversation/flirting can make them lose up to a month to Doggy Mode? My mom has little terrier dog named "Sweetie" so that got me thinking 'bout Therewoof names. & Anonymous said: here's a good question: If someone says a therewoof's true name, but not reffering to them, does it still affect them?

Just saying it will do! It’s based on those old werewolf stories where calling out the person’s name will change them back into a human/cure them, and a lot of the time it was by accident.

(My favorite is the one where they slam the door on the wolf’s tail and then say his name, and the dude ends up with a wolf tail for the rest of his life.)

Anonymous said: Would Seeing eye Therewoofs be a thing?

I... guess? Probably? Since regular dogs can turn into woofs, yeah. You might have to start paying em once they turn into a person tho. 

Anonymous said: Was ChalkZone ever an inspiration for you? Because I just love the silly world of ChalkZone and I noticed getting that same warm feeling when thinking about Edgeworld.

Maaaan, I wish. I’ve only seen about three episodes or so, but it seems really fun!

Anonymous said: So I saw your mimic post, and even though I don't think I've seen any other of your art before I was absolutely HAMMERED with an indescribable sense of slightly unsettling strangeness and comfortable familiarity. Your art feels like something from like, an old point and click computer game I would have had formative memories of before accidentally losing or scratching the disc therefore making me unsure if it ever REALLY existed. Sorry for being weird but I love the wacky nostalgia feel here

Aaaaaah, THANK YOU! That is SUCH a cool comparison and I appreciate!!!

Anonymous said: If the Edgeworld is based on cartoons then is there a Reverse Edge-world that’s based on anime?

Lol, I mean I DID have an anime phase for a while there, so...

caydebug: Man I’d love to see this as a cartoon some day

Honestly, same. Best you’re gonna get is the occasional animatic or gif, tho.

Anonymous said: Does anyone..."go" in Edgeworld? or is it like Pleasantville where bathrooms exist but there are no toilets in them because acknowledging it is yucky?

Oh god I keep getting asked this and have been avoiding it like the damn plague. But... Uh. No. No they do not. I am begging you all not to send any followup questions.

Anonymous said: Have you considered putting computer viruses or illnesses in with the buggymen? Since those are typically called ‘bugs’

Sure!

Anonymous said: are there any limits to what an Animimic could posess? i.e if they were in a costume of a Buggieman with multiple arms, could they control all of them? what about a small Mousefly costume? can multiple fit into one costume like a clown car? and what about in pitch black darkness, where you can only see the lights of their eyes and not their bodies? could one fit inside the pocket of a jacket you are wearing and help you steal things/wield a gun like a living turret?

Since clothing fills into the body type of the intended wearer, they would indeed be able to control all arms/legs in buggieman clothes.

Size restrictions is one of these things I wanna try to be vague about: I personally have been imagining them sticking to hiding in things no smaller than, um. Maybe imp sized, but really, whatever. It’s a cartoon eyeball critter!

You can put multiple animimics in one outfit!

They can move around just fine in darkness without being off screen, yeah!

And sure why not. lol

Anonymous said: I know you have been asked this once before, and you said nah you don't, but with a few more months of worldbuilding, do you have an idea for what could be down the edge now? 🤔

Not really! It’s not super important, honestly. I’d say any fan theory is about as valid as anything else I can come up with.

ps2polpo: I doubt you’ll ever elaborate on The Edge but I like to imagine there’s just one dude there like the Nowhere Man from the Yellow Submarine movie. Mostly cause the thought of someone accidentally winding up there being like “where am I?” And there’s just a guy casually waving at him like a friendly neighbor is funny to me & Anonymous said: The implication that the Edge is the physical manifestation of edginess so there’s probably like, Trevor Henderson monsters hanging out down there.

See above question! Valid! I also accept falling forever, getting erased from existence, ending up in another universe, getting stuck in limbo with thousands of other people, whatever you want, really!

Anonymous said: " he has very few bones and weighs basically nothing, " "Fastball special" trope, but with Leo?

YEET THE NASTY MAN

Anonymous said: did you ever watch dragon tales as a kid? because george and margaret make me think of murderous zak and wheezie from that show, and i love it to bits

I did not, but I would have loved it. Definitely up my alley!

(watched Quest for Camelot a loooot, though!)

Imma go ahead and stop here! There’s more but I’ve been writing for well over an hour and I have things to do. If your question is missing I’m either saving it for later, wasn’t entirely sure how to answer, or it’s spoilery.

Will probably do another one of these at some point!

[enthusiastic-nimrod]

Hey I'm Fred's fourth daddy anon! I sent that to you, and what felt like five minutes later you came in with that gorgeous sketch. Do you have any art tips or videos that have taught you cause I've been stuck draw trying to draw anything not resembling a lump for two years. Also yeah it was whirlwind episode, f*ck Rose, and Fred should have turned that loon in.

Hey FD Anon, thanks so much! I don’t draw a lot of “horror” art so I’m really happy with it’s progress so far!

While I do agree with you that Rose is The Worst, I think she added in an interesting dynamic and I’d be happy if she became a recurring character in the Scooby mythos at large. As for Fred not turning his dad in... I agree, but I also understand why he didn’t. 

The episode went out of it’s way to show off how frightening and weird he is but Fred made it very clear that when he wasn’t wearing the mask he was a good parent, and that all of his crimes were shown as nonviolent. He didn’t seem to steal anything (unless I missed that line?) he just liked messing with people by confusing them. 

As for art tips, I... honestly never expected anybody to ask for advice from me? That’s super flattering wow. 

Okay, so I’m still pretty much a novice, but lemme give you some of my best tips and tricks:

1) Notice how my last sketch had a grey background? This wasn’t just for that sketch, this is how I use ALL of my digital canvases. I do this because the grey causes less strain to my eyes, and allows me to work longer and more easily. Being so close to a screen, especially a blue or white one, can make it harder to work for long periods of time. 

2) If you want to do digital art, you need to learn “traditional art” (pencil and paper) first. It makes transitioning to digital more easy and it’s pretty much what any art teacher would recommend, for good reason. 

3) Using one method of art not only limits you, but stops you from learning other techniques which can be incorporated into what you typically prefer. Not only that, but you can also discover a medium you really love that you never would have thought of before!

4) Whenever you get the chance, work in black and white or monochrome. This is a great way to help yourself learn about values and intensity, and just looks cool in general. 

5) Piggybacking on that last point, if you’re ever worried about your shading, values, etc becoming muddled either A] take a picture and use a filter to make it black and white, or B] create another, pure white layer on top of the others and change it from “Normal” to “Hue”. Doing this can really help change your approach to coloring (black and white effect may be different for every art program). 

6) If you want to get better at realistic faces, I was taught using the grid system. You have squares on your reference picture, squares on your paper, and then match up the body parts to the squares. I personally didn’t like this method, but it’s a really solid style of learning. 

7)  Start with the torso instead of the head. what you start with the head, the body may end up becoming wonky and having the neck stretched out at an odd angle or having a too small cranium. This is easier to fix in digital art but I suggest just remembering the importance of that rib cage (this is something I’m still training myself out of). 

8) Asking for feedback can be an invaluable tool. For example, last year I had this really weird thing where I drew my eyes way too close together- I never noticed until I had it pointed out to me, and it took MONTHS to break this habit.

9) References are very useful, and one fun technique I’ve found great use in is to draw a pose, first with no reference, and then following that reference very strictly. This can be helpful when you want to see where you are developmentally. 

10) Every now and then while drawing, you want to put the pencil down, prop up your paper, and walk away so that you can see the full image from a distance. If you’re working digitally, you zoom out a great deal so that the image appears smaller. This is a GREAT tool for seeing which sections of the piece need the most attention and how those smaller details hold up. 

11) If you have the opportunity, you REALLY want to participate in an actual art class. Having a teacher that can see what you’re doing in real time and knows where you’re at skill-wise is an INVALUABLE thing to have- these people were specifically taught how to teach you these skills, recognize your problems and how to fix them. Don’t be afraid to talk to them and ask for advice about non-classwork art, either! You can’t receive help if you don’t ask for it. 

12) Flip your canvas! I know you’ve probably heard this before, but this is one of the best ways to check for anatomy inconsistencies.

13)  When it comes to youtube artists, I don’t really actively follow any, but I do know of some! 

Mark Crilley: While I don’t watch his videos much now, I used to follow his videos RELIGIOUSLY. He’s got some really solid advice on how to map out comics and mangas, and he taught me the importance of silent scenes and keeping your work from getting too wordy. He mostly does the soft anime look, but he also does some pretty stellar realism. 

mikeymegamega: I’m not going to lie to you, anon- this man likes his cheesecake. This guy is all about the cute anime girls, so if you’re not looking for that, skip him, but I really can’t recommend his videos on hands, feet, and faces enough. 

Proko: Has a video about best drawing exorcises and is the guy you turn to when you want to know about figure drawing. He tends to focus on the more realistic anatomy, and while his videos may be long he’s got some good advice. I’d say to check out his studying anatomy correctly video, and then just kinda scroll through his pages. 

Ethan Becker: THE KNIFE MAN. The first time I clicked on him I thought he was making a troll video- but then he Got Into It and my dudes, my guys, he has some CRAZY good advice. The way he words things and shows you examples in his videos are amazing and I really can’t recommend him enough. He did a video called “Fixing PROKO's LAZY Drawings“ and while you’d think it would be a  bash fest his advice on shading in it is just so incredibly useful. Click on pretty much any of his videos and you’ll be entertained and learning. 

I'd also suggest watching speedpaints. Even if it was unintentional, I’ve learned several really solid art hacks from speedpaint and storytime videos- so always be aware that you have an option for that. 

…. Oh! And also, practice! I know you’ve probably been given this advice from everyone already, but it’s worth remembering. 

Sorry if this got a bit long, I just figured I’d try to give you some good hacks- and even if you have already heard of most of these, I hope I could at the very least entertain!

[ill-be-istj-if-no-one-else-is]

1 Hey could I get some typing help? I hope this has some relevant stuff in it. P sure I’m ExTx but that’s it. I feel best when I’m being productive, but if my time isn’t structured for me I fall apart and do nothing. I make plans but don’t follow them very well; to-do lists & deadlines are the only reason I get anything done. I avoid mundane tasks like the plague, been putting off calling my orthodontist to get a new retainer for months now it’s so bad. Not a hands-on learner, I’d

2 much rather talk/observe than do. I talk a lot in class bc I get tired of waiting for other people to answer, slowness is a huge pet peeve. I value efficiency/responsibility & can’t stand when people are late or break promises. I can make snap decisions if I must, but it takes me a long time to REALLY make up my mind so when I finally do, I can be stubborn about changing it. I need everything to make sense before I decide, & inconsistencies in data/history/opinions rly slows that process down

3 My inconsistency bothers me. Seems like every other artist I know has their own unique style but mine changes every single drawing cuz I get bored and wanna try something new. A few people have accused me of “stealing art” bc everything looks so different and it made me so mad. Like I’m sorry I have the range and yours is so limited you can’t even fathom that someone could be good at multiple things? I definitely hold grudges but I’ve never “cut someone out of my life” because of them,

4 I don’t like burning bridges. I love gossip/shit talk, never get involved in drama myself but it’s fun to talk about. Type A but usually come across as type B. Ppl tend to think I’m laid-back & a lil weird but I just don’t care for doing things the conventional way if there’s no purpose, “we’ve always done it this way” is not a reason. I’m not the greatest at taking hints. I mean, I do catch them, but then my imagination goes out of control and I overthink them,

5 so I prefer when people say exactly what they mean. I’m also probably the least observant person in the world, I simply do not pay attention to things happening around me. This sadly makes me a terrible driver. I really want to amount to something in the eyes of the world like it would feel SO good to be able to rub that in the faces of everyone who ever doubted me. I pride myself in being intelligent & capable of anything I set my mind to (except sports) & get frustrated when I don’t

6 get recognition for it. I’ll do whatever I have to to succeed; I’ve never let emotions keep me from doing what I gotta do. I also love showing off my work, no point in doing anything if no one else will see it. Waiting for my turn to speak in group convos is unbearable, I hate that people always talk over me & then have the nerve to call me quiet. Known for saying inappropriate/weird things, it’s the only way I can make myself stand out bc a lot of times ppl don’t even notice I’m there -_-

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Hi anon,

As a rule if someone thinks they’re extroverted, what with introvert bias, I tend to believe them unless there’s something very obviously in conflict with that, and all of this sounds reasonably extroverted. The procrastination and slowness to decide on things vs.Type A/desire for efficiency and responsibility are somewhat in contradiction for me, although it could also be that efficiency and responsibility are at this time aspirational values. With that said the part about inconsistencies, taking a long time to decide on things, and some of the other behaviors (deliberately saying inappropriate things for attention) all sound like high Ti, and you suspected you were an extrovert and thinker so that makes sense.

From there Ne sounds more likely; I find that Se artists often have a more defined and consistent personal style, and an ESTP would almost definitely prefer things to be hands-on. The part about taking hints is also probably one of the more self-aware lines I’ve seen about that behavior and matches up well with the ‘all possibilities’ nature of Ne. I am generally hesitant to type people based on their remarks over being observant since I think it’s something a lot of people assume incorrectly about themselves, but given all the other signs of Ne this sounds reasonable.

The desire to prove yourself and the values you mention fit enneagram 3 extremely well, and that’s a fairly common enneatype with the ExTPs and especially ENTPs.