#and for some reason it’s my art style but not???

[ivyllamauwu]

I had to I’m sorry 😭 I was so conflicted on what text to use but alas I settled on that one.

[tossawary]

Happy November, everyone! Here's a late collection of the icons that I've been using for the last few months. The lines and dots one is the new one! I saw some Art Deco wood carving recently that was cool and wanted to borrow the style.

The rubber duck cassowary is from July, because a loved one is really into ducks recently. The black and white cassowary is from August, for no particular reason. The Starfleet cassowary is from September, because we started doing a catch-up on things like "Strange New Worlds", "Lower Decks", and "Discovery". The cassowary made of dots is from October, just because I saw another piece of art that I liked.

Fandom news: I finally finished "Some Unknown Corner", my Qijiu reunion fix-it fic!!! Which took me WAY longer than initially expected. Part of it is that I've been spending more time with family lately (saw some people I hadn't seen in years last month), which means less time to write but has been very nice, and part it of seems to be that I'm just a little busy and burnt out at the moment.

I'm not currently planning on joining any fandom events at the moment, or making any firm fic plans; I'm letting loose and just relaxing. I will be TRYING not to be possessed by some unwieldy project. Trying!!! I'm definitely not (intentionally) writing any novels this month. For now (at least the next couple months), I don't think I'll be posting any new fic unless it's a short one-shot or already complete longfic. November and December tend to be some of the busier months in my personal life. I have some WIP projects for other fandoms that I'd like to shove out the door and use to cleanse my palate a little, but again, the main goal right now is taking it slow.

If you have a fandom project right now that is stressing you out, I offer you permission from a random stranger to take a break from it, if you want one! Enjoy a nap on the couch and some good food and a walk, if you can and if you like! Fic will wait.

Thank you for all the lovely comments and messages and such! I appreciate them very much and will be trying to casually catch up on those again. ❤️❤️❤️

[mimicofmodes]

I saw a post going around about costube historians analyzing period film costumes for accuracy and it kind of got under my skin, so I'm sitting down and writing ... not exactly a response to it, but a discussion of the topic.

(It would be a direct response except that I don't actually watch costube, because quite frankly I can't watch/listen to people discuss things I already know. And I don't want to be like "they don't do X!" when maybe they really do X and I'm just not aware. But a lot of the complaints hit the same points that have been brought up against fashion historians for reviewing costumes for decades. I would also note that I have looked into specific videos where there were claims of terrible costuber behavior and watched them and found nothing.)

If you're going to analyze a period film's costuming in any way, you should still interact with the historical aspect to some degree. If you want to talk about the use of bold stripes in Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, for instance, and you don't mention that they were in style during the period the film appears to be set in, it's kind of weird.

Likewise, yes, if you're critiquing primarily from the angle of historical accuracy, you should also engage to at least some extent with the reasoning behind the inaccuracy. If a reviewer doesn't do so at all, then yes, their review is probably not as good as it could be.

People pointing out an inaccuracy (or many inaccuracies) are not inherently scolding the costume designer. Even if their tone is something other than sweet. Sometimes they are scolding other people involved in the production, like the director who mandated a particular costume, or just a general notion of TPTB. Usually they are divorcing the art from the artist, though, and just reviewing the costuming from their particular viewpoint and knowledge base for a likeminded audience.

Sometimes, yes, they are complaining directly about the costume designer. This is not a crime. Some costume designers (for instance, Sandy Powell) have an incredible grasp on fashion history and excellent taste when it comes to diverging from it. Others simply don't have as in-depth of an understanding and make design decisions sometimes based on stereotypes and myths. Some costume designers will explain their decisions in interviews or blog posts and make it clear that they didn't make a truly informed decision about accuracy because they didn't know enough about the period. It's important for both sides of the equation to stop painting the other with too broad of a brush ("ivory-tower elitists who have no idea of a production's needs or budget" vs. "costumers who know how to sew but not how to do historical research").

If you're allowed to complain about a writer or a director or an actor doing something you don't like in a movie, you're also allowed to complain about a costume designer. You're allowed to have aesthetic preferences, and even to talk about them without hedging every five seconds to make it clear that others can disagree, although some of this is beneficial with any critique. Why would it be otherwise?

This seems really obvious to me, but maybe it's not? But "they costumed that female actor in an anachronistically sexy way because sex sells" is a feminist issue. The assumption that women's bodies should be sites of less-clothed allure while men's should attract by being more covered (with more layers than in modern dress, with cravats, etc.) is sexist. Complaints about female characters being costumed inaccurately are often being made along these lines, and pointing out that the producers insisted on it or something does not mean it's suddenly unproblematic that every female character deemed fuckable has to have low necklines at all times and modern shiny hair.

It's true that fiction isn't non-fiction and shouldn't be taken that way, but it's also demonstrably true that viewers do take cliches in film aesthetics as accurate when they see them enough times. People cite Scarlett O'Hara's 18" waist. They believe there were no bright colors before the 1920s and that women couldn't have put their hair up unless they were wealthy. These beliefs have consequences when it comes to public perceptions of history, and if films perpetuate them it's perfectly reasonable to point out that they support ideas about e.g. gender roles that trads express today.

It's also simply funny when a film's hair or costuming or makeup is supposed to evoke a lack of artifice but actually requires quite a bit of artifice because people don't naturally have perfect hair and skin and so on.

If you don't like reviews of period films that focus on the accuracy of the costuming, maybe ... don't watch/read reviews by fashion historians and historical costumers? At least unless they're vetted for you by someone who doesn't mind that?

[msbunnat]

(Before I say anything this isn’t meant to be hate this is just my thoughts)

I think the reasoning on why people are thinking you are romanticizing Ganymede and Zeus’s story is because you’re making it look like instead of making Ganymede scared of Zeus, it looks like Ganymede is proud to have been kidnapped by Zeus and that he wears a badge of being SA by Zeus. For example, in one of your drawings you said how Ganymede would react to one of Zeus's kids wanting to fight him to where Ganymede said that he had sex with their father, Zeus, making it sound like he was proud and not that affected by Zeus’s actions.

(Again, this is not hate; I'm just explaining what might have caused people to think you're romanticizing Zeus's and Ganymede's relationship.)

No worries, I actually sometimes dont understand when someone is being hateful, so I would read it as just normal.

SO! Again, dosent matter how Ganymede is portrayed, people will think it shouldnt even exist any discussion of him (like, there was an artist that literaly make Zeus as a vile abuser of Ganymede and Hebe was consoling him - EVEN THIS SITUATION THAT SHOW EXPLICIT HOW BROKEN GANYMEDE WAS, PEOPLE HAVE COMPLAINED AS ROMANTIZATION ;w;). So just dont try to look for a reason, there are a lot and none depending sole on who is interpreting my drawings.

This specifc drawing you mentioned, I did way after this recent wave of hate and was just a joke. This case dosent have so much meaning behind the joke, but like, you can have your interpretation as him coping, or he feel for Zeus, or he just want to mess with other gods as he is the only 'mortal' and use Zeus as a shield so he can just be lying... LET YOUR IMAGINATION FLY.

Look... my very firsts drawings and tiktok of Ganimedes was him mad... He literaly mad cry... Even before any nsfw I have done or more nuansed art... and yet people also thougth as romantization... So really, dosent matter what I do, to some people just because of my style or because Zeus is hot its equal to be ok with anything he does (as if abusers cant be attractive... its good those people never meet someone like this, but still makes me worry about them). Ah! There re two expections: some eagle interactions re sweet because its before any harm; and Ganimedes smiling one time on a tiktok video (I though people would be intriged and make questions, but nope, they stick to Ganimedes liking being abused I guess - welp the fetish exists, but I know they mean as me saying 'abuse is ok because he liked it').

I dont know where people think that just because Ganimedes its not suffering in every single second means he is ok to all harm and struggle he will pass... I want to make him suffer as an OC, but like, let him have happy moments... and this also means happy moments with Zeus... and all of this dont erase any bad things... this binary way to see stories its just so not my thing -w-

Oh! and its not because you have intimacy with someone you also love them (like, rage f*cking is a thing and I want to explore it, maybe outside the comic, idk yet u.u). I also have some cannibalism drawings Gani x Zeus, cause imagine eating a god!! So exciting!

OK now for real, I will not answer anymore romantization discustion for some time. I'm tired of this, I will do my things and hope people have patience before stating something that its still in progress. Aske me about it in two months maybe...

[tishinada]

For those who are unaware, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the first new DA game in a decade, has been under attack from the moment of launch by what appears to be an organized campaign of bigots.

I noticed when I tried to check YT during my lunch on the launch day (Oct. 31), only about an hour and a half after it launched, and there were dozens of reviews, all focused on some aspect of including trans characters as "woke". Which, btw, proves they did not play & were not fans of the previous games. There was a significant trans character in DA:I, Krem, and the Inquisitor got sternly corrected by Bull for misgendering him when you heard Krem's background story. Dorian's best friend in Tevinter, although she didn't appear directly, was explicitly a trans woman, Maeveris. Some go so far as to attack the LGBTQ+ content generally, and, sorry, but that was explicitly part of DA from the very first game.

So if they'd actually played the game previously, they already should know that content would be there. If they seriously thought the game was not good, they'd have just sat back and waited. Or they'd have attacked it on the basis of problems of gameplay or story. The fact that this is the reason they're attacking it (the professionally done reviews are extremely favorable) proves that bigotry is the sole reason behind their campaign, not the quality of the game itself. (A few others are basically complaining that it's a story-driven game with character development & they don't like story-driven games & character development lol.)

In this case, it's backfired as far as I'm concerned. First, everytime I see one on YT, I tell YT to not recommend their channel to me, hopefully meaning I'll never accidentally watch one of their other videos (thanks for self-identifying for my blocked list!) And it's tipped the scales in favor of buying the game. I had doubts due to issues with DAI. But I'm told that there is a genuine story mode which means I can just run through for the story and not worry about dying every 5 seconds. And having spoiled myself on parts of the story, I think this may be much closer to what I fell in love with about DA:O (I'm in love with several of the romances, and one of them is the first since Zevran's that really hits all the right notes for me.)

Admittedly, I don't necessarily love the art style, but I don't hate it either. And I've heard the interface for PC users makes it clear it was primarily designed for console players (hopefully there will be a way to clean it up with mods or something.) And unfortunately, I can't play immediately due to time reasons (I still haven't finished DT for that reason lol.)

But yes, I will be buying DA:VG now. And I hope anyone seeing criticism of it keeps in mind that most negative reviews have bigotry at their root.

[on-a-lucky-tide]

Curious what you'd say about Soap for the character ask game. You haven't really spoken about him as much as the others so I'm curious :O (id love to hear about every single character tho i wont lie to you but i have a feeling you'll get asked about those lol)

@nekrosmos asked for Soap too.

Honestly? There is unfortunately a reason. I lingered around fandom for a good few months before I got involved at all. I saw some behaviour from his fanbase that I didn't like and so I made the conscious choice that he's not a character I'd probably be creating much for. I love the art, happy to support creators, etc. Besides, there are so many delicious, delicious rarepairs to love and create for and plenty of gallant, productive, devoted Ghoapers.

He's quite compelling though, and I've got quite a few thoughts and headcanons, and I'm happy to write prompts with him. A few friends on Discord really love him and I like to create for them too, cause happy friends give me the fuzzies. So, you know, a story idea might grip me by the balls and I'll wack out a long form thing.

favorite thing about them

His journals.

Reading those finally gave me a connection with his character that I hadn't developed previously. But they really show how driven he is, how much he wants to be the best he can be, so he's not a burden, so he doesn't let anyone down. He's constantly striving to earn his place to the point that it kills him in the end.

I think he genuinely struggles with wanting to be liked (as part of 'earning his place'), and I think he is often too much for people. Ghost giving back as good as he gets is a comfortable relationship because the line for Ghost is way, way in the distance; Johnny doesn't have to worry like he does with 'normal' people. Neither of them is fuckin' normal.

Price giving him a chance would have been the first step towards the hero-style worship he has for him. "What? Me? Ye want... me? Aye, aye I will be the best fuckin' dog ye ever had, I will bite my own leg off for ye." Everything Soap does is to prove that Price didn't make a mistake. That he was a good investment. And Price, the sly fucker, knows it. He sees himself there.

least favorite thing about them

I wish they had given him a stronger accent and leaned more into that in the games. In fact, I wish that for all of them.

I also think that Soap has capacity to cause great harm without even realising it. Like, we get glimpses of it; he's nearly court-martialled for punching out a copper. In his single-minded pursuit of something, I reckon there could be a lot of collateral damage.

He lacks confidence but will cover it up by being an arsehole and doing arsehole things (such as smuggling a girl on base to impress The Guys). I say I like "least favourite"; I think this makes him compelling as a character. He's not all sunshine and rainbows. He's just as gritty, professional and flawed as the rest of 'em.

favorite line

"You sick bastard..."

"My kingdom for a suppressor..."

"Price?... This belongs to you, sir."

brOTP

Gaz & Soap

OTP

Uh... none really. Ghost/Soap?

nOTP

Don't have any strong feelings on any.

random headcanon

He's really bad at team sport. He showed no interest in any when he was growing up. Gym? Running? Swimming? Anything where the only competition is himself and his own limits? That's where Soap's head is.

unpopular opinion

Honestly? I don't know which of my opinions would be unpopular. Probably the 'not sunshine and rainbows' one, maybe?

song i associate with them

favorite picture of them

[leo-creator]

Quite a few times I'd look through some old art of mine and am reminded of certain ways I used to draw a piece of the face, pick color palettes, or shade that I still really like but haven't drawn in that way in years!

For example!

This was a self portrait I drew 5 years ago for my profile picture

Of course I can talk about the things in this drawing that I dislike but instead I'm going to point out the things that I like now that I don't do currently

I actually like the little white highlights I used to do during this era of my art! I think the reason I stopped was in part because I don't really do any shading in most of my recent finished drawings. I know why I don't anymore, I've adopted a more sketchy style that allows me to draw something quicker and focus more on the character instead of fixating on making everything look finished.

I also love that I used to add small gradients like blush, eye color, and in the background! It adds a bit of life to the drawing that I haven't done in years. I haven't done this one as much recently as it's a lot harder to do in a sketchbook versus digital.

Yes, I've approved as an artist over the years, but I can still look back and draw inspiration from what I used to do and see if I can do it better now with a few years under my belt

Last ramble of the day I prommy, but there’s been a trend I’ve been seeing on reels and TikTok to show your old work and be mean about how you ‘used’ to draw. ‘Can you believe I used to be PROUD of this?’ But I thinks that’s A) discouraging to artists whose work currently looks like that (or your ‘bad’ art might be what some people are currently striving for!) and B) discredits your past self. I might giggle at some of my old art, but I could NEVER hate it. I love all my art.

[hinamie]

oversaturate

[shhroomer]

omg kahl broflobster !?

[aster-wright-writes]

I'm going to do it anyway

Okay, so I'm going to give a review of each of the series in Dawn of X (including HOX and POX)

House of X: Six issues long. 8/10: Fantastic. It starts the new status quo with a bang. That first issue alone is incredible; the reveal with Moira is super exciting and recontextualizes a lot. It's a fantastic start to the new era.

Powers of x: Six issues long 6.5/10: It was really interesting, but paired with HOX, it kind of ruined the momentum for me. I thought it was a cool writing choice to have us see where the series begins and ends, but personally, I just enjoyed HOX more. I might enjoy it as a reread once I finish all of Krakow, but for right now, it is just good.

X-men: 11 issues long, 8/10: This is the flagship series, and it does its job well. It works as sort of an anthology, where many of the issues are self-contained but introduce some of the concepts that will be found in the era. (I.E., the summoner, orchis, the vault. and most importantly Arrako) overall a good display of characters and their relationships while also showing some idea of what to expect for the era.

New Mutants: 12 issues long, 3/10: one of my big hot takes of the list. I really did not like New Mutants that much; according to one of my friends, I would need to wait until Vita Ayala takes the wheel, but for now, I just couldn't get into it. This is likely because I don't know any of these characters apart from Magik, but even then, if this is supposed to be your introduction to the characters, you should work to make them interesting. full disclosure I ended up not finishing this series so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

X-force: 12 Issues long, 7.5/10: the mutant CIA? What could go wrong? This is a pretty good series; it uses the concepts of resurrection brought up in HOX in exciting ways and proves that just because Jonathan Hickman has introduced basically immortality, that doesn't mean he has erased the stakes. One of the reasons I love this series is how they handled Domino's trauma. They handled it incredibly well, and I respect their nuanced approach.

Fallen Angels: 6 issues long, 7/10: I only hear a little about this series, which is weird because I liked it a lot. The gritty art style was fantastic, and the story was super interesting. Seeing Kwannon's character and personality in action was fascinating, and seeing her go up against an enemy like this one was so cool. I just really wish we got more of it.

Excalibur: 12 issues long, 10/10: Genuinly fantastic. my favorite series out of the run HOLY SHIT. so I have met Tini Howard the author at 2 seperate cons and she has been so nice to me both times, so not only is she a fantastic writer but fantastic person as well. okay onto the book. it's like if X-men became a fantasy novel (even more than it already is) it takes place in otherworld (essentially Camelot. and deals with Betsy Braddock the new captain Britain ballence her loyalty to krakoa, otherworld, and Britain. it also has an absolutly stacked team with apocalypse now working with the hero's, the ever fun jubilee, and one of my favorite mutant power couples Rouge and Gambit.

Marauders: 12 issues long, 9/10: it's mutant pirates; what more could you want. My second favorite series is Dawn of X, about Kate Pryde traveling around the world with her crew and rescuing mutants from foreign governments. Not only is this one of the funniest series, but the downtime we see between the crew is also charming. It has an entertaining team, and we also get to know how the Hellfire Club is running now that it has rebranded; with the Hellfire Club comes one of my favorite mutants ever... emma frost; if frost is what you want, then a double helping of iceman and Emma should keep you fed for days. Now, it's not all fun and games; there is a specific moment in these issues that will make you super emotional, I won't spoil it, but the moment is super well done, and its ripple effects through the following matters are great to read,

Wolverine: Five issues long, 6/10: Another hot take. So, I love Wolverine. I've loved him for a while, and the fact that he is my type doesn't hurt at all. However, I also think he works best when he is on a team. and while he did have people to bounce off of in this series, I think I overall preferred it when he was on a team and working with people when it's just him it kinda feels very serious all the time. Still, he can let loose a bit when he's with others. The second story arc, with Wolverine fighting the vampires, was awesome, though.

Hellions: 4 issues long. 7/10: so this is just the beginning of the series, but I am only counting the problems in Dawn of X. First, I love the concept of villains on a team willing to get their hands dirty. Second of all, I love seeing a catty Mr. Sinister. He quickly became a standout, and I might cosplay him eventually. This also reintroduces one of my favorite lesser-known characters. Madalyn before the goblin queen. Her interactions with Alex Summers were exciting, and I loved seeing her again. Also, Psylocke having to act as the parent of a collection of homicidal killers was fun to see.

Cable: Four issues long, 5/10: It had some fascinating concepts, especially with kid cables' relationship to old cable and those who knew old cable, but overall, it was not my favorite. The Space Knights were excellent, and how they were confronted was interesting. Their use of time travel was terrific, but overall, it was just not my favorite.

X-factor: 2 issues long, 7/10: it's an X-Men mystery solvers group. Basically, if you die outside of the walls of Krakoa, X-factor will come and find your body so you can be brought back. It's fun, and the team is filled with characters you don't see often, like Eye Boy and Daken. It's good. I just can't talk about it too much with how few issues there are in Dawn of X

empyre x-men: 4 issues long. 3/10: I was curious if I should count this since it's part of a crossover event, but it's in the Dawn of X collection trades, so I might as well. So this had some exciting concepts, such as the Scarlet Witch trying to redeem herself, mutants vs mutant zombies vs plant aliens. But overall, it could have been better. I didn't read any of the connecting crossovers; I needed clarification.

X of Swords: 22 issues, 10/10: the culmination of all the storylines so far, genuinely fantastic. What starts out as an X-Men tournament arc turns into so much more. We learn more about the history of Arrako and the apocalypse's connection to it. Satyreene is stunning and a fantastic villain. Everyone getting their swords. And once the battle actually began the rounds. How different they were and how cool they were. If I have any complaints, they are: 1. I would have liked to see some of the fights described, mainly in the fashion show, but many others sounded cool. 2. I wish the battle between Storm and Death lasted longer. 3 I think that as a promo or special edition, they should have allowed you to buy your own Xmen tarot deck, But hey, if my main complaint for a 22-issue crossover is that I wish there was more content, then you know you did a pretty good job. (also, speaking of Storm, the issue where she gets her sword might be my favorite issue in the entire crossover, which is saying something because it's incredible.) also, I got Tini Howard to sign my copy of the collection, which is fantastic.

I know the krakoa era is over but would y’all like to hear my review of each series in dawn of x, I’m finally finishing it tonight and I have some thoughts.

[cowardlykrow]

“Not my circus, not my monkeys”… Except those are his monkeys and they are the circus

[ambisweetiepie]

I wanted to join in @yamujiburo 's DTIYS!

I dont know what else to say here! Hope you're having a nice day!

[eyesore-boi]

Me when I'm about to reunite with my childhood friend whose been spending possibly an eternity in a constant loop just to tell him he's going to be the villain in my super cool original story:

(I've seen this screenshot being pased around, but i've yet to see one directly relating to these two chucklefucks, so....i'll do it myself-)

[wewerebornsextuplets]

i do my lil dancy dance

[wigglebox]

Agent…

[m3tr0n0m333]

Clouds :3

Other version cause I felt like the lineart was fading out too much fahsjsj