#but I do really like this piece and think I've improved greatly!

[sincerecinnamon]

Here's a random girl I drew in algebra!

(My drawing skills have quickly improved because I stopped trying to force my drawing into a style I didn't actually like that much and couldn't draw btw)

[runningwithscizzorz]

(1)Learn the rules before you break them + Gather proper references

(2) Understand what you want to break and how

(3) Can't do it? Find someone who can

(4) It's going to look really bad for a while

(5) Have fun with it!

(1) -Yes, I am that kind of artist. Yet, not in the conventional way. I encourage people to go in guns blazing when it comes to drawing something new, then coming out analyzing what they know, and what they need to learn more of right away.

-Here, I broke down the anatomical pieces of Nour and Narinder's face with the same labels so you guys can understand this weird invisible pattern that I follow in my work. Doing this with any animal you're attempting to draw greatly improves your line confidence when drawing different face shapes. Also understanding the biological function for why animals look a certain way helps you keep consistency.

(3) Time to throw any artistic guilt you have for heavily referencing people's art OUT THE WINDOW and start ANALYZING PEOPLE'S WORK YOU WANT TO BE LIKE✨ I've always done this, having a reference of someone else's amazing work right next to my own drawing so I can try and understand how they make their magic work! No shame, no embarrassment, nada. Pure, unadulterated will and spite that I would be just as good as the artist who made me so motivated and happy with their work! I couldn't figure out how to make Nour's face both sheep-like, and humanly expressive, so I looked at a LOT of Zootopia and old Disney art for help!

(2) With how I draw narilamb, I'm still working on it (as you can see) but I wanted to break Narinder's face to be fluffier and slimmer, while Nour's face would be shorter and flatter. If you look at it for too long, it's absolutely going to look weird, in the way that if you look at Anna from Frozen for too long she starts looking really weird. The anatomy isn't meant to be correct or consistent, it's meant to convey the emotion and energy I want out of the characters in that moment. If you're able to properly get that across, then you don't need to think about how broken something looks, as long as your eye is happy enough to trick your brain into thinking what you're seeing is canny.

(4) Yeah, I hate this part too. It's going to look like shit at first. I can't even look at my art from a few months ago when I was figuring out their designs... God, so fucking ugly. If it weren't for the shittiness of those drawings, I would have never gotten here! Wading through the "trust the process" stage always really sucks, but it's absolutely worth the relief of when you finally get something to look right.

(5) Art is work, yes. It's stressful, it's long, it's straining, its draining, it's exclaiming, blah blah blah. But, I try to keep my art FUN. If I find my artwork becoming slow as I depressingly drag my pen over my tablet, I'm failing. You MUST keep spirit and life in your work. The spirit of emptiness or the life of sadness can have a very meaningful place in art, but those can only exist with keeping work light, easy, and fun! If you're stressing how a specific thing looks or how you can't get something to look right no matter what, FUCK IT. Draw something to bring the flavor back in your work! I'm kind of rambling, but just, HAVE FUN!✨️ Be messy, scream, laugh, slash canvases, throw paint, smash sculptures, tear apart books, GO CRAZY

[cilil]

Hi, do you have any advices for budding writers on AO3 or here?

Hey! :)

I've given this some thought and compiled what I hope might be some helpful pointers, but if there's anything else or anything specific you want to hear more about, feel free to ask again. Also I'm assuming this is about the amazing craft of fanfic and not, uh, building a platform or whatever (I wouldn't be very helpful with that, I'm a nobody x)).

Share what you feel comfortable sharing.

So since you're asking about budding writers on AO3 and Tumblr, I take it you're at a point where you feel comfortable sharing your writing online, which is amazing. Nevertheless, I feel the need to once again mention (just for anyone who may be in the same or a similar situation) that it's completely alright not to be comfortable with it (yet) or not to share everything you write. I share almost everything simply because I'm annoying and it makes me feel accomplished and since I've grown pretty comfortable with it, I might as well; but not everyone feels that way and feelings also change. It's completely alright to write just for yourself or a small circle of friends.

Don't worry too much about "being good".

I will be the first to admit that I deeply relate to struggling with perfectionism when it comes to writing (and other creative pursuits). However, as someone who's been reading fic for many years, tends to be into quite niche and obscure things sometimes and is rarely spoiled by big fandoms' abundance of food, I want all writers, especially new ones, to know that you don't have to write the most amazing, perfect, publishing-ready pieces. What matters is your passion and creativity, which will show in your writing regardless of skill level. Not to mention that fic is free and in fact a tool for many to experiment.

That's not to say you can't strive to improve or be good - by all means, I find it admirable if you want to hone your craft and make progress as you continue to write. Just don't let perfectionism ruin your fun and stifle your creativity.

How to get better without trying overly hard.

Aside from just writing, writing and writing (that is the most important part though), how do you improve without making it a point to do so? Well, if it works for you to read/watch guides or you enjoy specific writing exercises, that's great, but one thing that I find gets overlooked a lot in writing spaces is simply: Reading. Just reading for fun.

I find that I often discover little things in other people's writing that I really like and then I think to myself "wow, that's really neat how they did that, maybe I could take a page out of their book" (pun intended) and make it a point to pay attention to these things when I write. Essentially, it's like creating a nice patchwork blanket which is your style, made up of your own voice and preferences as a writer and cool stuff you picked up on the road.

Let me just name some examples, which, yes, are also an excuse to shamelessly blow some writer friends of mine a well-deserved kiss of appreciation. @sauron-kraut writes incredibly polished short stories with beautiful wording and atmosphere that have a lot of little hidden things to discover and dissect, and I want to steal her ability to set the stage and hide those easter eggs. @a-world-of-whimsy-5 is an absolute legend when it comes to writing medieval and medieval-adjacent stuff, and I learned so much from her fics. @i-did-not-mean-to has a way of writing with such esprit and wit that I always end up in a good mood after, a style of narrative voice I've adored for over a decade, and I've greatly improved my humorous writing in particular thanks to her. @crackinthecup has the marvelous ability to craft extremely emotionally evocative scenes, which have encouraged me to be more courageous and experimental in my sentence melody and structure. @tragedybunny has a way of writing that reminds me of coming home to a warm and comfy place, and I will find out how she did it and how I can do it as well.

So as you can see, it can be super helpful to compare notes with your fellow writers. Never be discouraged by someone else's ability; instead learn and expand your own.

Feedback, criticism and community.

Let me just get one thing out of the way: You don't have to take criticism from everyone. Or at all. As far as I understand, the fanfic community has come to to agree that we're doing this for fun and don't give criticism unprompted/when we aren't sure it's wanted or welcome. As a general rule: Take criticism from those you would also seek advice from. Ask for feedback if you feel comfortable, and if not, that's a valid boundary to have and I will gently smack anyone who presumes to pick apart writing that was made for fun and generously shared with the community for free.

The community aspect, however, should be taken into account on other fronts. While I won't tell anyone they have to interact and believe that, in an ideal world, everyone's writing would just speak for itself, it is helpful to engage with the community. Things you can do (both on Tumblr and AO3 if also applicable/possible) include: Respond to people interacting with your works, interacting with other people's works (for example while you're doing your reading sessions and looking at other writers' styles) and just overall being present, being talkative, going with the flow.

Again, this is not a must. But I will say that pretty much all of us want positive responses and interactions on their work and that just won't work if you expect everyone to show up for you all the time and never show up for anyone else. Engagement, passion and community are our "currency" in the absence of money and reciprocity is an important element of that. A lot of friction and complaints in the fanfic community regarding lack of interaction or entitlement are rooted in misunderstandings of this fundamental principle.

But don't take this in a cynical manner. Seek out what you enjoy, share the joy and passion and you'll make friends just accidentally - which is the part that I find makes fandom on AO3 and Tumblr so much fun! (I don't even want to be a "traditional" author anymore, I want this instead😁)

Find your groove and groove along.

Lastly, make sure your writing is fun for you or else it'll become a chore and eventually get ruined for you as a hobby. This is unfortunately a continuous task as your needs and interests shift - for example you might be in the mood to do an entire drabble challenge one month and during another month you feel so drained that you couldn't do another one. Or you might want to write something different for a change. Or whatever it may be.

Either way, one recent lesson I've learned is that I got too tied up in obligations and it left no space for spontaneous inspiration, so I never got to write what I wanted to write in the moment and it pushed me quite close to burnout. Do yourself a favor and always hold that space for yourself. In practice, this could for example mean that you do one event and on the side write this cool new idea you had, instead of doing three events - which is fun and games until it starts getting too much and you don't have time for your passion projects.

Finding your groove also includes the whole technical aspect, such as which writing programs you use, which device (or none at all), where you write, how to make yourself comfortable, how to get in the right headspace for things. I would also like to encourage all of you to be a bit crazy and whimsical about this: For example I've gone to the perfume store, picked out a scent for a specific character in a specific scene and sniffed it while writing the description several times now. Do what it takes. And say goodbye to your squeaky clean search history - you will research some weird stuff just to get that one line right.

So yeah, these are just my random thoughts on fic writing and what has been helpful in order for me to have lots of fun with this hobby. Happy writing!

[ppumeonae-bigvibe]

alley-oop

↖ navigation: ateez masterlist || main masterlist 

pairing: san x gn! reader

↬ tags: cold x warm trope!, i really think i let loose on this one (my inner delusions are surfacing the more i type and before i knew it i birthed this very piece from my author-ussy, !

summary: san chuckles in acknowledgement, "it is my wish for you to see me in the nationals, but now that i won, i want sunbae to grant me another wish."

word count: 3.2 k words

a/n: i realized that what i see and read greatly influences the things i write...the increase in thriller and action kdrama has certainly been a big reason why my well has been dry lately—

also -> alley oop - a high pass caught by a leaping teammate who tries to dunk the ball before landing.

— 8 months before

"choi san, you need to get your grades up in the upcoming semester, or i'm not going to be able to let you compete in the upcoming basketball nationals at the end of the year."

his eyes widened at his coach's announcement.

"get your overall rank up to top quarter of your cohort. i've put you into the list of players, but your name will be removed if you don't improve."

"but, coach-nim!"

"our members have to balance both the club activities and school work, and i expect more from you because you are our team's stellar player. do you hear me?"

biting back an array of complaints, he hung his head in shame and accepted his fate. he knew that his grades weren't great and assumed if he kept playing well (he was good at it after all), his coach would overlook the horrible C and D grades.

"i know you can do it."

top quarter? he needs to be the top 25% of his cohort??

"yes, coach-nim."

the only problem now was to find someone who could tutor him.

— 8 months before

"and...yeah that was what happened. coach-nim pulled me out of extra b-ball practices. but who is going to want to tutor me?" san grumbles, listlessly swirling his noodles with a flick of his chopsticks.

"i know someone who could tutor you. all the subjects." wooyoung casually mentions over lunch and san jerks up, raising an eyebrow at his friend, "wait...you are serious?" wooyoung nods his head, mouth full of noodles.

"yeah. i know this sunbaenim who happens to just be the top scorer of the school." san sputtered, gold having landed in his lap, "dude?! why didn't you tell me earlier??"

— 7 months and 2 weeks before

"sunbae!" you watch in horror as this male student came barrelling down the hallway, calling out your name another time. not believing your eyes, you clutched onto your bagstrap tighter, the male progressively gaining unto you.

what on earth...?

your flight or fight instincts was triggered and you begin running away from him, not having any clue about what was going on.

"sunbae! stop running away please!" he never ceased his pace, steadily catching up. "w-what do you want...!" you hollered worriedly. he continued to chase you out of the hallway towards the school track field. you felt a sharp tug and you were sent falling backwards into his arms.

"for some nerd like sunbae, you are quite the runner."

you were absolutely floored, sweaty and breathless, whereas he seemed put together, not a hair out of place. you jumped out of his hold, shooting him a puzzled look, "why were you running after me...choi san-ssi?" you squinted at his name tag and he stares pointedly at you, "...now that you've stopped running, i got something to ask."

— 7 months and 1 week before

after much persuasion (it surprisingly wasn't too difficult), you agreed to tutor him after you mentioned that you were friends with wooyoung. in the name of 'getting to know someone better', he has been asking the people in school about what they know of you.

this was as far as he has gathered: you were not someone who stands out from the crowd, the only thing distinguishable was just your outstanding grades. you hardly said no to any request and were an all-round nice person, smiling everywhere you went; hence you were also quite the popular person, much to san's chargin.

and somehow, wooyoung also just happened to be your neighbor. (san wonders why wooyoung's grades weren't stellar, but who was he to judge, right?)

here he was, sat beside the top scorer of the school, also his senior, and also somehow wooyoung's contact. he felt a bit out of place in your neat and tidy room, a stark contrast to his messy and dim one.

"san-ah, let's try that again, shall we? if we look through this part again..."

he didn't want to be here, but he needed to pull his grades up...by a lot. damn his poor grades. he sighs frustratedly, rubbing his eyes from the bright afternoon light streaming into your room. well, it was helping him to focus somehow...

"are you paying attention?" you lightly tapped on his shoulder and he scowls, "sunbae...i'm trying to..."

out of courtesy, he told you to drop the honorifics and now he doesn't know whether to hate the fact his name rolls off your tongue so sweetly or that it was annoying.

"sure, okay...listen, this part here? that's important. if you follow..." you continued your explanation, but paused when you see him drifting off into his own world yet again.

"san? do you need a break?" mildly mortified because you caught him zoning out more than once (this was the fourth time), he huffed and shook his head.

with amusement, san watches as you pulled out a packet of chocolate milk from your bag and he raises a brow when you push it into his hand. "sunbae, what..." did you think he was a little kid? he was nearly 2 heads taller than you and--

"just something to cheer you up. i thought you might like it...but if you don't..." you proceeded to take it back but san was quicker to grab it, lightly grazing your hands in the process.

"i want it." he realized how much he sounded like a petulant child and cleared his throat, 'i mean...i'm hungry." you smiled affectionately at him, causing him to practically wince at your undivided focus.

gulping down on the milk, san purposely avoided eye contact with you. he subtly glances at you from the corner of his eyes: you were looking intently at his worksheet, scribbling tips and notes at the borders, neatly summarizing for him what is the important things.

he'd rather get punched in the stomach than admit he likes you more than he thinks. (he doesn't know yet.)

"well...are you going to start listening?" "yeah...yeah..."

— 5 months and 3 weeks before

"sunbae..." san spots you sitting down by the bleachers in the evening sun and his heart rate picks up. it's been a few weeks since you started tutoring him and he's beginning to look forward to each and every session, putting in the effort to actually revise his topics so you could be proud of him. he's definitely warmed up to you, and unbeknownst to him, his cold exterior begun to chip in your presence.

jogging over, he calmed down for a bit—taking his excessive excitement down a notch—before talking to you

"what are you doing here?" he hoped he was presentable as he stood slightly nervous before you.

"wooyoung told me i should come and support him; i expected you to be around too so i thought i could hang around." you simply smiled and a sting of jealousy struck san. he brushed it off, cool exterior back in place, "so how was i?"

"i think you're really good! i hope that your grades improve so that you can stand brightly on the court with no worries." the way you encouraged him effortlessly nearly had him buckling. just on cue, wooyoung materializes beside san, "sunbae! you came!"

"you called didn't you? i hope all that basketball didnt cause you to forget our tutoring session." you rolled your eyes as wooyoung playfully pats your head, "of course sunbae!"

san guesses he's thoroughly mistaken: you were also tutoring wooyoung.

why did he think he was the only tutee you had? for all he knew you had more than just wooyoung and him as your students.

wooyoung trundles away to get his gym bag and you followed him, all while san stands there trying not to be sulky. you picked up your schoolbag, grabbing your jacket, "san-ah, i'm going to go first."

pausing in your tracks, you waved goodbye to san with a cheery smile on your face, "don't forget our session tomorrow okay?" he brightens at your reminder (if he might add, a little giddy when you said 'our'), "okay...!"

you spun around and jogged to wooyoung's side and san wishes that it was him. maybe if he knew how to express his emotions better just like how outgoing wooyoung is, so that you could have that similar banter with him.

almost immediately, san smacks his face with his palms, eyes widening in shock.

no…now’s not the time to be distracted choi san!!!

— 4 months before

to make things easier for you, you begun tutoring the two of them in your home since they took similar subjects despite the being put in different classes. san was happy that tutoring sessions increased, but...not so happy that he couldn't have one-on-one time with you.

wait...since when did he care about that?

"i heard that you two had a mock test just this week. can i review your papers?" wooyoung confidently hands his over, "i managed to get into the top ten! are you proud of me?" you nodded your head as you flipped through wooyoung's papers. it wasn't long before your attention was on san, who was dodging your very gaze when you noticed the barely passing mark circled in red on his paper.

"i didn't do quite well." san admits, lowering his gaze. "it''s okay. you improved from your previous rank! small improvement is still improvement after all."

wooyoung interrupted and cheekily grabbed your arm, "sunbae! since i did well i can skip on today's tutor session right? see you~" without much hesitation wooyoung takes his own paper back from you and scampers out of your room. "his head is gonna inflate from all that pride i swear." you chuckled and san hides a laugh at your words.

"well now that he's gone, let's review your paper now, shall we?"

you sat him down beside you as you went through his mistakes and gave him additional questions, leaving him quite miserable at the end of the session. sensing his dejected spirit, you pat his back to comfort him. "sunbae, i feel bad because...i can't do well..."

san didn't know what came over him as he rambled on, stopping himself almost immediately because he thought he sounded silly. you grabbed his hand, that same enchanting smile on your face, "well...i'm here aren't i? i promised i'd help you to do your best so you can go for the nationals."

"but why do you want to help me?" san questioned. you shrugged your shoulders, "you're the coolest on the court!" san sputters, "huh? sunbae, don't joke with me!"

you shoot him a bashful smile, "to know that i was able to help you? that's more than enough. i don't need you to repay me; i just wanna see you fulfill your passions."

at that split second of a moment, when the sun was setting and you were basked in it's golden glory, san thinks he's falling in love with you.

— 3 months

"wooyoung, why do you keep hanging out around sunbae these days?" san randomly brings up, before shaking his head, "you know what? nevermind."

"why are you even asking me this question?" wooyoung's eyes never left the computer screen, fingers tapping rapidly on the keyboard to make his game avatar run and dodge.

san aimlessly scrolls his mouse about, "just...nothing." of course, being neighbors and all it would not be weird for san to witness the two of you walking to and from school together, to hang out occasionally together. that much is normal, but to what extend is it considered not?

wooyoung bursts out laughing, "are you jealous or something? do you like sunbae?"

san silence spoke volumes and wooyoung turns his head slowly, unbelief evident in his contorted face, "you have a crush?!" san slaps his hand over wooyoung's mouth.

"not so loud genius!!"

wooyoung gasped in shock, "no wonder you've been so...weird lately. it is certainly very unlike you and i guess this explains everything. like...everything!"

— 2 months before

san felt as if a whole boulder has been lifted off his heart at the realization that he likes you. that explained all the "unnecessary" heart racing moments when it was just you and him, all the times when he would "accidentally" detour around school just to walk past your class and "somehow" get a glimpse of you.

with this newfound appreciation, his grades also took a turn for the better because he wanted to make you proud. he started texting you about his day outside of school (wooyoung often left him on read), giddy with happiness when you replied to him with the same enthusiasm.

before he knew it, the semester tests were around the corner. san stood worriedly outside the classroom with his other classmates waiting to enter. he spots you walking hurriedly down the hallway and when his eyes met yours, he relaxed his tensed shoulders.

murmurs from his classmates increased as you paused in front of him, "i'm rooting for you. here's your lucky charm." you whispered, pushing something into his hand. as quickly as you stopped by him, you walked away to your classroom on the floor above his.

he opens his palm to see the pen, a grin forming on his face when he notices your name sticker on it. gripping it tighter in his hand, he enters the classroom with confidence.

— 2 month and 3 weeks before

"sunbae, do you have a good luck charm?"

"well, i don't have one."

san propped his head on his hand, "i need a good luck charm for the coming tests, just like what i have for my matches." he points to his bracelet, one made by wooyoung to commemorate them being friends in basketball.

"from me?" you stared at him quizzically and san flushed, parroting your question, "from...you?!" you two burst out laughing at the absurdity of the interaction. you calmed down enough to formulate a proper response, "i'll...maybe think about it...?"

san pouts at your uncertainty, "you're not going to give me one?" you lightly pinched his cheeks, "you're making it very hard for me to say no. i'll get you something, okay?"

"i'll hold your word to it sunbae!"

— 1 month before

"how did it go?"

you were huffing, having ran from your homeroom to san's classroom as soon as he texted you he got back his results. you found him standing outside the classroom: head hung low, hands clenched at his side. he perked up at the sound of your question and the sight before you nearly had you reeling.

"i..."

you waited with bated breath for san to finish his statement. "i...somehow did it..." he points to the ranking that was displayed on his phone, and in the picture you could see that his marks barely made the cut, yet because of the person after him, he was pushed to the top 25% of scores in his cohort.

"san! you did it!" you hugged him and he freezes in your hold. you pulled away from him, unshed tears in your eyes causing him to panic, "ahh! sunbae! why are you crying!!" san hurriedly wipes away the falling tears and you laughed, "i'm so glad all that hard work paid off, even if it was just merely there, you improved by leaps and bounds!"

"could have been the lucky charm you gave me. i brought it with me to all my papers." he mentioned and delights in the way you were tongue-tied at his revelation. "sunbae, why this pen though? is there anything special about it?" he pulls out the pen from his pocket, rotating it in his hands to examine it closely.

"if you really must know, it was the very first pen that i got with my own pocket money. nothing special, but i liked the fact that i worked hard to get this branded pen." you bashfully replied, taking back the pen from him.

he thinks you're really beautiful like this, and he finds it so difficult to not like you. he's thoroughly crushing on you now, even more so than before when he first met you.

"before i forget, san-ah, what's your wish?"

— 2 weeks before

now that san has earn the respect of his coach from his drastically improved grades, he's been staying back after school every day to practice till late.

with the ball dribbling beneath his palms, he relishes in his passion and determination that brought him this far.

"you're in great form, eh?" wooyoung teases as the two of them shoot hoops. "yeah, i absolutely missed this. back when coach only allowed me to come for tuesday trainings? that was such a pain!" san laughs, thinking about how he would linger outside the auditorium as he watch his teammates train with each other, while he had to get going to be tutored.

not that he minded, actually. deep down, he was glad for this break because after meeting you, he was reluctant to go back to this thrice-a-week club trainings. he immediately pushes that thought away, exerting force to fling the ball in wooyoung's general direction.

"did you get sunbae to come watch you?" wooyoung—who somehow has become his confidant for anything relating to you—wiggled his eyebrows and san's face warmed up, "yeah i managed to ask. and sunbae's going to be coming..." san embarrassedly hides his face behind the ball wooyoung returns and an uncharacteristic squeal leaves wooyoung's lips and he excitably hugs san, "let's go! my bro's got this!"

— D-DAY

"san! over here!" wooyoung hollers and san passes the ball over. with just about one more minute left in the last quarter, san was really feeling the physical and mental strain after the first 3 rounds. he needs to make the final blow that will pull his school out of the current tie they were in.

san let's his other teammates go ahead of him as he scours around for a wide spot with as little defense from the opposing team.

san's entire being awakens as his gaze lands on you in the bleachers; you were here for him. his eyes flicker between the court and you distractedly, watching as you looked around uncertainly, before deciding to just stand at the back, still within his line of vision.

"san!" surging with adrenaline he nods at wooyoung, who then swings the ball high up. this move he practiced countless times with his friends, coordinating down to even synchronizing their breaths and footsteps.

this is for you.

he takes a huge leap with arms held up. the moment the ball from wooyoung falls in his palms, he sends the ball hurtling into the net. heart beating in trepidation, he feels the second melting into one another as the ball dramatically lands in the hoop with a satisfying woosh.

"with that quick thinking, KQ high school wins the nationals!"

the whole auditorium was flooded with cheers, confetti and streamers floating down from the sky. san feels himself being lifted up by his teammates, wooyoung shouting in his ear about how crazy it was, but all he could focus on was you and your awed expression. pride blooms through him like a blossoming flower, and he thinks he could get used to having someone being there for him.

after all that congratulatory messages from his team, he makes his way to you, beckoning for you to come over to the side lines.

"you made it, sunbae."

"i'm fulfilling your wish, isn't it?"

san chuckles in acknowledgement, "it is my wish for you to see me in the nationals, but now that i won, i want sunbae to grant me another wish."

your nose scrunched up, the corners of your lips turned downwards despite the big smile on your face, "another? that's—"

"—sunbae, will you go out with me?"

@ppumeonae-bigvibe 's work ; likes and reblogs are appreciated <3

[dark-fuckprincess]

Long Post Abt World Eaters

Working on some World Eaters now. This guy is ready for oils and enamels. I did the armour by stippling with an old brush I have cut specifically for stippling. I did a grey primer and then stippled Celestra Grey, Celestra Grey/white, and then white in limited areas. Then I glazed some blue in the shadows to make the white more vibrant and strictly on the cool spectrum (more colour information is usually more interesting). Difficulty with this method is making sure moisture of brush is removed after thinned paint is applied to brush.

This recipe only took maybe 30 or so minutes to do a majority of the work. Usually my airbrush hits the executive dysfunction part of my brain and makes actually completing a miniature difficult. Taking it from airbrush station back to painting station back to airbrush for varnish back to painting station for oils. Well I've been using oils without varnishes and fine so far.

If I were to do a warm white I'd do less steps on the basecoat and really more on Burnt Umber oil wash. I wonder if I can do something similar with Paynes Grey. Could be an experiment.

This is the same mix but done with drybrushing. It's alright. Not sure which I like better. This one looks more like typical drybrushed crap texture so maybe I'll try tapping the actual brush on a damp sponge.

This is what it looks like as a wip, that horrible texture is less apparent. Still gave trim and blue glazing to do.

Both these look better than my older stippled WE imo

The one on the left is stippled. There is a big contrast in the shadows to the light areas. Just a diffe4ent look that I don't prefer. The one on the right is done with the airbrush.

Looking back a lot of those World Eaters I did don't spark too much joy. Maybe it's just the place in my life I was in at the time. Just bad feelings about them. Learned a lot about painting white though. And hey that Cataphractii on the right above is quite good imo and one of the only Cataphractii I've done that looks good. Those models are not fun to paint for me. They give me the ick. Don't like their shapes. Not friendly to my autism.

As a throwback here is my test model for my World Eaters, the first one I did ever as well as the first model where white was the main colour. The second model I did was greatly improved and was a gift for the girl I just started dating at the time and ofc us being still together I credit to my amazing skill in painting.

This of course in an amazing way fits the grimdark styling of 30k and I quite like it overall. I used a burnt umber/lamp black oil wash and learned the lesson of just how much an oil wash can darken a colour of a piece and progressively over many minis learned to push the white highlights higher and higher to fit my preferences. The Chainsaw is orange because of Chainsaw Man.

I think I'll start posting more of my old minis and projects and such. I have many pictures saved up.

I've been in a good groove with my hobby lately. Time away from painting has given me space away from my habits and a new perspective, learning to detach from old ways and learn new ones.

[itriedwritingandhereiam]

Was writing a pettynette fic after bingeing the entire available fic population for it and I ended up trying to comment on the characterisation of characters in salt fics in the a/n and it turned into an essay so I decided to post it here.

I understand Miraculous is a kids show. I do! But as someone who's been watching the damn thing since primary school, it's always frustrated me that the class was so gullible! Like, as someone who's lived through a class of 15-16 year olds, I can gaurantee that bullshit Lila spews ain't passing in a real classroom. Especially with teenage girls. Most of the time they can smell bullshit from a mile away.

But fiction is fiction I guess.

I've seen some amazing fics exploring the logic behind the character's decision int terms of the Lila situations and that's the only reason I let canon fly, it CAN be justified, with some effort and some far fetched but it still bothers me. I feel like making the lies a bit more subtle and toned down could greatly change the impact you know? When she's trying to isolate Marinette the class, do it slowly. Plant some seeds of doubt and water them. Don't go big, bold and accusatory with no preparation or build up.

Instead of "Why does she hate me? *sob* I can't believe she'd corner me in the bathroom and threaten me *sob*. How could she do this!"

why not,

"I just- I don't understand what it is about me she doesn't like you know? *gains a look of sympathy* I know she's your friend and she's really nice to you all but - did I do something to offend her? I don't understand," garnering sympathy points would get you everywhere.

At the same time,, Marinette could have handled that the situation a bit more gracefully. Yeah she was blinded by jealousy (At first) and that's what made it easy to just right off and dismiss what she was saying, because it was obvious she was feeling threatened. (Alya's reaction to Marinette revealing that Lila is a lying manipulator)

But even later, she kept acting rashly and throwing around the "She's lying!" thing and it was a hard to believe when they KNEW she had biases against Lila. Lila, who has a fantastical life, the 'attention' (notice the quote unquote) of Adrien and so many disabilities.

It's just so out of place for their oh-so considerate class president to just up and hate the girl.

(Although, that should have raised some suspicion, they were supposed to be smart), so I can't fault Marinette entirely.

It's just so interesting to see how fics combat the already canon events and even improve the happenings or deal with the fallout of either girl's actions.

Sometimes Lila wins (partially) and Marinette is ostracised, but usually the class gets their just desserts by the end. Sometimes the class gets corrupted and drive Marientte out(which I'd crazy but always entertaining, (I love Marientte transfers school-fics)) and everything gets the i-told-you-sos with some guilt tripping (maybe even repercussions) or not, depending on the tone of the plot. Sometimes they grow braincells and figure it out themselves. Always satisfying to see the guilt ( but sometimes they're portrayed as too proud to make amends and aton for behaviour)

One thing that always bothered me(but I eat it up anyway) is Adrien. Adrien's advice to Marinette comes from his own,fucked up little way of problem solving. He grew up in a household where he had no control or say in what happened in his own life, Hence the, "if I don't see the problem it doesn't exist/ ignore it long enough it'll go away" flavour of thinking. Now, funny enough I relate to this on a personal level which is why I feel attacked when Adrien is villainised for this poor piece of advice he gave. Yes, my boy is trying to keep the peace because he's not confrontational (ahem, selectively, I would like to note, theire is some hypocrisy in his actions later down though) and he has this unfortunate notion that since Marinette is strong enough to endure, she SHOULD endure. In canon, she runs with his advice, in fanon she (usually, not always) hates/dislikes him for it because it results in Lila getting away with her schemes and Marinette being painted as a jealous girl who feels threatened by Lila. Yes, it's wrong. Yes, people get hurt. But it's not entirely his fault. Unless his character is tweaked a bit. I'm talking about the fics that have him having his sunshine personality as a facade he uses for some semblance of normalcy. Or he's made into the toxic and possessive type. Then, shit on him all you want.

Yes, I absolutely love salt fics that follow that exact outline. But there is always a chance to enlighten the poor oblivious boy(if you're sticking with his canon, typically a bit brown nosed personality).

There was a fic a read that did this so masterfully, If I find a link, i'll drop it. She acknowledged that his advice was faulty, but she also considered that that was all he knew (see my previous statement) and found it in herself to forgive him for it (after he showed he was willing to atone/redeem himself)

I love salt fics though. No matter how much the characters are tweaked to fit the plot. That's the point of fan work, it's your own spin on the og plot so you have creative liberties.

[cyybrzz]

To anyone who sees this and does musical theater...

I need advice... again. this time it's a theater thing for all my musical theater performers out there who wanna help a girl out 😔🙏

🔮 I'm having an internal crisis.

So i've been into musicals for FOREVER and I love singing songs at karaoke and getting into character and stuff whatever THE POINT IS recently i've been considering actually trying out for a musical?? the last time i didn't theater was elementary school if that counts and i've never been apart of a choir so no i can't read sheet music or know what it means sos the closest i've gotten is orchestra. I'm just nervous because i've never done THEATER before and i would have no idea how to prepare and i feel like id make myself look stupid at any auditions if i did; now im here on tumblr again asking for advice!!

🔮 *googles how to get my voice to work*

i don't think i'm a BAD singer but i'm not anything out of this world, i think i'm anywhere from an alto to a mezzo-soprano?? (my most comfortable songs to sing are JD's songs from heathers or ngrom from waitress, i can also sing from like deja vu to 505 if that helps to any music nerds anywhere! thanks) anyway i don't even know my voice range and whether im a good singer; also i think that 99% of the time im singing with my head voice and idk how to belt or sing with chest voice so if anyone has any vocal advice on how to sing better and warmup my voice for stuff like this it'd be greatly appreciated i'm literally clueless when it comes to singing so if you think any piece of advice is stupid and common knowledge it's probably not for me and i'll gladly take it

🔮 fake it til you make it??

I DONT KNOW IF IM A GOOD ACTRESS EITHER UGH i don't really get stage fright bc i do multiple sports/activities that require me being in front of an audience i just don't want to look stupid 😓💔 I can memorize lines and stuff like that it's just the performance aspect in worried about so if anyone has tips on how to scope out my acting ability or how to improve it reach out please i #needthat

🔮 auditions exist... unfortunately

uhm how do auditions work bc i don't wanna embarrass myself if i even decide to go for it bc what if i make a fool of myself and ill have to fall off the face of the earth and no one will be able to see me again? what if i mess up at auditions and they think im terrible? what if i don't mess up and they still think im terrible? it's so scary as a newbie someone please sos

🔮 do i even go for it?

with all these issues and roadblocks do i even try to go for it... i have a friend that does theater and i'm scared they'll judge me if i mention trying out for it 😭 the urge to try theater again (kinda) has been so strong lately and me being watching musicals and singing songs doesn't help! please be brutally honest i need it, toodles!

[princesscallyie]

How would you describe one of your characters personalities and habits?

How all the characters and the mini sketch dumps describe of how you feel about what have you done in the past and present how does that identify your talent? And what were the steps for your big challenges as an artist because to be honest I really like your work

I make drawings too but they are very passion like they are so good but not with the whole body and hands so how did all of that impacted you as an artist?

Hey thanks for the ask. Let me see if I can answer this correctly.

Well since I do have a lot of characters. I'm gonna go with my favorite callyieverse one, which is Drake. I think he's a bit stubborn, independent, clever, charming, and underneath his whole evil leader mask he portrays he can be pretty emotional and playful. Creating characters is my favorite thing to do, so I always like to explore different personalities and such.

The sketch dumps were some of my favorite kinda art to do back when I used my laptop and Wacom tablet to draw. I liked being able to just jot down all character ideas on one page. Plus they were sketches so I was able to do them quickly. I feel like sketching like that probably helped me improved faster. Along with having an idea or character you love and you want to draw a lot of. Like Hody for example. I was pretty obsessed and now I'm pretty comfortable with drawing muscles and male anatomy. Nowadays, it's a bit harder to big pieces of art on my iPad, plus I moved away from the messy sketch look and like to clean my stuff up so it takes longer. But I do feel like I'm shifting to back to at least having multiple drawing of the same idea like in the Desperation's Embrace project I did.

Some new art challenges that I'm working on with my art is more complex poses. For example, the art of Eirenelas where is floating with his legs crossed. That one took a sec to look right but it was fun and it's satisfying when the finished piece looks good. I started to use 3D models and they are really helping me out. Next is continuing to improve on my backgrounds. Again, the last project I did I was able to practice a lot. I think it's so satisfying when the big blocks of colors I lay down actually become a background. I love creating the mood with lighting. Has to be my fav part of a fully colored pic.

And I've just been drawing for a long long time so naturally I start to branch out and draw different and more complex things. I used to avoid drawing full body and complex poses too. I know some people might do art studies, but I just draw what I want to draw and learn how to draw certain things in the process. And for hands... I still can't draw those lol. I use references all the time (which is greatly encouraged!). You can probably tell the difference from when I free hand it from my memory and closely reference lol.

So yeah! Hopefully I understood what you were asking me.

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

Actually let me elaborate on this a bit more- There's a big issue in the fandom with infantilizing Gonta, especially in stuff made before 2020. Like, this problem is super well known. But even though I'd say its greatly improved nowadays, the more I've looked through Gonta fan art, the more I've started to notice a weird lack of serious pieces.

Using Kaito as a baseline of comparison, you see a lot of stuff focused on him being dumb, a force of positivity, and brave, but also stuff related to his sickness, his inability to ask others for help, and ch5. There's a good range of work you can find with him. On the other hand, with Gonta, most of the fanworks you can find focused on him are usually centered around how kind and positive he is, sometimes about him being a gentleman, sometimes about his connection to animals/bugs. It is pretty rare to see him in anything focused on ch4. Which is extremely surprising, considering that's his big chapter! With Kokichi as another primary focus! You'd think at least Kokichi's popularity would carry more fan stuff of ch4, but I just haven't seen that much.

A large part of this Is definitely due to him being a minor character who is not as popular as Kaito is, and I understand that that level of focus fandomwide isn't really realistic, and I'm biased by my preferences to the point of maybe not thinking realistically. But I do also think another reason is lingering infantilization of his character. People who understandably don't spend all day thinking about Gonta like I do just don't usually see deeper into his character past his naivete and cheerfulness.

I adore cute/sunshiney gonta art, I really really do, I make it all the time myself and will take as much as I can get. but I also wish so strongly that there was more focused on the more serious aspects of his character. Like his desire to be accepted by his birth family and seen as useful to his friends, his canonical *very explicit* self loathing, his bravery and desire to protect everyone even at the cost of his own life, and most of all, everything that happened to him in ch4.

[mmufanatic]

i don’t know a lot about dr who but your ideas for a mmu/who crossover sound fascinating!! please feel free to ramble more about your ideas im so curious…

Hello! It's really nice that someone is interested (also more doctor who and mmu fans, yay!). I've only watched up to Series 10, so all the crossover/ headcanons (idk what you would call it) will be from those episodes (none after series 9).

I love the idea of Alexander being Rose in Dalek in Series 1 because of how much empathy he has and I headcanon him to have hyperempathy (he would've hugged that dalek without a second thought) and I can imagine in New World (series 2) George being absolutely FURIOUS when Lady Cassandra takes Alexander's body and going super protective like 'I'm getting Alex back in one piece, thank you very much! Not so much as a cold!' Also, I headcanon Alexander to be scared of cats, so he would not get on well with the cat nuns.

Also, in The Empty Child( series 1) I think it would be really funny if it was George who was rescued by Jack Harkness because I think he would absolutely DIE (the rest of the episode would just be Daisy teasing him, Hazel like 'aw that's cute' and Alexander trying to get them together while George is mortified).

I also like to imagine maybe Zosia and Anna can communicate with the TARDIS in case of emergencies or possibly working for UNIT (maybe Bertie and Harold too. I can imagine Bertie and Harold working with them). Uncle Felix would be head of UNIT ofc, with Aunt Lucy unofficially in charge.

Also, I think that Daleks in Manhattan would've been greatly improved if a tiny Alexander had just appeared and Daisy had been like 'The daleks I can cope with- THAT however...' I think that Hazel and Beanie would've just melted at a baby Alex (well for the time in Daleks in Manhattan he would've been 9 or 10 I think but a 6 year old Alex defeating daleks would be so cute! Or George as Amy in The Eleventh Hour would be really funny because he would possibly be more furious than her when Daisy/ Alexander/Hazel /Lavinia turns up like 10 years later. The possibility of a baby Junior Pinkertons in one episode would be so cute! (And Daisy's reaction would be very funny).

I think that the thought of George being River Song would be interesting too (out of all the MMU characters he seems like the most likely to write on the most ancient cliffs in the universe because someone wasn't answering their phone). Or George or Daisy as missy/ master with Alexander or Hazel as the doctor would be very funny.

I can really imagine George as Clara (like in Asylum of the Daleks:

Daisy: How dare they! I'm much cleverer than him, why don't they want my brain?

Hazel: Do you want to be converted into a dalek?!

Daisy: that's not the point)

Also I can imagine Alexander trying to keep some random little alien creature they found on a planet as a pet and then it gets very big and possibly blood thirsty which becomes a whole other episode (think the red dwarf episode when it transpires that the evil, giant squid in the water tank was there because Cat brought it on board when it was a baby).

(Alexander: but it was so cute!

George looking at the engine which has a big bite out of it and just general carnage in the console room: For fucks sake Alex!)

George would be over the moon at a TARDIS wardrobe with all the different clothes from all the different times in it. Also, George would want to go back in time to try and solve unsolved mysteries (Hazel would not be that keen after a near escape from Jack the Ripper).

I also love the idea of the TARDIS just knowing that they are neurodivergent and putting weighted blankets and fidget toys where they'll find them (it would be interesting if some of them were from the 1930s and only found out that they were in a modern era).

I would also imagine that if they came across an alternative universe where there were different versions of themselves that would be funny (imagine 2 Alexanders and 2 Hazels desperately trying to keep 2 Georges and 2 Daisys in check).

Thanks for the ask :)

[icebrooding]

Honestly even though I didn’t have the same negative reaction that much of the online gw2 community did, I do kinda appreciate some of the learnings for story they outlined in the retrospective 😅

I agree completely. I personally loved Secrets of the Obscure, I rate it very highly while acknowledging that it definitely had flaws. Handling as many new characters and lore topics was going to be difficult, and I understand the frustration of people who felt that things felt a bit underwhelming or glossed over, I really do. I feel it myself.

Personally, however, I think those things affected me less because I've always been rather focused towards story, and digging as much out of it as I can in a rather aggressive way, in almost everything I enjoy, and that allows me a different (not necessarily deeper) level of enjoyment. Sometimes I may come to conclusions or thoughts that may not be there actually, or may not have been the intent, but the enjoyable thing is that art is subjective, and if nothing comes out to specifically say 'this reading is wrong', I can satisfy myself with those interpretations.

Why else do you think I can sit here and write essays on 'here's why X character makes me think they're like Y based on one throwaway line or an implication in a piece of lore in a book I found on the overworld' :P

This is definitely how SotO appealed to me, because there was a lot there that I could dig into personally and get my mental cogs ticking. But on the same note, I get why people want more concrete answers, more time spent on developing new threads. I would have loved SotO to be longer, myself, because I truly enjoyed the world and characters it brought to the table. That's what Wildflowers will be for--

Gameplay, I think could have definitely been improved. While I wasn't particularly fussed with the first or last Nayos release, the middle one is where I felt the impact hardest. But I do enjoy things like Rift Hunting, Convergences, etc, I just pace my time. I know that's easier for me though since I only started playing in '22.

I appreciate the transparency on this front, in all honesty. I've only dabbled into game dev myself in times long past (I feel old, but I'm really not), and can understand the need to push out an excuse for why x or y didn't turn out as expected, but I can respect flat-out saying 'we tried to do too much, and we failed to achieve what we set out to'.

And with the certain extreme-level volatile reactions in other sections of this player base, I think recognising that treating the places where SotO tripped over itself as something not done maliciously is important. Not saying that criticism isn't deserved, but I have seen some genuinely horrific things said that make me feel ashamed to be part of this community.

All in all, I'm going to hold my faith in the next expansion and am greatly looking forward to it, and seeing how these lessons take. I've stuck through way worse in other MMOs, so one expac that struggled to handle everything it set out to do is barely a blip on my radar.

And I feel this is the best moment to bring up my general blog's attitude: it's no secret how horribly negative this playerbase can be, to the point I've had to turn off map chat a number of times because the negativity is so constant it is genuinely bad for my mental health. I have fairly severe depression, I do not need to sit here and wallow in even more negativity. I think too much of the world as it is right now thrives off of negativity and hating things and not being happy, so when I talk about story beats or characters, etc, I always try to do so in a positive way. I'm just here to enjoy something that's come to mean a lot to me, not to sit here and hear for the eightieth time about why X is a shit character or Y is the worst thing that ever happened or Z blah blah blah.

[st-danger]

hey! i'm really not a writer but i have to take a class on it next year and i'm really scared by it, so i'm trying to get opinions and whatnot from people who do write. (that's why you might see this ask in a lot of authors' inboxes heh) i'm wondering if there's anything that helps you get in the mood to write, if there's anything that causes/makes worse a writer's block, if you find it easier to write when given a prompt or if you prefer to make things up completely, if you prefer writing a story or more of an essay, how long does it take you to finish something and how do you know it's finished? and i know a lot of these could be answered with "it depends" but please avoid saying that if you can! thank you for helping me!

MISSED THIS, TOO. I hope you see this, I'm so sorry I'm just only now responding. In order:

1.) Don't wait to get in the mood to write. The best thing you can do is avoid waiting until the mood strikes you, and just sit down and do it. If you can sit down and write a ton because you have a mighty need, fantastic. If you sit down and feel uninspired but find a groove, suddenly you'll hit your stride and be in the mood. This is fantastic. Or, you might sit down and write three sentences and close it up for the day. This is also fantastic. Writing is a muscle to be worked out, and the more you do, the better. Don't wait for inspiration to strike. Create your own.

2.) In my opinion, writer's block is caused by one of two things: getting burnt out by it, or getting in your head about it. If you're feeling burnt out on a particular project, start something new. If you're getting in your own way, remind yourself not to edit as you go. Write down whatever comes to you and don't worry about quality. Just get it out. I find that I do best when I push through, and I do my very best to sit down and write every day, even when I don't feel like it. Even when I write next to nothing. I think that doing this has improved my writing a lot. Of course, I'm just one guy, and this approach might be frustrating instead of helpful. Some people do best taking a break for a few days and coming back to things with fresh eyes. If you're stuck on a particular part, you're always allowed to skip to another scene you feel like writing. I tend to only write in order because that's what's comfortable for me, but skipping around can help you keep momentum.

3.) I don't know if I have much of a preference for prompted versus my own thoughts. Both allow for creativity, and if you ever find yourself in a rut, being handed an idea and asked to run with it can help you get out of said rut. If the prompt is open-ended, I have more than enough space to put my own spin on things. If it's very specific, then I have a very clear framework which often makes things easier. If it's my own, I get to play in my sandbox and fuck up the sand castles however I want. Benefits to all, and I would encourage you to do both.

4.) How long varies greatly, especially with fanfiction, especially as I write different characters and figure out how I want to write their voices. On average, if I'm in my groove, I can write between 1,500 to 2,000 words in an hour, though "Reap What You Sow" is about 3k and I got that out in slightly over an hour. Usually takes about 3 hours for me to write and revise something around 3k. Anything above 5k I usually have to do in multiple sittings, and I'll space it out over two days. My ADHD tends to make marathon writing sessions unhelpful, and I don't think I can maintain quality.

5.) I struggle writing longer pieces, I really do. I've played with shorter pieces for so long, and because I have more familiarity and confidence in those, I would say I prefer it. But I'm really, really trying to write longer things- more flexibility, more room to play with. But oh my fuckin' god, it's really difficult for me. As I push myself more in that direction, though, I can see myself being much happier working with it.

6.) This is a tough one to quantify. It's more clear-cut in fanfiction than it is my original writing. Sometimes it just feels right. Other times you'll nitpick for ages. Eventually, though, the story needs to be finished because...it needs to be finished. There's always more editing and revising you could be doing. Always. If you're unsure, leave it alone for a few days, come back, and read it out loud. If there's a good sense of satisfaction when you finish reading the last line, go for it. Be done and get it out to be shared so others can enjoy it. It's an intuitive thing that will be clearer and easier to decide upon the more you do it.

Don't be scared for your writing class!! Be stoked that you have a new muscle to train and a new hobby to dive into.

Again, sorry this took so long to get answered, and I hope there's something of value in here for you. My ask box is open if there's any follow up or anything else I can (hopefully HELPFULLY) answer.

<3

[super-who-locked-me-in-here]

Tag 9 people you want to get to know better

Thanks @feralremains for the tag! I'm just gonna follow your lead for what to post about!

Most recent ship: I would say Hannigram but I actually watched Our Flag Means Death for the first time more recently than Hannibal, so I have to say GentleBeard even though I am currently obsessed with Hannigram.

Most written about ship: Again, I would say Hannigram because I've posted the most about them, but I haven't actually written anything substantial about them (in terms of word count). I did once write a 45,000 word fic for a different fandom, but it was an x reader so I can't count that either really. Given all that, I think the ship I've written the most for is Yona/Hak from Yona of the Dawn. I've written about 9,000 words of fic for the two of them.

Ship that got me into fanart/fanfic: As far as fanfic goes, I started out writing almost exclusively x readers for a bunch of different fandoms. I'm pretty sure the first actual ship I wrote a fanfic for was Destiel. As far as fanart, I don't actually spend a lot of time drawing the same character or ship over and over in most cases, but I do remember that the first ship I ever drew fanart for was Mika/Yuu from Seraph of the End:

It's not a great piece of art but I drew it when I was 15 and my art has improved a lot since then. You can also see (what I think is) my most recent ship art below of Yona/Hak from Yona of the Dawn:

First ship: I mean Avatar: the Last Airbender came out when I was just a little kid, so I can't say I shipped it the same way I understand shipping works now, but I remember watching it and being like "Ew why is Katara with Aang she should be with Zuko."

Last song I listened to: Last song I listened to was Polyphemus from EPIC: The Cyclops Saga. If you haven't heard of the musical EPIC, I would definitely recommend checking it out. It's not entirely released yet though. Only two sagas are out and I think the creator (Jorge Rivera-Herrans) said there's a total of nine sagas.

Last movie I watched: My friends and I have a movie night every Friday, and this past Friday, we watched The Princess Bride and Pride and Prejudice. Also let me tell you, movie nights have greatly changed since the soundboard was introduced to discord. There's nothing like hearing Mr. Darcy say "I love... I love... I love you." followed by a vine boom.

Currently reading: I'm trying to get myself into reading Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. I'm 2 chapters in but my brain keeps wanting to gravitate towards the fanfiction world, so I'm actually currently in the middle of rereading the Hannigram fic Ethics and Aesthetics by FragileTeacup on AO3.

Currently consuming: I just finished stress-eating a bunch of chicken nuggets while sitting on the bathroom floor WOOO! My cats came to comfort me and also to try and steal some chicken nuggets.

Currently craving: idk a lot? I want a jamocha shake from Arby's but there's no Arby's near my house. I want to learn how to rollerskate but I'm afraid of breaking my spine again and I was never good at it even as a kid. I want to see my big sister but she and her husband are too busy for us until Christmas (but not for other friends and family).

People I'd love to get to know better, but don't feel pressured to post about yourself if you don't want to:

@stranded-labyrinth @honeygrahambitch @petrowriting @fishing-motif @teacupmotif @doemotif @ghostforwhat @bloody-hands-motif @pikslasrce

[lancerious]

Deltarune Chapter 2 Replay Review

In the past I've talked about Deltarune Chapter 2 in little pieces, but never gave a full in-depth review on it. After recently revisiting the chapter for the first time in months--or even years--I think it's time I actually put out a more comprehensive, thought-out post regarding my feelings on the chapter as a whole.

If you know me at all, you'll be aware that I greatly prefer Chapter 1 over Chapter 2. I always praise Chapter 1 whenever I can and sometimes might bash Chapter 2 as being the lesser of the two. And today we will see if my opinion on it has improved, stayed the same, or gotten worse.

I'll be going over the bad things first to get the negativity out of the way, move on to the good stuff, and finally end with the points I don't have strong opinions on. Please keep in mind that this is all my own opinion, and you are free to have a different one. Without further ado, here we go!

Part 1: The Bad

Queen. I've admittedly never been a major fan of Queen and never understood the hype around her. And unfortunately, a couple of the problems I always had with her have only become more accentuated and pronounced in my recent playthrough. I still find her voice annoying as always, arguably even more so. And she still does appear a bit too often for my taste. However, these are the only major issues I have with Queen as a character. I find nothing else about her inherently negative or frustrating, and I'll get into the good aspects of Queen later.

Noelle. This is going to make some of you upset I'm sure, but I still don't really like Noelle. I never did, and it's unlikely I ever will. She shares the same issue Queen does: she appears too often in the chapter. I understand that as more chapters are released, more characters will be introduced and take center stage, and there is nothing wrong with that. However, Noelle being one of those characters was, and still is, not my cup of tea. There are some things I do like about Noelle too, and I'll also get into that later.

The general tone of the chapter. One thing I really liked in Chapter 1 was how it felt a lot more serious in its tone. Yes, there were silly moments--need I bring up Lancer?--but there was always this sense of unease I felt. Of something threatening awaiting me. Chapter 1 knew what it wanted to accomplish in its tone from the get-go and did an excellent job at building suspense little by little. But with Chapter 2, I never really felt that. Everything felt silly all the way through, and the actual villain wasn't threatening until the very end. That moment when Queen controlled Berdly came out of nowhere and nothing built up to her battle. Everything just felt messier, like the chapter itself didn't know what it was doing. Yes, there was a plot, but the tone was having an identity crisis.

Part 2: The Good

Queen, again. There are some aspects I do like about Queen. As messy as it felt, her controlling Berdly was a decent surprise and had me thinking things were finally going to get intense. I also like Queen's bond with Noelle and how she genuinely wants to protect her, even if Noelle doesn't see it that way. It gives Queen some depth, and that's always nice to see.

Noelle, again. There are also a few things I like about Noelle. I think her overall personality is pretty good, and her background and history with other characters is very intriguing to me. I also appreciate how she befriends Susie by the end. It's always nice seeing Susie connect with more people.

Berdly. In the past I've mentioned how I always appreciated Berdly for who he was as a character, but never paid much mind to him. But after playing Chapter 2 for the first time in forever, I am pleased to announce that I like him a lot more now! Berdly was a major saving grace in the chapter for me. Berdly felt a lot like the Lancer of Chapter 2 in terms of comedy and general charm, and I found myself laughing at his lines quite a lot. His personality, while definitely needing a bit of personal improvement, is very unique and helps create some hilarious scenes. His design is very nice too, and I think he's a great addition to the game and its continual story.

Spamton. For a long time, I felt the same opinion with Spamton as I did with some other characters: too many people like him, therefore he must be overrated. As time went on, my opinion on Spamton slowly started to change and improve. And after my playthrough, I absolutely understand the hype. Spamton is honestly one of the most unique characters Toby Fox has ever created. Everything about him is great, from both his regular and NEO designs to his voice/dialogue to his backstory and everything in between. You genuinely feel bad for him, but know he needs to be stopped. Everything just fits so well, and I'm very glad I gave Spamton a second chance. I'll probably always like Jevil more--speaking of which, Jevil and Spamton lore must be given at somepoint--but I'll always have a soft spot for good ol' Spamton.

Chapter 1 characters. Even though Chapter 2 is primarily consisted of new characters, Darkners from Chapter 1 still show up at the beginning. I will admit I was very bummed out when both Lancer and Rouxls Kaard turned into stone, but I was able to find other things to enjoy about the chapter. As more chapters release, it'll be more difficult for Toby Fox to fit in characters from all chapters, though knowing him, I'm sure he'll be able to find a decent balance.

Part 3: The Indifferent

The theme. I've always been a fan of sci-fi and futuristic themes, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Chapter 2 was this exact theme. It felt strange, considering this genre/theme isn't something Toby Fox is known for, but I still think it was decent. However, I don't think it's great. I personally believe Chapter 1 had better world-building and overall design. This isn't to say Chapter 2 is worse by any means. It just doesn't resonate as strongly for me as Chapter 1's fantastical, card-centric theme did.

The length. I know this is going to sound odd, but I think Chapter 2 is a bit too long. I always thought longer was better, but after playing Chapter 2 again, I realize that's not always the case. Yes, we get more world-building and character dynamics, but the plot suffers. Take Chapter 1 as an example. Yes, it's shorter than Chapter 2, but character dynamics, world-building, and a cohesive, appropriately-lengthened plot were all given in the perfect amount. With Chapter 2, so much time is spent wandering around and solving puzzles while not moving anywhere plot-wise. I was initially going to put this point in the negatives section, but decided against it as there are some positives to a longer chapter. I just think it could have been handled better.

Queen, yet again. There is one aspect of Queen I wanted to put here, and that is her status as a villain. For a long time I always condemned Queen for being a weak villain, and I still feel that way to a degree. However, I do realize that villains can come in multiple forms. You have your seemingly purely villainous foe in the form of Spade King, though I personally believe he'll become an understandable villain by the end and get a redemption arc. But not all villains necessarily need to be one-dimensional. I think adding different types of villains is good, even if it's not something I personally enjoy. Because of this, I think Queen's status as a villain is all right. Not too great, and also not something I care for too much, but certainly has its own place and charm for some.

Well, that's it! These are all the major things I wanted to go over and cover in my review. I'm sure there are more minor things I could add, but I really wanted to focus on the stronger, more important things. I'm sure some of this is relatively controversial, but I'm used to that by now :P. Now, for the reveal on whether or not I like Chapter 2 more, less, or if my opinion has stayed the same. Drumroll, please...

YES! I do like Chapter 2 more than I used to. It's not by a major amount--I still think Chapter 1 is superior in multiple ways--but Chapter 2 is NOT as bad as I initially thought. Congratulations Chapter 2, you earn a medal :).

[cloventine]

Hi hi!!

So recently I've gotten just a tiny amount of attention recently (which is so awesome cool yippee!) And I've decided to make a little about/get to know me type post so that way I feel a little bit more transparent and you guys get to know me a little better!

Introduction

So as everyone knows my name is Clover! But I have two other names too, Clementine and Dustin. I don't have a preference for these names at all but if you had to ask me which one was my favorite I'd have to choose Clementine lol. But no matter what you can call me any of those names!

I am 18 years old (though everyone both online and irl automatically assume I'm in my 20's I have no idea how and why I'm literally the silliest creature) and my pronouns are they/she, again I don't have a preference to which pronoun is used so feel free to pick one

A little bit more about me

I know I don't have to share this but I feel since my dms are open to anyone it should be at least shared! I have ADHD and Autism, it sometimes does make talking a little bit harder, as sometimes i will forget to respond and if I do just message me again, I promise you're not bothering I'm just forgetful. I also do tend to have a "wait your turn to talk" issue (which has improved greatly but still there lol) but that goes more so for like a VC type deal (which I am open to those too)

Secondly, I don't have much as far as DNI (other than the basics like if you're an asshole, racist, any kind of hateful phobic yahda yahda) but if you are 15 or below please do not interact with me personally (I would also advise to not interact with my page). The only trigger I have is real world pregnancy stuff, anything that has to do with irl pregnancy I really don't want to hear it, it makes me feel uncomfortable. I would also appreciate it if you use tone indicators, if you don't that's fine and dandy but sometimes i will ask if something is a joke or sarcasm.

My hobbies

Here's some things I like to do!

Drawing (big one, digital and traditional)

Playing Video games (I'll get to what my favorites are)

Writing(I'm still working on this, I'm really bad at it but I like writing characters, talking about scenarios, and sometimes rp)

Programing(I'm still majorly learning how to do this but I have a huge interest in it)

Here's some more things I'm into! Or Special interest!

Air planes

Computers

Retro technology

Biology

Plant biology

Botany

Bugs

Flowers

Some media I'm into (Video games and Shows etc etc)

Splatoon 3

Splatoon 2

SSBU

Mario kart 8 deluxe

Minecraft

Skyrim

Animal crossing

Pokémon Scarlet

Pokémon alpha sapphire

Pokémon Sun

Pokémon ultra sun

Pokémon X and Y

Nintendo dogs and cats

Kirby super star ultra

Halo (game series as a whole

Elden ring

Sims 4

For honor

Halo infinite multi-player

GTA 5

Flight sim

War frame

Shows and movies

Breaking bad (this is really the only TV show I like the rest is cartoons and anime honestly)

Spongebob

Hellsing

FMA

FMA Brotherhood

The FMA movie (I forgot the name lol)

Wall e (the most movie ever)

Star wars (unfortunately)/j

I can't remember every thing I'm into, but you can always bring up stuff in conversation or if I don't know a piece of media I would love to learn more about it!

So I think this is about it, I would love talk to everyone sometime! I'm really open to making new friends n stuff and I would even love it more talking about those medias/ ocs ^ ^!!!!!!

I'm also open to playing games with people too! My switch friend code is

SW-6769-7884-8275

And my xbox gamer tag is CL0V34 K1DD with a halo profile picture!

I hope I can talk and meet everyone soon!!

[evergardenwall]

tagged by @hakkiofficial <33 ty bestie!!

1. what book are you currently reading?

already said it in my other tag game post but it's @stjohnstarling's novel the sacred sins of father black! it's the story of a fbi agent in pursuit of a wine forgers gang, who arrives in a small town with a mysterious and morally ambiguous priest 😌

2. what do you usually wear?

most of the time, i'm wearing pretty bland (but comfy) outfits composed of jeans or sweatpants, with t-shirts and sweaters lol. the t-shirts only sometimes happen to be like, bright orange camp half-blood ones i bought on etsy...

i do wear colorful/flowery long skirts from time to time, though!

3. how tall are you?

161cm tall!

4. what’s your star sign? do you share a birthday with a celebrity or historical event?

taurus! my birthday is on may 8th and i literally share it with hiromu arakawa :-)

5. do you go by your name or a nickname?

i go by sam online and by my legal first name irl. my friends use a nickname derivated from the latter!

6. did you grow up to become what you wanted to be as a child?  

not really, but, hey, i am still young and learning how to live! i still have time to work towards these goals! <- has been crying because they don't have the art skills they wished they would have when they would be older, while their art student friends have been greatly improving for obvious reasons. the feeling of falling behind is constantly present these days lads.... u_u"

7. what’s something you’re good at vs something you’re bad at?

i think i'm pretty great at reading (fast) and noticing misspellings on other people's texts when tasked with proofreading (yes this is very specific lmao).....also i've been doing my duolingo norwegian lessons daily for almost three months now and i'm amazed by the fact i've managed to stick to this one (1) routine when i usually am not able to keep up with this kind of thing. learning that language has done wonders to my self esteem for some reason WDXSKDHFKS

hmmm i'm bad at relaxing and getting things done. and i'm kind of a shitty sibling :/

8. if you draw/write, or create in any way, what’s your favorite picture/favorite line/favorite etc. from something you created this year?

not from this year but one of my favorite written works is an old fanfiction wip i wrote back in 2019 (i think) and have been re-reading with my friends last week. they ended up binge-reading the manga it's based on thanks to me and... i don't have any specific favorite line but receiving compliments on this piece of writing from them made my day and i am even more proud of it <3

9. dogs or cats?

cats, obviously. my favorite creatures....

10. what’s something you would like to create content for?

i want to draw mob psycho fanart!! but i'm too scared to start, it's really stupid 😭

11. what’s something you’re currently obsessed with?

the conman with his autistic boy apprentice show, of course. and also, french political history documentaries have been rotting my brain...

12. what’s something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year?

well. university 🚬

13. what’s a hidden talent of yours?

i don't knowwww....i'll let my mutuals answer that one for me if they noticed anything </3

14. what’s something you wish to have at this moment?

time home alone. disclosure. and a yummy snack.

tagging @wolfsnape @linanord @lokh @mihai-florescu @teabox @sidh-rah @future-circuit @magical-alien @reloaderror @wolfkilling @hammyletto @prizefigures @bakedbananners @sleepcities and @bhatoora 💌