#at least I'll be inspired to do some fan art of what we could have had

[kathaynesart]

What advice would you give to someone who really wants to get into writing/drawing comics, but doesn't know how or where to start? What would you recommend? Even if/ especially if they already have a decent history in writing and drawing

SHORT ANSWER: Don’t do what I’m doing with Replica haha! I’m breaking all my own rules with this comic but maybe we can use it as a good example of what not to do in my rant below…

LONG ANSWER: (below the cut)

Hoo boy… there are so many avenues this question could take. I assume you don’t necessarily mean entering the comic industry as a professional (there are far more experienced people you can ask about that). But simply drawing your own comics? I'll try my best to break down some of the basics I've picked up over the years. Note these are just my opinion and there is always room for other methods...

1. ASK YOURSELF WHAT KIND OF COMIC AM I DOING?

The first thing to consider is what is your intention with this comic? Do you want to tell a story centered around a preexisting fandom or tell a completely new story you came up with? What genre do you want to focus on? I'd recommend finding something that really sparks your interest, because you're going to be working on it for far longer than a regular art piece. Plus if you like it, someone else is bound to like it as well!

2. ASK YOURSELF DOES IT NEED TO BE A COMIC?

This may sound silly... but often times I find people fail to take into consideration whether or not the story they are telling works best with the medium they are considering. Had I done Replica as a fan fiction, I would be much farther along with it... but with comics there comes a wide range of subtle visual cues, parallels, and symbolism I can use that I wouldn't be able to show through writing. The written word also has many strengths that comics lack... it just comes down to what you want to be able to show in your story.

3. KEEP IT SHORT AND SIMPLE

If this is your first time doing a comic, I recommend not overextending yourself with some grand epic that is going to take you forever (like Replica haha.)

Example: Years ago a close friend and I did a webcomic called Perpetual Flux that we were unable to finish. It went for about 2-3 years, was over 110 pages long, and yet we had only managed to get about 3 chapters into what would have probably been a +30 chapter story. We came up with this huge epic we wanted to tell and while it was a story we still wanted to finish, it just became impossible to continue as our lives and availability changed.

So start small! And take that experience you gain into bigger, future projects. Obviously I have not learned my lesson with Replica, but at least with this project it's something I can do on my own time and is supported by a wonderful community who keep me inspired. Speaking of which...

4. FINDING AN AUDIENCE

If it’s a story based off something with an existing fandom then half the work is already done! You just need to start interacting more with people in that fandom, and I mean really interacting. Talk to other artists, join Zines, leave comments, and share other people’s work. It can foster a community and help you be a part of the fandom so that people will be interested in what you have to share.

If it’s a new story you’re going to have to create your own community. Nowadays it’s easier than ever to get your work out there, but the competition for eyes is much steeper. What I find that works is rather than starting the comic cold turkey, draw out some highlights from your future story. Moments that have yet to unfold that might wet a random viewer's appetite for more. Kind of like… a trailer for what’s to come. Keep dropping those little crumbs of interest as you prep your comic to garner some interest and that way when you do start you may already have some followers who might share your work around!

5. CONSISTENCY IS KEY

Get into the habit of drawing and writing regularly. I know it can be a hassle and the last thing you want to do is make it a chore, but like exercising I find that the more I do it, the easier it is and the better I feel about it. Nowadays I feel weird if I'm not at least writing some script or drawing a few sketches towards my comic/projects every day.

Also, if you can make sure to update fairly regularly (something I also fail at with Replica haha, but at least I try to post little things here and there when time allows). It's important to let your followers know that you are still there and you care! It also helps keep you at the front of their minds. My fellow Apocalypse AU creators Cass and Tapakah0 are GREAT at this as they post a ton! It helps garner a strong community and a lot of continuous excitement! I wish I had that same energy and time but you'll have to make do with my old-lady pace of things, bless you all haha.

6. GRAPHIC DESIGN

Obviously as a writer and artist you're used to doing both... but with comics there's another aspect that can come into play. Graphic design! Whether it's your title, your font choices, the word bubbles, or the way you break down the panels, these area all things you should take into consideration. For example, every webcomic has panels, but they can vary tremendously in style. Because of Tumblr and the nature of the scroll method I chose to forgo the typical "comic book style" for more of a... loose storyboard feel where I care more about the angle of the shot within each panel rather than how these separated images link up to one another. Where as with Perpetual Flux, it was laid out on actual comic pages so we had to take serious consideration into how they fit together within each page. IngunnSara is also a great example of this more traditional method of paneling and it's gorgeous and difficult and they have my utmost respect for pulling it off with Hamato Wanderers! So I recommend looking to some of your own favorite comics and see what jives with you.

7. FIND A STYLE THAT WORKS FOR YOU

Also failed this with Replica haha, but to be fair I went right into it with the intent on learning the style as I went. But I recommend having some grasp on the style you want to use and whether or not it's a viable to be drawing over and over again for your comic (for example, if you make it too detailed it will take you far longer to draw!)

8. FORGET ABOUT PERFECTION

Perfection is a lie. There is no place for it in art, especially if you're just doing this for your own pleasure. Don't strive for it. Don't worry about it. Don't compare yourself. Just keep doing what you're doing and keep learning from it. You'll get much farther!

Ok... hopefully that helps a bit. I'm sure there's plenty more to talk about but I feel like I've talked enough for now. Thanks for listening to my TED Talk and lemmed know if you manage to get your comic off the ground :)

[not-goldy]

Thank you for your answer, I get it on some level. I’ve listened to their music for a while now but am new to this whole shipping thing, and it’s a wild ride for sure. Out of interest, which songs do people think are about JM? Apart from their actual song Friends? Why does part of me think that if this is the case maybe Tae needs new inspiration for his work or something. Someone of his own to love. He didn’t write he album though did he? It’s a crazy world out there I guess I didn’t release that a member would fuel the shipping wars, so wow if he does that.

It depends on how delusional one is. Could be a few or all of them if you're deranged 🤷🏾

I like to think of myself as moderately delusional so I stick to the basics.

You can check out his song about writing a letter to the moon which was inspired by a time he was alone in the park with Jimin late into the night

From 4'Oclock.

Other than the setting and moon references, he actually ever did write a letter to Jimin which he cried while reading it to him. He poured out his heart in that letter. Here, read it and cry

And theres one song he complained he wrote with the intention of singing it withJimin but a producer thought putting Jimin on it would be gay due to the lyrics.

Don't want to talk about the others cos it may sound controversial but do have a listen for yourself. And be mindful of the Jimin "symbolisms" or at least I like to call them that.

Whenever he talks about the moon in his songs we make the connection to Jimin- its obvious now due to JMs moon tattoos but there was a time people thought that was reaching.

The moonchild is Jimin. And it's not far fetched cos V is the same person who shared fan art of Jimin with the moon tats that he's currently spotting and all. Meaning he understands the connection between JM and the moon.

This has nothing to do with his songs but he used to complain a lot about a certain member gatekeeping Jimin to himself and not allowing him and Jimin to hang out. So for me when this theme recurrs in his music I feel he's alluding to Jimin cos why not dudes a menace🤣

Let's give Tae some credit. Don't blindly buy into the hateful rhetorics people spew about him.

He exposed the company for dragging their feet before allowing JM to debut. Exposed them for their homophobia towards Jimin. If anyone moves funny with Jimin trust him to expose them one way or the other. I'll actually bet my life on this.

Perhaps you should look into their friendship. V can be chaotic but he's loved Jimin so hard too and when he says he loves Jimin the most I don't think he's lying .

Jimin has a special place in his heart. Perhaps because he says Jimin was the one who showed up and out for him when his granny passed. I think he's going to be eternally grateful to JM for that.

Don't hate on Tae or Judge him based on his quirks. He's not one to fake his feelings so sometimes when he's annoyed with Jimin you can pick up on that energy. It doesn't mean he's evil. He just have bad days too.

Unfortunately the Fandom isn't as forgiving and would tear him apart for the least funny feelings towards Jimin.

They are friends.they are allowed to fight and make up. We shouldn't hold that over their heads when they "fight" argue or have a misunderstanding. Leave them room and space within their friendship to be ghetto with eachother. What matters is the bond they share the growth they experience as friends and how pure they try to be with eachother.

They are a work in progress

[i-have-too-many-obsessions-help]

Alright, since you've sent me some great questions, I'll ask you some too: Who's your favorite OC and how did you come up with them? Do you have any art or writing about them?

My favorite OC? Oh, that is a very hard question.

How about my latest batch of OCs? That has to be my Ghostbusters OCs. So far, I have three.

Annabeth Sullivan. Her design is based off of a background character in the second episode of The Real Ghostbusters. I actually thought she'd come from a long line of witches and is the latest to "unlock" her abilities after generations of dormancy.

Riley Sullivan/Spengler. Annabeth's adopted daughter and Egon's biological grand niece! Still trying to figure out how and why Annabeth adopts her, but so far, it was pure coincidence. Her existence is based off of the fact that a friend told me I looked like I could be related to Egon and, well I had spare time, so I turned that into an actual character.

Morgan. Just Morgan. He doesn't have a last name yet. I guess you could say he's ATC's equivalent of Annabeth. He's into crypids, which was actually one of the things that inspired his designs. I like to think that if we were to compare him to any existing characters, he's similar to Jillian. Fun fact, I actually had the concept of him being able to break the fourth wall! Gotta have one character who's aware of what tropes they may be invoking.

I don't have much art of them on hand that isn't random sketches I did out of boredom and practice. But it can't hurt to at least give a visual reference.

Annabeth, maybe around the events of Afterlife (she's 47 by that point, making her 50 this year!) Here she's missing her freckles.

(terrible) sketches of Riley, including Annabeth in her younger years (Riley's glasses are similar to Jillian's. don't quite understand how to draw them though)

Morgan! his design was actually somewhat based off of Mothman. he isn't a fan of dialogue when he's forced into small panels.

I like to think they'd all get along relatively well should some multidimensional barriers come down, allowing for them to meet each other. I like to call them the wheelies gang due to the designated "wheels," I suppose, that I assigned them each. Annabeth rides a bicycle, later on upgrading to a motorcycle. Riley rollerskates. And Morgan skateboards.

Truthfully, I think this is my favorite batch of OCs. Not to say I don't like my other OCs. They're great too. :]

[delilahdadirtydork]

Sanders Sides Pkm

So...I was bored and was helping a friend with his fakemon dex that he's been working on and off for sometime. And I was allowed to share some entries here since I am not only a PKM fan but a Sander Sides fan too.

No art because I lack drawing skills sorry. but I'll share the entry and then inspiration behind them. Considering these are based on different parts of a human psyche it's actually kind of a neat idea for pokemon to do. (not unlike the Lake spirits on Diamond, Pearl & Platinum)

77. Mechancog, the logical pkm, Psychic/Steel type:

This artificial pokemon is design to be artificial intelligence that is able calculate & process all kinds of information & has a constant desire to learn anything & everything. However because of it’s design it struggles with concepts related to feelings & complications hindering productivity. It also sometimes takes phrases & slang literally. Mechancog also find puzzles exceptionally entertaining.

---

This is one is based on Logan/Logic, a robot inspired by not only the robot from the Pokestars mini games from BW but also Logan's Robot Puppet episode. The cold harsh logic devoid of feelings and the thinking and learning side of mentality for those who don't watch Sander's Sides, These are the different Sides of Tomas Sanders' mind.

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78.Memoresso, the moral pkm, Normal/Fairy type:

Memoresso have the unique power to invoke and bring forth visions of past memories. They are usually cheerful and optimistic pokemon who also understand the concept of right & wrong. However because they have a very strong desire to encourage others they can be very overbearing struggle with the possibility that maybe things aren’t as clean cut as Memoresso would like it to be.

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This one is based on Morality/Patton. Esso is part of the word for feelings. With a focus on the concepts of nostalgia. I would imagine it would look like a frog much like in Selfishness v. Selflessness Redux where we see that sometimes is not as simple as an adult. The fairy type is not only perfect for the cute factor but also the sometimes dangerous in misleading elements that Fairy types are known for.

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79. Romartasy, the creative pkm, Fairy/Fighting type

Romartasy are passionate and brave pokemon. They dream big, create impressive pieces of art & encourage love. However they have been known to be rather full of themselves & sometimes their ideals are less practical than what would be possible. It is also unwise to upset them because they take criticism harshly.

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I could see this as pokemon inspired to looking like a prince with a blend of Smergal the art pokemon and Jigglypuff that Roman likes. This is the positive creativity, the dreamer & lover side. Inspired by a love of Disney princes/princesses & fairytales. However sometimes practicality is also needed.

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80. Dreadthot, the anxious pkm, dark/ghost type

Dreadthots often are considered terrifying presence, often startling others by appearing when they least expected or wanted. Handing them can be exceptionally difficult for some trainers as they tend be concerning, vague, or exaggerated. However those who are able to handle them will find Dreadthots to surprisingly helpful in making sure trainers take the extra steps to be cautious.

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Begone...THOT! Yeah this based on Virgil aka Anxiety (I'm sure many like me know about this one). The stress and fears we have in our lives that make us worry about issues in our day to day life. However fear is also a good thing, it is a our survival instinct, it is what helps us be motivated to ensure we exercise caution like double checking our car locks, willing to take care of our personally grooming so on. Perhaps a storm cloud for the design.

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81. Falserpent, the deceitful pkm, dark/psychic type.

Falserpent are unusual in that they have two heads able to use their psychic powers to fool others into thinking they are a different pokemon or even a human. Even when captured they usually have their own ideals and goals. Only siding their trainer if it benefits them. However they also have the ability to silence things as a form of self preservation. Falserpent has often been used in ancient types as a symbol for terrible evil.

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Based Janus aka the deception side. A darker side like Anxiety, the ones who can silence the others because you don't want to know about yourself. Naturally the snake symbol is used for obvious religious context and it is the symbol Janice has that is a two faced/headed snake. Sometimes we lie to ourselves or think selfishly because we need to in order to take care of ourselves. Helping others is great but you also need to have self care too.

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82. Noxioupus, the intrusive pkm, dark/poison type.

At first glance, Noxioupus can be thought of as gross & disturbing. Their chaotic nature make them difficult to ignore. Often demanding some kind of attention & willing to do whatever it takes to get it. However wise trainers have found one method in dealing with them is to flat out ignore them like a child who refuses to stop screaming, eventually Noxioupus will tire themselves out & trainers can recognizing their behaviors as hollow in meaning & deal with the issues as needed.

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An octopus based on dark creativity, intrusive thoughts, Remus, Roman's brother. Something I know many struggle to deal with, the painful, sometimes truthful and sometimes not so truthful things we all rather not think about. And the only way to deal with it just as the dex entry says. You can't force your dark thoughts to go away & punishing yourself by over thinking it is only going to hurt you. But you can simply accept the thought as just a thought and do your best to not allow it to haunt you.

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83. Pyrath, the rage pkm, dark/fire type.

Pyrath are exceptional dangerous. Because they are blind they are quick to lash out at the nearest target. Whether intended or not. What makes them dangerous is that for some, it is a slow build, allowing problems to fester for a long while before lashing out. Trainers are warned to tread carefully when dealing with one.

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The Orange side, although not named yet as of this post. It is clear that it is based on the concept of Rage. It has been a slow burn and it will come to a boil eventually lashing out. I imagine with a focus on eyes, it will be blind as rage is often is at times.

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84. Drakhex, the dragon witch pkm, dragon/ghost type.

Drakhex were once thought of as just a fairytale, often used to a symbolic of exceptional odds that a true hero must over come. Their natural enemies are Romartasy and will often kidnap young female trainers & pokemon make them servants in their towers. It said that only true love can break the dark magic created by a Drakhex.

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This one is just for fun based on the passing mention of the Dragon Witch as mentioned by Roman, and who wouldn't want one in their team right?

[tetsunabouquet]

House Of Anubis: How The OG Dutch/Belgium show was butchered in its adaptation by Nickelodeon Part 2: Nienke (Nina) & Amber

I was inspired to pick these for part 2 because of @evelhak sharing a post regarding Stella and Bloom's friendship in the original Winx Club cartoon, because the friendships do have some similar building blocks in their respective original shows. So today we will go over Exhibit B, why Nienke and Amber had a superior friendship in the original, why Nina leaving after S1 was bad writing and my problems with how they adapted Amber. 1. I think it might be wise to start with my problems with Amber in the English adapration first. For one, they definitely decreased Amber's bimbo factor in the adaptation because in the OG she was THE lovable bimbo. Amber was more naive and ditzy in the OG, sure she had good intuitions, the occasional creative spark and an implied secret love for at the time niche interests like anime, but she was still a bimbo. And as an anime fan, I take offense in removing her being a closet otaku. You see, in the OG Amber adores this fictional show that very much sounds like an anime- her description of the show contains Japanese names and the show is about a ninja who has a talking fish. It's called Nancy Ninja, and she actually busts out cringy attempts at martial arts that has the same energy as the Naruto run after she asked herself, "What would Nancy Ninja do?" That scene is just iconic, including Appie (Alfie) staring at the sky as a response and questioning God why he created blondes. I'll be going over how their ship was butchered in part 3 where I will be adressing Jeroen (Jerome) and Appie (Alfie). 2. This is part of why Amber and Nienke in the OG share some similarities with Stella and Bloom. Amber, like Stella, is both a bimbo and an 'It' girl. Unlike Amber in the English adaptation, OG Amber also never left the show and remained part of the Sibuna gang until graduation where she ended up becoming a model. Nienke on the other hand, is still an attractive girl even though she looks more like a wallflower in comparison to Amber and as the new one arriving so shortly after Joyce's disappearance she has targets on her back immediately. Yet Amber is one of the first to let go of her suspisions and actually becomes the person to support Nienke coming out of her shell like when she develops feelings for Fabian- Amber is the one Nienke can rely on for advice and throughout the series Nienke does become less shy and insecure thanks to the confidence she gains as the Sibuna leader and the emotional support she receives along the way. These characters could have easily been enemies, like the shy underdog taking up against the popular pretty bitch- but no. Amber and Nienke become best friends pretty quickly. Like Stella, Amber is also fiercely loyal and a bit protective which is why she was inititally angry when Nienke was her new roommate without an explanation what happened to Joyce. Amber is one of the likeliest characters to cut a bitch if something happened to her friends, right behind Patricia. 3. As you can see, Amber and Nienke never left the show- together with Fabian they are actually the most reappearing characters. In the OG, Appie (Alfie) actually was played by a different actor at first but he dropped out to go to acting school. He was replaced with another actor and they explained it away through a magical curse that literally altered his identity. Which is why Nina leaving the show after S1 is complete bullshit. The OG literally had a gimmick which they could have used for at least Nina's character considering she is the show's protagonist. The fact Nina is an orphan just like in the OG, actually means she has an easier time in certain ways if her identity was changed as Appie still had a family. Appie being physically a stranger to his loved ones is a small storyline he goes through. Nina's barely would have needed a small storyline like that as she only would have needed to prove herself to the Sibuna gang. This is why Nina leaving the show is nothing more but bad writing, because why remove your protagonist without a reason?

(I'm reliving my sapphic freak outs over Nienke yet again) Please watch the OG! This fanwebsite contains links to Google Drive documents of fan-subbed episodes. And here is also a video about Nienke and Fabian's ship because seriously-its difficult to explain how this ship was revered by so many back in the day.

[dashielldeveron]

Hi Dash! I hope you're doing well. I'm writing this ask literally 1 hour before I need to leave for one of my sem finals (which I'll be fine at hopefully, since I studied). But while I was anxiously awaiting purgatory, I read one of my favourite of your works again - Monoma's route in Soulmate Trope. Istg I am not exaggerating, no writing has made me laugh harder than that single scene where he just... wordlessly pulled down his pants. I laughed so hard that my roommate had to come check on me. And the word "cum gutter" had dealt irreversible psychic damage to my brain. Sometimes while doing some mundane stuff, I think back about that scene, or countless other scenes from the book and had to remind myself I'm in public. I've only watched MHA up till season 3 and a bit into 4 but I was kinda already spoiled about the ending, so I'm so in love with the world you build there. I've always kinda wanted to try writing my own work because I sometimes have a budding idea that had me go, 'oh I think that'd make an interesting story', but then I realised I suck at writing. Writing just 1000 words took me an hour or more, I don't know how you wrote 60k words for 1 chapter!! That's absolutely insane. Also also, because your writing is so hilarious, when you get emotional, it hits so hard. "and i've gotta crow" is absolutely one of my all time favourite fan work, though idk what the title means. My writing, just after the first few paragraphs, feels like sandpaper to read. But your work really inspired me to want to at least try, even if I don't post anything. Especially after my finals, I'm going to try shitting this one idea out of my head in the summer (oh I'm in Australia so my summer is almost here). So yeah thank you for making me laughed so hard and also fingerbanged my heart. If you have nothing better to do, would you mind sharing your general writing process with me? As in, is there a forbidden jutsu move that amazing authors use when writing? For me, I feel like I'm typing and deleting and retyping until it forms a coherent sentence, but after putting them together it's dryer than my chicken breast that I forgot for 30 minutes in the oven. If not it's okay too, I hope you have a wonderful day!

yes.......YES.........let the monoma adoration flow through you!!!! we need more people in our monoma coterie!!! it's now you, me, 📌 anon, and like, two other anons i believe???? we are officially a Club, i say!!!

writing discussion/advice/process under the cut

okay, who told you you suck at writing? and why do they think so??? odds are you don't. odds are, you're overthinking your own work too much. when i look at stuff i've written, i see the writing process in every sentence, and odds are, you might, too. seeing the process takes away parts of being able to immerse yourself in the writing. so, your stuff probably isn't bad; it's just that you know all about how it was made!!!

writing takes me a long time! mostly bc i have academic/work writing to do all the time, so writing fic as my breaks from work isn't always efficient and fun. and i'm pretty sure some people may get frustrated with me for taking so long to update, but that's just how my life is rn. it's ultimately perfectly fine if you take a long time, though, because this is a hobby. we're not getting paid for this. we're providing art for free.

anyway......my process.....hmm. well. step one is to be haunted by visions.

step one is actually to think about that first idea you have to spark the fic. doesn't matter if it's in the middle or end, or anything. and you want to consider what kind of people would get in this situation (helps define what kind of character reader will be) and what could possibly lead up to it. it's okay if it seems like a bunch of disjointed ideas at first.

i am a big outliner, but i always allow seredipity during the writing process. as in, if something starts happening that's cool that i didn't plan, i'm cool with it, so long as it makes sense for the characters.

so, if i start a fic, i will start with an outline that's just a list of things i want to happen in the fic. sometimes it's specific events, and sometimes, it's something like "and they get romantically closer here through some tragic accident." put those events in an order that makes sense for the emotional progression of your characters.

i also keep running lists of hot lines of dialogue that i come up with, sexy outfits to put people in, sexy gestures, domestic things that would ruin me, or other fic-specific lists--like for tenko's soulmate route, i kept a running list of weird facts that reader could bring up. not many ended up going in the fic, but still.

like, this is a screenshot of a working outline/list from aizawa's route:

not all of this happened!! and more scenes got way fleshed out!!! i plan for Large Events and Emotional Resonance, but i am open to strange directions that just happen while writing the scene itself, so long as i get to where i need to go eventually. like.....the only one bed stuff on the undercover mission never happened, because suddenly, the club scene got super detailed, and aizawa would probably be too exhausted to spend the proper time having the argument, let alone sex, with reader that night.

but basically, i always want to know where i'll end up, even if i don't know how i'm going to get there. because the process of the characters getting there is where fun, detailed, character work happens. bc if your characters are distinct enough, they'll drive the story more than whatever plot you have.

i'm not every writer ever (obviously), so i know that more thorough outlining or not planning at all works better for other people!!! maybe try experimenting with completely planning and completely pantsing some shorter stories to see what works better for you.

i don't have a daily routine for writing bc i am Busy All the Time, but i carry a notebook in my purse if i am struck with visions, and when i type on my computer, i usually turn on an ambient mix from ambient.mix.com to block out other stuff. usually, i can find an ambience to fit the mood of the scene i'm writing, too lol, which doesn't necessary help but makes things more fun.

i honestly think i spend more time daydreaming about the story than writing it?? i am a big advocate for daydreaming. it's important that you spend time thinking about everything that could go wrong, bc it often makes for a better story if it's fucked up, somehow. idk it may also be bc of work that i'm away from a computer so often. i like writing in the notebook by hand bc it's less pressure to make it "good," and so i can edit as i type it in a word doc later.

and editing is, of course a huge part of the writing process!!! i would say it'd be weirder to write a sentence just right the first time, as opposed to deleting and rephrasing repeatedly! you're doing just fine!

but i wouldn't say there's any secret besides doing it a lot!!!! i know i'm not a great writer, but i know i'm okay, and that's the result of working and practising it for about two decades now. i just have practise, read a lot, and spend a lot of time, academically, discussing written stories.

so!!! if you're feeling like your stuff isn't as good as you want it to be, you just need to start allowing yourself to suck!!! nothing is perfect the first time!!! and eventually, you can edit your sucky stuff into stuff that's compelling.

good luck with your semi finals and finals!!! and thaaaaaank you for 1) valuing my advice as an artist (gosh!!!!!) and for 2) saying such nice things about the silly little stories i write!!!! it means a lot to me!!! you're so kind!!!!! i hope any of this helped at all!!!! and i hope your day is peaceful!!!! xx.

[newfrontierbackstage]

1,000 views Milestone and more

Hello everyone. Today I have come to talk about the most important milestone the fic has ever reached. A little bit ago, New Frontier reached 1k views on Ao3 and it honestly made me so proud, happy and satisfied with seeing such a number, even after months of hiatus and inactivity. The support that this fic has received is... honestly something I never expected.

If I may go off character for a bit, I want to tell you guys a few guys. I created this fic just for myself, for my own sake and to show the fandom some cool stuff, some action and my type of writing that I tend to like and go for. The first version was very much a showcase of inexperience and lack of understanding for a lot of things when it came to writing, but it was still the most fun I had writing the fic.

Then I went to reread what I had created and written... I started to see the cracks, to see that what I had put on the paper just wasn't as amazing as I first thought it was. So with that in mind, I decided to start going back and rewrite previous chapters, as it felt necessary and I felt it could elevate the story to higher levels and although that was pretty fun at first, it started to drain me pretty bad in the lenghtier chapters. It started to feel like a job.

The chapters have absolutely improved and I feel the fic's direction is in a much better spot, but I had to fight myself to get the motivation to keep going. Being honest, I was very much considering the possibility of dropping the fic on its entirety. as it truly felt that draining and boring to write. I wasn't doing new stuff, I was just rewriting older stuff and noticing my many mistakes!

My friends like CharmmyColour and LonelyLittleShips adviced me to write other parts of the story that were more exciting or thrilling. I honestly didn't think that was going to work out and I still tried to write through Chapter's 5 and 6 with a pessimistic and saddened state of mind.

That was until GoldenTulipLynx (my current cowriter) came into my life a year ago. We started to discuss more of the fic and he actively encouraged me more and more to write a few months ago. He told me to do so at least once a week to get some progress done and I did. It wasn't a perfect process, but it definitely led me to write more. Then he suggested me to write something exciting and for the first time, I actually listened to that advice and...

It worked. It gave me my inspiration back somewhat and it made me want to get writing more and more. If it wasn't for his inspiration and also the encouragement from my other friends, I may have cancelled the fic as a whole, so for that I'm truly grateful to them.

What I'm also grateful for is have fans and followers that have been patient, loyal and comprehensive towards the fic's state and progress. This took so long because I wanted to give you guys something worthy of that much of a wait and also have fun while doing so.

I really wanted this message to be special, as I felt the ocassion was the perfect time to do so. Truly, thank you guys. Thank you for still being here and I hope you look forward to what else I have cooking up.

And because I knew this was such a special ocassion/milestone, I also wanted to give you guys something exceptional, so with that in mind... I commissioned some art for New Frontier as a treat for you guys, one that displays Cavendish with his rifle in a wonderful forest, one that's going to be the usual hangout spot for him and Dakota.

This is my gift to you, everyone. Hope you have a good day/afternoon/evening/night and I'll see y'all down the trail!

With love: hypersonicJD

Edit: I have removed the background of this piece as I have found out it was been AI generated. I do not condone anything AI generated and thus, the commissioner's credits have been removed as well and I would like everyone to reblog this new version of this post.

[rottenpumpkin13]

If Sephiroth is so stone-faced and frankly unrelatable in public, where does his huge fan following come from? Is it JUST because he’s hot or does he have some kind of charisma that balances out the stoicism?

Bear with me I started rambling 😞

Sephiroth's been bred to be Gaia's version of a superhero and the poster boy of SOLDIER since he was a child. Not to mention he's definitely surpassed conventionally attractiveness and is downright sinful to look at. There's definitely an element of lookism that plays a part in how people perceive him too. Attractive = judged in a positive light.

I could go on and on about this but I'll try to wrap it up and answer your question. I like to think that his in-world fan following mirrors his IRL one. Why do so many fangirls/boys like Sephiroth? And I don't mean liking him as an antagonist/ how he influences the plot, I mean why do they see him in a positive light? (Like how I portray him on my blog) It's because we built off of what we saw in CC with sane!Sephiroth. We give depth to the little we were given and mold an entire relatable, loveable persona around that character.

The in-game fandom probably does this as well. They even have a fanclub they join to be a part of a community that is focused on idolizing Sephiroth. And you know how fandoms work. We create theories, we humanize people/characters, we write fanfiction, etc etc etc.

He may appear stoic and unapproachable in public, but the fandom will always see what they want. They're going to see a celebrity crush, they're going to see an object of envy, an unattainable idol, a source of inspiration (like how Cloud was inspired by Sephiroth to join the army in hopes of becoming a SOLDIER), they're going to see the version of Sephiroth that they want. I think that's at least a part of why Sephiroth has a huge fan base. For all we know, he could've mastered the art of fake charisma and charmed people lol. I don't doubt ShinRa would've instructed him to do that.

[ferry-man-sam]

Hi ferrymansam, my name is Mal, I have been a VERY HUGE fan of your work.. I've commented on What Lies at the Bottom on AO3 under the username aesopcarle and when I said nothing will ever top your fanfiction, I MEAN IT.. You replied to me and I haven't responded to your reply since even tho i really wanted to especially considering the fact I did not keep my promise to compliment your work for a day more T_T but i want you to know that i enjoy it so much!!

I go to an art school and in July we need to create some kind of project to put in our portfolio. I dealt with a lot of uncertainty, and lately I've not had sufficient inspiration to create something I'm really passionate about. But I am very, very passionate about What Lies at the Bottom..

I've written about you a couple of times, be it in my diary, or wherever. I've CRIED about you at least two times. I've met other people who have read your story on Asia server eng 1. I'm going to go to the love lock bridge and put me and chapter nine's names on a padlock.

I'm a tremendously big fan, and if I could please have your permission to make a fangame or fan animation out of your work I would be so grateful!! Most of the credits will of course go to you, and if I get any profit out of it, I'll do my best to transfer what I can, but I'm afraid of the difference in out countries (I'm Indonesian)

Thank you so much for your time and consideration and I look forward to making this come true 🙏

I’m almost at a loss for words for how insanely happy this message made me. I never thought I’d create something that someone enjoyed so intensely and thoroughly, which has always been a dream of mine that I didn’t think I had a chance of coming true until I reached a wider audience.

The fact that I’ve reached this with my silly little fanfiction has honestly astonished me, and I cannot impress upon you enough that this story wouldn’t have been complete without your enthusiasm and support. You have my full permission to create any kind of fan work you’d like, and please send it to me if you do! It might literally make me cry /pos

I feel like no words will truly ever be enough to thank you. This is one of the sweetest things someone has said about something I’ve created, and I’ll probably come back to this message if I ever have writer’s block it makes me so happy. I have trouble completing things, and this fic was a rare instance that I felt compelled to do so, and I’m so very glad I did. I wish nothing but love for you, and I am so glad to have created something you loved so much!!

In tears, In the most positive way, thank you.

[calpalsworld]

So the behind the scenes for Pizza Tower is literally the worst. The creator is literally the worst. If i was in the same room as someone like this I would probably become a killer. Other fans have already said their opinions, basically "I get why people like the game but I can't engage with it anymore" etc. That's pretty much how I'm feeling. I feel disgusted and betrayed and it hurts to remember something I like about the game, and then remember it was made by these dangerous people. Maybe at some point if I do get the urge to draw the characters again, maybe I'll put a huge DNI banner that says "fuck bigots die mcpig" or something. But I need a bit to think about if thats a good decision or not... I feel like its not... On one hand I want to say "I'm gonna take the good parts of this game and make it what the creator hates" but I also have no clue if thats a good idea, and I need a while to think about it.

One BIG THING I'm asking of everyone, and I may make another post asking this question later, is does anyone know any Pizza Tower alternatives??? Any media that is cartoony and simple and crazy and well animated? I really wish I could find something that had the things I liked in Pizza Tower. Please comment or send me an ask if you have any suggestions.

Anyway heres some PERSONAL thoughts that are NOT as important:

I feel disappointed in myself for noticing problematic character designs from the start and convincing myself that maybe the bigotry was unintentional, that it was just a negative side effect of being inspired by other (bigoted) things. It was obviously not. I should've known it was intentional.

A lot of people have been saying "Pizza Tower being problematic was obvious due to the art style," which is partially true, but at the same time that makes me really sad. My first exposure to the game was my friend saying "this looks like something you would make!" And I've been fucking obsessed with the art style ever since. For those who don't know, I used to be an exclusively "shitpost" artist, which I REALLY enjoyed, and art college has made me more and more corporate. So sadly.... Pizza Tower made me feel connected to how I used to draw and create art. I was really happy to see such a creative and unconventional art style that is like my own thriving with popularity, and I liked to imagine that maybe the creator was similar to me (he is not). Lately I've started saying "I'm not gonna make sanitized art anymore I'm gonna only make crazy stuff" and yeah that was literally because of... Pizza Tower.... which has been revealed to be made by the worst people ever.... (so yeah lmk if you guys have any recommended alternatives).

Last thing is I think it has been cool how Peppino has become an iconic ass trans-headcanoned character for a lot of tumblr. So I guess thats the reason why I most likely won't judge anyone for drawing Pizza Tower. We got something awesome going that was our own thing. But you have to remember McPig is also a racist, and trans headcanons don't do anything to fight against that.

I just hope the people who will continue to draw art to spite McPig's intentions openly acknowledge how fucked up the game's creation is, and don't promote the game. If you continue being a Pizza Tower fan please at least be self-aware and adamantly against the creator. Like post a link to pirate the game along with every time you post art of it or something to counteract your inherent promotion of the game, idk. Don't let bigots get away with being popular. That is dangerous.

TLDR:;

No more Pizza Tower for me, at least for a while, if I do ever post something Pizza Tower-related again it will be staunchly anti-Pizza Tower. Someday, I hope to create something like fun and silly like Pizza Tower, but antifascist. Also, new hyperfixation recommendations that are similar to Pizza Tower strongly encouraged, thank you!

[ultraericthered]

When some fool interjects onto one of my posts (responding to someone else) about Disney's Wish discourse:

Okay. Just for clarification. I am an English major and I am only a semester away from having an associates. Breaking down movies and books is a hobby and a past time. So here are my thoughts.

Oh, so immediately this "clarification" doesn't sound very humble.

Without a doubt whether or not you consider this to be good or bad is opinion. It's debatable. I personally fall on the side of not liking it. I see why people can like it and I'm not gonna dox people for liking it. It's definitely one of those movies where you could "theoretically" like and enjoy despite it's multitude of flaws.

Wow, this is a mature, civil, level-headed and reasonable tone to take, and for a rational statement! You almost never see that on social media! I'll give this good sir or miss props for that. Will it last?

The plot was overall basic and uninspired.

Unfortunately yes, it absolutely was. Not one of the film's stronger qualities, I'm afraid, and with such a solid, captivating premise too!

What I mean by this is this... The plot was a carbon copy of other ideas and thoughts previously done from their other works. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, for this movie it brings it down BECAUSE it relies too heavily on them.

✓Sweet dreamy eye protagonist who is so sweet that everybody loves her

✓ talking animal side kick who provides comedic relief

✓wishing on a star

✓ female leading crying on an inanimate object because something didn't go her way

✓evil villain

✓magic saving the day

Nice checklist. Again, nothing too disagreeable so far....

These are all not necessarily bad. In fact these are good ideas to have. We have seen them before. AND THAT'S THE PROBLEM

Oh no. Is this Doug Walker argument really rearing its ugly head? A work of art or entertainment is allowed to derive from earlier made works of art or entertainment as sources of inspiration and creative intake but are not permitted to straight up repeat ideas, scenarios, plot beats and character archetypes "we have all seen before" in other works, at least not without "adding anything new of its own"?

Call me crazy, but I think Disney was heavily considering not only children born in the late 2010s, but also the current 2020s-born generation when putting this picture together. A bunch of youngsters who might've not once seen anything like what's featured in this movie before in their early years, which would make this their first big exposure to Disney animated fairy tales just as the animated fairy tales of old were the first exposure to children of those films' eras. Because every time a type of story is retold and ideas are recycled into that story could be someone's first time. That is a fact of life.

I understand that uniquemess and originality are hard to come by nowadays. I'm a writer and original ideas are the hardest to find. What you have to do is take those old ideas and make them new. What Disney did was not make these old tired tropes their own, they rehashed them and expected us to go, "Oh! That's just like this movie!"

It makes the movie lose its own voice. This movie is too wrapped up in references and tropes they've used before to try and capture nostalgia, that wonder they used to have. What made those movies so special was the heart and care that went into them. This is Disney's 100 anniversary, but instead it feels like Disney's catch 100 references to when we were a better and a more creative studio.

This would be speaking to the side of the movie that was NOT geared towards the kids, however. The side of the movie that, because it's a celebratory centennial milestone event, caters to longtime hardcore Disney fans who will immediately get all the references, recognize the homages and callbacks, spot all the little Easter Eggs thrown all over the film. I've said before that I do not believe Disney should've put so much attention and effort into this side of the movie compared to the original story, especially when they made Once Upon A Studio to better serve the centennial celeberation purposes, and that they did so was a huge mistake, being easily the movie's biggest handicap.

Why is this bad? Well don't I have the answer for you!

Alrighty then, thanks again for the honesty!

They HAD a beautiful story!! The idea and premise for this movie is probably my favorite thing but the execution from a professional and eye is awful! You cannot look at this movie and tell me that it is the Mona Lisa when it is nothing but a carbon Copy of what once was.

No disagreement there. I pray this fellow's not seen the concept art and all the information floating around about what we might've had.

It was done in a manner that was so half hearted and so clearly a cash grab they practically insult themselves. The plot was predictable and falls flat.

I love how the second sentence reads like a non sequitur to the first. I've heard the "half-hearted, cynical and desperate cash grab" accusations and I don't quite think they're accurate. I think this was a production that began with a lot of heart and care put into what everyone was designing and realizing in order to make a worthy new original Disney fairy tale for the 100th year mark, but ended with micro-managing corporate stooges "doctoring" the scripting, the scoring, the pacing (via editing), and the overall presentation of the work to turn out something safe and crowd-pleasing that hits off as much Disney quota as possible. Again, for the 100th year mark. And so what we ended up with was what I've called a "beautiful mess."

The villain was interesting at first! He was giving me a similar two sidedness as Frollo and then the back track his character by throwing in an evil maguffin to make him evil because it is clear to anyone who knows basic plot structure that it was rushed and they didn't know what else to do to progress the story. WE COULD HAVE HAD ANOTHER FROLLO WITH HIM, BUT WE GOT A HALF HEARTED GASTON!

This is starting to ramble, but I'll try to make sense of it. For one thing, I do not think Magnifico was ever at any point of the film's development set to be like "another Frollo". His core influences clearly come from Queen Grimhilde, Maleficent, Gaston, and Jafar. And the evil maguffin was not "thrown in to make him evil" - the tome of forbidden dark magic was set up as a Chekov's Gun earlier in the picture because it was what would be A: what would make Magnifico such a formidable threat to everyone, and B: what would serve as the catalyst for Magnifico to break his bonds of well-meaning rationale and discard the mask of mental and moral soundness. The prompt for him to turn to it was very rushed, yes, and his backstory and motivations behind his possessiveness, paranoia, and iron-fisted tendencies needed to be better set up and conveyed prior to this turn. I will not dispute that. But Magnifico, both in his own character arc and in how his spiral into villainy progresses the story, is so much more than "half hearted Gaston", and it really ain't nothing to do with "knowing basic plot structure" or whatever pretentious rhetoric is being used as criticism here.

Speaking of Gaston: You mentioned that The king being shoehorned in as a villain was like saying Gaston was shoehorned. I have an explanation for this. The reason why...

Yeah? What's the reason why?

Now I hope I don't loose you here. This will get a little difficult...

WHAT'S THE REASON WHY? GET ON WITH IT!

In order to PROPERLY set up a character, this goes for Asha too (more on her later), you have to set up their character and what they are about in the first 5-10 minutes they are on screen. In the movie what we are told is that the king is noble and loves his people. There was no shadow of a doubt if this. And then as the movie progresses, specifically at the 30 minute mark it is revealed that oh hoho he is a narcissist and is obsessed with himself. The way they did this was out of the blue and off putting. It came out of nowhere. There was no build up. It was a sweet song about the wishes and then BAM I'm a narcissist who cares about no one but myself. That 180 came so fast they did not even prep themselves for it. It felt like this was a last minute idea.

Well, King Magnifico was noble in regards to his ideology and his aspiration to see his kingdom continue to prosper while also being the one to safeguard the most precious wishes of the hearts of his subjects. And he loved his people...so long as they loved him, gave him constant appraisal and attention and undying devotion, and remained the good little dreamless drones he wanted them to be. Noble intentions can give way to indulgence in one's darker qualities and impulses if "the ends will justify the means" is subscribed to, and not all love is unconditional love. I have heard the complaints that Magnifico's unveiling plays out like a Twist Villain and that he was likely not intended to be really evil but they changed him last minute to pander to the "bring back traditional Disney Villains!" fan crowd. And I personally find it bollocks when the simpler answer is that King Magnifico is a corrupt, narcissistic manipulator with a God Complex whose benevolence is illusionary and whose wish-keeping system is an oppressive, dishonest, self-benefitting sham. Was the execution of the idea notably off in terms of the pace it moved at? Absolutely. This does not make Magnifico any lesser a villain, at least not to me.

Don't get me wrong, I love Asha.

This is a lie. There doesn't seem to be any "love" for anything in this movie coming from you.

She is sweet and funny, but she is poorly written.

Not only have I not argued that, I have actually stated as much!

We are not shown why she is sweet or why she is caring. We are told.

So we're just told that she's sweet rather than seeing her being so get shown, yet you like her for being sweet and funny? Which is it?

With her fatal flaw, caring too much, she is told this is her fatal flaw. The movie doesn't trust us enough for us to figure out her fatal flaw. And it doesn't even really show us that she cares too much to begin with.

Uh, yes it does. Her interactions with her mother and how far she's willing to go for her grandfather Sabino and how quickly she gets to being protective and cherishing of Star show us this. Like, if Sabino really is 100 years old and gave Magnifico his wish when he came of age years ago, that is years and years and years of life that Asha was not around to witness, as she hadn't been born yet. So you'd forgive her if she didn't invest all that much in getting Sabino's wish granted at last because she doesn't know her grandfather all that well as the gap between how long he's been alive and how long she's been alive is so huge, yet her heart cares so much about him and the idea of his wish being granted to him before he passes away that it becomes a fixation to her. She'd been spared lots of trouble and heartache had she cared less.

There are so many unexplained why's, to her it makes my head spin. Why does she care? Why does she want to be an Apprentice?

She wants to be an Apprentice so that she can be close to the king and the wishes he keeps, learn the inner workings of the system, and ensure that the king grants wishes to those she feels ought to have their hearts desires granted and their dreams realized. And this brings us to another flaw of hers that I wish the movie itself took time to notice and actually address as being such - well meaning or not, Asha was hoping that being in Magnifico's favor would get Magnifico to allow her to push for nepotism in regards to Sabino. It ended up backfiring and unveiling the king's darker nature, but it also unvelied something about Asha that the movie then sadly paid no mind to.

Why is she sweet? Why is she the way she is? Is it cause she is naturally that way like snow white? Was she raised to be that way? Or did she have a rough upbringing that made her this way? We don't know. That's the bottom line.

This movie has so many analytical flaws that I physically do not have the time nor the words to accurately explain to you why this movie is technically bad. But I doubt you care to even consider my points and come up with a half baked response.

Aaaand there's the condescending attitude you were holding back! Aaah, color me so disappointed! The "I cannot accurately convey in words how technically bad this movie is" is a cop-out, but one I'll let slide as it gets you off my back. But that other part? I DID consider your points and have in fact agreed with a few of them, and even ones I disagreed with I can see why you'd think that way about those matters. Yet you pre-emptively say "half baked response?" Sheesh!

I bid you a due. I'm gonna go watch an actually good movie.

"An actually good movie". There's another tacky, needless potshot.

Also, you fool. You absolute buffoon. It's "adieu", not "a due!"

[game-boy-pocket]

So... Nintendo Direct thoughts I guess.

I joined a little late, so honestly, I just fast forwarded through all the games I didn't care about. Kinda the way to go tbh.

I still don't know about pokemon man. Everyone is saying "Yeah it's poorly made but it's one of their better games in a long time" but like I don't know how much I trust a pokemon fan's opinion on that that... you know I preordered Violet, after Legends Arceus left a good impression on me. But I cancelled it after some financial harships started happening and now I feel like I dodged a bullet.

Sonic Super Stars is looking pretty good, I really... really wish Fang was playable... I know he's a bad guy but I love him so much and have always wanted him to be playable... I'm just glad he's back at all, and his 3D model looks decent.

That "Saturday Morning Cartoon" inspired game intrigues me but like they shouldn't have had the boring Nintendo Direct narrator talking over the trailer and let the game speak for itself, show it's personality a little... does it have cheesy filmation style dialogue?? Also their villain looks kind of lame compared to like, Skeletor or Prime Evil.

Still not sure about Splatoon 3. It just looks like more of the same to me, I am kind of curious, but at the same time, it feels too late to start now... then again, if the game really is as samey as it looks, I could probably just coast on what I know from Splatoon 1 and 2.

I have no interest in Detective Pikachu as a franchise and the fact that his personality just seems to be "I love coffee" does not endear me to the character.

Super Mario RPG

Holy Fucking Shit

I didn't think the maniacs would do it.

When I heard the rumors I was like "Yeah right... this does not fit in line with the current corporate image of Mario, they're not gonna do it, and if they do, they'll butcher the art style"

I was so fucking wrong, it looks amazing. They even made Mario all squat and pudgy like the original game, I love it so much, and it looks like there are new cinematics... possibly even entirely new sections of the game what with Bowser riding his Clown car with the others.... that or they're new special attacks. I can't fucking wait you guys it looks so fucking good, I hope they consider making it a franchise again. I still have the original game but I am going to buy this day one.

We even saw Boshi briefly, and the spines still have their weird shapes. I have no reason to believe they'll change Terrapins into standard looking Koopa Troopas now. Literally all my fears are gone.

Don't know what to think about the Peach game. I make it no secret, I'm kind of over the whole arts and crafts aesthetic in games and a game that's just a stage play seems no different. I'm not even sure what kind of game it is. I just would have wanted another platformer. I guess I have to see more.

Luigi's Mansion 2 coming to Switch is a pleasant surprise. I wonder if we're going to enter an age of 3DS ports, because I can think of several 3DS games I want to see on Switch. Kid Icarus and A Link Between Worlds chief among them Luigi's Mansion 2 is my least favorite in the series, but it's still a good time. It not being on handheld makes me more likely to replay it. I do think they could have enhanced the visuals a little more though.

Too little too late with Batman. I already bought it on PC. I would have bought the Arkham Trilogy day one if it launched earlier in the Switch's life. But i'm glad the option is there for people.

I'll be honest I thought Dragon Quest Monsters looked pretty "meh", and I don't know if it's just a bad trailer or what, but the fact that the Solo, the Hero from DQIV shows up, immediately got my interest, he hs my fave hero design, and I was happy he was a skin in Smash Bros... still, man, this looks like a 3DS game... How can they be releasing this after Dragon Quest XI?? Also, is the playable character the bad guy from DQIV? I played the NES version so I didn't really see his human form.

Not much to say about Pikmin. It looks like Pikmin. Which is a good thing. But I don't know how eager I am to play it. Not a day one purchase, but an eventual purchase.

I am tempted by the Metal Gear Solid collection but it has so much extra shit that I don't really need which probably jacks up the price and I think I might prefer playing MGS1 on a CRT anyway. But man it's jsut been so long since I played Metal Gear that I don't even care I just want a way to play it. I'm just glad it's not a fucking Cloud game.

Penny's Big Breakaway had my attention just from the character designs, it screams Playstation 1 platformer. Like Mega Man Legends or Tail Concerto or something. And it's a 3D platformer... but when I heard the Sonic Mania team is working on this, i'm all in. I just wish the enemies weren't just a bunch of dopey looking birds, I want a least some kind of cool factor in the game. But yes I will be keeping my eye on this one.

Mario Kart 8 DLC looking okay. I expected Petey. He's cool I guess but i'm not gonna play as him. I'll be happy to see him on the track though. He was kind of a big part of Mario History in the Gamecube and Wii era.... Wiggler though? Meh... and KAMEK. He should have been in the base game imo, he should be a mainstay in every spinoff, he should have been introduced with the Yoshi's Island course... I'm very happy to have Kamek here. The course looks interesting too. Glad it appears to be another new course.

The new Wario Ware....... looks like Smooth Moves 2. Was the boring Nintendo Direct Narrator doing a Wario voice or did Wario get a new voice actor?? Anyway. I'll keep an eye on this. Smooth Moves was my 2nd Fave Wario Ware game, so this shows potential.

I was pretty bummed out when they mentioned Tears of the Knigdom, and it was only to announce some Amiibos... I still can't even find the Link Amiibo. They look nice though. It will be nice to have a Ganondorf Amiibo that doesn't look like shit. ( No offense to TP Ganondorf fans, but you gotta admit, the first wave f Smash Bros Amiibos is kind of rough ) ...I hope this isn't a deconfirmation of DLC. I really want more of this game, now that the main story is done and my list of side quests is rapidly shrinking, I'm getting sad about the inevitable end of one of my fave Zeldas.

And the big one

Super Mario Wonder

I'll admit I was disappointed that it was doing 3D again instead of a hand drawn style...

But the characters look so good now. They actually look more like 3D models of Koichi Kotabe's artwork. Mario and co are so expressive, their stances are not nearly as boring as the New Super Mario Bros games, their animations are so good, calling back to Mario 3 and Mario World with the blurry feet and airplane run, Mario actually HAS facial expressions now... and holy shit is fucking DAISY playable? Without sacrificing Toad? This is pretty huge! The enemies are looking really cool and stylized too, they all seem to have gotten model upgrades!

I will say... this is reminding me a little bit of Kirby Return to Dreamland, which... is worrying to me. That "wonder Flower" reeks of a Kirby gimmick, and I honestly find that Kirby's gimmicks lately just kind of slow the flow of the game, and often times just feel like all flash and no substance. "ooh I destroyed a hole room of enemies with a really big sword that I was forced to pick up" like I don't actually feel like I accomplished anything with that... I hope I'm wrong.

Also, I heard the rumor that there would be elephants... I don't like elephants. I thought I'd hate Elephant Mario... but you know what, he makes me smile.

I am so excited for this game.

This was definitely one of the better Nintendo Directs in a while, it won't top the back to back Banjo in Smash and Tears of the Kingdom reveal for me, but i'm pretty happy with what's on the horizon.

[abuddyforeveryseason]

This is the Buddy for January 23rd. XXXtreme! It's clearly inspired by the art of Rob Liefeld.

I'll be honest, I'm too young to know Liefeld as anything other than a punchline. When I was a kid, I'd sometimes see Liefeld comics in stores and ads for his stuff, and all I could think was I didn't understand the story because I hadn't read it from the start. Having read them from the start now, I can safely say I still don't understand them.

Around the time I was in high school, I started getting into comics culture, and Liefeld quickly became a punching bag for bloggers, reviewers and critics. To make matters worse, stories popped up about him having an unpleasant personality, lazy, sketchy, dishonest...

He still had some defenders, though. I know Robert Kirkman was a fan. They even started a six-issue project about a time-traveling hero. Didn't end well.

The big problem with Rob Liefeld's art, though, and I say that at the risk of sounding like an old jewish lady, isn't just that it's bad, but that there's so little of it. Seriously, you can read his entire output in less than a day. Which is why the stories are so confusing. He's so lazy, he abandons books mid-way, forgets about them, starts other stuff, abandons it too... even when someone else is helping him out, like Robert Kirkman, he burns bridges by refusing to do the work.

It's clear that he's a lazy artist, but it feels to me like the biggest issue is there aren't any real Rob Liefeld stories with a beginning, middle and end. People make fun of his cliches (extreme violence, guns, pouches, badass characters, terrible costumes and hair...) but I think the biggest issue is the stories don't go anywhere. That's what separates Liefeld's comics from the goofy nostalgia we have in regards to other stuff.

At least in my opinion

[soronya]

4, 7, 11, 20, 22, 36, 40, 56, 76- for Coco 1/2

For the ask game. I know it's a lot. If you don't want to answer a question that is fine ♥️

Finally answering this! Thank you, Toni, for the ask ♥ 4) Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

I already answered this, but specifically for the coconut oil series: I watched RuRu matches :D And I have a kinky brain and just tried to let this fic make sense and add some humour. Mostly, the ideas came in cooperation with the server, the lovely people there helped me out a lot! 7) How do you choose which POV to write from?

The person I either sympathise with the most OR is about to have the major character development. In this case (for Coconut Oil) it was the first one - I really did sympathise more with Casper when I wrote this and needed Holger to be an unapologetic brat. I live by Tom Hiddleston's "every villain is a hero in their own mind", so writing from a "bad guy's" POV is mostly about giving an explanation and excuse for their behaviour, which I didn't have when I started the first part of the series. 11) Link your three favourite fics right now.

Please I can't choose T_T But I'll try to rec my three favourite tennis RPF fanfics here: - Until Midnight by VallasRevas - i don't wanna feel blue, anymore by rainbowstrlght - all the roads we have to walk by Aramley

20) Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

Lately, I have a hang of writing smut, I guess? :D Also, I like to write getting together fics and I avoid AUs. Ummm, what else? I probably overuse adverbs and dialogue tags.

22) Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

I mean, never say never, right? But I am not the biggest fan of AUs, probably will never write 2nd person POV, and I don't think I'll ever write rape fics or thriller-themed fics.

36) How do you write kissing scenes?

I try focussing on the feelings and sensations and not on the action itself. Because that is quickly told. When you try and write about how someone feels while kissing, what their hands do, how the person experiences it (first kiss, heated kiss, soft kiss, etc.) it can become a good scene. Not that my kiss scenes are particularly good, but I am trying :D

40) If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

I absolutely don't care. Seeing fan art for my fics would be so fucking amazing, I absolutely have no preferences at all.

56) What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

The characterisations of the protagonists. I think I am not too much OOC at most times. And being able to get the dialogue right (at least sometimes), so it could really be something the character I write about says in canon/in real life.

76) Did you have any ideas that didn’t make the final cut of Coconut Oil?

Mhhhhh. No, I don't think so. I pretty much wrote about everything I intended to write about in those two fics. But I scratched the idea to use the selfie Holger took with Paire in part three (which I hope to write in the future). Thank you for all the asks, it was so much fun ♥

[astralartefact]

dawntrail fanfest thoughts (& prayers) Part II London

(Part I >> here)

Pour one out for Krile, I miss her.

My opinion hasn't really changed so far, still pretty optimistic over here. I didn't really get anything I really wanted (except for one thing, we'll get to it), but the things I didn't really like weren't catastrophic either, so... Let's just get into it.

Viper I don't know if I like this more or less than I would have liked Corsair (which I wouldn't have liked bc I think pirates are boring). I like the concept of the two combined swords and I think it could look very flashy, but from what I've seen so far I'm not particularly interested, the in-game job trailer really didn't do anything for me.

I guess it's because this job seems very very FF16 to me but in a bad way. Lore and Realism but with fantasy fire effects just doesn't really make for an iconic aesthetic imo... but hey, maybe they just hid the best parts from the job introduction video, they showed like two or three skills at most lol. But who knows.

But as long as I get my Green Mage/Pictomancer I'm not going to complain too much about this one. Good for the people who really love this! Love that for you!

My Green Mage/Pictomancer Hopes and Dreams Koji said "We should look to his [Yoshi-P's] hints from last fanfest" for the remaining job - so Pictomancer is still possible!!!!!! It's not over until it's over!!!

I once again realize that I shouldn't have gotten myself attached to something that might not actually be happening. If they don't do Green Mage/They do Green Mage wrong I will be so disappointed lol

It's just that I can see them do your average generic Druid instead because 'something something we need to cater to a western audience now bc FF16, Final Fantasy legacy stuff is cringe actually so we need to make everything generic western fantasy to be taken seriously' and I'm very much not here for that. Just give me a charming little Green Mage with a big staff or maybe with a judge's mallet - or maybe like one of those shogun war fans??? But I'll take whatever, even the weird ugly little gimmick you're bound to come up with.

The Limited Job Beastmaster and if it's not it better be something truly out there and not just some half-assed BS. Yoshi-P, you have to show the community you listen just a little bit, it's getting dire out here.

Eliminator Is it just me being desperate for Hamauzu-based Remixes or does this thing exude FF13 energy... Makes me wonder if the Tural-based Technology we've seen in that one dungeon art might be FF13 inspired? I just hope it isn't just Allagan again, make it another nation that lived around that time.

The Areas Kozama'uka looks really pretty... I love when fantasy background elements you can't even reach are "too big" (like FF7 Remake's Midgar Skyboxes) - so I guess Shaaloani still has a chance to win me over depending on whatever we find there. Speaking of which: Shaaloani is exactly what I pictured/dreaded a New World based expansion would look like and I do not particularly like it, I was hoping we would be save from bargain bin wild west stuff at least until we went to Northern Tural. I also hope that the pseudo-oil stuff is just lore and won't be a big part of the msq because good gravy Yoshi-P hire a diversity consultant already I'm dying over here.

The Graphics Update Now let's give it up for the real MVP of the day for all of us no graphic mod people (and to the graphic mod people that complain 'we already had that for years', quit your yappin, 85% of you don't have taste anyways.) The new lighting stuff looks amazing - especially what they did with the fog, it looks gorgeous, I'm so excited. The lighting updates on the character models look so good, too... I think you can really see the difference in that picture they showed of the femRoe scholar in the new AF gear. And the glow up on Midlander Face 1 is amazing. Is that even allowed?? This was slumbering under there all this time???

The Alliance Raid Let's just all pretend we never thought Sakaguchi was going to do them (even though he literally said he wouldn't want to do one) and never talk about it again.

Anyways. FF11. Leaving the best thing for last - this is the thing I was really happily surprised by.

I'm so happy for FF11 :) That game has it fcking rough. It's constantly the one Final Fantasy game that's just. Not even considered. Even what we would reasonably call "Real" FF fans always just leave it out of everything because "MMO" (of course ever since shb that became "the worse MMO" instead) and casual gamers - even ones that play certain FF games - probably don't even realize that nobody ever talks about 11.

But it has so many cool concepts that would warrant a treatment like Eden with FF8 - meanwhile FF14 is directly built on things 11 provided, so many of our base fundamentals, so many generic mob designs, so many of our job concepts, so many things we just take for granted come from FF11 but it still never really got the same attention as the other FFs. Yeah, Eureka and Bozja are kind of based on it, but the way it is referenced is just so different from how most of the other FFs are represented in the game - it's always just the other MMO and it deserves to be treated the same as the others: as the mainline Final Fantasy game that it is.

So I hope they give it the respect it deserves. I need these to be better than Ivalice, just so FF11 gets enshrined somewhere in some way. Their legacy is on the line, Yoshida, so don't fuck it up!!!!! And make sure to include Memoro de la Stono because I like it!!!

I do hope they don't just make one of the Reflections actual FF11 Vana'diel though, I think that would be kind of lazy, it only worked with Y:DA and even there I'm the only person who liked that because I think Kingdom Hearts Bullshit Timeline Shenanigans are fun. I hope this is a FF14 version of Vana'diel like how Ivalice is our Ivalice - with certain concepts reinterpreted through our lense while others reappear almost identically, similar to the FF12 summons.

Now, I haven't actually played 11, I'm just a passionate bystander in all of this, but the one recommendation on things 11 I can give is the Record Keeper version of Awakening - most Record Keeper arrangements are amazing (see FF13's Blinding Light) but this is definitely one of their best.

Anyways! I'm really excited for what they do with it! I don't have any particular fear they're going to fuck the raids up, from a pure spectacle standpoint (the only standpoint that matters) they generally only get better. (except for eulogia) (fuck eulogia) I do hope they make them a little more challenging again, but I also won't be mad if they don't. Just don't ruin your own lore again like with Eulogia (fuck eulogia)! Also, I would love to see the Ark Angels, especially their armors as raid drops kthxbye <3

[batboyblog]

Wha your an inspiration! Also sorry I meant to say what things will you see in your lifetime enter the public domain bsbsbhsbs should have said that! Anyways I'm happy to see the final stuff from the 1920s finally be layer to rest and enter the public domain by 2025! Also should more people be hyped and anticipated for the Steamboat Willie (1928) or The Opry House (1929) in your opinion/thoughts?

Anyways, what your top 15 most anticipated and hyped things whether it be cartoon/film, book or something else that will enter the public domain? Wah so sorry for so many questions dvbdbdd qwq

Things I'd like to see in my life time? well I did bring up a New Hope because I could live to see that enter the public Domain, I'd be in my 80s so it could happen. I'd love to see the end of the 95 year copyright, which would be the same year as Star Wars, in general I'd love for the law to change to something more reasonable because right now.... when the 95 year copyright term runs out we could be looking at works under copyright for well over 100 years, for example George Lucas is still alive if he died tomorrow by my math Empire would be under copyright till 2099, since he's a healthy (as far as I know) man in his late 70s he could live another 10 or 15 years (maybe even 20+) expending the term deep into the next century.

On Mickey Mouse, thats a tricky question. The Issue is the difference between Trademark and Copyright. Copyright is ownership of the whole idea in all contexts, while trademark is limited to images and words (or phrases) used for marketing. SO for example you could do a "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" style movie and have Mickey (and/or Minnie) show up. However Disney still holds/will hold the Trademark because those can be renewed endlessly, so you wouldn't be allowed to use his name in the title, or say his name in the trailers or any marketing. My question and I don't know is how much of the image do they own? could you use him in Steamboat Willie form? I would guess no, I think you'd be barred from using his image in marketing but I'd also guess you'd have a legal fight with Disney trying to use trademark as copyright.

in any case I think... there's a big big Disney community and I'd guess the first effect would be fan art and unofficial merchandise blowing up big time.

top 15? hmmm well I'll stick to stuff coming out in the near-ish future, I'm very unlikely under current laws to live to see Harry Potter become public, but that'd be a trip to see.

The Hobbit (1937): thankfully Elves and dwarfs were not made up by Tolkien so fantasy can basically steal his ideas freely but it's very clear we've all been playing in JRR's sandbox since at least The Lord of The Rings of not the Hobbit so releasing this out into the wild will be amazing also hobbits which he did make up (and also Ents, and the Uruk-hai) to finally be allowed to appear in all the fantasy literature that has elves and dwarfs.

The Wizard of Oz: Of course the original book by L. Frank Baum has been public for years and years and nothing stops any one from trying to make another one, and some have. See "The Wiz" and also "Wicked" but the 1939 movie remains a triumph and a huge piece of cultural history, I'm unsure what could be done with it, but you know

Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman, Captain America: I mean this should shock no one that this is something I want to see. But I think... Superman and Batman in particular are SUCH a universal part of our culture, you can stop randos on the street who have NEVER read a comic and say "what is Batman's name?" or Superman and they can answer, they can tell you Superman's powers. I think in terms of universally known and recognizable pieces of pop culture... I mean nothing else under copyright today is as big of a pop icon as they are they are as part of the basement of our popular imagination as Dracula, or Santa.

I'm sure a lot of other stuff but I think I've gone on long enough