#also this is more like a visual reference

[heyftinally]

Some words to keep in mind with ballet are floaty, graceful, strong, elegant, and precise. These elements basically define the style as a whole.

The vast majority of classical ballets are well known stories told through a set arrangement of elements. For example, if your protagonist is a classical ballerina, she won't likely *only* be dancing a pas de deux - that part is usually danced by the two principle (ie main/star/highest rank) dancers, who are usually also the main characters of the story. Classical ballet are a combination of solos, pas de deux, and group dances done by the corps de ballet (essentially the ensemble) to tell one big story, and it's more common than not that one dancer will learn multiple rolls if they aren't the lead (for example in The Nutcracker, dancers from the opening party scene will also likely learn one or more dances in the Land Of Sweets in act two).

Certain steps are more likely to be used in one context over another. For example, a fondue is almost never going to be be included in an allegro. Likewise, en l'air is rarely specified outside of a teaching or rehearsal space, because saying "grand rond de jambe en l'air" multiple times in a row is a lot. So once the choreography has been taught, it would likely be shortened to "rond de jambe", which means circle of the leg.

All this to say, ballet is very technical. If you want to dive deep into it, it's a beautiful and amazing art form. But that also means doing a lot of research.

Otherwise, it might be better to keep it vague. Talk about the quality of the movement (graceful), the story (I definitely recommend picking a specific ballet and watching it, even if you never mention the name, so that you have a visual reference to describe), and have the dancer looks or feels, depending on your narration perspective.

hi! I have a question, how do I write the movements of a ballerina? I'm writing a novel and now I'm at the part where my protagonist is dancing ballet for an audience in the theater. Could you help me with how to write her movements? I'm in doubt about how to write this

Some Ballet Vocabulary

Adagio: “Slow tempo.” In ballet, a tempo in which the dancer moves slowly and gracefully.

Allegro: “Brisk tempo.” In ballet, a tempo in which the dancer moves briskly and excitedly.

Allongé: “Elongated.” An adjective used to describe poses that are stretched and elongated, like an arabesque.

Arabesque: A pose in which the dancer stands on one leg—either straight or demi-plié, and either flat-footed or en pointe—while extending the other leg straight behind at a right angle. The shoulders are square with the arms held to create a long line from fingertips to toes.

Arriére: "Backwards." A move that indicates backwards movement or motion.

Ballón: “To bounce.” A light jump. Used to indicate the delicacy of the movement or jump.

Chaseé: To slide.

Elevé: A rise upward onto the toes.

En l’air: "In the air." Indicates a movement or leg position that is held in the air.

Fondu: To melt (a melting action).

Frappé: To strike (like lighting a match on the floor).

Glissade: To glide.

Jeté: To throw.

Pas de deux: A “dance for two,” or duet, in classical ballet.

Petit saut: A small jump.

Pirouette: A complete turn of the body on one foot, either turning inward or outward, with the body centered over the supporting leg, the arms propelling the turn but remaining stationary during the turn, and the eyes “spotting” a fixed point while the head quickly turns.

Promenade: A slow pivot of the body while standing on one leg.

Rèvèrence: “Bow”. Traditional port-de-bras and port-de-corps showing respect and gratitude to the ballet master or audience.

Tournant: “Turn.” A term paired with a movement to indicate a body turn.

Variation: A solo in classical ballet.

Although ballet actually began in Italy, it was formalized in France in the 17th century. Ballet terminology has remained largely in the French language. Ballet dancers across the world learn and can communicate with this universal ballet vocabulary.

Sources: 1 2 3 4 ⚜ More: Word Lists ⚜ Dance

Hope this helps with your writing! If I wasn't able to include the right words you need, you can go through the sources. Still, remember your readers when describing the scene — perhaps some of them might not be familiar with these terminologies.

[tossawary]

I don't have a solid plot attached to this idea, I don't currently really have the desire to drop everything to go write "The Hobbit" fanfiction, but for a while I've had the idea of *gestures vaguely" some post-canon story (probably some form of fix-it) taking place before, during, and after a grand dwarven opera performance in Erebor.

Because I am absolutely certain that the Lonely Mountain had an absolutely stunningly beautiful Royal Opera House (and plenty of other, less grand performance halls) that, at the city's height, was putting at least one show every single day. Orchestral symphonies, operas and operettas, dramatic plays, dance performances... you name it, they had it and more. The various cultures of Middle Earth evidently ADORE music, dwarves absolutely included. The Company all bring instruments to Bag End to play and sing themselves off before their quest!

Also, beyond the music side of things, with how dwarves are named as master crafters? Smiths and toymakers and magicians? No way that they did not have some of the most gorgeous costumes, sets, and effects on the planet. Dwarves would go WILD with their articulated stage puppets, I know it.

One of my biggest issues with the film trilogy is that it failed to deeply explore the Company as people who had lost their home, beauty and culture included. Smaug not only killed countless people, entire families, and leave many of the survivors poor and desperate, the dragon went on to hoard their heirlooms and life's work and leave these priceless gold treasures UNUSED. It is an additional heartbreak to imagine Smaug tearing through Erebor neighborhood by neighborhood, house by house, so that he could tear out every gemstone in, say, mosaic made by someone's grandmother that sat above the breakfast table every morning. To think that Smaug in the aftermath tore magical lanterns off the walls, the sort that might have been decorated with animals or flowers, to make some daycare walkway just a little more cheery for the children, and in his greed left a dead city in the dark.

The live-action movies put both Smaug and the Balrog in these... absolutely enormous chambers that serve somewhat unclear purposes. The king's treasure vault and a former marketplace, I think? (Moria has been raised by goblins, I can forgive the emptiness.) It's a quick visual depiction of Thror's uncontrollable gold lust to give him a Scrooge McDuck room, sure, instead of anything with an actual organizational system (normally, I assume dwarves are big on sorting their vaults if they have one). Super big columns and hallways and staircases do somewhat effectively communicate the "lost glory" of Moria (I am very fond of these movies!!!), even if I also think it's not as interesting as it could have been. And the other obvious purpose of big, open warehouse-like spaces is 1) it's easier to animate the big creatures moving around in them generally and 2) it allows the films to show off the full-bodied visual spectacle of their big creatures.

But I think it would have also kicked ass to put Smaug in Erebor's former Royal Opera House or something, some enormous theatre decorated across generations. That could be big! The ART (statues, fountains, banners, windows, general architecture) that you could put on the exterior, which has had its face ripped open for the dragon to get inside? The ART that you could put INSIDE (mosaics, murals, and more) as Bilbo sneaks inside? Ohhh, you could include so many potential lore references with thematic relevance!

Also, Bilbo could get jump-scared by old articulated stage puppets or something. IT'S THE DRAGON-! Oh, no, it's some old opera prop. (Yes, we're talking more about an actual adaptation of "The Hobbit" rather than fanfiction concepts now.)

Sure, there's raw material treasure and coins hoarded here in this place, but there would also be musical instruments and toys and household tools and cookware and fancy dishes, wedding jewelry and anniversary gifts and family shrines and festival costumes, fountain statues and street lamps and mailboxes and business signs, and other evidence that people really LIVED here. These are all ordinary objects that Bilbo recognizes from the Shire.

We could tie these objects directly back to objects we saw featured in Bilbo's home early in this adaptation, which he was trying to "protect" from the dwarves during their "That's what Bilbo Baggins hates" song. There are half-burned portraits of people's late parents here too. Did he think that there weren't any dwarves who made doilies or handkerchiefs embroidered with flowers? Of course they made things like that too.

It's perfectly symbolic to, say, place Smaug's bed in an area like the king's throne room. The dragon is now the King Under The Mountain. But I think it would be deliciously haunting to have the throne room of Erebor be empty, the throne half-broken, the silver stripped from the walls and moved elsewhere, because Smaug doesn't care about Thror's old audience chamber. What's a dwarf king to a dragon? He burns the same as all the others. The dragon has instead made his bed in a beautiful public place of art and culture that was for the people, by the people, surrounded by the lovingly crafted belongings of the ordinary people he killed. Gold is gold to a dragon whether it's in a coin or a candlestick.

I think if you really want to sell one of the key messages of "The Hobbit", which in my opinion is: "If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world." then you ought to throw yourself behind EREBOR being a place where food and cheer and song had value, not just the Shire. Thorin isn't lost at the end because he's a dwarf and dwarves don't value such things, but because he as a specific person who makes the mistake of weighing pride and gold over people, and he comes to regret that on his deathbed.

So, back to the fanfiction idea, I think that Erebor had music again in it as soon as dwarves started living in it again. It will take decades and decades before the Royal Opera House is half as splendid as it was before, and there is a performance there with beautiful costumes and puppets and sets comparable to those that came before, some traditional historical show that is part of specific seasonal holiday for dwarves. But that very first winter, when the future still looked grim, I think the dwarves cleared out a small stage and cast the roles of this traditional musical retelling of their history among them, based on who knew the parts best, because they aren't just miners and smiths and soldiers, and there was music again in Erebor that winter despite all the damage that the dragon did.

[cozymochi]

Hi Mochi! First off, I just wanted to say I love your art and OC'S! They are beautiful and very cool! Cecil kind of radiates baby girl energy in my humble opinion.

But I had a question about Nyoka. It's mentioned in his notes that he covers the scales on his face and arms with makeup or an undershirt, and the only visible ones are on his neck. Was this just for design reasons, or is he like self Conscious of them?

I'm just curious about the answer! 😊 Anyway, have a great day!

thANK YOU FOR READING THE NOTES ACTUALLY AAAAA 😳😭

It’s nothing too deep. Good news, he’s not self conscious of them 👍 He just covers the ones on his face to blend into the background a little more. He is a reptile amongst mammals and just wants to be left alone. Design wise, he already has quite a bit going on already on his face (the glasses, the specific eye makeup etc.), it’s just simpler to work with. I don’t really like too much busy-ness, and I do want people drawn to his eyes first. (does it work who knows idk) Though if I were to keep yapping I’d end up doing a dissertation on the trials of translating and evoking a cartoon snake into this guy. [dies]

Otherwise without the makeup the scales on his face are comparable to Snake’s face in Black Butler. If I bothered refining Nyoka’s refs more, then that detail on the main post it would’ve been clearer. SO HERE IT IS:

Though, someone like Snake in general is a lot more simpler looking (positive) compared to Nyoka, so him having little details like that on his face already adds a little more flair to make him stand out. I think for Nyoka it’s fine to omit them given how much he already has going on and my priorities. (But they’re there 😳. I still think they’re cool looking.)

As for the undershirt, that’s just me pointing out that scales are there but just happen to be covered as a result.

It’s just a a design thing and a visual shorthand attempt on my end to register a more “diligent book-type” student amongst a dorm of primarily athletes. Also he looked kinda weird to me in the standard dorm uniform without it. Kind of in that same way Ruggie would look kinda weird if he wasn’t wearing the dorm uniform in the way he does that fits his character more. (For reference: the default Savanaclaw uniform is how Jack and other NPCs wear it. It just looked weird on him is all.)

But I suppose in-universe It could also be read as a means of Nyoka once again just trying to blend into the background. He just dresses like that willingly. 😩 He just doesn’t want attention. He’s not wearing heels in his dorm uniform, I didnt show it but trust me.

He has scales lining the sides of his entire body length, but unless I were to show off his base mannequin, no one would really be able to know lol 😂 Having them peek out around the neck was just a more subtle visual indicator of what he is and neat looking to me. Adds a lil’ bit of spice that was lost in the shuffle. That’s really it. Just pointing out that they’re there.

UHHHHHHUNNGH I LOVE answering stuff like this thank you 😭😭 Anything that involves me explaining design choices tends to make me act a fool since it’s pretty rare so I might overdo it a bit. Literally even the tiniest aspects have paragraphs worth of reasonings behind it so i uhhsgdhdghs i promise all this stuff is intentional. And im only scratching the surface tbh. 😭👍 but thank yooou💃💖💖

[mukuberry]

The constant references to Otome Dissection are really interesting. Otome Dissection is about a suicidal girl who uses her connection to another person as her life line, constantly clinging to them and depending on them until they're drained and she goes too far and ends up dying. Which fits for Monitoring Miku, right? We don't know enough about her life to say she's suicidal but her entire existence is focused on the person she loves- except the song doesn't compare her to Otome Dissection, but instead the person she loves. She wants to "save (their) dissected heart".

At first, this doesn't seem to make much sense, right? This person, who I'll called "Monitored" for convenience, wants nothing to do with her- atleast until the end. But when you start picking apart Otome Dissection's lyrics more, the way Miku views their 'relationship' starts making more sense.

All throughout Monitoring, Miku showers Monitored in praise and comfort, telling them to just show her everything they want to hide, show all their pain so she can accept and heal it. In Otome Dissection, our protagonist is hesitant to fully rely on her lover, stuck inbetween wanting to pour everything on them and wanting to hide away from them. "Both of us with our masks on, we flirted" "Yeah, there's a kid there, lost in anything and everything, shedding tears, meowing 'SOS' with their eyes only halfway open" "I don't want to go so far as to share all the things that cause me pain, I just want to run away from this love" "'I don't want to live' is what I should've said, will I ever find peace?" This helps make Miku's perspective in Monitoring alot clearer- she's not just trying to break Monitored's will down so they let her in, she's genuinely convinced they secretly want her, and is simply putting on a mask of not wanting to let her in, very literally hiding how they really feel behind the door, and she just needs to convince them to let her in. They're 'purposely' "sprinkling spices" on the two of them, and it's Miku's job to "lick away (the) spices".

In some way, she's not completely wrong. We hear Miku call Monitored constantly through the song, and since she's talking to the door while she does this, I imagine its more of some way to check they're actually there listening to her rather than wanting them to pick up. Based on the vibrating sound, she's calling their cellphone rather than landline, and she only seems to have the one phone, so why don't they ever block her? Why don't they ever do anything to get rid of her? Why do they go and listen to her everytime? Unfortunately for Miku, it's not because they're super secretly in love with her and playing a game, but as Miku makes very clear in the song, Monitored is extremely lonely. They obviously don't want to be stalked and harassed, it's clearly having a negative affect on their mental state, their vision distorting whenever Miku is around- I doubt they're literally hallucinating but rather just feeling like they're going insane from the constant monitoring. We see their vision clear up and go back to normal when Miku lets up a little at the bridge, only for the visual distortions to reach their peak when she comes back full force. When Monitored eventually gives up and lets her in, their vision is normal again, as if they've just accepted her constant presence in their life as normal. Giving up is easier than resisting someone who has no intention of stopping, and Monitored is someone usually who spends everyday alone, having no one to share their hobbies with, staying up all night until eventually crying themselves to sleep- they're unable to completely shut out the only person who gives them any sort of love and attention. Miku is very much aware of this, and this is what she preys on to break them down.

It also adds a sense of urgency to Miku's harassment. Monitored's mental health was already bad before all the stalking due to the isolation they deal with, and Otome Dissection ends with the person she loves too drained to help her anymore, leading in her death. If Miku doesn't 'save' Monitored from themselves, she's convinced the worst could happen. Her harassment starts sexual but quickly turns into overbearing comfort, trying to convince them to just lean entirely on her instead of suffering alone. We see at the bridge she stops her constant conversations with Monitored, still waiting outside the door but for much shorter amounts of time. In Otome Dissection's words, she starts to grow "cold", having the "burning passion" pulled out of her. Since she's the one connecting her love to the song, she probably realises what's happening and that's why she goes back to harassing them even more intensely than she did before. In her eyes, she's keeping them alive, showing them that she'll always be there for them. In Monitored's eyes, she's showing them that there's no escape, that any moment of peace and sign of relenting won't last long. Eventually, Monitored is broken down and Miku gets to finally be her idol's savior.

Stream Monitoring 👁👍

[oddberryshortcake]

Would you say Silver has the fairy gifts Aurora was given in Sleeping Beauty?

YES

Quite literally virtually the same gifts in more ways than one, with the first gift of beauty being more obvious and the second gift of song being a bit more subtle, and third gift being kinda identical to Aurora's situation.

As of right now we don't know if Silver is particularly good at singing, we've never heard him sing in game and it's never stated anywhere that he's good at it BUT the lyrics and scene from Sleeping Beauty 1958 would imply that it's more of a sort of melodious vibe one carries with them, which matches him perfectly

The gift of beauty is self-explanatory, I'm including the visuals because the birds shown here are also shown in Silver's signature spell.

Silver (and his biological father Dawn Knight) were given golden hair from day fairies blessing them. This is a trait that Aurora was blessed with too, specifically 'gold of sunshine' which Lilia describes Silver as having when he was a baby.

Silver is also referenced multiple times in canon as handsome and/or beautiful, Dawn Knight is also referred to as handsome and receiving 'the gift of beauty,' Silver was obviously gifted this as well.

Now here's where things get a little subjective,

I'd argue that this is how his friendship with animals came about, the 'sweet serenade' he's given could very well be the animals that come to help him in his time of need (that and Aurora is pictured conversing or at least befriending a bird in the visual)

His friendship with animals is so noticeable that other characters notice it and find it strange (sometimes endearing) animals are willing to gift him things he wants/needs (like in Silver's lab vignette) or literally defend him from danger (Book 7 Chapter 73 Westward Breakthrough - Part 1)

Silver also describes his childhood as him living alone deep in the woods with his father (in virtually the same cottage of fairy cottage), and that he was never lonely because he had many animal friends to keep him company (which mirrors the live Aurora lived until she was 16)

Merryweather's gift to break Maleficent's curse is pretty much the final 'blessing' that Silver had been given (that I think transformed into something more of a curse unless the story proves otherwise)

Dawn's three fairies gifted Silver all of these things, and their final gift for him was to protect him in magic sleep so that he wouldn't die in the conflict that killed his bio parents and instead wake up in a world without war.

It was a spell meant to save his life just as Aurora's did and true love is meant to break it just like Aurora's so I'd say it counts, except he spent more time in spelled sleep than she did in both the 1958 movie and the original Sleeping Beauty fairytale 😭

So to sum it up, Silver basically received all of Aurora's gifts with their own little spin on it. Anyways, highly recommend watching Sleeping Beauty for yourself, I've loved this movie long before twst even existed so seeing such a genuine homage to the story of Sleeping Beauty and Aurora as a character makes me so happy.

[caster-l0ve]

WHAM! SLAMS THIS MIKEY REFERENCE SHEET DOWN ON THE TABLE!

pssst; this is an AU i'm working on! i'm gonna be posting about it more and more while i cook up the first comic panels for it too. :)

anyways, i guess a name for this au would be Spark it! Strike it!

(points to my bio. yes, that is the name.)

anyways x2! im getting back into the groove of uploading and posting lolol. see you then ^^

[7cfc00]

Cast: Hermie the Unworthy as Theatre Kid with Identity Issues!

[gbirrd]

6/9 - Jason Todd tarot card designs for Complete Candor by @vexfulfolly as part of the @batfam-big-bang

Read the fic here!

Other cards:

1-Babs 2-Cass 3-Bruce 4-Tim 5-Damian 6-Jason 7-Duke 8-Steph 9-Dick

Image IDs

Image 1:

A design of "The Devil" tarot card. It has the texture of recycled paper and reads "THE DEVIL". A symbol of a gravestone is visible behind the numeral "XV".

A young Jason Todd in his Robin uniform tugs at a thick chain around his neck that comes down from the top of the frame. Matching shackles are around his wrists and he is buried up to his waist in dirt. His head is tilted up towards the chain. There is blood on his hands, arms, chest, and dripping down the right side of his face as well as from his nose.

Image 2:

A design of "The Devil" tarot card. It has the texture of recycled paper and reads "THE DEVIL" upside-down. A symbol of a flame is visible behind the numeral "XV".

Jason Todd faces forward, filling most of the frame. He is in his Red Hood uniform and has narrowed pupil-less white eyes. He is holding the end of a thick chain in his right fist. Flames fill the background and bathe him in an orange light. The entire card is upside-down.

[lunareel]

So for the bodyguard au wanted to make alternate designs for power ups based on incorporating them with shy guy masks and shy guy variants. Listen I will take any opportunity to make outfits for characters it is just so much fun!

Adding sketches on both how the mask works along with an example of a transformation sequence below the “keep reading” to avoid this post getting super long. Quick edit before I forget I do plan on an alternate cat (super bell) power up that leans more into the cat aesthetic. I just wanted to design a more stealth/field outfit for him. I also have drafts for a knight design for the metal power up! Those are coming later though.

So I wanted to work on the setup that power ups aren’t readily accessible in the Darklands (with the exception of fire flowers and maybe boo shrooms). To counter this I’m going with the concept of fusing power ups with masks so they can be used multiple times (think Majora’s mask). 

Currently working with the idea of while this does make the power up a bit weaker, as long as the mask isn’t broken or removed from the user the power up will stay in effect.

Also on how shy guy masks work with different faces this just goes with my headcanon that there are different things under each shy guy’s mask. Varying from some shy guys just having a void that stares back to horrifying appendages and the masks just cover these so they can all blend in together. 

The transformation sequence wouldn’t happen every time a mask would be used, but I will never pass an opportunity to draw Luigi break dancing. (Btw the reference for this sequence was Deboshir’s dance when he was going off against Zip Rock, break dancing competitions are super cool and I highly recommend watching them). Anyhow this is super rough, but I hope it gets the general idea across. 

[canisalbus]

Hopefully this isn't too weird but I love the way you draw hands, it's like the way you draw them seem just as expressive as the faces on the characters, I just love how they look and I hope I get there someday (if you have any tips please share but if not that's okay!)

I love your art and characters and how you draw their expressions/poses, it's all so nice!

Not weird at all, I'm very flattered! Hands have become extremely important to me, I tend to put a lot of effort in trying to get them look just right. I'm still not where I want to be with them but improving nonetheless. If you ask me, a thoughtfully and intently drawn hand can be almost as expressive as a character's face, just like you said. They're such complex and intricate structures with massive emotive and aesthetic potential, it'd be waste to not make use of them in art.

[dooodle-bug]

When the media has the characters transform into a monster creature type thing that represents their insecurities/negative traits/fears/worst version of themself 😍

[averlym]

"one day, i cut him an apple. when he saw it, he laughed" (click for better resolution!) ,,, tag from @elliotly

[fluentisonus]

ideologically I [often] don't agree with historical caricature art but they really went off with the visually depicting aspects of daily life & dress & types of people you almost never see shown in other types of contemporary art

[nexus-nebulae]

ok but like. i dont think i really see that many people talk about gollum in lord of the rings in a plural way, when he is literally having active (AND VISIBLE!!!) switches on-screen and has multiple conversations with himself as two separate entities

[nandermoenthusiast]

i do think it is a crime that i dont have any video editing skills because sometimes i hear a song and i see an amv that could make us cry so clearly in my minds eye…

[michi-chelle-draws]

ace solo sesh whennn 😩

(full censored versions & a bonus under the cut 💦)