#and it’s gotten so cold!!!!!

[auditioheros]

huzzah went thru and cleaned up all my tbd posts now to stare at memes & drafts until one calls out to me

[collophora]

"Let's fix this drawing" *redraw the whole thing*

[serpentface]

how do you come up with the ways cultures in your setting stylize people/animals/the world in general in their artwork, i.e. jewlery, rock carvings, statues, etc? Each culture in your world seems to have a very unique "art style" and I love it a lot - makes them seem that much more 'real'. This is something I struggle with a lot in my own worldbuilding and I'd love to pick your brain if possible 😁

I think a starting point is to have a research process based in the material realities of the culture you're designing for. Ask yourself questions like:

Where do they live? What's the climate/ecosystem(s) they are based in? What geographic features are present/absent?

What is their main subsistence method? (hunter gatherer, seasonal pastoralist, nomadic pastoralist, settled agriculturalist, a mix, etc)

What access to broader trade networks do they have and to whom? Are there foreign materials that will be easily accessible in trade and common in use, or valuable trade materials used sparingly in limited capacities?

Etc

And then do some research based on the answers, in order to get a sense of what materials they would have routine access to (ie dyes, metal, textiles, etc) and other possible variables that would shape how the art is made and what it's used for. This is just a foundational step and won't likely play much into designing a Style.

If you narrow these questions down very specifically, (ie in the context of the Korya post- grassland based mounted nomads, pastoralist and hunter-gatherer subsistence, access to wider trade networks and metals), you can direct your research to specific real world instances that fit this general idea. This is not to lift culturally specific concepts from the real world and slap them into your own setting, but to notice commonalities this lifestyle enforces - (ie in the previous example- mounted nomadic peoples are highly mobile and need to easily carry their wealth (often on clothing and tack) therefore small, elaborate decorative artwork that can easily be carried from place to place is a very likely feature)

For the details of the art itself, I come up with loose 'style guides' (usually just in my head) and go from there.

Here's some example questions for forming a style (some are more baseline than others)

Are geometric patterns favored? Organic patterns? Representative patterns (flowers, animals, stars, etc)? Abstract patterns?

Is there favored material(s)? Beads, bone, clay, metals, stones, etc.

When depicting people/animals, is realism favored? Heavy stylization? The emotional impression of an animal? Are key features accentuated?

How perspective typically executed? Does art attempt to capture 3d depth? Does it favor showing the whole body in 2 dimensions (ie much of Ancient Egyptian art, with the body shown in a mix of profile and forward facing perspective so all key attributes are shown)? Will limbs overlap? Are bodies shown static? In motion?

Does artwork of people attempt to beautify them? Does it favor the culture's conception of the ideal body?

Are there common visual motifs? Important symbols? Key subject matters?

What is the art used for? Are its functions aesthetic, tutelary, spiritual, magical? (Will often exist in combination, or have different examples for each purpose)

Who is represented? Is there interest in everyday people? Does art focus on glorifying warriors, heroes, kings?

Are there conventions for representing important figures? (IE gods/kings/etc being depicted larger than culturally lesser subjects)

Is there visual shorthand to depict objects/concepts that are difficult to execute with clarity (the sun, moon, water), or are invisible (wind, the soul), or have no physical component (speech)?

Etc

Deciding on answers to any of these questions will at least give you a unique baseline, and you can fill in the rest of the gaps and specify a style further until it is distinct. Many of these questions are not mutually exclusive, both in the sense of elements being combined (patterns with both geometric and organic elements) or a culture having multiple visual styles (3d art objects having unique features, religious artwork having its own conventions, etc).

Also when you're getting in depth, you should have cultural syncretism in mind. Cultures that routinely interact (whether this interaction is exchange or exploitation) inevitably exchange ideas, which can be especially visible in art. Doing research on how this synthesizing of ideas works in practice is very helpful- what is adopted or left out from an external influence, what is retained from an internal influence, what is unique to this synthesis, AND WHY. (I find Greco-Buddhist art really interesting, that's one of many such examples)

Looking at real world examples that fit your parameters can be helpful (ie if I've decided on geometric patterns in my 'style guide', I'll look at actual geometric patterns). And I strongly encourage trying to actually LEARN about what you're seeing. All art exists in a context, and having an understanding of how the context shapes art, how art does and doesn't relate to broader aspects of a society, etc, can help you when synthesizing your own.

[iizuumi]

Get loved loser ♥

[bunabi]

my MLK Day Thought is: I'm worried for the future I really am

I don't know if its exacerbated by the neighborhood I live in or if this is a US-wide issue but the casual dehumanization and folks acting like miniature aristocrats is getting crazy

[sysig]

Strictly professional showering (Patreon)

[fatimajpeg]

heat

[kodasea]

Neither here (nor there)

[wynandcore]

Something’s so crushing about the contrast of Tron saying “I did what I knew was best, for you… and for the revolution” and Beck saying “I don’t care what you do to me, I’m not letting you kill for revenge”.

[yamham154]

guess what. im back on my bullshit! here’s some new punch out art besties

[waitineedaname]

when im writing them, i often find myself thinking about the difference between jiang cheng and wei wuxian's anger. im not sure how to put it into words, but the way they both express anger is so interesting to me bc like... for jiang cheng, it tends to be his first response. he's confronted with something unpleasant and the safest response is to be angry and lash out, because then that protects the vulnerability hidden beneath whatever has upset him. his anger tends to be explosive, with shouting and violence, until eventually it ebbs away and the vulnerable emotion underneath is revealed. wei wuxian, however, tends to let it simmer until it eventually boils over. I think about the confrontation with jin zixun about the wens a lot, and how you can see him trying to keep a lid on the anger at first, and how that makes him cold and sharp (which is made all the more striking by how warm he is under better circumstances) until finally he can't keep a lid on it anymore and the anger boils over, which is the point at which you should probably aim to leave his general vicinity because an angry wei wuxian is very, very scary

[starry-bi-sky]

I am so interested in hearing more about the world building of your stillborn still-born au!

So what exactly is the burning mountain island and its ecosystem? And have you built out anything for the far frozen in return? Do the far frozen and molten lava island have relations or do they avoid each other? Are they friendly or enemies? Since the yetis of the far frozen are healer-warriors are the locals of the volcano also healer-warriors or are they something else? Does the volcano have an equivalent to Frostbite(maybe called heatstroke or something similar?) to help Danny with his powers and become his ally?

WHY I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED!

( @ishkagrante because they asked me the same thing)

The Molten Springs is a mega-island similar to the Far Frozen, but rather than being made up of extreme cold, it's made of extreme heat! The name "Molten Springs" is me playing with the words 'hot springs' and it stems from this fanart I saw a few years back of Vlad relaxing in a pool of lava and Danny being very judgy about it lmao. It's a large, mountainous-volcanic region made up of hundreds of mountains and volcanos. All the rivers, lakes, ponds, etc are made up of lava rather than water. It's extremely hot, as you would expect, and the further inland you go the hotter it gets as you come across more volcanic activity.

All greater rivers and lakes lead back to the center of the island, where Mt. Abzi (created from the word obsidian) stands, a massive active volcano that is thousands of feet tall and is constantly bubbling out lava and feeding it into the rivers. Two to sometimes three times a mortal year it fully erupts, shooting out a massive geyser beam of lava into the sky like a beacon, that lasts thirty minutes before cooling down for a few minutes or hours, before shooting up again. These cause what the locals call a "magma storm", which is basically the human equivalent of flood season because the lava that goes up must come down, and it rains down over the island. This can trigger other volcanoes into full eruption.

I've currently got two names for the greater rivers.

There's Ruzhu (created from the word Eruption), the river that leads over into the Ruzhi Canyon, a great canyon made of obsidian and igneous rock. It's a pretty popular tourist destination, if you get there when the firelight is low you can watch the light glitter and bounce off the walls.

Then there's Spicoria, a river that leads over into the mountain ranges, surrounded by sandbox trees made of petrified wood and smoking leaves. The rapids here grow the sindrillies! Rare purple flowers that resemble the lilies of the nile, they only grow in extremely hot areas. So you can only really find them underground or by the rocky areas of the river rapids. Most flowers come in the same color range as heat. So in oranges, reds, whites, yellows, and blues. The warmer the colors, the more common they are.

Locals live most commonly in caves, in the mountainy ranges where there's less volcano activity (its more convenient), in cold pockets (where the air there is significantly cooler *in comparison to the surrounding area), in the lava. Under-lava cities are very common here, there are entire cities built at the bottom of the lakes and leading into the underground tunnels. Buildings are made of the surrounding igneous rock and obsidian. Gemstones like opal, olivine, agate, amethyst, etc are found growing here since lava has a hand in their creation. They're a little different compared to mortal gemstones, since instead of water they're made of crystalizing ectoplasm. Although what those differences are, I haven't yet figured out.

Jewelry, tablets, sculpting, and oral storytelling are a popular form of artistry since paper really isn't,,, cohesive with extreme heat. Windows, if there are any, are made of volcanic glass and tend to be stained, with various designs on them that depend on the owner's preferences. Due to the lava rivers outside, it's not uncommon for ghosts to wear loose black garments when traveling around in order to avoid getting their inside clothes dirty. Think desert-wear!

I haven't though much about them being healer-warriors (and I'll admit it completely slipped my mind) but it's pretty common for ghosts to go to the lava hot springs, which are situated on the outskirts of the the island, in order to unwind. At least the ones who can withstand the heat when it's at its weakest. Some ghosts can go in deeper, but its really only the fire-core ghosts (like Danny and Vlad) that can actually handle the full heat of the molten springs without melting.

Rip to blob ghosts, Danny watched one melt like an ice cube in his hand once.

The residents of the Molten Springs are fire-core ghosts and other various heat-related mythological beasts. Cyclops, dragons, phoenixes, salamanders, etc etc. If they've got a heat or fire motif, they're there. The Yeti equivalents would have to be the Dragons, because that's who Sunburn is!

Sunburn is the Frostbite equivalent, and he's a massive dragon the size of a mountain, with black obsidian scales. Although he can shrink himself down to size. Danny's only two feet shorter than his eye, which is a lovely amethyst color, and it matches the color of his feathery mane! His mane itself is made of peacock feathers, with purple being the main color and the eyes being a startling electric blue. His fire opal horns are six-pointers, and from a distance blends in with the streams of lava running down the mountains. Despite his vibrant plumage and the jewelry he decorates himself with, he blends in with the surrounding igneous rock worryingly well.

He lives in a massive cave at a collapsed caldera volcano, Danny stumbled across him once on his first journey into the Molten Springs (<- has never watched the far frozen ep so i don't know what happened in it) and woke hm up on accident. Scared the shit out of Danny because he turned around and there was this giant purple eye staring at him.

but it's okay! Sunburn's like. a hippie. so he's really chill. Super chill actually. He's had thousands of years to just chill out. Which is a really good contrast for Danny who is the exact opposite of chill and is constantly on the verge of eruption himself. He helps Danny learn some emotional regulation and how to thermal regulate better.

Sunburn has, on numerous occasions, rumbled out a lazy "nap time" when he thinks Danny's getting too worked up, and then turned and pinned Danny beneath his muzzle. It doesn't hurt him, but it's like a big weighted blanket and it's also like a cat sleeping on you, so even if Dany could move, he wouldn't. He eventually falls asleep 9/10.

Sunburn will also just toss him into the lake outside the cave just. Whenever. What's gonna happen? Danny gets burned? Don't make him laugh. It usually gets Danny out of whatever mental spiral he's in and is just one of the few methods that makes him relax.

As for the Far Frozen! They're on the opposite ends of the ghost zone from each other and are on pretty neutral terms. Residents don't meet often due to their drastically opposite climates, but they can meet somewhere outside of the Molten Springs or Far Frozen, or, with the right equipment, meet in their respective islands. Sunburn and Frostbite are good friends, because I think it's funny if Sunburn has nicknamed Frostbite "Freezerburn".

Also Sunburn doesn't dislike just anyone, but he fucking hates Vlad.

[0rchidm4ntis]

WIP

[lemonlimekodkod]

[gideonisms]

the relief when you test and it is just a cold. Brings me back to times of my youth in which I could just have a cold without going through a moral crisis and the 5 stages of grief

[s0fter-sin]

09 soapghost au, ghost was a member of soap’s unit before roba and they were together until he was taken. when he comes back and takes up the ghost mantle, simon riley is declared KIA and the hope that soap had let kindle in his heart that he’d come back to him dies. he throws himself into training, into becoming captain so he won’t let down another soldier the way he let simon down

then he recruits ghost to the 141 and ghost sees how much he’s changed, how much harder he is; slow to smile, never relaxing and he realises how much he fucked up by never reaching out. he’d thought he’d be better off without him, without the shell of the man he used to love but he’d done nothing but hurt him

after the close call with shepherd, soap wants to get right back into it, wants to hunt makarov down for almost getting his sergeant and lieutenant killed and ghost is yelling at him to just take it easy and heal first when soap snaps back, “i can’t lose anyone else! not again!” and ghost just rips his balaclava off, showing his face for the first time in years…

and soap says nothing. he just looks at him, completely unreadable. ghost clenches the balaclava in his hand, waiting for anything; even injured, soap can still pack a mean punch and he’s waiting for it, almost hoping for it… but he still does nothing. just stares

“well? c’mon!” he growls, stalking in closer. “let me have it! tell me how pissed you are! that i left you alone! that i ruined you the moment i touched you! that you regret ever fucking looking at me! scream, shout, say something!” until he’s leaning over soap’s chair, chest heaving

soap’s hand lifts and ghost can’t help his flinch before planting himself, ready to be struck, longing for it, to be punished the way he punishes himself-

soap’s hand gently cups his cheek and he freezes, breath catching as his thumb caresses the snake bite scars on his lip; feather-light and reverent. just like he used to

“you’re as beautiful as the day i lost you”