#but alas. I can improve

[potato-lord-but-not]

i actually think all of your faces are very different and detailed to the specific person :)

thank you! I do think I tend to give characters who have the same vibe the same face sooo it’s a good thing they’re all from different fandoms otherwise it’d get so confusing

[moonsun2010]

i love spending 3 hours on frames that will show up for 2 seconds

[lunarharp]

figured i'd do this again..bit early i guess..

[enhanced-operatives-division]

Improvement :3

[demigod-of-the-agni]

I'm indulging you. Tell me about one character you hate and what you would do to change them into something better.

the flood gates have OPENED

the winner of worst character ever is Jun Wong

Most people on this round rock don't know her, or flat out refuse to get to know her, but that's okay. It gives me more reason to really tear into why Jun Wong as a character, as vehicle for a narrative's ideals, sucks.

Simplest terms: She's from the HTTYD spin-off show Dragons: The Nine Realms, is one of the main characters and is the main love interest of the protagonist. The thing is, she is terrible at everything she does. She infuriates me. It's like she is personally setting me on fire and throwing me into an abyss of hate. I just can't /stand/ this girl (read on to find out why).

It's not so much that I Hate her, it's just that she has so much potential but is casually written off as the "love interest" or the "quirky girl" with no defining traits aside from physical ones (like- okay, purple eyes? She's not even wearing contacts, it's clearly genetic because her brother also has purple eyes, and...East Asians don't typically have purple eyes?? it just looks unnatural on her, but I digress)

Back to the "casually written off" point - the studio themselves, Dreamworks, doesn't care for Jun or her character or her arcs. They don't care for her attributes or what she contributes to the entirety of Nine Realms series, aside from being a cheap Astrid Hofferson knock-off.

It's also ESPECIALLY clear that the show does not delve into her heritage very well, or when they do it's all very standard stuff (if not heavily based on racial stereotypes): "intergenerational trauma!" "tiger parenting!" "wanting to do her own thing!" I appreciate the idea, it's just that the execution of it is god-awful and terrible. The Jun-centric episodes that focus on these issues have little to no impact on her character. They're quite literally one-and-done episodes. They're not even filler episodes - if you take all her episodes out, nothing in the plot would have changed, nothing in her character progression would have changed. She still whines and complains and is still the same person she was when she was first introduced.

Fortunately for us, Jun is not a lost cause. Her character can be salvaged and be made so much better!

What I think should be done in order to improve Jun's character is to first change her character design. Let me tell you: seeing her final design in the show when the very first trailer came out made me feel weird (purple eyes bruv). But seeing her initial designs made me want to bawl my eyes out.

(IDs are in each image)

Literally look at her design. She looks so cool here. She honestly looks so much more nicer to look at than what we get in the show (doesn't help that the animation is so stilted). These designs have so much PERSONALITY in them whereas Jun's design in the show is... uh........

bruh i don't even know lol. it's just not a good look for her. I really wished they went with one of the other concept designs. Maybe not the ones with the dyed hair because it Will play into the Rebellion Asian Girl stereotype (since the show can't handle nuance if it was handed to them on a plate alongside a note with detailed instructions) but any of the other hairstyles and outfits would have 1000% translated better. The final design screams Basic Girl With A Purple Colour Palette and god I'm so bored of it. nothing about it is interesting. With the other characters there are other things that draw my eye to them, or make my attention last a little longer on them when they are the focus of a shot, but Jun? Jun's design is so plain. It's like slapping a slice of cheese on a really smooth ass and seeing it slide right off. No I am not ashamed to use that comparison because that is what I feel all the time when I look at Jun. Get a boring design, get bored reactions (and unhinged comparisons).

But honestly, the truly best way to really elevate her character is to, you know, do more research on her heritage and her background. East Asian cultures are RIPE with a variety of stories to tell - tying her connection to dragons via her love for stories (and consequently stories being her only connection to her distant father) is such an interesting facet of her already-established character to me!! Why not continue exploring that?? HTTYD has always been about family and friendships, so why not focus on what's Not present in her life: her father? He's still alive, mind you, but for reasons unknown has distanced himself from Jun, and Jun still desperately craves for him through her love for mythology - why???? what did they do together??? Why should I care about Jun's love of myths and the world beyond mortal comprehension??? Contrary to popular belief, this information MATTERS!!

(Also we need to do More Research in general. The Tarot Card Incident in S1 will never not get on my nerves because GOD you couldn't have picked a more easier thing to research!! You could become experts within days!! And yet you still got it wrong!!! And EYE am not even a Tarot card expert!!! The Tarot cards are literally never brought up again after the first five episodes of the show, so there goes another facet of Jun's character down the drain.)

Additionally Jun needs to be given authority over her own character progression. So far it's always been A Person Is Opposing Me And I Have To Overcome That. They Don't Like Me So I'm Gonna Make Them. She's constantly being taken advantage of in her own episodes (S6E3), and it becomes more of race to the viewers on whether or not she can actually pick up borderline manipulative behaviours. (That whole episode was. uh. red flag after red flag. I hated that episode.) It is a disservice to the character to constantly place them back at square one after every victory, and I become more frustrated for Jun than by her actions. Maybe it's because it is set in stone for her to be the Astrid to the protagonist's Hiccup; they damage her authority and independence to benefit the status of the hero (who is most absolutely a fuckwad, but we can talk about him another time).

There's also an annoying inconsistency in how Jun's quality as "mystic nerd/quirky girl/smart one" manifests in the show. Like, it's so obvious that she's capable of critical thinking and using her prefrontal cortex and making unique connections with the world around her she couldn't be anymore neurodivergent if she tried; I'm more inclined to believe that she can pick up a variety of skills in a matter of minutes just because she wants to. She is Actually Smart sometimes, but the show itself disregards this and dumbs her down and gets her into stupid situations (like the aforementioned Red Flag episode). And I honestly don't know why (racism. god forbid having a woman of colour make her own decisions). If you want to have her be the Quirky Girl, let her be Consistently Quirky. I want a Quirky Girl who knows what she's talking about and refuses to be bogged down by other people. Let her be Silly please.

So. yeah. I'm more annoyed with the fact that Jun Wong has a TONNE of potential as a character but literally with every chance she gets to shine said chance is flushed down the toilet and spat out into a tar pit.

We could have had a complex character who turned to stories and myths both as a way for her to escape the expectations of her overly-demanding mother, and to connect with her absent father.

We could have had a complex character who overcomes her beliefs about herself, challenges the beliefs of the world around her, and wants to make a name for herself

We could have had a complex character who has more recognisable traits that speak to her personality and compliment the interactions she has with the cast

Make her neurodivergent this is the only fuckin way

We could have had a complex character who beautifully represents the intricacies of East Asian cultures, as well as a character whom people of Asian descent can look up to

But alas, these are things considered by people who care about the characters they create. Jun Wong is another victim of studios who "tick the Diversity checkbox and refuse to develop her character further and let her be a multi-faceted vehicle of ideals for the narrative"

also obligatory announcement:

Alex Gonzales is best girl. the only good character in this dumpster fire of a show

[beesinspades]

from the daylight | Vash x Wolfwood | Canon Divergence, Beauty and the Beast Elements, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort | Status: Ongoing

Months after the July disaster, Wolfwood is asked by a small town to kill the monster that lives in the vestiges of an old ship. Although he refuses, a little girl's plea not to hurt her friend sends him on a new course—not knowing the beast he'll find in the wreckage might be more than he bargained for.

[safyresky]

Scrimbly Jacqueline 36/52: tfw you sacrifice yourself to save a pal from experiencing The Horrors™ too early and fucking up the ENTIRE timeline

She's seen the time fracture in action. She knows exactly what it wants to do. And she knows exactly what she needs to do. The moment she sees the fracture zero in on Lucy, she's running. She drops her staff (it disappears before it even hits the ground) and relies on her instincts. Shoves her hands back as the summer sprite glamour falls. The snow jumps up to aid her, but it's not enough, it's not enough, she needs to use her full power set or it'll be too late and Lucy— She grits her teeth. No. No. She's not gonna let that happen. The snow pushes her forward as she reaches up and tears the simple silver bangle with the small hourglass charm off her wrist, tossing it down into the snow behind her. The second glamour drops. Her powers are at her full disposal once again and she is flying across the battlefield, piercing blue eyes set on the large, dark, fragment hovering dangerously above Lucy. She'll make it, but only just. "Wait!" "What are you doing?!?" "J—Winnie! Winnie, STOP." She ignores every single warning. Mel, Jack, and her Lucy fall on deaf ears as she closes the gap between the splintered piece of time and pre-Horrors Lucy. "This is gonna hurt like a bitch," she says, and springs off her pile of snow like a diver jumping the high dive, arms out, crashing right into Lucy as the fracture hits her right in the back. It's breathtaking. Literally. She can't breath. Pain blossoms. In sharp succession. Onetwothree (all THREE?? REALLY? FOR FUCK'S SAKE, she thinks) shink-shink-shink and she is bleeding, she is bleeding so so bad but Lucy is tucked up against her and is safe, she's in one piece and she is there and she is okay. They fall to the floor with a thud, rolling for a moment. She grabs the snow, stopping herself, letting Lucy go. The redhead rolls once more before managing to stop herself and sit up on her knees, watching with horror as 'Winnie' pushes herself up. A puddle of blood is quickly spreading around her, and in the distance, Mel and the other Lucy are panicking, frazzled, wands out and at the ready as they rush across the field towards them. Blood seeps between her fingers. She coughs; a dribble of red creeps out the corner of her mouth. She moves her right hand away from her chest, blood glistening against her pale palm. She winces. Her left hand is still holding her stomach tightly, glowing a light blue now. There is a sharp cracking sound as ice blossoms across her stomach, a feeble attempt to stop the bleeding. Lucy can't help but let out a sharp gasp. She looks up at her, then; a sharp, piercing blue gaze, concern lining her features. She coughs; blood splatters. "Are you okay, Luce?" Lucy doesn't say anything. She is transfixed, staring at the blue eyes, the very very familiar blue eyes. She thinks back to that familiar warm presence, acutely felt as she sought to help Jack. The warm presence that had returned every time she was near older Lucy's friend. "Jacqueline?!"

I think this is number 3?? Of 5?? Of the @kscribbs suggestions! This one is delightfully angsty. I've mentioned before about how I bug her about a "The Forgiven" AU that involves ML Lucy and Jacqueline time travelling and nonsense ensuing? Yeah! This is where this is from 🤭🤭🤭

Quick Facts:

Mel knows from the get-go who Jacqueline is. Lucy, as well, but that's because she doesn't really need to disguise herself the way Jacqueline does!

The pair of them pop into this timeline to take care of a time fracture that escaped from their timeline, and immediately get their asses handed to them bc it was stronger than either of them expected—the question is, why?

They go to Mel after that immediate defeat and stay with her while they figure things out

They both have a glamour to appear younger; the little bangle I describe? FT gives it to them to help with said glamour and make their powers seem not as advanced as they are, since they're trying to appear the same age as Forgiven!Lucy

Jacqueline has a second glamour she wove into her staff to make her appear more summer spritey than winter spritey. Since she's dead in this universe, she disguises herself as a summer sprite and goes by Winnie (short for Winifred, she claims, and definitely NOT Winter which is definitely NOT her middle name because she's definitely NOT a very alive and well Jacqueline from another universe) for reasons. Which I have. But am too sleepy today to elaborate on, lol.

Forgiven!Jack and Lucy are sus but Jacqueline is okay at keeping her true identity on the DL, probably bc Lucy and Mel are a HUGE help with that bc let's be real, Jacqueline ain't SLICK

They drag her to the Springs and then CS General after this. She is a terrible patient and her non-existence causes problems in CSG and so does she

But she'll be okay! :)

Forgiven!Lucy finds out who she is after THAT stunt; Jacqueline asks her not to tell Jack while she's bleeding out so, y'know, given the whole bleeding out thing, Lucy agrees (for now)

Jack finds out a few days later after Jacqueline does more dumb shit bc post hospital visit, she gets fed up and misses her wife and kids (that's milf jacquie babes!) and is like I WILL GO FIND THE SPLINTER MYSELF and learns VERY VIOLENTLY why the splinter is so much more powerful than they expected!

Ends up on Jack's couch with a magic shortage and it all goes down then >:)

hmm...I think I'll leave you with that!

Will I ever fully write this thing? I don't know! It's fun to theorize and entertain K with, and this drabble sure was fun, but my GOD her writing is so fucking GOOD I don't think I could match the gorgeous style at all! Please read Miller's Law if you get the chance, it's so so SO GOOD! And The Forgiven, which is an alternate ending to the Jacqueline Dies AU! Which you can find Part 1 of, Blood Upon the Snow, HERE and Part 2: Ghosts of the Past, HERE.

(Like the titles? I've been trying to name that sucker for AGES. Still not totally sold on Part 2's title, but for now it works :)

Design wise, I bugged K for what she thought ML!Lucy would look like at this point as well as Forgiven!Lucy, and she showed me some lovely little doodles and I based them off of those! I really like oldML!Lucy's design a LOT! Look how cool her hair is!

Perspectives and proportions are all off but! A) this is a SCRIMBLY! I'm not supposed to THINK about that sorta stuff! That was the POINT to them! And B) I'm only just starting to refine doodles and it's baby steps! Practise makes perfect!

Colours wise, I am going to fistfight the purples I used for older Luce bc they looked lighter based on the caps and the test lines and when I used them? YEAH. NO. WAY DARKER! IT'S TWO DIFFERENT SHADES AND YOU CAN'T EVEN TELL!!! One day, I'll have a full set of the alcohol based markers I like and THEN I won't HAVE that problem, IN THEORY! AH. And Mel's SHIRT is too YELLOW! GRAHHHHHHHH.

Right. So. This is the FIRST September scrimble! One more and I am caught up to where I should be next week! And I PROMISE the next two are gonna be so cute and fluffy and silly I SWEAR!

[lottiecrabie]

crabie do you have any advice on writing dialogue? i beg you please 😔🙏🏼

this one is a bit trickier for me to give advice on as dialogue is the part of writing that has always come easiest and most instinctively to me. but i will try for you bae😔🙏

i’d say a good technique to make the dialogues interesting is to cut off the boring bits. you don’t need to have characters greet each other or say goodbye, or talk about minute things unimportant to the plot, or all the other small talk we usually have. that’s not interesting to read and doesn’t serve your purpose: cut it out. especially end of scenes. they should be ended on a punch, on their strongest part, on the message you want your reader to leave the scene with, to really feel satisfied. most of the time, that’s not after two characters have wished each other a good day and said goodbye— it’s in the middle of a conversation. (in pfms3 when reader smokes with matty, for example, the scene stops when she says something something ‘i said i was disgusting. or at least i could be.’ there’s no point in continuing after that; the message has been made, and though we understand that they close up the conversation afterwards, it would be unnecessary and, again, boring to read it.)

i also like imitating the incertain pattern people realistically talk in. it’s a great way to convey the emotion your character is feeling; if it’s a complex thought to explain, making them repeat themselves or put breaks in their speech shows the character is thinking and searching their words as they speak, making it a lot more real to the reader. (in galatea, for example, she says ‘he was good, but he just— he didn’t think anyone understood him, you know?’ that little hesitation, her restarting a sentence, makes us believe she’s actually thinking at the same time.) obviously, that technique can be used to show many emotions, like frustration or anger or sadness.

adding other speech patterns, for example using a lot of ‘like, this and, like’ for a character will work on its characterization and give it more depth. i find that characters you can differentiate because they all have their own unique voice is something, though pretty difficult and demanding of artful work, absolutely insane and makes the reading better. (i don’t even think i do that. but let me not critique my own work on this writing advice ask.)

you have to understand that dialogue needs rhythm and, since it’s not being literally spoken and therefore given naturally, you shape it with the prose you write around it. if you’re having a bantery moment or a quick, rapid argument, the dialogue needs to be sharp, to the point, and follow one after the other. in that case, you try to add the less amount of action or prose so people read the dialogue faster and get that feeling. if the moment is slower, if they’re thinking, that’s when you can add inner monologue and prose around it. if you are describing an action but want the dialogue to flow with it, you need to put them in the same paragraph, which gives the reader the understanding it is simultaneously happening. if you want to add meaningfulness to a moment or a dialogue, like a camera zooming in on a face and lingering, you need to describe that moment in more details and, subsequently, give a break to the dialogue. after having only paragraphs with dialogue, having one without give us pause. similarly, if you want to build suspense around an answer, breaking the dialogue with action paragraphs builds tension within the reader, sort of like edging.

in general, it’s important to have breaks. even within a monologue, i think it should be almost always cut in different parts. first because it makes it easier for the reader to follow, but also because it is more interesting if they are doing something. think of actors not saying a monologue on the same note, varying the emotions is what makes it interesting. it’s the same literarily; making it multiple paragraphs, adding insight on what they are thinking or how they are delivering this line, are all things that will make the reader more invested.

adding breaks within a single line is also an interesting technique. think of how much dynamic ‘“Just,” you gesture vaguely, groaning in distaste. “An artist.”’ sounds compared to ‘“Just an artist,” you gesture vaguely, groaning in distaste.’ you can feel how she’s saying artist just by it being separated from the word just. or if you want to add emphasis on the last line of a pretty long dialogue, cutting it with a sentence as simple as ‘you laugh bitterly, shaking your head.’ will put emphasis on the solitary line.

rhythm is something you will probably develop the more and more you write. i think most writers do it instinctively; they don’t question why breaking a dialogue up makes it sound better, they just do it. with time, you’ll probably get there on your own. hopefully this helps still!

[kira-light0]

Sixth redraw: Hawkeye and Trapper (again)

Prev. Next.

(Reference and closeups due to the blurriness under the cut)

[rubberduckyrye]

@w@ I know I'll be thanking myself in the future for it, but fuck is editing the prologue of Twins AU taking forever. There's just....... so so much. Aaaahhhh....

[inkats]

its actually stupid to be so down on my art ive been drawing for like. 5 years. only. and look at how much better ive gotten. everyone u compare urself to's been drawing for over a decade. youve got 5 years more. imagine what it'll look like then <33

[smallishdoggo]

i love FCG and Prism’s relationship, actually. I have only had them for an hour, but what we got was *chef’s kiss*

I think if given the opportunity they could actually be very close friends.

[tuttocenere]

Also want to note how beautiful this Google books scan of the autobiography of Antonio Perez is. Even the stains improve it imho. (Pedacos de Historia o Relaciones, 1592)

[kordbot]

as the weather gets colder and the seasonal depression kicks in I learn that the depression I had throughout summer was not summer seasonal depression but in fact just regular depression

[deanpinterester]

still slowly going through my sab book 2 and season 2 reread / rewatch and i think they made alina a little too nice and palatable in the show, which is odd since it's the one the fully made alina go dark side. book!alina straight up gets mean. like, "loses her temper and nearly slices someone in half" mean. "threatens to hurt baghra for information about the firebird" mean. she doesn't even turn evil in the books. in the show i think she just snaps at mal one time.

[lucifersnarl]

Who wants to buy me a sun plush