#and a bunch of different concept arts hahaha

[jojo-schmo]

I’m looking into making my own Kirbysona. I was wondering if you have any tips??

you don’t have to answer! Also I love your art and your AU is awesome :)

Hello! Thank you so much for the kind words! <3 I'd be happy to share some of my thought process behind creating my bubble-blowing baby, Ripple Fairy Kirbysona! I will always cheer on the existence of more Kirbysonas! :D

I had a Kirbysona in childhood that was just a little puffball, like Kirby- and she looked like this :D I loved the Star Rod, the Beam Kirby hat was my favorite, I just finished playing Kirby 64 so I added some Crystal Shards to the hat, and I slapped on my favorite colors. Bam! I'd draw her in the margins of my notebooks, interacting with other Kirby characters in little stories I'd write... Great fun!

But now as an adult posting my work online, I wanted something that felt more like "me," as opposed to an OC that felt like someone else. A direct extension of myself to interact with the characters I love, as well as characters and sonas of other creators in our Kirby corner over here! Like a gaming avatar! But in a series with so many different species and characters, where to start?!

Step 1: THERE ARE NO RULES. BE CRINGE AND BE FREE!!

The important thing is to have fun! You can choose to confine yourself to the rules of the Kirby universe, or just make something up! The important part is that a sona represents you!

These are the thoughts that went through my head, but it's not the only way to make a sona! If you follow what your heart is saying and not what you think others want to see, you'll find a design that feels like you!

Step 2: Ask some basic questions to establish a design direction.

These are the questions I asked myself during the creation process, but your questions can be different! This is just how I set up my rough plan of creation.

Sonas don't need to look like you or be named after you irl if you don't want! But in order to feel like "me," I decided on something that shared a lot of my actual physical traits. For me personally, if the sona didn't look a lot like me, I would always have a disconnect with it. I also settled on the name "Jojo" quickly because that's my actual nickname, part of my username, and I respond quickly to it.

From there, answering the other design questions I had came quickly after that!

Step 3: Settle on a species.

I went with a Ripple Star Fairy in the end because 1) They're adorable and I love their cute wings, hair ribbons/accessories, 2) They're shown as adults, which is perfect because I am one lol, 3) Look human enough for me to relate to while still having a lot of freedom to make up powers, lore, and design traits, and 4) Ripple Fairies deserve some love hahaha

Side note: if you can't decide on a species, throw the rules out the window! Be a shapeshifter. Or have multiple forms for no reason. Be a combination penguin/puffball knight/human/waddle dee born from the cosmos!! Refer to step 1, there are no rules! Hit your sona with a Waddle Dee beam whenever you want!!

Step 4: Design yourself, superstar!!

I brainstormed with a page of sketches and tried a bunch of different variations of a Ripple Fairy with different hairstyles and outfits, (I need to find that sketch page) but I eventually settled on these concepts!

I wear braids almost every day, so I added that. Ripple Fairies in canon all have cute hair accessories, so I made sure to tie off the braid with a little ribbon!

Also my hair in real life does this "devil horn thing" that is one of my favorite things about myself. Like I have these baby hairs on the sides of my head that love to curl upwards on their own, so I kept the "devil horn" silhouette with the braid's bangs :D

ALSO, I LOVE BOW TIES. SO MUCH. I love shirts, dresses, anything with a bow on the collar. So I added that.

I have this black coat with a sailor-like collar IRL that I love. I feel SUPER DUPER AWESOME when I wear it, so I added the collar with the bow tie.

I added buttons, a stripe along the bottom of the dress and sleeves, and gauntlets because a lot of canon Ripple Fairies have them. My college marching band uniform also had big gauntlets that I felt really cool wearing, so I shaped mine like that! And clothes with scalloped hems are my favorites, so I added one as a unique twist to my dress!

Now for the fun magic stuff. I wanted my powers to be connected to bubbles because I just think bubbles are neat!!! Simple as that haha.

So how am I going to blow bubbles, then? I'll need a bubble wand! How about a weapon that can change forms to be pocket-sized and functional, AND a super cool staff? Because I think staffs are SICK. I'd carry one around all the time if I could.

I got a little sentimental with my design too, borrowing some elements from my childhood Kirbysona like the Star Rod, stripes, ribbons, and diamond shapes. It's one of my favorite details because I like paying homage to the baby Jojo I once was as often as I can.

I added a little bit of red to the IRL brown color that my hair and eyes are (added more red to my eyes because I always felt like my brown eyes were boring lol). I finished off the theme with my favorite color blue, a little bit of yellow to complement, and BAM! There I am, Gary! There I am!!

Jojo The Schmo was born! She is me, and I am her, haha. Everything about the design has aspects that mean something special to me. I wanted to keep things unique and fun, but simple enough to draw over and over, while still representing me. And that's why I love my sona so so much!!

Hope this could provide some helpful insight! Go forth and create your unique and wonderful sonas!! When you're done we should all have a picnic together in Dreamland. <3

[jennamoran]

Nobilis 4 Status

At the Shore - not in yet, but probably mostly the same

rule zero: identified

Intro Chapter #1: some text exists

Interlude 1: written, needs tweaks towards the end

Example of Play 1: currently blank

Intro Chapter #2 (concepts, if a separate chapter): some yellow highlighter and wiggly bits, but done enough that I’m leaving the rest for when I can do a full-book or at least full-opening edit

Setting Chapter #1: solid, pending said edit

Setting Chapter #2: not started, except a bunch of finished text that I thought was going in #3 got dumped here during revision of same.

Setting Chapter #3 (Imperators): done-ish, pending #2 and #4

Setting Chapter #4 (Excrucians): some general text done, other general text floating around in yellow highlighter, one Excrucian type done, another mostly done.

^ (this is where I was today, in between being interrupted every bloody twenty minutes by my timing beep cube to tell me to do my PT.)

Setting Chapter #5: I am not clear if this will exist or not. Not started, anyway, in part because it is one of two different possible things, and I think they may overlap with #2 and #6 respectively.

Setting Chapter #6 (Orders, res, etc): basically done, I had some notes while working on other stuff so I’ll have to look at those.

Example of Play 2: currently blank

The Essence of Nobilis: finished, but possibly dated? Possibly not, I think the most recent rules draft was done before it was.

The Creation of a Campaign: currently blank

Campaign Suggestions: currently blank

Rules Chapter #1-9: done, though slowly accumulating little notes to self and such (e.g., two more magics, currently just blank headings, have appeared in the mortal magics section since I did that bit) as I work on other things.

Interlude: Mystic Links: needs a tonal pass, possibly a couple similar interludes 

Rules Chapter #10-11: done, same as #1-9. Some notes at the end that I need to deal with.

Rules Chapter #12: a decision yet to be made, a bunch of highlighter but mostly just things I need to doublecheck when all is complete

Rules Chapter #13-15: done

Example of Play 3-4: I probably already decided where they go and just missed them while zooming through.

Flowers Design: floating around in the uncertain “possibly will do”

3e-like Lifepath: same

Seven Flowers: someone reminded me of this story that was almost the intro fiction for Nob2 and maybe it will go somewhere, dunno.

Timeline Appendix, Other Appendices: ???

rule one: not yet defined

Index: hahaha

Art: I have a few pieces but mostly this will either wait until I finish layout and then figure out how I’m going to fund it.

Layout: no

It’s currently around 350k words but there’s also a bunch of Nob2 and Nob3 stuff on Excrucians and setting just kind of floating around as placeholder stuff until I overwrite it---not even usable stuff, it’s just there because it’s easier to have it in the same file until it isn’t. I’m guessing it’ll hit 350-370k at the end, after deleting that but also writing the stuff noted above. Glitch was 300k+ words, so if I work closely with layout tweaking sentences until I find versions that work that also save lines that’s ~500 pages; if I don’t, ~650?

[rhyselinn]

Gather round folks, it’s time to talk about Shovel Knight characters’ canon heights!

First things first, let’s talk about our friend Reize Seatlan.

His creator, Seizui, has been building canon around this character for years, and this link tells us that Reize’s canon height is 160 cm (5'3").

Let’s take a look at this boy’s sprite: (complete with blue Photoshop rulers in case you want to see where I measured from)

*caveat: Reize’s hair is extremely fluffy. It runs in the family, so I counted his height as being shorter than the height of his hair. It makes sense and it makes the math easier

Counting the pixels in Reize’s sprite, we can see that he is 32 pixels tall. So when we divide 160 cm by 32 pixels, we discover that each pixel in the Shovel Knight universe is 5 centimeters in real life.

So, what does this mean for the rest of the Shovel Knight cast?

Great question: I’ve got the rest of the math (with screenshot proof) under the cut:

Alright, in no particular order, let’s talk about Plague Knight next.

--Worth noting that I’m using playable/Showdown sprites as opposed to boss sprites when possible. This helps keep characters proportional to each other

--Plague Knight is 31 pixels tall = 155 cm tall = 5 foot 1. Tiny plague knight, but as we’ll see later, not the tiniest member of the cast

Tiniest member of the cast, you say? Could you mean... Tinker Knight?

--Tinker Knight slouches in almost all of his sprites, so I tried to find a sprite of him NOT slouching. That extra pixel makes a difference for this tiny character lol

--27 pixels tall = 135 cm tall = 4 foot 5. tiny tinker. But still not the tiniest member of the cast, believe it or not!

Shovel Knight:

--fairly straightforward. i did wonder if his victory pose was any taller than his regular pose, but it's not

24 pixels tall = 120 cm = 3 foot 11. tiny. tiny shovel. the average 9 year old child is between 120-145 centimeters. So not only is Shovel the size of a 9 year old, but he might actually be the shortest in the class...

Black Knight:

--there are interesting things i could say about the bird feather situation but eh. imma go with eh. bird feathers do not count as height, final answer --other than that, pretty easy here

24 pixels tall = 120 cm = 3 foot 11. same size as shovel, aka also the size of a 9 year old. adorable

Propeller Knight:

--slouches REALLY BAD. ALL THE TIME. --his least slouch-y sprite is his tuxedo sprite from the end of Plague of Shadows, so I used that initially... only to realize that he's the exact same height in his other sprites as well. How about that! Maybe he has some kind of a battery pack for his propeller hat in the back of his shirt. It would explain his terrible posture.

--39 pixels tall = 195 cm tall = 6 foot 4. Tall, but not unreasonable.

Mole Knight:

--has some fascinating squash and stretch in his sprite sheet --fabulous from an animation standpoint. difficult from a math standpoint --i refuse to count his fire-hair as height lol

Squash sprite: 32 pixels tall = 160 cm = 5 foot 2 Normal: 36 pixels tall = 180 cm = 5 foot 10 Stretch sprite: 46 pixels tall = 230 cm = 7 foot 6 (!!!)

I have no explanation for this other than artistic liberties lol

Specter Knight:

--i'm so glad player sprites exist lol. Specter's boss fight sprites are just piles of cloth with him slouching underneath. I will gleefully ignore them for this exercise --that said, even with player sprites, specter knight is HUNCHED OVER ALMOST ALL THE TIME. AUGH. --fortunately, cold shoulder sprites exist, and a few other action-y type poses. they’re pretty consistent with each other (within a pixel or so) --how much of Specter's hood is fluffy cloth vs actual height? good question. I compared to one of Donovan's sprites to give us a good estimate, give or take 1 pixel or so

37 pixels tall = 185 cm = 6 foot 0. Pretty average here.

Treasure Knight:

--also slouches in a lot of his sprites, but at least has a few non-slouchy sprites for us to examine. I chose the taller of the two for consistency (difference of 50 vs 51 pixels)

Treasure Height: 51 pixels = 255 cm = 8 foot 4 (!!!?!) This man is huge!

King Knight:

--his normal standing sprite met my requirements, so I used that --I included his boss sprite without the crown for comparison, because a crown does not actually make one taller lol (sorry not sorry, king) --this also shows the importance of using player sprites vs boss sprites. the difference between the two is pretty obvious here

32 pixels tall = 160 cm = 5 foot 2. tiny. tiny king

Polar Knight:

--hunched over. like, all the time. --there aren't really any sprites of him not hunched over, but the least hunched over is him doing his shovel up attack, so I'll use that, and his normal sprite for comparison

Normal sprite: 47 pixels tall = 235 cm = 7 foot 8 (!!!) Tall sprite: 58 pixels tall = 290 cm = 9 foot 6 (!!!?!?!?!) tl;dr polar knight is a beast of a man and we all knew that already hahaha. the tallest man on record in medical history was 8 ft 11. This is absolutely bonkers

Shield Knight:

--while she does have hunched over sprites, i simply avoided them lol. --how tall is her head inside her helmet? great question! the world may never know. Since our only reference for this is concept art (which does little more than tells us her head is shaped like a human’s and not, say, a squid’s), I kinda winged the exact pixel count. --also worth noting is that she grows a few inches when she sticks her leg out lol

Normal sprite: 35 pixels = 175 cm = 5 foot 8 (tall but normal height for an adult woman) Tall sprite: 40 pixels = 200 cm = 6 foot 6 (!!!!) (hOLY MAMA beautiful big buff lady)

And just for fun, I added a few other important characters from the main stories:

Mona:

--we know she is a tall lady, but exactly how tall? --all of her sprites seem pretty consistent in height, which makes my job easy!

48 pixels tall = 240 cm = 7 foot 10. (???????!!!?) She is the size of Shovel Knight and Black Knight stacked on top of each other. Amazing. I have nothing but awe and admiration for this incredibly tall lady

Luan:

--He has a bunch of funky tumbling/hunched over sprites and very fluffy hair. like father, like son. I did my best to pick the most reasonable sprites of the bunch --after that, I decided two pixels of hair is enough. voluminous hair is impressive but is not height --similar to Shield Knight, he grows a few inches when he sticks his leg out lol

Normal Sprite: 39 pixels = 195 cm = 6 foot 4 Tall Sprite: 43 pixels = 215 cm = 7 foot 0 (!!) All the better for reaching those hard-to-reach platforms in the Tower of Fate, I guess?

King Knight’s Mom:

--last but not least, the best character in king of cards (you know it's true lol) --she also has somewhat fluffy hair. i'm not counting her bun as height.

41 pixels = 205 cm = 6 foot 8 (!!!). It's not Mona tall, but it's still very tall. Tallness may run in the family, but King Knight seeems to have missed out on all of those genes hahaha.

Special thanks to https://www.spriters-resource.com/pc_computer/shovelknight/ for having all the sprites in one easy place! Thanks for reading!

*disclaimer: I am only human and if I flubbed the math or measurements on any of this, I hope you’ll forgive me. I promise I didn’t mean to slight whichever character was affected

[discotreque]

LwD 1.10, “No Small Parts”

Well, that was the most fun I've had watching Star Trek in literally a quarter of a century.

I had high hopes for this series. I love TAS, largely because of its wacky outsized concepts that could only have worked in animation—not that they all did work, but the potential was so apparent to me, even as a kid reading the Alan Dean Foster novelizations—and as an adult, there's something about the imagination of Lower Decks's FX setpieces that transcends even the glorious CGI bonanzas of Discovery.

Pause for a confession. I've long pushed back against criticism of serialization in new Trek. That's just how TV is now, okay? Might as well complain about it being in widescreen. But I'm backing down a little, because I've realized there is something about Star Trek that's inextricable from at least a partially-episodic format. And while Picard was telling a different kind of story, I can't deny that my favourite episodes of Disco have been the ones with a mostly self-contained A-plot. After 10 delightfully episodic instalments of LwD, its focus on long-term development of characters instead of a season-spanning puzzle-plot (okay, mostly just Mariner, but we only have 10 × 22 minutes and she is the star) has been downright refreshing.

So here we are, at the end of the most consistent and well-executed Season 1 of a Star Trek series since, arguably, Those Old Scientists. And sure, if they'd had to produce another... yikes, 42 episodes? Then sure, they probably would have dropped a clunker or two—but they didn't, and winning on a technicality is still winning. I'm practically vibrating with excitement for Disco to come back next week, but damn, I'm going to miss this little show while it's on hiatus.

Spoilers below:

Something I've been keeping track of finally paid off this week! (Which never happens to me, lol.) The destruction of the USS Solvang marked the first present-day death(s) of any Starfleet officer on Lower Decks, the only other on-screen killing at all being a flashback in "Cupid's Errant Arrow". Which makes sense, being (a) a comedy, and (b) about typically "expendable" characters: it hasn't been afraid to flirt with a little darkness here and there, but killing people off at Star Trek's usual pace wouldn't just be wrong for the tone, it would be downright bizarre.

But... people die on Star Trek. That's one of the core themes of the show, really: space is full of knowledge and beauty, but also danger and terror, and believing that the former is worth the risk of the latter is (according to Trek) one of humanity's most noble traits. I'm the least bloodthirsty TV watcher I know, but the longer we went with a body count of nil—ships completely evacuated before they were destroyed, main characters hilariously maimed without permanent consequences, etc.—well, I didn't mind per se, but the absence of truly deadly stakes was definitely getting conspicuous.

Turns out they were saving it up for maximum impact. And holy fuck, I've never felt such a pit in my stomach watching a ship get destroyed that wasn't named Enterprise. It felt grim and brutal and somehow both much too quick and dreadfully inevitable—and yeah, it looked extremely fucking cool—and I'd like every other Star Trek property for the rest of time to take notes under a large bold heading labeled RESTRAINT.

Comedy doesn't need to do this, but my favourite comedy does, and in a way that few other art forms can even approach: lower my emotional defences by making me laugh, endear character(s) to me with goofy-but-relatable antics—then BAM, sucker-punch me in the motherfucking feels. M*A*S*H is probably the classic example on TV, Futurama was notorious for it, and even Archer has pulled it off a few times; it's also a staple of some of my favourite standup. I wasn't sure if Lower Decks was going to go there in Season 1—and wasn't sure if they'd earn it—but I knew if they did, that they'd nail it, and damn. Feels good to be right.

Last batch of notes for the season!!! I rambled enough already, so let's do it liveblog-style:

I fucking KNEW they were going to use "archive" visuals from TAS at some point, I KNEW IT :D

"THOSE OLD SCIENTISTS" ahahahahahahahahahahahaha

I like chill and confident Boimler a lot? You can really see—

oh bRADWARD NOOOOO

That opening shot of the Solvang tracking down to the red giant was extremely Discovery-esque... minus the motion sickness, that is

A lady captain AND a lady first officer? That's—oh hey, it's Captain Dayton's brand-new ship. Hahaha, that means they're totally fucked, right?.

Yep! They sure a—umm, wh—shit, okay, but—oh no—no, you can't—wait DON'T

...fuck

FUCK.

Narrator: "And then Amy needed a five-hour break."

[live-action Star Trek showrunner voice] "Gee, Mike! Why does CBS let you have two cold opens?"

Okay, yes, the bit with Rutherford cycling through all the different attitudes in his implant was transparently an excuse for Eugene Cardero to vamp while waiting for something to do in the story, but as far as I'm concerned they can contrive a reason for him to do a bunch of different silly Rutherfords in a row any time they damn well want, because that was classic!!!

EXOCOMP EXOCOMP EXOCOMP EXOCOMP

AND THE EXOCOMP IS PAINTED LIKE THE EXOCOMP IS WEARING A LITTLE EXOCOMP-SIZED STARFLEET UNIFORM

EXOCOMP!!!!!

The slow burn and now the payoff of the Mariner-is-Freeman's-secret-daughter plot has been executed so well. I'm beyond impressed with this writer's room, y'all—they are threading a hell of a needle here

"Wolf 359 was an inside job" would have been a spit-take if I'd had anything in my mouth

...how many memos do you think Starfleet Command has had to issue asking people to stop calling the USS Sacramento "the Sac"?

CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW THEY'VE DECORATED THE SHUTTLECRAFT SEQUOIA THOUGH

Is, uh, is it weird if I'm starting to ship Tendi and Peanut Hamper a little? It is weird, isn't it. I knew it was weird...

Coital barbs??? I take back everything I said about wanting to know more about Shaxs/T'Ana.

The "good officer" version of Mariner is... kind of hot, tbh! But Tawny Newsome has done such a great job of building this character all season that her voice getting uncharacteristically clipped and martial and "sir! yes, sir!" is also deeply, deeply weird

Ah, so this is literally exactly like when TNG (and DS9) would bring in, and then blow up, a never-before-seen Galaxy-class ship, just to underscore that we're facing a real threat this week, baby. And hey, it fucking worked—my heart was in my throat, omg, for the reveal of the—

PAKLEDS?????????

The fucking PAKLEDS have been gluing weapons to their ships for the last 15 years. GREAT.

(We interrupt the SHIP BEING SLICED INTO SCRAP for an interesting bit of world-building: on Earth, the traditional First Contact Day meal is salmon!)

"I need a dangerous, half-baked solution that breaks Starfleet codes and totally pisses me off! That's an order." I'm starting to think Captain Freeman might actually be overqualified for the Cerritos, y'all—she's REALLY awesome

OH SHIT IT'S BADGEY, this is a TERRIBLE IDEA

"How much contraband have you hidden on my ship?" "I don't know! A lot!"

Awwww, Boims!!!

AHAHAHAHAHAHA, FUCK THIS, PEANUT HAMPER OUT

BADGEY NOOOOO

AUGHHHHH WHAT THE CHRIST DID HE JUST—BUT—RUTHERFORD'S IMPLANT????

RUTHERFORD!!!!!!!!!!

SHAXS!!!!!!

F U C K ! ! ! ! !

ahaIOPugdfhagntpgjrq90e5mgu90qe5;oigoqgw4ouegrw5SP;IAEHURVa IT’S THE TITAN???????????

IT'S CAPTAIN WILLIAM T. RIKER ON THE MOTHERFUCKING TITAN??????????

i'm screaming I'M SCREAMINGGGGGG​TGGGTGQER;​LBHAOIBVNV;​OAPBIJNVagr;h;​oagruipuwtnaetbaetgq35ghqet

I'M SO GLAD THIS WASN'T SPOILED FOR ME WTF

I AM WEEPING LIKE A CHILD

...

(Just a brief 20-minute pause this time)

And oh wow, seeing Will and Deanna hits different after Picard too, in a few different ways, which I may even get into later now that my heartrate is back to normal, lmao

Oh, I am always here for some jokes at the expense of the Sovereign class. The Enterprise-E sucked. They should have built a new bigger model of the D and new Galaxy-class interiors for the TNG movies, and I will die on that hill

OKAY, FINE, YOU GOT ME, RUTHERFORD × TENDI WOULD BE ADORABLE AND THIS IS ACTUALLY A PRETTY GOOD SETUP FOR IT

Awwww, Shaxs though :( Congrats on the single most badass death in Star Trek history, dude. The Prophets would—well, the actual Prophets would probably be slightly confused about most of it, but Kira Nerys would be proud of you and I feel like that probably counts for more. RIP, Papa Bear

I am here all damn DAY for the Mariner–Riker parallels, ahahahahaha

Pausing it to record my prediction that Boimler's commitment to not caring about rank anymore is going to last 3... 2...

Yep.

Bradward, how DARE YOU.

"Those guys had a long road, getting from there to here." OH FOR THE LOVE OF—

What a brilliant way to resolve and renew the various character arcs and relationships moving into Season 2! The writers could easily have brought everything back to status quo—chaotic Mariner fighting with her mom and being a bad influence on Boimler, etc.—and done another 10 just like these, but I suspect that wouldn't have been ambitious enough for these writers. What a blast. I cannot wait for more.

Thanks for following along, friends! Stay tuned for my (similarly patchy and amateur) coverage of Discovery, starting next week!

[adultswim2021]

Space Ghost Coast to Coast #85: “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” | December 7, 2003 - 11:30 PM | S08E04

Happy 20th anniversary, Adult Swim. And, boy, what a momentous episode of Ghost do we have here to celebrate. There are a number of episodes where the guest is an event unto itself and this is truly one of them. Frequent punchline William Shatner is an absolute cunt... and a proper legend. His cuntiness and legendary status are two things that seem to be at odds with one another, and the Space Ghost crew have managed to come up with an artfully idiosyncratic episode to match Shatner’s weird-guy-ness. It’s a classic for sure, and important. But (making a “smug dipshit” face) is it funny?

YES! It’s FUNNY! I will admit though, the first time I saw this episode I didn’t quite know what to make of it. This is partially because I’m very much a Star Trek agnostic. I’ve never been into Star Trek. In the last few years I’ve watched most of the pre-Next Gen motion pictures for inane list-making reasons, and I enjoyed them to varying degrees, but Star Trek is truly not for me. I’m more of a... well, I’m not a Star Wars guy either. What’s the other one? Uh... Spaceballs. That’s it. I’m more of a Spaceballs guy.

But I feel like I’ve absorbed a lot of Star Trek lore through cultural osmosis. I vaguely understand that William Shatner has had some deliberately-paced choreographed fight scene on those rocks from Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey. When I hear music similar to the the music that Jim Carrey hums in The Cable Guy, I’m pretty sure whatever it is I’m watching is doing a Star Trek thing. And yes, I’ve watched every single Red Letter Media “Mike and Rich talk about Star Trek for 4 hours” video. But even today, after having picked up more Star Trek knowledge on my journey to the grave, I still have this nagging feeling of “I only sort of get this”.

Still, this episode has a handful of screamingly funny lines, and the episode ends wonderfully, with Space Ghost in his death throes, suffering the ultimate indignity of dying in front of William Shatner. There’s also the part where Zorak asks why everyone in Star Trek is black, and a part where Moltar nervously reads from his fan fiction (from a book labeled TARD WARS, hahaha). Shatner, who has a reputation for being arrogant and difficult, is as good a sport as one could hope. The show makes good use of his hammier moments, and only shits on him slightly in the process. The most notable moment is when Shatner says to Zorak “didn't you and I fight to the death?” to which Zorak replies “That sounds pretty dumb, man”. I’ve actually quoted this line many times. It’s one of the best.

Also, for those of you who like to track these things: the show features callbacks to other episodes and shows; the handimen at Zorak’s apartment are clearly extras from Sealab 2020/2021, one of the Leprechauns from Aqua Teen Hunger Force shows up, and there’s a poignant callback to classic Space Ghost episode “Banjo”. 

The title motif of this season is naming the episodes after Allman Brothers songs, and I always wondered about this one. Maybe I’m reaching, and it’s probably too disrespectful to be true, but I always thought that it was somehow a veiled reference to Shatner’s wife, whom he supposedly killed or let die. It’s simply too dark to be true, but it’s the first thought that immediately jumped to my mind when I first heard the title of this episode. Am I stupid for thinking this? Am I stupid because it OBVIOUSLY is a reference to that?? I simply do not know. I would like to know.

MAIL BAG

The big anniversary is upon us. What are your 20 favorite things about adult swim for 20 years going. Don't sleep on this question!

I gotta do SOMETHING special, so I might as well do this. More thought could have gone into this, but I spent about an hour trying to come up with episodes or moments from 20 different shows and putting them in rough chronological order. I limited myself to one episode/scene/moment/joke/whatever per show so it’s not all Space Ghost jokes. So, here we go:

Sealab 2021: “I, Robot”. Adult Swim proved it could be brilliant right out of the gate with the stealth premiere of “I, Robot”, but for Sealab it’s all downhill from here. (2000)

Space Ghost Coast to Coast: Space Ghost stops in his tracks to reminisce about the time Bobcat Goldthwait said "crack a window". The entire episode “Kentucky Nightmare” is brilliant, but this moment in particular so uniquely captures my sense of humor that it’s inexplicable. The dumb look on Space Ghost’s face when he stops in his tracks. Goddamn. (2001)

Aqua Teen Hunger Force: “Mayhem of the Mooninites” I tried very hard to make this all be individual jokes or scenes or whatever, but this is another episode where the entire thing is just line after line and I can’t really pick. This, “I Robot”, and “Kentucky Nightmare” is like a perfect trio illustrating how good Adult Swim really was right out of the gate. (2001)

Home Movies: Jason casually reveals that his parents have no idea who Brendon and Melissa are and that he spends most of his free-time making movies with them. This is the episode “Storm Warning” which is overall one of the best episodes of Home Movies, but this scene is probably my favorite. Illustrates how simple and hilarious the comedy is on this show. (2002)

Tom Goes to the Mayor: the end scene in “Undercover”, where they’ve shoddily reversed Tom’s various unnecessary surgeries and called him “Taumpy Tears” to boot. Positively sublime. (2006)

Metalocalypse: Dr. Rockso’s music video. From the episode “Dethclown”. I was never in love with this show as much as the true fans were, but there were a handful of incredible episodes. This episode basically tells one joke over and over and it’s very funny. It really ends with a bang showcasing Dr. Rockso’s shitty music video that celebrates cocaine use. His singing voice is hilarious. (2006)

Assy McGee: I am the only person in the world that defends Assy McGee as being “actually pretty good” and it’s all entirely due to this one line: Assy McGee (a pair of naked buttocks with legs, whose ass functions as his head) is forced to attend a black tie event and is just milling around wearing nothing but a black bow tie. Through clenched anus he delivers the line “I can barely breathe in this penguin suit”. The whole show is worth it for that joke. I don’t even know what episode it is except that it’s from one of the first few. I might not even have the line exactly right. But, I remember laughing so hard. I may not have laughed at Assy McGee again. (2006)

Saul of the Mole Men: The opening theme song. And nothing else. (2007)

Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!: Jim and Derrick. I should pick something more user-friendly maybe, since this episode almost entirely relies on being familiar with Tim & Eric’s previous episodes. But goddamn, this episode is such a funny concept (which is basically Tim & Eric doing an alternate MTV-ified version of Awesome Show) (2008)

Moral Orel: “Numb”. When Moral Orel suddenly stopped being a quirky Adult Swim comedy and suddenly started doing episodes that resembled art films. This episode is a fucking masterpiece. I remember sobbing the first time I saw it. There are a few in season 3 that are like that, but this one is my favorite. (2008)

Check it Out! with Dr. Steve Brule: Terry Bruge-Hiplo reviews “Dumpster’s Children”. Another bit of comedy that I’d describe as “inexplicable” and “sublime”, and it all hinges on an old man’s mouth. Holy fuck. I don’t think I’ve laughed harder than this at a TV show since. (2010)

Delocated: The ending of “Mole”, an extended Face/Off riff where Jon goes undercover as the scary mobster Sergei. In the final moments of the episode he marries a woman, fathers multiple children with her, and only then is pulled out of the mission. The episode is a tour-de-force of comic acting by Steve Cirbus, who is graciously allowed to shine for most of the episode. But man, that ending is fucking wonderful. (2010)

Venture Bros.: The ending of “Operation P.R.O.M.” a flurry of emotions hit me when “Like a Friend” by Pulp starts playing. The scene is so well done and weirdly touching. Brock realizes that deep down he gives a shit about the Venture family and is genuinely terrified something might happen to them. And then he gets to slaughter a bunch of Zorak monsters, which is also weirdly sweet. It’s even touching on a meta-level knowing that Jackson and Doc tried many times and failed to include licensed music in the show. I love Venture Bros, but I think we’d all be better off if this were the series finale. Sorry. I had to say it. (2010)

The Heart She Holler: The first scene with Patton being taught the way of the world posthumously by his father on a VHS tape. The first season of this show is amazing, but that scene, especially where Patton does a little Japanese bow and says “oh, hot dog!” is just hysterical. Literally every time a hot dog comes up in conversation my wife and I quote it. Please, do not scorn her, it’s not racist when SHE does it. (2011)

Eagleheart: The All That Jazz inspired finale. “Paradise Rising” is mostly a masterpiece, and how it ends is so fucking incredible. Easily the most under-rated show on Adult Swim and I’m not just saying that because... you know (mimes dick-sucking) (2014)

Rick and Morty: I watched the first two episodes of Rick and Morty, thought it was good, but for some reason didn’t become a devotee until my wife made me watch the Mr. Poopybutthole episode. It’s still my favorite episode, I think. (2015)

Brett Gelman’s Dinner in America: The “Dinner with” specials are all really good, but goddamn, this one hits. Should be shown in schools. I am going to go to every grade school in my county with an AR-15 (to get past the guards, of course) and I won’t leave until they call an assembly and they let me fumble around trying to find it on vimeo and play it for the students. (2016)

The Eric Andre Show: Eric interviews Steve Schirripa. The bit where he has an intern dip his balls in Steve’s spaghetti sauce is hilarious, naturally, but I’m here to showcase the running gag where every time Steve complains how hot the studio is, Eric just wordlessly hands him an ice cube until Steve explodes. It’s one of the most childishly hilarious things I’ve ever seen. It’s perfect. (2016)

Million Dollar Extreme Presents: World Peace: The Pick-Up artist sketch. I’m mostly unimpressed with MDE, and all but a few Sam Hyde bits leave me cold. But this sketch is a crowning achievement. I mean, I think these guys suck politically and are more mean than funny, but their sensibilities yielded one really incredible piece of comedy. Okay, I laughed at the blackface sketch too. There. You dragged it out of me. (2016) Joe Pera Talks With You: This show is beautiful and I love every episode. But the episode “Joe Pera Reads You The Church Announcements” Wherein Joe discovers a new-to-him song and can’t stop listening to it, is one of the most joyous episodes of television I’ve ever seen. A gateway episode. I tell everyone to please watch this one first. (2018)

[may-shepard]

Supernatural and Me, Painting With What I Hope Will Be Gradually Increasing Skill 1x01: The Pilot

In celebration of This Thing That Is Happening I’m watching Supernatural from the beginning. I’m a bit of a completist when it comes to media so I will very probably watch every episode, which means it’ll be sometime next year before I get to the glorious ending but heyyyyyy tv shows are forever. 

Remember when, unless something went into syndication or ended up in reruns, you could never see it again? Remember enjoying stuff and having no ability to rewatch, and never, ever, being able to obsessively rewatch or start anytime or decide what time of day was convenient for you to watch? When the only things on at 4pm were Sesame Street and Oprah?

Me neither.

This is going to seem like a total nonsequitur but recently I’ve become aware that (1) I have too many home projects to do and (2) I have been skimping of self care and R&R and (3) one of those projects involves teaching myself how to paint petrykivka, because I’ve always wanted a kitchen that looks like this:

Okay, not exactly like this because I have modern appliances and my city bylaws wouldn’t support the use of a woodstove no matter how aesthetically awesome it is but I totally have ambitions to paint my kitchen cupboards in a much less accomplished version of this style.

I have no artistic training but there are loads of tutorials on this online and I’m willing to paint my way through as many episodes of Supernatural as I need to in order to feel like I’m not going to totally fuck up this fun project so WHEEE and also fair warning: if you don’t want to watch a non-artist struggle with basic concepts for a longass time, maybe look away. Also if you don’t want to watch a previous not-viewer of Supernatural watch it from the beginning, well, you’d best also look away.

Also fair warning: I’m a horror fan, and since we’re in horror territory I’ll probably talk about horror tropes a bit. I’ve got an academic background that includes writing about Victorian horror lit so I’ve got a high tolerance for the representation of masculinity in pop culture and I also think it’s hilarious, so I might make some fun of the show, but just know that it’s all in the name of enjoying it. If that perspective isn’t your cup of tea, you know what to do.

Anyway here’s Supernatural s1e1: The Pilot. For painting, I’m going work on the brush loading and stroke technique from the first five minutes of this handy tutorial which won’t embed for some reason.

THE PILOT

I have many favourite moments so far but I think my absolute fav is the high male doofery of John hearing Mary scream, run upstairs to see what is up, find baby boy child Sam comfortably tucked away in his crib, and forget completely about Mary or whatever is up with her (HA! see what I did there?) until her blood literally starts dripping onto their son. Lol 100% realistic in my opinion, this is what happens in the male brain when a woman has a genuine problem.

I’m fine, by the way.

12 minutes in: oho! a highway that eats men. I approve.

15 minutes: oho! a Victorian ghost lady in her Victorian ghost underwear who eats men. I APPROVE. [Later note she’s not Victorian but her underwear kind of it? I continue to be confused by this.] I love that she glitches like a bad VCR tape and this driver dude doesn’t blink, hahahaha.

Something I really enjoy--and I mean genuinely enjoy--about horror-esque media made by and for men is that male sexual anxiety as a driver for monsters of the week makes for incredibly powerful female monsters, like, I know this one will probably be defeated but I am all for her apparently enormous sexual appetite, demand for compliments, perfect mid-2000s eyeliner, and relentlessness. also like lolol don’t be led by your dick bro, I once knew a guy who got a bird thrown at his face and then ghost-eaten is a message for the ages.

Can I say I am really looking forward to watching this whole deal become increasingly gay, like, what a treat.

Also ayyyy non-recurring goth gf:

And non-recurring goth gf gf:

Can someone please point me to the fic where these two solve supernatural occurrences through vaguely Satanic practices? I headcanon that they’ll exorcise your house by infesting it with a larger, more powerful, but somewhat more polite demonic entity than the one you’ve already got. Problem solved!

Today’s palette has been determined by the abundance of mismatched colours I have left over from various stencil projects, most of which I have yet to complete. In any case I’ve got some nice acrylic paint but for practicing brush strokes this old chalk paint will maybe do (spoiler: it smelled bad and it did not do, but I got at least one hilarious piece of art from it, see below). Today I’m working in indigo, pepto bismol, and gold. 

Petrykivka paint strokes are charmingly simple until you try to do them. Today I’m practicing with one colour at a time, and then mixing. (This video explains the different strokes.)

To be fair, this paint is very thick and crappy, so the struggle is real, lol.

I mean the victims are all men, this is quite a fantasy yeah? like, WhAt if thErE wAs a GHost wHo eNDANGered the MenS??? 

Like, Dean searches for this:

And he gets this:

Hahaha ao3 tags: extreme AU, on what planet? not this one

“Sooner or later you’re going to have to face up to who you really are” oh Dean.

Like though the ghost lady supposedly died in 1981...maybe her whalebone corset killed her? Anyway she drives the Impala for a bit, so like, steals the symbolic penis of the male protagonists, lol. Good times, you go ghost lady.

38 mins? Rapey ghost is rapey. Uncool, lady ghost. Very uncool. Also I think you might have a plumbing problem. Okay a pretty serious plumbing problem. I like the effects as the ghost kids flush her (and themselves, I guess) down the spiritual toilet. Nice work.

44m from a previous viewing attempt I have a vague recollection of being somewhat attached to Jessica, and Jessica in her smurf pjs, and then being just a little disappointed by the end of the pilot and here we are...hooboy

Is it Sam? Is it Sam’s psychic Need for Adventure that is slashing the midriffs of these women and sticking them to the ceiling? Was it so intense that it manifested practically the moment he popped from the womb?

Please enjoy my half arsed brush stroke techniques that I practiced on this terrible portrait of Jessica and / or maybe Mary but probably Jessica. I didn’t want to use as much orange and yellow as I would have needed to do flames around her so I did a bunch of flowers instead lol.

[rockmiyabideusexmachina]

2020 Megaman Valentine’s Day Contest - Cat. 1 (Talent) Results!

Thank you to everyone again for your patience! This is getting posted way later than I wanted to. As much as I try to keep it short and sweet, I never do, so bear with my walls of text. 

For the talent category this year, the theme was about killing Mega Man with kindness. More specifically, entrants had to create their own original love/Valentine’s-themed Robot Master or equivalent boss character that was created to defeat Mega Man with the power of love! Even though the theme title and concept alluded more to the classic Robot Master character contests, designs for any series were acceptable. But other than one Navi and one Reploid entry, everyone stuck to a Classic-series themed creation. So you were all pretty consistent! 

There were a total of 16 entries for this category this year. Thank you all for your participation! It was extremely hard to choose winners for this category, because you all had really clever and creative concepts based off of this theme. So thank you for thinking up such clever and cool characters!!

Also thanks to Reploid 21XX for the coloring book prizes and for some additional insight. 

Again, raffle prize winners will be contained in both posts, so keep an eye out between your name and your art. Not all raffle prize winners are contained in this post. I’ll be contacting all winners soon enough, so sit tight! Might be late after work tonight, so don’t panic if you don’t hear from me right after this is posted.

Your category winners and full gallery of entries are right here, after the break:

Category 1 (Talent) -  Dr. Wily’s Greatest Creation: Killing Mega Man With Kindness

[Full Talent Gallery]

1.) @mo-sketchbook​:

*For coming in 1st, mo-sketchbook has won $100 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value AND a Rockman 7 Coloring Book.*

First and foremost, I appreciate all the effort you put into covering so many aspects of your creation, from the various design viewpoints, weapon get form for Mega Man, and showing the weapon in action. I really loved all the things you integrated into the design to give off the feeling that it is a love-based character. The “love bug” form, cherub-like Heat/Plug-type facial features, and how you utilized hearts in different ways for his design and powers. 

I’m no Keiji Inafune, but I feel like this is a concept he would greenlight, in terms of it following his Robot Master design formula. It doesn’t need to be super detailed or flashy, but still fits the mold very well! The thought of the hearts missing their target and love energy then getting weaker is actually pretty clever, too. Cute, and I wuv it. 

2.) @peachycircuits​:

*For coming in 2nd, peachy has won $50 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value AND a Rockman 7 Coloring Book*

As usual, on the technical side of things, your art is one of the more polished and clean entries of the bunch. Combining a couple different aspects - swans as a creature known as a symbol of love, bonded for life like in marriage, and turning that into an inseparable pair of Robot Masters, was a clever way to think about your design, in terms of the theme of this category. 

And then echoing that with the iconic Swan Lake, making them ballet dancers, is like taking Tundra Man and Gemini Man’s concept up another notch. Plus, not gonna lie, amused seeing Mega Man getting equipped with a tutu. LOL So even if it’s not as heart-themed as most of the other entries, I totally liked how you thought outside the box a little bit for this. 

3.) Komito Amae:

*For coming in 3rd, Komito has won $25 via Paypal, or a prize of their choice up to that value*

I figured a cupid-styled arrow theme would pop up in a bunch of entries, but your Reploid, Beta, here caught my eye. Both in terms of the hearts, arrows and wings incorporated into her armor, and the pretty sweet looking buster that she and X both have equipped. 

While I’m not sure how it would play out in the game, I think it would be interesting to suddenly take control of random enemies in a stage, and be able to change perspective as them for a short time, after you have shot them. Whether it would be to take out an enemy horde, or perform a task X can’t that the enemy could, it would be different! Can’t see it quite having the same powerful effect on a Maverick boss, but it’s certainly neat to think about how that could work!

And the rest of the wonderful entries, in alphabetical order by alias: 

@autobot-bumblebee​:

*Raffle Prize Winner*  Dreamwave Comics: Issue 4 Page 15

I’m sorry you didn’t win a cash prize this time! Please don’t take me hostage! I totally loved the creative vintage chocolate factory mascot backstory, along with making your entry like an Ariga-styled character sheet page. Certainly get that retro feel with her clothing design. Her rose blade kinda reminds me of other hand-turned-blade-like-weapon characters, such as Alan Gabriel in the Big O or Ed transmuting one in FMA. Which is always a snazzy transformation for a robot!

@drewblossom​:

In all honesty, if I hadn’t placed you in the humor category, I think this would have very likely been somewhere in the top 3 for this category. A cuddly teddy bear with a massive Ariga-Quick Man-sized heart for a chest, extending flailing tube arms, who just wants to hug Mega Man to death is so amusing and awesome of a design. Hugs for everyone!

FluffyFrostyFury:

Your take of heat-seeking arrows and the added high jump powers were certainly a different take compared to the other cupid-styled creations. Definitely would be nice gameplay bonuses when equipped. I like how Mega Man also has the wings sprout out of his head, to mimic Cherub Woman’s pigtails, rather than the usual spot you would assume, on his back. 

HealerCharm:

Hahaha, I love how your creation has caused Mega Man to wave the white flag after falling in love...wait, it isn’t White Day, and he should be giving her a gift if it was! XD Her hair tied up into a heart was a creative touch, much like how her dress flows into all those heart shapes. Adorable!

@inanehipsterslang​:

Um, can...can I count on you to vote for Bernie this election year?

Remember kids, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, looks don’t matter. Everyone deserves love, even those you consider ‘vermin.’ This was certainly an unexpected take on the theme, and gave me a good laugh, too. ‘Boiling-hot water...with a hint of citrus!’ It burns, but it smells so lemony-fresh!! XD But the two different moves fit together well, to protect and attack. 

I like how you still incorporated a heart shape into Rodent Woman’s design with, both in her chest shape and the “nostril” area which is echoed in the Rodent Rover. And also props for giving her the non-armor form, unique compared to other entries. 

Mattasaurs:

On the one hand, your design feels so different for a Robot Master, and maybe more Navi-like. But then I get the Astro/Galaxy-type eye vibe, and sort of a Plant Man~ish body with Devil hands feel, and see how it’d fit into Classic. It’s a unique look, and I liked it the more I inspected it. I really do love the idea of the heart bubble entrapping more and more enemies, and the big ol’ group hug ending up bursting their love bubble. It’s a different concept that stood out!

Minnie:

Our Navi of the bunch combined the love bug and cupid design, but your concept changed up the attack to suck out the energy of it’s target. Which almost made me think she should have an arrow-like mosquito nose, to feast on her target that way. XD I liked your wing shield concept and RiCO-styled skirt of hearts. Rock gets some cool shades in his Love Soul/Cross form, and I get the ProtoSoul vibe, with the shield transferring to his arm as well.

@pstart​:

Another Heat/Plug-type design Share Man looks cute and sleepy, but is also “clumsy and weak.” His ability is to share body parts, so “the danger is in him sharing his less than ideal parts with his opponents.” It’s a totally neat concept, to see Mega Man lose his buster almost by accident, and now be powerless to stop Share Man. His split color scheme drives home the concept that his parts might not all be his own, and sort of a Frankenstein bot at times. Props to that idea!

While his weapon gives Mega Man the power to make enemies docile and sleepy, I really almost want to see Mega Man get dumb parts of enemies, too! Helmet switched to a Met helmet, Batton wings, a big Suzy eye! It’s now I’ve got your power...but...but what am I supposed to do with it? XD

RetroNinjin:

Unlike most others, your entry pushed the heart theme heavily in her armor design around the entire head and shoulder parts, so I definitely felt the love vibe. The color scheme fits well. Just would have liked to have had seen a little more information about her attack and concept.

RoninApprentice:

Mega Man having a “Wing Man” to set him up is a hilarious and clever idea! I give you kudos for thinking outside the box a bit on your concept and theme here. The shipping chart certainly drives the idea home, too. You still give him a classy/formal look, and keep the wing man aviation origin apparent in his attack style. Certainly a different idea having the heart bowtie transfer to Rock’s helmet in the form change, but it really doesn’t look that bad there, opposed to around his neck like it would be normally.

@star-crossed-swords​:

Different from the other cupid concepts, Eros Woman utilizes a Search-Man like targeting system to hit her targets. I like the heart scope addition over her and Rock’s eye when they go into firing mode. You took a different approach to the wing concept compared to others, echoing Cinnamon’s hairstyle in many respects. But it certainly fits with the rest of her design nicely, and looks good for Mega Man’s equipped form.

@star-shaped-soul:

Love that you were able to both include a drawing and your own sprite, to mix in with the weapon equip ones. That is one powerful crush Mega Man has on his enemies now! I feel bad for Crush Man with how big and heavy those snare trap hands of his are. This seems like a Robot Master too cute for Wily to design; more like he stole him and added horrible, cruel hands onto him! This is taking a crush on someone to a whole different level! XD

Yuri Kadry:

When equipped with Cupid Man’s power, I like the visor Mega Man gets. I think this is also a clever use of the weapon, having enemies shot attracted to one another, causing them to collide into each other. Well thought out! Love the original sprite art, and he stands out nicely against the pinks and purples in the background. 

[franeridart]

Hiya dude! Sorry if this ask is annoying, but I was wondering if I could make an oc with a similar quirk to Akane? I was considering making an oc that can control color, but if I do actually end up posting about them, I don't want to make a character that seems like a copycat. :')

Sure thing! I don’t own the concept of that power after all hahaha

Anon said:Will there be any of the KiriBaku kids on your red bubble? :) They’re so cute!! 💕💕

Why not!!! Just gotta draw something with them that’s actually worth uploading first 💕💕

Anon said:Your blog is so.... therapeutic??? I think I went through it at least four times by now. I'm absolutely in love with your drawing style and even better au ideas.

Anon said:akane would be dangerous with red paint bombs

Anon said: Akane could shoot or throw paint balls of red paint or even powder to cover things and villains and since the paint isn't alive she could control it.

Anon said:Pertaining to the question of blood, red blood cells live approximately 120 days. If she kept blood in a tube and waited until the cells are dead, can she control them? Is one of her tools going to be capsules of red dye that she can use to paint her enemies?

!!!!!!!! Many people have mentioned that and it makes me actually super happy because that was something I thought about too, for when she’ll be a hero! The paint should be fast dry though or else she’d end up just moving the paint off the things she threw it on hahaha also about the blood thing, yes she’d be able to control it but, I mean, why would she do that hahaha

Anon said:Do you have any ideas for an older Akane? I image that she would get into UA and that she would have the coolest hero costume! With different shades of red so that she could possibly use it for defense or mobility, and a cloak that could withstand attacks. I LOVE the idea of her having red knives and weapons that she can use for offense hidden under her cloak, probably attached to her pants. OH and also she could have a red chalk pallet on her thigh so she could color things so she could move em

I do have a bunch of ideas!!! But since she’s a kiddo in the AU all ideas don’t really matter all that much yet, so I’m totally up for everyone imagining it however they wish! And I like all of your ideas so so much!!!!!! Thank you for liking my kid enough to think this much about her!!!! 💖💖💖

Anon said:i love your new bakushima parents au thing with akane!!!! it's so freaking adorable!!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! 

Anon said:What is your sexuality?

I don’t mind saying, but why do you wanna know? :0

Anon said:Do you think if Akane was raised by her biological parents she could be somehow trained to use her quirk on living things? Like her morals and pure heart are what stop her from ever even thinking about doing something like that???? Sorry, idk I just tend to want sufficient angst when it comes to things I like, and I LIVE FOR AKANE!!! She could easily be a top hero and I LOVE to see more of her!! Thank you for creating her!!❤️❤️❤️

I’m gonna have to hold the answer to this question cause it’s actually gonna be the topic of a comic I mean to draw soon-ish >:]c

Anon said:That fire diamond Bakugou and Pearl Kirishima au is everything. Hope we'll get more of it in the future. I'm curious about what happened with kirishima :D

Aw anon, I’m so happy to know you liked those but I don’t think I’ll ever get back on that concept :( posting those ended up with a lot of unpleasant things happening so now they’re tied to unhappy things for me :(( sorry!

Anon said:aww Akane, give him a chance, maybe he can be your 2nd papa ^w^

>:]]]]] s o o n

Anon said:I give her like 5 years and she will like Kiri. Nobody can resist Kiri long.

>:]cccc sooner than that 

haha

Anon said:u have only been drawing akane for a while and i 110% support it i love her so much

That!!!!!!! Makes me so happy!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!

Anon said:I'm in love with this new au help

😭😭😭😭😭😭 thank you so much!!!

Anon said:God I am loving this please don't stop with our little red babbbey I wanna know what happens next 💙💙😔👌💙💙

AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Anon said:I have known Akane for a day now but if something happened to her i would kill everyone in this website and then myself

You guys are gonna make me CRY FOR REAL!!!!!!! so much love thank you so so much!!!

Anon said:The way you draw bakugou is so amazing I can't even,,,z that undercut???? Beautiful. The way his treats little red???? Fantastic.

I’m GLAD you like the concept!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 💗💗💗💗💗💗

Anon said:I'm very sorry to say this but.... What if Bakugo had a quirk that when he says "DIE!" the first thing he sees after saying that explodes. And what he will do with it? Will Kiri still be with him?

...................anon I’m gonna be very honest with you that sounds like the most OP quirk ever omfg does the intensity of the explosion change based on how loud it is? If so it’s such a strong quirk it’s fantastic !!! and I don’t see why Kiri would have a problem with it tbh haha

Anon said:I know this may be weird or personal but, what's your race/where are you from?

I’m Italian! It’s actually written in my faq!!

Anon said:Hi, sorry to bother you but ... Can I please draw Akane, your OC, she is so precious ! I really like your work on her, her design is truly cute ... Obviously if I post it, I will give you credit ... ( Sorry for my broken english, it's not my mother tongue )

YES!!! Thank you so much for wishing to draw her!!!!!!!!!

Anon said:You definitely don't have to stop this au any time soon. I love so it so much :D As always, your art and stories are incredible

Anon said: There is no need to apologize for continuing with this new AU, it's your blog and you can post what you want. Plus, the idea is really cute and your drawings are great! I think any kind of post of any AU is great, so don't worry about it, we're thankful for what you do, no matter the AU

You guyssssss!!!!!!!!!!😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 thank you so much for enabling me!!!

Anon said:I fcking love kirishima's hair in your latest comic, that undercut with vibrant red hair Is everyhting

THANK YOU!! I’m glad you like it since it was entirely self-indulgent hahaha

Anon said:The phone case I bought from you recently arrived and I love it a lot! You're my absolute favorite artist and I check your tumblr everyday to see if you've posted. I was wondering if you'll be connecting Akane with the other krbk kids cause it's really interesting. Plus Ultra!

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And no, she’s a separate AU! I was actually unsure in the beginning (which is why Baku has the same hair in both aus!) but after I asked it seemed like people would have preferred it to be a separate AU so that’s where it went!

Anon said:Did you start using a different brush for lineart?

If this is about the pencil tool, no! That’s not a lineart tool, it’s just a sketch one :D I use it when I don’t feel up for detailed work and wanna be fast about what I’m making~

Anon said:Did Bakugo adopted Akane or is kinda like a teacher to her?

At the very first he was just a temporary guardian, but after a while everyone grew attached and he decided to adopt her! :D

Anon said:Ah I just had that image in my head of Akane training with her quirk so hard she can style her hair with it like super quick, like, at first she'd do it in secret then call Baku over and show him how she can make it braid itself then just has to tie the end (it's a messy braid but he's so. so proud.) (Btw I don't mean for you to draw this, I just thought it was p sweet :0 )

That’s!!! such a cute image oh my god TT0TT and I actually have half an idea for a comic for something on this line!!! well, vaguely haha maybe soon! 💕💕💕

[toogoodmusic]

TOO GOOD TUESDAY INTERVIEW: Vacation Club

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Being based in two different continents may be a challenge for some but trio Vacation Club has found a way to make it work. Based in Sydney, Australia are Brendan and Jack who represent the drums, keys and production in the band and have teamed up with mutual friend and Los Angeles based singer, Helena. Although they just released their debut single, “Falling” in April and their follow-up single, “Turn Around” in May, this trio has been working towards their musical careers for a few years. In that time they’ve managed to create a sound that is laid-back but focused, chill but exciting and low key but fun. Too Good Music was fortunate enough to grab an interview with the trio in which they talk about their music, what an actual Vacation Club would be like, who their dream collaboration was and much more. Check out the full interview below and let Vacation Club get you in the mood for summer!

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TOO GOOD MUSIC: Let’s dive right in from the beginning – how did you guys become Vacation Club?

VACATION CLUB: It all started a few years ago (yes years) when we (Jack & Brendan) started writing some songs. Our only issue was we didn’t really have someone to sing on the tracks. We met Helena through some mutual friends and when we met we mentioned tracking Helena’s vocals on one of the demos we had at the time. This ended up being our first single “Falling.” Since then we have worked a lot closer and written a bunch of songs all together.

TGM: That’s a good segue, what’s the story behind “Falling?” Why did you choose to have it be your debut single? 

VC: As mentioned, “Falling” was the very first song we ever tracked before we were even “officially” Vacation Club. The boys were out in LA one week and they messaged me asking if I’d be down to track my vocals on a demo they had in the works. The boys had never heard me sing prior to asking me hahaha! This song was somewhat the beginning of us three becoming a band and I think it just seemed right to be the debut single. The song at its core is about the vulnerable place you find yourself in when you fall for someone. Sometimes it can be losing control and letting all those honest and scary emotions come rushing. But ultimately trying to hold on to the good and not let the fears tear u apart.

Source: Vacation Club

TGM: You mentioned the boys being in LA - you guys actually bounce between Sydney, Australia and Los Angeles correct? What about each city do you draw inspiration from or how do they influence your sound? 

VC: Yes correct! In many senses our sound is very drawn from Australia naturally as Jack and Brendan produce the songs. But, at the same time, we are so influenced, and closely follow so many artists in the USA that we would say we also identify in many ways to Los Angeles.

TGM: And so how would you describe your guys sound?

VC: Our sound is very laid back and gives off a real chill vibe, something about it gives off an effortless ease.

TGM: I’d agree with that! Speaking of your song, you also recently released your second single, “Turn Around” – what’s the story behind that one? 

VC: Yes! We actually started working on “Turn Around” about two years ago as well haha. In the beginning we were playing around with a few different concepts lyric wise. But, last March Helena flew out to Sydney and we finished writing the song in the studio. “Turn Around” embodies a one sided love, where those important feelings are sometimes not reciprocated.

Source: Vacation Club

TGM: On Spotify you have an artist playlist titled VACATION CLUBBING which got me thinking what’s a night out with Vacation Club like? 

VC: I think we are all a little bit “lame” when it comes to this one. If we are all super honest, I think we all love a chill night out. When the boys fly into town, we tend to eat at our fave Italian spot, Jon & Vinnys (on Fairfax) A LOT and always hit up some vintage stores on melrose!

TGM: I mean doesn’t sound like a bad time! Going back to the name, if you guys ran an actual Vacation Club – what would be some of the perks of being part of the club? What would the club do?

VC: Definitely free breakfast bar all day. I always freak when places have a complementary candy bar so that’s definitely on the list. The club would be a place to just come a chill, somewhat like a day spa but more homely and welcoming and with good music playing all day of course.

TGM: And so what officer role would you each of you have at the Vacation Club?

VC: Hmmm, I feel like we’re all a little of everything… Our dynamic together is honestly so chill and easy going but we balance it all well. But, Jack is definitely the manager/treasurer, and I’d say Brendan does well with keeping everyone pushing forward creatively… Helena is kind of a content creator / our social media expert haha

TGM: Ha! Individually, if you could go on vacation (with or without the club) anywhere in the world where would it be? 

HELENA: My bucket list vacation spot is definitely Turks and Caicos!! JACK: I would be happy with just about anywhere in Europe ha BRENDAN: Paris

Source: Instagram

TGM: What’s the craziest or most surprising thing that’s happened in your career so far?

VC: This is really just the beginning for us but just releasing a song that you’ve put so much work into and to get to watch other people be impacted by it and enjoy the art you’ve made is such a insane feeling.

TGM: What would be your dream festival to headline? 

VC: Dream festival is Coachella even though we have all never been.

TGM: That’s a good one - what about your dream collaboration?

Helena: Most definitely ‪The 1975 Jack: I think Charlie Puth or LANY… Brendan: Kanye

TGM: And so going back, what would that Coachella set look like? What is a Vacation Club live show like? 

VC: Oh wow, we haven’t done any live shows yet, but we are so pumped to in the future! I just know we’d have the best time! It will definitely stay as the three of us, but with Brendan playing a live kit will add a whole new element to our sound.

TGM: I’m sure fans will be ready! And so a question everyone gets asked during these Too Good Tuesday interviews is, individually, if you could only listen to (5) artists for the rest of your life who would they be? 

HELENA: Only 5! Wow, I feel like my music taste is constantly changing but top five would definitely be ‪The 1975 the band CAMINO Drake The Japanese House Lorde

JACK: Bon Iver Coldplay The 1975 Khalid Charlie Puth

BRENDAN: Kanye The 1975 Bon Iver Khalid Francis and the Lights

Source: Vacation Club

TGM: And so to wrap up, what’s the rest of 2019 look like for you guys? 

VC: This end half of the year is going to be filled with so much more music (stay tuned!) that we’ve been working on and a couple of writing trips as well. We can’t wait!

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A HUGE shout-out to Brendan, Helena & Jack of Vacation Club for taking the time to answer some questions from Too Good Music! We’ll be ready for all the new music and that first live show. To keep up with the the band because to follow along with the links below:

            Apple Music | Instagram | Soundcloud | Spotify | YouTube

[iveonlyeverseenliketwoanimes]

Hawks: Day Off (Part 2)

A/N: I got a couple of requests to do a second part to this and so I tried my best to come up with something! Sorry if it's not great, I wasn't planning on turning this into a multi-part story but hopefully you enjoy! :)

PART 1     MASTERLIST

It had been a couple weeks since that shitty day in the office, you weren’t all that mad because you got paid overtime, but still, it wasn’t exactly how you wanted to spend your day off.

Everything had calmed down a little in your work life, nothing too interesting had been happening in the land of Heroes, just small crimes and a ton of paperwork. The big mission you had been working on with Endeavor and Hawks had come to an end last week, it all went smoothly, and you’d managed to take down a huge part of a current crime syndicate that was trying to illegally sell power enhancing gadgets.

Obviously, the end of that mission would mean the disbandment of the team, or rather meant that Hawks should go back to spending time at his own agency rather than annoying Endeavor on a somewhat daily basis, but that didn’t appear to have happened. You assumed that the pair had become friends after working with each other for so long, but the look on your boss’s face every time Hawks entered the building seemed to debunk that theory.

Every time Hawks came to visit he always made an effort to swing by your desk and wish you a good morning or afternoon, which ultimately ended up turning into a lengthy conversation about anything and everything, one time you spent a solid hour debating whether or not Die Hard was a Christmas movie and during another visit you discussed how winter was a way better season than summer – he disagreed but that’s beside the point.

Hawks might have been a complete idiot at times but dammit he was the cutest idiot you’d ever seen, he always brought a smile to your face with his stupid theories on different films or tv shows and he told some of the corniest jokes, that was his charm, and oh boy was he charming your socks off. Just seeing his adorable little smile when he walked into a room seemed to make your day so much better, he was, quite literally, an angel.

You’d both seemingly fallen head over heels for each other, but you were both so caught up in your own feelings and anxieties over what to do that you hadn’t realised how each other felt. It was cute, or at least your co-workers thought so. Other people were fascinated by what was occurring between the two of you, it was like a love story unfolding before their very eyes, the two clueless superheroes that had met on mission and had developed feelings for each other without realising were now subconsciously trying to spend loads of time together, it was great, they’d even started a betting system on how long it would take for one of you to ask the other out, most people betting that Hawks would finally live up to his flirtatious actions and actually just ask you to dinner.

You had been a rather busy with some personal stuff lately, you’d only just managed to find a dress for your cousin's wedding and now you were having to deal with all your relatives breathing down your neck over the fact that you hadn’t said you were bringing a plus one to her wedding. It wasn’t exactly your fault – you were so busy with work that the concept of dating was somewhat side-tracked in your life path right now. You weren’t against dating someone, a lot of high profile Heroes swore of dating due to thinking their line of work was too dangerous and it would put their partner in danger, you, on the other hand, didn’t consider yourself high enough profile to warrant any form of arch nemesis, you’d arrested a fair few small scaled criminals but nothing compared to the likes of All Might, Endeavor, or even Hawks.

While you did like the idea of having a significant other, the concept of weddings was a little much. Your cousin was going all out, a big, grand display of her and her partner’s love for the world (Well a select group of friends and family) to see. You thought the whole little was over the top and having to deal with your family going on and on about how you could be the next one to walk down the aisle wasn’t fun, maybe one day you would, but that wasn’t going to be any time soon.

You woke up on an average Monday morning and went into work, it was a nice day out, not too hot and not too cold, the few clouds that were out made some beautiful sky art and the sunshine made it warm enough to where you wouldn’t need a jacket. You spent the first half of the day on patrol with some of the other sidekicks currently working under Endeavor, but nothing too interesting went down so you and a couple others returned to the headquarters in order to get some in-house work done. The whole office space was currently getting a revamp and so your desk was very messy as you were trying to get all the documents out of the draws for when your new equipment came in. You had paperwork and all sorts of personal items everywhere and you were desperately trying to get it all into piles so you could have some form of organisational system in place.

As you were shredding a bunch of old documents you saw someone pick something off your desk out of the corner of your eye. Turning to fully look at them you saw the cute little angel boy himself holding a small A5 card, you weren’t sure what it was at first, to be honest, you were a little messy and probably had stuff from your first day still lying around. You sent him and smile as a form of greeting and he returned the gesture.

“Wedding huh?” The messy haired blond said. “I always loved weddings, they’re fun – dancing, drinking, the overall theme of love, it’s great”

“Well if you love them so much why don’t you go? I’m dreading this damn thing and dress shopping has been a pain in my ass” You replied sitting back in your seat, relaxing a little seeing it was just the local red feathered chicken man.

He laughed a little at your statement, he always enjoyed your company, you were honest and always really light-hearted about everything, so it made falling for you easy so it made befriending you easy. “Is that an invite to be your plus one or are you saying I’d look good in your dress?”

You snapped your head up to look at him, he’d made some silly little comments here and there but this one was very direct and personal. You were a blushing mess, you didn’t mean to accidentally somewhat ask the number 2 Hero to go to a wedding with you, yet here you were. You also weren’t sure if he meant it, I mean what did he expect you to say? ‘Oh yeah, I've actually been meaning to ask you to come to this wedding as my date so all my relatives can poke and prod into our lives and get a couple year head start on planning our wedding’ how were you supposed to joke it off either? ‘hahaha yeah funny one Hawks, us going on a date is so out of the blue and hilarious, I would never want to actually go to any kind of personal event with you ahahahaha’.

“I- um, I gue- I erm” You were in a weird state of confusion and embarrassment. You were a complete mess while with the one person you really wished would never have to see you like this.

“Well I mean, I am known to be great company, kids and grandmas love me so I’m sure I’d fit in just fine” His internal thoughts seemed to be going 100mph for the same reasons as yours. What was he doing? What was happening here? Why was he going along with this little joke that was very quickly turning into a serious proposition? In his mind he was a wreck but, on the surface, this was his moment, he was putting on the smile and making sure he seemed somewhat unbothered by the whole situation, you said yes? Cool, he’s excited about the cake, you say no? That’s cool he can go down to the local market and buy his own damn cake and not have to share with anyone. Everything was fine, apart from the small fact that he was low-key asking out the love of his life in a very odd way, and you were probably going to say no because he was an idiot and should have asked you to something normal like a coffee. Why was he like this?

“I genuinely can’t tell if you’re being serious or not right now” You finally said. You were very confused, this was supposed to be a normal, if not slightly boring, day at work and yet it had very quickly turned into a day you were sure you wouldn’t forget.

“I just noticed that you hadn’t ticked the ‘plus one’ box on the invite and if you’re ‘dreading this damn thing’ then maybe I could make it a little more interesting” The red feathered man had now turned up the flirting to a full 10, there was no backing down now, he was too deep into this.

You were shocked, it was a good kind of shocked, you loved Hawks’ playful little comments, but you never thought that there were actual feelings behind them. Asking to tag along to a wedding with you was definitely not a playful little comment, that was a serious situation, who does that? Who willingly wants to go to a wedding? You had to admit that you liked the idea of going together though, Hawks was so carefree, bubbly and social, so having him with you at this wedding would definitely make the whole ordeal a lot more fun. Oh God were you seriously considering letting this guy come to a family event with you? What would your family think? Just imaging all of the looks and questions about the pair of you being together made you a little more nervous. But what if this was your chance? What if this was the one chance to get a date with a genuinely lovely guy? I mean he’s basically already said he would like to go so all you have to do is say yes.

All you have to do is just say yes.

Just say yes.

“Yes!” Hawks eyes shot up in your direction, he’d subconsciously been fiddling with the small piece of card in his hands while waiting for you to respond with something, your silence breaking his heart as each second passed. But now? His heart was all over the place for a whole other reason. “I would like that, I mean if you’re being serious, because if you’re not then this is really awkward and nowimnotreallysurewhattodobecau-“

“Awesome! March 9th right? I’ll pick you up at 12 and we can make our way there together!” Your cute little ramble just made his heart all the more giddy, while his nerves were hidden by his confident smile yours seemed to be less subtle and that made him extremely happy. The cute girl he’d been low-key obsessed with? He just bagged a date with her and he couldn’t contain the huge smile that made his way onto his lips. All this time he’d been anxious about asking you out? He doesn’t remember it because all he knows is that he has a date, with a cute girl, who just so happens to be you. All the teasing looks he was currently receiving from your co-workers (who were currently cashing in their bets)? They’re looking at the number 2 hero who just bagged a date with the love of his life. Today was the day that Hawks finally asked you out and the only regret he had was that he wished he’d done it sooner.

[book-o-scams]

How did you come up with Bro Show? How long have your been drawing/animating for? What is your favorite piece that you have drawn?

SORRY ABOUT THIS LONG ANSWER, I guess asking me three questions at once is a good way to get 6 paragraphs from me, haha.

Before BPS came out, the release date kept getting pushed back due to the production difficulties, and this made me very anxious about whether or not the show would be able to end properly.  ‘Take This Ed and Shove It’ had been a depressing series finale to the show’s original depressing final season, while ‘A Fistful of Ed’ closed out the final episodes with an interesting arc that made me worried the movie would undo the good news.  Most stressful of all was that Bro would be added to the cast, and since I had already deduced that he was violent with baby Eddy, I was worried they would disprove my understanding of the character, and that would surely ruin the whole movie for me. I caught wind of which fans had already managed to get spoilers out of AKA, and got Bro’s design and personality spoiled for myself months ahead of time, and was relieved that my predictions were coming true.  With that monkey off my back, I began realizing how perfect Bro’s position is for being key to the kids’ backstories!  Bro represents the previous generation of Peach Creek kids, and the toxicity he injected into the neighborhood is important because it trickled down through the people outside the Eds’ perspective, until it led to the hyper-aggressive children of the present-day cul-de-sac.

With how little information there was beyond the basic timeline of who seems to have already met Bro before BPS, my first Bro-centric origin story ideas were focused on Ed and Sarah, Nazz, and Jonny.  Then, getting dressed one morning near the end of high school, suddenly a bunch of thoughts clicked into place and formed the headcanon that would become the Bro Show pilot.  Most of it was just from thinking a LOT about ‘A Town Called Ed’, I realized that it can’t JUST be Bro, there’s also got to be some toxic influence from the Eddy family in general, as well as the Kanker family, so I started thinking about it as a show about the families that made Eddy and Lee.  I had also been trying to think of another unseen character as important to any of the characters as Bro and realized Mama Kanker plays a similar role to the Kankers as Bro does to the Eds.  And then Edd’s line about Eddy being a pedigree seeped in and I realized what an amazingly horrible twist it would be for Bro to be one of the Kankers’ fathers and then I couldn’t ignore the similarity between Bro and Lee’s chins.  It’s a lot more risqué than my usual ideas, but I ultimately couldn’t let that idea pass because the Kankers’ fathers are also the only parents with first names, and while I don’t necessarily think his name is Butch, Bubba or Rod, I would still get a hoot out of having a secret hint to his real name like that.

Once the movie came out, I used the new info to hone a better sense of the timeline of the characters’ lives, but my Bro Show ideas mostly focused on what Bro’s old crew would be like and how his relationships could be MORE corrupt than Eddy’s, leading to the creation of my only real OCs, Bone and Dickie (Dickie doesn’t appear in the pilot, he would have been the Edd of the group only in that they leave him out as much as possible because he butts heads with Bro more than Bone does).   I continued to bounce around some ideas for the other characters meeting Bro, scraping ideas out of my college courses (like the Kevin origin story was going to be based on ‘The Bicycle Thief’ which I saw in a film class), but most of the ideas for origin story episodes didn’t come into fruition until I was chatting daily with a friend in 2010 who also was obsessed with Bro and enjoyed the foundation my headcanons had laid out.  Together we came up with a lot of episode ideas that will never see the light of day!

At some point, I came up with enough designs to post concept art of the idea on deviantART (see below) without the intention of really making it.  But I got a lot of messages from fans who really loved the idea, so with a bunch of encouragement, I dove into it and worked on it on-and-off for two years.  It got a lot of negative feedback and it’s honestly a pretty tainted memory for me now… In retrospect, I agree with a lot of the negative criticism, it’s a very different cartoon than I would normally make, but I’m still proud of the show concept even if the pilot wasn’t perfect. I just really wanted to make fun of people who are as manipulative and self-centered as Bro, but its main Youtube fanbase seems to be people who actually are like him, so… my bad, haha.  I get rude messages CONSTANTLY from Bro Show fans, insulting me for not giving them more episodes and for daring to animate anything other EEnE and for posting on websites other than Youtube, which are a lot of strict expectations to place on me, a total stranger.  Oh well, at least my followers here seemed to get it.  C’est la vie!

https://animated.deviantart.com/art/Eddy-s-Family-145866561

I’ve been drawing as long as I can remember!  It started with doodles of my old schnauzer Charlie and I remember making a concentrated effort to memorize Daffy Duck’s beak shape. I started drawing the Eds around when I got CN for my 10th birthday (about 2 years into the show’s run) and my parents would see and actually be impressed how close I’d get to the style.  I remember it used to switch off whether I was worse at Edd or Eddy but I found Ed comparatively easy—now it’s the opposite and I struggle to draw Ed but can more or less draw Edd and Eddy blindfolded, lmao.  My early Eddys looked like Dexter from Dexter’s Lab.  When I was 11, I found out my toy digital camcorder could do stop motion, so I dabbled in Claymation for a while and started familiarizing myself with the concept of timing motion to a framerate. I got Flash as a gift when I was 12 and have used that same horrendously outdated version of the program ever since!  At this point I’ve been animating approximately 14 years, I think.

I am very proud of my EEnE art over the past few years, I think my younger self would be quite pleased!  My favorite thing I ever did for the fandom is the Superbad parody I never finished or released, hahaha, but I think my EEnE animated music videos will always be very nostalgic for me too.  My favorite animation I’ve done, truthfully, would probably be one of my Steven Universe animations, that’s the point where I really started feeling confident that I know how to animate even though I have little professional experience.  I hope someday I make it out there to the industry, I want to flood the world with cartoons as well-animated as EEnE!

[thelionshoarde]

the magnificent @sabraeal got me, :3 :3

1. How did you come up with your username and what does it mean?

It’s from an unfinished short story I wrote back in 2014: It was awful business working in the Lion’s Hoarde Inn. I think I just enjoyed the sound of it, (:

2. Which fanfic of yours has the most feedback? (bookmarks/favorites, follows/subscriptions, visitor hits, kudos)

Some Nights, my first Teen Wolf fic. People really love pack mom!Stiles, apparently lol.

3. What is your FFnNet/AO3 profile icon, and why did you choose it?

O PUREST ONE. It’s from a fanart I’m still chipping away at. Because: it made @superhappybubbleslove go WAAAAHHHHHH MY HEAAARRRRTT and I enjoy making wonderful people suffer! :D

4. Do you have any regular/favourite commenters?

Things are about to get real lengthy, so...

@sabraeal, of course, is a dream come true, and is currently back at it with her long reviews, and BE STILL MY HEART. @superhappybubbleslove kicks ass every Saturday with her amazingness (and often is the only, or one of the only ones, to comment on a very particular thing that i really loved about a story or art, and i always fist pump whenever she does that hahaha)  @claudeng80 has given me some of my favorite comments, EVER, and I often have to take a day or more to process my emotions before I can actually respond coherently haha, I GET VERY EXCITED, OKAY. @hidetheremote is one of my most faithful and kind and generous commenters, I am always thrilled to receive them and she’s been showering me with encouragement since the beginning, so she has a VERY special place in my heart! I have a few commenters on my ot3 things that are incredibly kind, or people who have bookmarked/kudo’d almost all of them, and while I do not believe I know their tumblr handles, but I would sell my first born for you. :| special shout out to @vfordii and @stuffaeamade and @raediation who are always SO supportive of my obizenyuki feels hahaha! @youseimanami is a one woman cheer squad and AMAZING, so kind and so so sweet, and her comments always feel SO genuine, they just make my heart get all swelled up and fuzzy and warm, I love her! I know I’m forgetting people, but I LOVE YOU ALL, YOU ARE ALL MY FAVORITES D;

5. Is there a fanfic that you keep going back to read again and again?

I cycle through over time. There are a lot of older, long fics in other fandoms that I occasionally go back to when I need a pick-me up lol. Currently, there is I KID YOU NOT a south park kenny/kyle fic that I’m in love with and have read 2-3 times in the last couple months since I first read it and I WILL PROBABLY INDULGE AGAIN, SOON. (gold digger, IT IS AMAZING, OKAY)

6. How many stories are you subscribed to? How many do you have bookmarked?

I actually never figured out how to subscribe! 8D I have 86 bookmarks, but it should be more. I went through a year long period I think where I never signed into ao3 lol.

7. Which AU do you find yourself writing the most?

MAGIC. In some form or another lol.

8. How many people are subscribed and bookmarked to you in total? (you can view this on the stats page)

163 user subscriptions, and 2604 bookmarks. (some nights has 1912 bookmarks all on its own, okay, teen wolf is a v v large ocean of a fandom haha)

9. Is there something you’d like to write about but are afraid of people judging you for it? (Feeling brave? If so, share it!)

N O P E, i have no shame filter 8D .....ok, wait, the a/b/o one because it’s omega!obi and i’ve been a tad leery of the response i may receive for how very, uh, not your usual obiyuki dynamic in bed i want to make it. >_>

10. Is there anything you would like to be better at? Writing certain scenes or genres, replying to comments, updating better, etc.

Hn, yes and yes and yes and yes. My big thing is: I want to learn how to finish lengthier things. I got into fandom to try and do that, and it’s my goal for this year, especially.

11. Do you write rarepairs or popular ships more often?

Rarepairs, I think! Even when I write popular ships I usually write them in the less popular fashion haha. But mostly, I just write whatever I want, which is often a myriad of different pairings!

12. How many stories have you posted on FFNet/AO3 to this day (finished and unfinished)?

13 stories on ffnet, and a few of those were also on my livejournal. I don’t have an exact number for livejournal, but it’s over 100. I’ve started moving some of those fics from my livejournal to ao3, now, so I’m up to 40. Only 23 of my ao3 stories aren’t also on livejournal  at this moment lol. And there are a couple of things on tumblr I haven’t moved onto ao3 yet.

13. How many stories do you have saved in/with your writing program?

I am unwilling to go down that dark and dangerous path. :|

14. Do you write down story ideas, or just keep them in your head?

I try and write down whatever jumps in my head, because I WILL forget things, otherwise. But I’ll spend days mulling over an idea, sometimes, before I am able to sit down and write it.

15. Have you ever co-authored a story?

Back in eljay days I wrote stories with other people on occasion. Sometimes it was just writing comment fic back and forth at each other. Or writing different scenes in the same universe that went together. Nothing big.

16. How did you discover FFNet/AO3?

I know I stumbled on ffnet myself, but I don’t remember for ao3. O: Pretty certain someone told me about it, but when I had livejournal I didn’t really use anything else.

17. Do you consider yourself to be a popular or famous author in your fandom(s) on FFNet/AO3?

Hm, I’ve never been a widely popular anything, though I was lucky enough to have some excellent fans on eljay, who would jump fandoms with me just because they wanted to read my stuff. And folk who were incredibly kind and generous with their praise no matter how many random things I churned out haha. I’ve always been thrilled if there’s just ONE person who enjoyed a story I put out! I’m pretty easy to please!

18. Do you have a nickname or fandom name for your readers?

My darlings!

19. Was there an author who inspired or encouraged you to write?

Anyone who writes is an inspiration to me. I see people putting up fic and publishing novels, and I go I WANT TO DO THAT, UGH. Because I’ve always been a writer, ever since I was teeny, and have never stopped wanting to do it. I’ve always been in love with words, and stories. (As I’m sure many others can relate: I used to get in trouble in elementary school because I would read as I walked, and it was EARLY elementary school, where you had to walk in lines with your class because they were afraid they were gonna lose you, and I could read while I walked because I would just follow whoever was in front of me to wherever we were going haha)

20. What writing advice would you give to a beginning author?

It’s 100% okay if you write something, and you’re really proud of it, and you go back later -- a week, a day, a month, two years, whatever -- and think: THIS IS THE WORST. That doesn’t ever really go away, because as creators we are constantly evolving and looking to improve, and often times something that is actually quite solid and gives many readers joy will be a thing that you facepalm over, later. Use that to keep writing, and try to remember that you are most definitely your own worst critic. At the end of the day, keep doing this thing because you love it. Your work IS worthy, even when you think it should be set on fire and scattered across the deepest ocean never to be seen again!

21. Do you plot out your stories, or do you just figure it out as you go?

A combo! Sometimes, especially for shorter things, I just get an idea, and sometimes I just think about it for a little while, and then I open a doc and I just go to town until it’s finished. Other times I start off by writing out the thoughts and building off of that, and sometimes I slip into actually writing it and then back to outlining. USUALLY I start writing a thing because I have a tiny spark of an idea, or a situation/concept I find interesting, and I have no idea where it’s going, and I just write to see what happens, and THEN I start plotting things out as I go, which can be one of the MOST frustrating ways to write a story. Anything big I’ve ever written (and I’ve written several drafts of several novels) starts out like this, where I have a random idea and I sit down and I write out whatever scenes crop up in my head, and then I start filling in the blanks, later. A lot of my longer fandom things also are like this. heading for a small disaster was me just sort of sitting around and thinking about an entirely different story, and then I had like, a half-formed idea for a single scene in my head, so I sat down and started writing chapter 1 to GET to that scene, coming up with stuff as I needed it, and by the time I hit the end of ch1 I was no where near my original idea, and had a bunch of other ideas, and THEN I started plotting things out.

22. Have you ever gotten a bad comment on a story? If so, what did you do?

I’m sure I have! Though I haven’t posted fandom anything for a long time, so I don’t really remember. One comment I do recall was not a BAD comment, it was a comment about a bad thing I had done in neglecting to tag something, and then I got all defensive because I was younger and even more stupid than I am now, and I was an asshole, which I regret. ):

23. Is there a certain type of scene that you have a hard time writing? (action, smut, etc..)

Action! Also, stationary scenes with multiple people that DOESN’T have action! Okay, ANY scene that has more than one person is tricky, though two people at least helps in pacing because it’s easier to intersperse dialogue, but you add one more person into a scene and I’m laying my head on my desk and CRYING. Transition scenes are also my bane, I have the hardest time figuring out how to move from point a to b. Basically: EVERYTHING IS DIFFICULT. That’s half the fun of writing something, though.

24. What story(s) are you working on now?

Too many, but I’m trying to focus on finishing up some longer things this year. Of course, despite that having been my resolution before the year even began, I have somehow found myself with two new longer fics than WHEN THE YEAR STARTED, ugh. disaster, magic!cowboy au, lyrias center, unicorn au, soulmate tattoo au, a second part to we can make our own way, the full version of back alley complete with smut and EMOTIONS, fight club au, ot3 modern day neighbors au, and all the christmas prompts I haven’t done yet, and I have like, two more chapters of picture perfect planned out that I just haven’t written yet, I AM HAVING A DIFFICULT TIME THINNING THE HERD, I 100% come up with more ideas than ever get written, as I’m sure most writers do haha.

25. Do you plan your next project(s) before you finish your current ongoing story(s)?

HAHAHA

26. Do you have a daily writing goal set for yourself?

Nah, I almost never succeed at stuff like that, and I get pissy if I fail, so I’ve learned not to put myself into that position if I can, because it just hurts my writing. I just write when I want, or when I have time even if I don’t want.

27. Do you think you’ve improved as a writer since you first started?

Hopefully! Though posting old stuff to ao3 has made me aware that my vocabulary has actually suffered over time, and I’m hoping to fix that!

28. What is your favorite story(s) that you’ve written?

I don’t entirely love anything that I’ve written. There are aspects of many things that I love dearly, though none of it really wins out against another. I’ll say: three of my orig novels are probably closest to being no 1.

29. What is your least favorite story(s) that you’ve written?

There was this one HP fic I wrote when I was like, 14?? I don’t know, but apparently I was VERY ANGRY, and wrote some really messed up stuff, and I wouldn’t mind being able to bury that shit haha. But truthfully -- I probably grew a lot from it, as embarrassing as it is to me, now. ...okay, there was a LOT of HP fic wherein I was in my DARK AND ANGSTY years, that, whew! I’m glad I’m not that person anymore haha.

30. Where do you see yourself (as a writer) in 5 years?

Still writing, hopefully. :3

31. What is the easiest thing about writing?

CRYING. Crying is very easy, and so is laying my head on my desk and despairing that I will ever figure out how to make things work.

32. What is the hardest thing about writing?

WORKING THROUGH THE TEARS. It is very easy to give up, and mope, much more difficult to grit your teeth and wrangle a story into submission.

33. Why do you write?

Because I love the power of words. It’s magic. A written story is essentially an illusion spell. You put the right words on the page in the correct order, and behold! An entire world, with living characters, is born within the mind of a reader. And a single, minute change to any one of those words may shift the whole thing. It’s a constantly evolving formula, and full of surprises, and if you are particularly lucky and diligent you might even be able to spin an entire tale that grips people, shakes them up and makes them believe in something impossible, something that YOU created, from nearly nothing. That kind of power is pretty damned addictive.

[003peach]

got tagged by @alliope!! thank you so much for tagging me!!

1. What kind of music do you listen to?

lot of kpop djdjsjdj I really like pop music in general but i listen to almost anything tbh! I like jazz a lot too so I am trying to familiarize myself more with its sub genres

2. Do you prefer to keep your living space neat and tidy or do you like a certain amount of mess?

I wanna say clean but I’m a really disorganized person lmao I know where all my stuff is tho so....I guess it’s ok hahaha

3. What was the first ship you remember really shipping?

i was like 10 years old i think? and I was OBSESSED with beast boy/raven from teen titans when it first started airing omgjshds I didn’t even know what shipping was at the time I just knew I was IN THIS BITCH I would get so happy when they would interact and I was so sure they would end up together.......baby’s first disappointment

4. Do you have a certain show or book series that holds a lot of nostalgic value for you? If so, what was it?

god so many things lmao.....teen titans and naruto come to mind especially haha

5. What is your favorite type of food?

I love Italian and Mexican!

6. Was there ever a fad or activity from your childhood that you could never understand or get into?

hmmm idk if this counts jfjdsk but maybe like....dating.....LOL I was just very uninterested/almost repulsed by the idea of it until maybe like my senior year of high school...this was like the first thing that popped in my head for some reason cause I was a Pretty Typical Teen other than that jfjdksk or I guess even earlier than that I was never big on like xanga and the like

7. What’s your favorite time of day?

probably like 10am-3pm? midday!

8. What’s your favorite type flower and why?

I honestly don’t really know much about flowers fjdjjsj I really like those flowers you see everywhere that are like super bright and it’s bunch of little tiny one bunched together

9. What’s your favorite cliché/trope in fiction?

I live for literally anything to do with like power of friendship and shit like that i LOVE it i BREATHE it I also like the whole enemy to friend/friendly enemy trope, tough ppl that are actually big softies trope kills me too

10. Did/do you do any extracurricular activities when you were in school and what were they?

I was part of the school newspaper for my senior year in high school and I did like TA stuff but that’s about it, I lived pretty far from my high school so I was never really able to stay after school for activities or anything ;;

11. What’s your favorite piece of work that you’ve ever created and what about it do you love so much?

i like a lot of art i made in high school, they’re not especially good or anything but i was really inspired at that time and i would try a lot of different things...i stagnated a LOT after that and almost stopped drawing completely for a long while and its only semi-recently i picked it up again as a hobby, so i’ve been drawing mostly fanart to get back into the swing of things kjfdfdkj i hope to start creating more original things soon!

-----

(im horrible at coming up with questions im sorry fdkj)

1. What kind of stories/do you enjoy writing about the most?

2. What concepts inspire you the most?

3. Favorite movies?

4. Favorite song currently?

5. Least favorite subject in school?

6. Favorite types of characters in any form of media?

7. If you could re-live any day at all, what day would it be?

8. Favorite outfit to wear?

9. omg this is so hard. hows your day going

10. Favorite place to be, in general?

11. What do you hope never changes? (i googled “random questions to ask ppl”  and found this lmao)

i tag my gorls @shiromiracles and @leedalangin and honestly im very shy about tagging ppl im sorry dfdfkjhdf so ANYONE that wants to do this DO IT you can say i tagged you!!!!!!

[piesforjack]

CANADIAN THINGS PART 2, THE SEQUEL NO ONE ASKED FOR!!!!

hiiii yesss!! so if you’ve seen my last canada post (HA that’s a pun bc our mail service is called “canada post” har har har...anyway) u know that i had some records to set straight, so to speak, so i’m back at it again w canada FACTS aka things you probably don’t know but might be useful and helpful in your attempt to flesh out realistic Canadiana™. this is in honour of me hitting 500 followers, thank y’all so much ily all and thanks for bein awesome!!!

without further ado, buckle up, buds, here we go again!!!!

canada eradicated pennies not too long ago. basically, we don’t have a 1¢ coin anymore, we only have 5¢ coins ergo all payments paid in cash are rounded up/down accordingly. jack and ransom 100% hate this because now they’re so annoyed by the concept of carrying around pennies (”what’s the point!?!? 1¢??! USELESS!!)

along this same vein, canada doesn’t have a $1 bill, we have coins known as a loonie ($1) and a toonie ($2), the smallest bill we have is $5 (jack is still consistently weirded out by paper dollar bills. it feels wrong.)

ALSO while we’re on the topic of money, all our bills are different colours (blue for $5, purple for $10, green for $20, red for $50, brown for $100), they’re also waterproof (not heatproof tho!!!), and the $100 ARE NOT officially created to smell like maple syrup but i can assure you i’ve sniffed some bills that do smell like maple syrup and i cannot explain why (ransom still gets confused w american money “it looks like monopoly money, jack!” “i know, bro, i know”)

IN OTHER MONEY RELATED TRAINS OF THOUGHT, there are two main canadian airlines: air canada and westjet. they both have a total monopoly on canadian travel so it’s real damn expensive to fly anywhere in canada from within canada. it sucks a whole lot. (just remember than whenever you write ransom/jack flying home. it’s a pretty penny even if jack is loaded)

age of consent is 16 across canada

the drinking age in canada is 18/19 (dependent on provinces), however, CANADA WIDE the legal adult age (to vote, essentially) is 18.

driving ages differ province to province (you’d have to google because even i don’t know every province)

SPEAKING OF PROVINCES, canada is split into provinces and territories: 10 provinces and 3 territories. here’s a breakdown of each (it’s long, skip if you wanna!!):

british columbia (BC)

west coast best coast, lots of mountains, very hippy dippy, home province of vancouver aka movie city central, capital city is VICTORIA not vancouver, rains a lot, is known for being the birth city of ryan reynolds (your welcome), is split into two main sections: the mainland and the island (even though BC is composed of many islands, vancouver island is referred to as THE island), bland football team, even blander NHL team.

alberta (AB)

neighbour to BC, cowboys, hyper-conservative, also mountains, capital is EDMONTON not calgary, lots of extreme weather (sunshine and +20 (celsius) and then it’ll snow. alberta is weird like that), oil oil OIL, two mediocre football teams, home of the calgary stampede (again, cowboys), i often refer to alberta as the texas of canada and i’ve never had someone disagree tbh, mediocre hockey teams (including connor mcfuckingjesus don’t get me started)

saskatchewan (SK)

neighbour to AB, pronounced SASS-CAT-CHEW-WAH-N, flat flat FLAT, farmers galore, capital city regina (hahaha laugh it up it’s not that funny once you’re beyond the age of 10), even more mediocre football team (i’m only saying that bc i’m from manitoba, the rival province), tbh i don’t know much about saskatchewan except that we drove all the way across it once for a roadtrip and i swear to god we didn’t see another vehicle or human for the entirety of our trip across

manitoba (MB)

neighbour to SK and also the prime rival, capital city winnipeg (YES IT’S A REAL PLACE, I WAS BORN THERE, I LIVED THERE FOR 18 YEARS, CAN CONFIRM, STOP IT), cold as FUUUUUCK in the winter (-40 (celsius) and schools don’t close until it’s -45, so, deal w THAT), mosquitoes fucking galore (it’s disgusting and awful and makes being outdoors AWFUL), we also have polar bears!! (more north, but, still!!!!), really cool live theatre and music vibes, very dry heat, UBER MEDIOCRE FOOTBALL TEAM (but still better than SK rough riders bc provincial rivalry!!!), SUPER mediocre NHL team (i only say this because my mom’s a jets fan whereas i’m a pens fan...lmao BYE MOM), tbh can’t say many mean things bc i still love wpg with at least half my heart!!!!

ontario (ON)

neighbour to MB, capital city toronto, home of the capital city of CANADA, ottawa, muskoka chairs, so many fuckin lakes (everyones fave place to camp/own a cabin), extreme winters just like MB, niagara falls, again a rly cool arts district here (in TO and surrounding area), 3 football teams bc why the fuck not (fffffuck the TO argonauts), 2 NHL teams (everyone in canada hates the leafs. that’s not a fact but i could find enough evidence of it to convince you it is), basically TO is considered the center of the fucking universe according to everyone who lives in TO and everyone who lives outside of canada bc no one knows anything else about canada. canada might as well JUST be TO for all people fucking care. just. fuck toronto. (i think it’s a canadian thing to be Bitter and Annoyed about toronto’s unending praises from every corner of the map) ((jack is V much “fffffuck toronto” and ransom is V much “fuck you toronto is RAD”)

quebec (QC)

neighbour to ON, pronounced KUH-BECK not KWUH-BECK or KEY-BECK and lord have mercy on your soul if you dare say it like “Q-BECK”, capital city quebec city, french-canadian province that’s threatened to “leave” canada multiple times, HOME OF OUR DING DONG HIMSELF, MSSR. ZIMMERMANN!!!, poutine holy fucking HECK god bless poutine (if you think it’s gross i already don’t like you sorry 100000% NOT SORRY. jack and ransom love some good ass poutine oKEEEEER), a rly good music scene (osheaga music festival is top notch), essentially a canadian paris except people speak quebecois not france-french (but you can get away with it in most respects, there’s differences but the foundations are the same, bc DUH they’re the same language but essentially different dialects, KIND OF similar to mandarin and cantonese (although that particular case has more nuances than this one but you get the idea))

newfoundland and labrador (NL)

neighbour to QB, capital city st. john’s (not to be confused with saint john, NB...yeah there’s another province w almost the EXACT SAME CITY NAME sigh i know it’s dumb and rude) i’ve never really been to the east coast so idk what to tell you but LOBSTER and FISHING and WEIRD FUCKIN ACCENTS, another coastal place so it’s p weird and hippy dippy, but i’ve only ever heard that they’re lovely people, often referred to as newfies.

now, the maritime provinces....starting with new brunswick (NB)

just south of QB, capital city fredericton, v small in comparison to other canadian provinces (as u can tell), again don’t know much about NB but i know they’re big on fish and are basically Maine The Second (they’re pressed right up against maine so, it’s basically maine 

nova scotia (NS)

south-ish of NB, capital city halifax, HOME TO THE REAL LIFE DING DONG OF MY HEART, MISTER 87, SIDNEY CROSBY, a full on island, full of wonderful kind people a la mister crosby himself (honestly, it’s just a bunch of super kind people), really cool coastal scenery with amazing seafood (as you’d expect), home of the city that many a traveller has confused for sydney australia, very old-fashioned (idk how to explain???) but just like...you feel like you’re in a storybook when you’re there, lots of lighthouses, overall a v nice place to be

prince edward island (PEI)

the teeny-tiniest place in all of canada i’m certain, north-east-ish of NB and NS, capital city charlottetown, honestly i’m running out of things to say, it’s exactly like NB and NS had a baby that never grew out of infancy it’s so small.

now onto the TERRITORIES which are all up north...yukon (YT)

pronounced YOU-CON, north of BC, east of alaska, capital city whitehorse, cold as heck (tundra baby!!), extremely expensive living conditions ($9 for a 2L of milk, $18 for some fuckin apples...absolute fuckin robbery), lots of hunting and fishing goes on up here (aka lots of people hunt/prepare their own food), lots of mountains and such, v beautiful.

northwest territories (NT)

above AB and SK, capital city yellowknife, used to be bigger but then it was divided up (creating the new territory nunavut), v similar to yukon but with less mountain and more lakes, again v cold bc TUNDRA, my cousin met her husband while working in yellowknife...she’s from MB and he’s from ENGLAND aka what kinda fucking fateful BS...amazing, p cool w lots of islands and such far up north, it’s neat and suuuper beautiful in the summer (so many flowers lksdfjlskad)

nunavut (NU)

pronounced NEW-NUH-VUH-T, north of MB, capital city iqaluit (pronounced EE-CAL-EW-IT) used to be part of NT but they separated into two territories circa 1999, again v similar to the other territories, beautiful scenery with an OBSCENE amount of islands (colouring in maps was always a fucking DOOZY), again, not much to say. just a rly lovely place.

WOO congrats if you read all that lmao now lets get into some other stuff!!

our thanksgiving is in october, the second monday in october to be exact. it’s only been a thing since like??? the 60s??? like it’s a brand new concept, essentially, and i’m not even 100% sure why we have thanksgiving but we do (it’s mostly a charade, thanksgiving means nothing in canada, it’s a completely arbitrary reason to be grateful and eat some fuckin turkey) (jack and ransom both support arbitrary turkey holidays)

canada’s national sport is actually, like, officially lacrosse?????? i know what the fuck (i bet ransom follows lacrosse)

marriage equality has been a thing since 2005 (doesn’t mean jack wasn’t excited about the USA, just, not quite as overcome as bitty was)

winnie the pooh? based on a real bear from winnipeg, MB. yeah, be fuckin jealous y’all

if you didn’t know canada has universal health care. it’s pretty fucking rad.

idk if this is Too Obvious but canada has two official languages, english and french, so all of our packaging/instructions has to be in both languages. everything. from toothpaste to trampolines. everything. signage is a bit more dicey, most trans-canada highway signs are in both languages but more rural/urban ones probably aren’t (jack gets thrown off still when he instinctively looks for the french translations on packaging for nothing to be found. it happens more than you think)

oh also?? we used british spelling, meaning we add a bunch of ‘u’s where they don’t really need to be. this is 100% a point of contention between bitty and jack. 

CANADA IS METRIC. IT’S RLY SIMPLE PALS. everything is in groups of 10s. 10 millimetres = 1 centimetre. 100 centimetres = 1 metre. 1000 metres = 1 kilometre (aka how we measure speed, km/hour) you get it? (the prefixes, ie. milli, centi, kilo, are huge helpful hints)

the exception to this is baking measurements??? unlike the UK we couldn’t escape the wrath of cups and teaspoons and all those other arbitrary measurement devices. we still use those (for the most part)

we use fucking celsius okay (except on ovens, mostly because they’re american distributed machines ergo run in fahrenheit) anyway it’s p straightforward:

celsius is in relation to water temperature, ergo, 0 degrees celsius is waters freezing point, anything below that is freezing (relatively, of course), anything above it is not. this is especially useful for discussing weather, as, y’know, most people typically use temperature for (outside of the kitchen and hospitals, that is)

+20? nice summer day. -40? typical MB winter, +30? typical fuckin central canada summer, +7? dependent on where you live it could either mean SHORTS!! (central canada) or a light jacket (west coast), again it’s all relative to your acclimatization

okay i think this is long enough!! here’s some random nostalgic things that ransom and holster def remember/love dearly

i pray with all my heart that jack has this funny little soft spot for ‘corner gas’ in the same way i do (it’s a canadian prairie sitcom CLASSIC and i love it SO MUCH)

jack and ransom both have a strange crush on rick mercer

MO FUCKIN FRAGGLE ROCK BIIIIITCH

ransom definitely had some misconceptions about what being 16 would be like because of this fuckin show (he also 100% did the air guitar to the theme song)

this show meant a whole heck of a lot to lil bb jack (who 100% watched cartoons in english AND french okay????)

ALSO (i think i mentioned this in the last post but!!) ransom grew up watching caillou in english, jack in french, and they argue all the time about the differences between the two.

ransom remembers being a little bab watching this nonsense right before bed with a cup of warm milk and exactly two oreos (just me??? pshhh i don’t believe it)

jack had very strategically thought out how he would destroy his competitors at this game show

jack loved babar. don’t even touch me. just. imagine tiny jacques w a lil stuffed elephant my hearT!!!!!

ALSO MCFUCKING T’CHOUPI ET DOUDOU!!!!!! i watched this one in english but i can only imagine jack loved it

okay. okay. again, thank u for reading, i hope this was helpful!! lemme know if there’s anything i missed!! who knows, i might make a third installment one day!?!??!

[real-faker]

Ack sorry about sending another pitch question (I know you said something about people sending those) but you mentioned you pitched a show twice, and since I'm a creeper, I read the tags and you said the pitch wasn't how we'd think they'd be; how were they, then, out of curiosity? If I ever pitch a show, in your position, what should I expect? What exactly happened? Sorry for asking all these questions; you've been my inspiration for a while and I hope I can pitch my own show someday!! Thank you

Oh no, that’s fine!  I don’t mind telling my experience with it, and I’ve even given pitching tips before, but this post is about the extent of my knowledge.  (You can also just search my blog for “pitch”, ‘cause I’ve reblogged stuff from other people that actually KNOW what they’re talking about, haha)  I just don’t want people under the impression that I’m super experienced with it, or that I’ve ever pitched to a big deal network or producer.  I absolutely haven’t.  I have exactly 2 pitching experiences.  The first one was a few years ago at an event in Nashville called “Film-Com”, which is an annual trade show/expo event for financing and distributing filmmaking projects.  Basically you get a booth, and you set up in this convention center with all these other aspiring creators (filmmakers, documentary people, a few video game/new media folks, all sorts), and they’ve invited a WHOLE SWATH of producers and industry professionals to come mull around the show floor with you so you can make connections and get your product out there EAT FREE MEALS and then idk, maybe fuckin’ walk around a bit and look at your dumb shitty projects if they fuckin’ feel like it but they probably wont, so what ends up happening is all the creators just walk around and look at each others’ shit, which for me—being the only animator there—means that a bunch of other jack-knobs who have some vague idea for a shitty cartoon end up giving me THEIR card so that maybe in the future I can work on THEIR dumbfuck ideas.ANYWAY, to get to the point, they selected certain projects and scheduled them to actually go up and pitch in front of a whole room full of producers.  This happened over the course of the whole day, so I suspect the reason none of the producers were walking around interacting with people is ‘cause they were stuck in a room all day hearing 30 different suck-ass pitches and when it was all said and done they were probably exhausted.  I was scheduled as the last pitch of the day.  I enter the room and wait patiently; the person before me is running about 10 minutes over their allotted time.  I scan the room… everyone is MISERABLE.  They’re anxious, they’re uninterested, they’re sighing… the main guy who’s sort of monitoring the whole thing is pinching his brow and trying his best to keep up the pretense of politeness in telling the current pitcher to wrap it up.  NONE of these people want to be here anymore.  It seems like everyone’s spent the whole day “warming ‘em up” for me, but now they’re all sweaty and miserable, so I can either go up there and give another mediocre pitch, OR I can go up there and try my goddamn hardest to make them laugh. 

I go up on stage, just IMMEDIATELY force myself to get over any fears I have, and I pitch W2H.  I screen a short mock trailer I made (no way I’d force them to sit through that whole fucking thing), and it’s sort of like a fever dream, because I can see all of the life returning to their faces, they’re WAY into it, I’m doing fucking GREAT somehow, despite literally zero experience… and when it was all said and done, it became abundantly clear that even though they all LOVED it, not a single one of them could help me.  None of them were animation producers.  None of them KNEW animation producers.  One guy suggested I go into comics, because “comics get turned into film and tv shows all the time”.  I just had the PERFECT fucking pitch, and I pitched to people who couldn’t fucking help me.  As I was leaving, many of them came up to me and actually thanked me for sending them off for the day on a good note.  There was a big dinner at like, the fucking Governers’ mansion or something that night, and again, some of them were coming up to me and thanking me, wishing me the best and all that.  I guess if nothing else, I learned what I’m capable of.

The second pitch was an ACTUAL disaster.  When I’d first graduated I thought I could pitch W2H to Frederator, ‘cause it seemed like a good fit.  They told me (understandably) that they couldn’t reverse-engineer a show from something I’d already produced, and also that it was inappropriate (despite having a show at the time called “SuperFuckers”, but whatever; language and subject matter are different things).  Later on I got an email from them, saying that someone in their office was familiar with my work, and they invited me to come pitch them something that wasn’t W2H.  They also said that I was free to swing by their office any time, even “just to hang out”, and that if I had any questions “whether it be pitching or where to get the best burgers in Burbank”, to hit them up.  How friendly!  How perfect!  I was JUST about to move out to L.A., so I started working on this idea tentatively called “Gayliens”.  I swung by their office once, you know, just to pop in, like they said; thought I’d make myself known or whatever.  They looked at me like I was nuts.  They still invited me in and we chatted for a bit about the history of early Disney studios, but when they asked why I was there, and I reminded them about the email they’d sent, they seemed to have no idea what I was talking about.  I told them I was working on a pitch for them and that I’d be in touch so we could schedule something.  When I finally finished putting my pitch together, I went in for a meeting with them.  It was just 2 folks, we were in like a board meeting-type room (which I imagine is probably standard).  They made some small talk with me first, which I’m sure was an attempt to loosen us all up a bit and set the mood, but all of their questions really caught me off guard.  (I guess they asked where I was working, and when I told them I didn’t have a studio job, they asked how I was making money, and I’m sure it wasn’t meant to put me in an awkward position, but people asking me how I make money literally ALWAYS puts me in an awkward position, because my income sources are scattered and weird.  Try explaining how youtube ad revenue works to your social services worker, it’s a blast.) SO okay, I let myself get tripped up a bit.  I go on with the pitch; they don’t really want me to pitch the concept, they just have me show them my storyboards and read through the whole thing.  They’re DEAD silent the whole time.  I can’t get a read on them at all.  When it’s over, they ask me some more questions that trip me up.  Some of them are 100% my fault; they asked for a title, and I wasn’t ready to say “Oh, it’s tentatively called GAYLIENS,” out loud to people who I couldn’t get a read from.  

It’s all kind of a blur, but the few topics of discussion I remember them bringing up were that “the storyboards look almost TOO good”, like it was TOO polished or well-developed (which is sort of a backhanded compliment I guess???), because see, “when they made Adventure Time… blah blah blah it just started off as this loose idea, and once they were a season or so into it, they started expanding on the universe and developing the characters a little bit more…” — AS IF ANYONE doesn’t understand why AT got so popular???  You don’t have to TELL ME, I WAS WATCHING IT, I FUCKING KNOW.  No one gave a shit about AT until they got Rebecca Sugar and all these talented writers working on it a couple seasons in, and doing all this character-heavy shit.  I tried to present them with something that had all that character shit baked into it already, ‘cause I knew they were gonna’ use AT as an example.  But it seemed like they’re not looking for something that’s already developed with it’s own voice or sensibility, they’re looking for a vague idea that they can mold into something as they go.  

They also told me–and I still can’t get over this–that they’re looking for “”””””characters that people will want to cosplay as””””””, which is funny to me for a plethora of reasons; namely that they have no way of knowing that PEOPLE DO COSPLAY AS MY CHARACTERS, but also that I spent half of my time in college working on ridiculous magical girl Adventure Time crossover group cosplays (don’t fuckin’ laugh) like trust me I’m ALARMINGLY familiar with cosplay, and ALSO, that looking for a new property with the guidelines that it should be “the next big thing that some fucking nerds will dress up as at comic con” just seems like such an out-of-touch-but-trying-to-be-hip, capitalize-on your-fandom-doing-all-the-legwork-for-you, fucking executive thing to say.  I know I sound like a whiny art school kid saying that but my animation instructor was so anti-establishment, and I carry a lot of that with me still, and something about that statement–insignificant as it may be–kind of epitomizes how I feel about the industry?  It’s a hard thing to explain. I walked out of that pitch with my mind feeling like TV static.  My friends were waiting for me next door at a bakery and they were super excited, asking me how it went, and I was just like “I mean… BAD, for sure, but I don’t know where to even start.”  Hahaha.  I don’t know.  It just seems like everyone wants to play gatekeeper I guess.  They want This Thing™, but it can’t be too This Thing™.  They want the thing to have A Fandom™, but they don’t really understand fandom ‘cause they don’t participate in fandom.  They want Your Idea™ but they want to make it Their Idea™.  I don’t know.  I’m just angry and bitter and that’s my experience with pitching.  Admittedly some of what went wrong in these pitches was my fault, or there were circumstances beyond my control, and regardless of how that pitch went, I don’t actually dislike Frederator (I’m on their youtube network), and Fred Seibert has actually done a ton of iconic shit.I don’t think I’ve ever AIRED MY GRIEVANCES in such great detail before, but there you have it.  If you want some tips on pitching, you can check out the links I provided at the beginning of the post; there’s tons of people out there who actually know their shit too, and they’d probably give more proactive advice.  I don’t know if this helps at all, but hopefully you can glean something from it!  That’s just my limited experience with it.  Haha.  Good luck!  

[franeridart]

Merry Christmas!! I hope you are happy, and have a good New Year! 😁

Thank you!!! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and will have a wonderful New Year too!!

Anon said:aaaaawwwnnn the good ol' platonic (or not, depending on the interpretation) bak*deku

I’m not anti anything anon, so you never gotta worry about that! I have ships I like and ships I don’t and ships I’m indifferent about, but I’m a firm believer in the ship and let ship principle~ sadly bkdk is strictly platonic for me (I see them too much as sibs for it to work in a romantic way, at this point), but I do adore their relationship and the way Horikoshi is writing it TT^TT it’s def one of my favorite Bakugou relationships, such a wonderfully complex story 💕

Anon said:Have you ever thought about drawing Bakushima as different ships? Like, from different shows. Put them in their outfits and such? I thought that wouls be pretty cool. Sorry if someone has already suggested this! I thought maybe Black Butler style ? Fruits basket, Death note, ect. ❤

I have in the past drawn them in AUs inspired by characters from other fandoms, if that’s what you’re asking! At the top of my head I can remember drawing them as Black⭐Star and Tsubaki from Soul Eater, Doumeki and Watanuki from xxxHolic and Jacuzzi and Nice from Baccano!, but I’m sure those are not the only ones... I’m never against that sort of AUs, if you have anything you’d like to see ask and I’ll see if I know the fandom you’re thinking about! :D

Anon said://squints// did your.... Did your lineart imPROVE??? holy maples Fran ur killing me with ur art I wanna survive my last 7 months of high school--

If you think so, then I’m seriously happy and glad to hear it! Thank you so much!! I feel like I’ve been getting sloppier actually, ngl, but I have been trying new tools for the line, so maybe that’s the difference you’re seeing!

Anon said:Gonna say anonymously caz' i'm too embarrassed to reveal myself for now, but I love your blog and art so damn much!!! Been following you for two years and you really inspired me to draw and really to stay in touch with bnha. Again, love you so much and hope you a merry Christmas!!!

Ahhhhh anon thank you so much!!! I’m happy I can make you keep up with bnha, ngl!! And I hope you’ve had a wonderful amazing christmas too!!!

Anon said:Sero with the long hair can murder me

He wouldn’t!

Anon said:what do you think of bakukamijirou 👀

I don’t ship it, sorry :( as far as shipping Bakugou goes, I only ship him around if Kirishima is involved - I do have a few Baku ships I like just for the aesthetics (like with Jirou, or Todoroki!) but I wouldn’t really call it “shipping”, I just like to see them next to each other cause their designs work well together haha

Anon said:Hello? Yes. Hi. Dave I love. Thank you.

I’m so happy to hear that!!! TT^TT thank you so much!!!

Anon said:Kamijirou cures my depression :3

WELL IF THAT ISN’T A MOOD!!

Anon said:Have you every considered a voltron au for your ocs? I know youve made a voltron au befores so i was wondering if you ever did it for anything else (i really love all your art have a lovely day

I’ve never, actually :thinking: the vld fandom is very scary to me so I try to keep away from it, ngl! I’ve also not watched past the first season of the cartoon itself so by now I don’t think I have the necessary information to make AUs based on that fandom, but the concept of my kids in space or piloting mechas is a wonderful one nonetheless haha

Anon said:Ah man I love dav so much. It makes me so happy when you post your sweet green haired boy. Day: brightened.

:sob: thank you SO MUCH!!!! TT^TT it makes me so happy to hear you like my boy!!

Anon said:I love and appreciate every variety of your ocs

THANK YOU!!!💕💕

Anon said:You: This is my boy. | Me: I love him so much and his hair and his shirt- 👌

Thank you so much!! His hair and clothes make less sense every time I draw him, but I have fun with it so I’m glad you like them anyway hahaha

Anon said:Hey! Who is he? He looks cool

Thank you so muuuccchhhh!!! His name is Dave!! He doesn’t really have much of a story, but he’s a uni student and likes music, philosophy and cats! He has a bunch of friends I draw him with now and again, and they mostly spend their time avoiding studying and being generally ridiculous :D

Anon said:Just wanted to let you know your art style is GORGEOUS. You're one of the few people on this site whose art always makes me excited to see it. I'm a huge Bakushima fan to begin with but your Bakugou is just...oof. lol I don't know if it's the hooded eyes or the undercut but you make him HAVE it!

That’s such high praise oh my god! TTOTT I’m glad you like how I draw my boy, he makes me so happy to doodle !!!!! 💞💞💞

Anon said:The two art post with "An unexpected sappy thought" and "Bunch of stuff from yesterday I finally managed to finish" were both flagged. i tried to send them to u, but couldn't. Just thought you should know if you haven't been notified yet! sorry that i cant be much help. (also the protest starts in like 10 min for me, so youre probably off already if youre doing it) sorry for bothering!

Anon said:hey your post (a colored fanart) of kirishima and bakugou cuddling w/ song lyrics as the caption got flagged, just thought i’d let you know if you didn’t see it :( stupid tumblr

These are pretty old asks at this point but I wanted to thank you for the heads up anyway! I have gone through my posts twice already and new flagged things always pop up, so the fact that you took the time to let me know was seriously huge help! Thank you so much!!

Anon said:hi i just saw your year summery-thingy and i just realized that i have followed you for more than a year now and i just want to say thank you for all the beutiful art i have seen !! you are truly one of my favorite artist i hope that you are well

Ah man thank you so much!!! I’m so so happy to hear you’ve been following me that long, it’s incredible to me!! I hope I’ll manage to get out of the slump I’ve fallen into soon enough orz meanwhile thank you for sticking around!! 💕

Anon said:Seeing your art summary makes my soul feel the urge to have your beautiful kiribaku art in a book. Have you ever thought about making a little zine with some of your illustrations? Or selling prints ;___; You're absolutely amazing!

Oh heck thank you so much for being interested in something like that! I’ve actually thought about something of the like, but if I ever did it would be a small zine with pieces made specifically for it! I have to research the whole thing a bit more, but in case I’ll reach a point where it’s a concrete possibility I’d first post something to check the actual interest in it between everyone! ;^;

Anon said:... Why BakuJiro tho?

Why not! They are good friends, have a nice dynamic, and their styles match together well! And Jirou’s so tiny next to him, I like the idea of Baku hugging her a whole lot as it might have become obvious by this point haha

Anon said:7w7r I see you there

I dunno what this is about but !!! neat!!

Anon said:Soooo,,, DabiHawks or Hawks single? I have curious for how would a drawing of them be made by you

I’ve said this a couple of times before, but I’m really only interested in dabihawks if Dabi is Touya at this point! I might change my mind if Hori develops their relationship more, but right now that’s how it is... and until I have more concrete proofs of Touya and Dabi being the same person I don’t wanna get too involved with the ship, in case I end up disappointed haha

Anon said:Fran, have you ever posted a selfie before? For some reason, I imagine you looking a little more like Kuroo from Haikyuu!! Haha.

I haven’t! I prefer being behind the camera instead of before it hahaha a couple years ago you would have been right! By now I have too much hair for it, tho lol also, I wear glasses and have a bunch of piercings and earrings that Kuroo doesn’t have (but should have, cause it’d be hot 👀👀👀)