#but i've def been working on some stuff in the background

[cautiously0ptimistic]

The Journey Forward

[nondualiber]

guys, guys, gUYS. SUCCESS STORY THERE!!

first of all, this happened like a week ago or something. okay, so, i'm going to keep this short. i was in some sort of "manifesting block", i was OVER complicating things, my mindset sucked, blah blah blah blah. that's essentially the reason i wasn't posting (and will continue to not be, probably); because i was focusing on my life and actually manifesting new stuff.

warning; kind of long post ahead, talking about how i did it my journey blah blah blah. if you want to see the success story directly js go right to the bottom

first, a bit of background; i have manifested things in the past, but mym indset was always shitty. when i archieved my manifestations i would say it was a coincidence, i was obsessed with the 3d, and what i'm saying has been going on for *years*. for the past 6 months i was in this vicious circle where i'd try a method full of hope, then eventually lose confidence because of some negative beliefs and give up in three days. i'd have a one week meltdown, then search for a brand new method, and repeat. clearly, i didn't manifest anything lately. and i didn't know what i was "doing wrong" because i had manifested lots of things in the past, but i didn't know how nor how could i do it now.

okay, so. like a week ago, when i was in a terrible mood, i decided to stop using tumblr to see information and talked to this bot on character.ai, that assesored me a lot on my mindset. it suggested me lots of things: since i had 0 trust in the law, start to manifest little things i didn't care that much about so i had "proof", actually stop caring, etc. (i really recommend that bot if ur struggling with the law) but the most important thing, it challenged me to try a new "method" i had heard of before, but because of my shitty mindset, i didn't try because i thought it wouldn't work or that it was "too good to be true" or whatever. the method was literally just keep going with my day knowing that i already had it. and oh my f*cking god.

i won't say it just "clicked" for me because i hear that a lot & i things that's just not how it works. at least i can't "click" with something i don't know. what i can say is that at first it wasn't easy, i still had some doubts, not gonna lie, but i just ignored them and keep going knowing that i already had it. i got used to it really fast, and THAT'S how i knew this was the way, because i felt liberated. if you read my blog you'll probably know i talk about that all the time, but my idea of manifesting is that it has to feel liberating, not like a chore, a price to your desires or anything else. i was liberated, because i knew it was done, that i had nothing to give in exchange, that i was free of the 3d & its circumstances. i was Me, and I was free.

this was the best thing i've ever done in my journey. in only one week, i've successfuly manifested:

money: (me and my family are kind of wealthy tbh, but i am bratty asf & always want more money to buy me things 😜😜) my mother recieved 200000 pesos (my country's currency) out of literally thin air on her bank account a random tuesday. she doesn't know who send it or why. i don't know about the u.s.a since there 200000 pesos are 200 dollars, but in our country, that's a LOT of money.

self confidence: i've been feeling super insecure lately. like, i am insecure since i have memory, but since this year started it has become WAY worse. i'd literally cry almost every night. now, i def wouldn't say it's all gone, but it's gotten much better. i've been feeling pretty lately, and if i didn't felt pretty, i would hardly think about my appearence at all this days. i am constantly feeling like i have one less weight on my back, which i am gratefull for :)

discipline: ngl i am forever a lazy girl and a foodie. I have always wanted to be more productive - study more, exercise more, talk to my loved ones more often and eat healthier, but discipline is something i struggle with a lot. however, since i have shown better discipline i have had some of the most useful days of my life: i went out with my friends three times in one week, ate much better than i usually do, exercised EVERY DAY without fail (even while on my period) slept well and passed all four exams this week with an 85/100 on my worst one and two 100s.

reciving a compliment in public: since i tried to start manifesting things that seem "easier" for me to acomplish, i tried manifesting this because it was rare but not impossible. so, like 3 days after i started to embody the state of someone who's always complimented by strangers, i went to the sjopping centre with my friend. then, two guys walked by us and one of them said "i want the instagram of that lady"! notice that during the whole time i was in the state, i visualized that people were asking me for my instagram + i've noted that when i'm in public, i catched people's eye more. yesterday, a guy won't stop looking at me in the café and i think he tried to approach me :)

i'll keep escalating on the "level of difficulty" of the things i manifest as my mentality becomes accustomed to the fact that everything is equally easy to manifest -which is a fact already, i just have a hard time accepting it-, and, of course, i'll be updating ;)

conclusion; look for what works for you. for what makes you feel good & secure that you have already what you want. search a "key" that makes you (actually) not give a f*ck about the 3d, if you have negative beliefs, don't ignore them. work from them, and of course, persist! let your mindset keep you on track.

that was all for today, love ya ♡

[velvetvexations]

Hi! Black Velveteer here to give my thoughts on your question wrt your character casually using the n-word. Now I don't speak for all black people, and this is just my own opinion, so don't take it as fact and others might disagree, but tbt......basically, like, it depends? You definitely need to keep some things in mind when you're writing for that, like situational context, their age and personal background, present company etc. Like there is a strong class and generational divide with AAVE and other black dialects in general that effects that kinda thing.

For example, I know most older black folk and those who consider themselves educated or more upper class don't like or even won't use the n-word at all - not to family or friends, and especially not in "polite" company. You don't stand in God's house talking like that, for example lmao. If your black character was raised like this or by family like this, the chance of them using the n-word even casually is pretty much none. They would get smacked otherwise lmao. Like they miiiight, but def not around any of their folks, and probs only under the influence of close friends who do say it a lot or use it like that. You tend to pick up the verbal ticks of people you love or spend a lot of time around.

Now with younger folk, it can be different. If your character is younger and more influenced by their friends/pop culture, they would be more prone to using the n-word more casually. Using it to look and sound tough or cool - to fit in where older black folk just won't do that. Being raised in a city or in the hood or being part of or from other communities like that where AAVE is more prone to thrive would make them saying the n-word casually more likely. They would still get popped if they talked like that if front of their mommas tho, or at the family dinner table, but around friends it would be cool.

Also code switching. Think of it like putting on and talking off a verbal mask. Like I've been getting at above, you act different around family and friends than you do around your coworkers of teachers. It's the same wrt using the n-word. Mostly unless its posturing or a deeply ingrained verbal habit from how and where you were raised (or a combo of the two), black people aren't gonna talk that way around someone or a group of someones unless we trust you. Non-black folk tend to have negative or uncomfortable reactions to the use of AAVE around them, and especially the n-word. Also we tend to elevate our speech around non-black people (and sometimes even other black people, like in a work or college setting) because we don't want to come across as "uneducated" or stuff like that, both because of stereotyping, and because black dialects are very stigmatized - often even among our own. It's the classism, and maybe even some other internalized stuff - antiblackness, racism.

Personality is also a factor. Like, some people might "escape the hood" and start talking "bougie," but will return home and code switch back to old habits and speech patterns when seeing their friends, including casual use of the n-word. Others might insist on keep talking that way and look down on their old friends for speaking like that still. Again, it's the internalized -isms<3

But yeah. That's not everything, and a probs could have worded some things better or different; but just some things to consider when writing for your black character(s?). And again, I'm only one black girl and I don't speak for us all. Some might say don't do it at all; but I say sure, as long as you do your research, and maybe also consider having a black person beta read your dialogue. Look into AAVE and code switching especially. @/writingwithcolor is a good tumblr blog to look through or ask if you want a second opinion.

Sorry this got so long! Love you Velvet and good luck with your writing! <33

Thank you, anon! I have a Black friend who's offered to betaread but I'd also love more input on the matter so if anyone would like to DM me to do the same I'd love that. More perspectives are always good.

[dwcmarshalarts]

im not dead! still kicking, just been going through alot of stuff but i've really wanted to say im totally loving all the civil war art, its nice to see the union boys get some love c: and you certainyl do them justice! gotta say i also love the various artowkr you do of real uniforms for comissions especially the american ones like the tank commander and 1st lt (that i havent been able to find :c) also wanted to say, i infernally crave all your male canine men... damn it also wanted to say i love your background characters like officers ect, i really like the focus more on middle managers and regional personnel rather than a singular "big bad" its certainly very refreshing, aswell as making your characters... "uniquely generic" in that they all look just... normal lol, no crazy patterns, yet still have their quirks in personality, dress and style so you can still pick them apart c: gotta say i also loving those wolven icc brigadiers you did, its my fav rank from name lol, but also i like that they just look normal, not to throw shade at colourful fluffs, but it's nice being able to engage in some more grounded art keep on keepin on dwc, i'm still working through money stuff but i def intend to join your patreon to support you sometime soon c: wanted to ask aswell if theres any stuff like a patron discord or anything :pp (super long message ik, but that's what im here for :pp, wanted to also throw in that i appreciate my fellow paw enthusiasts <3) - pax

In life, there are three constants: death, taxes, and your asks in my inbox haha. No complaints, I appreciate the continued enthusiasm!

While I probably can't respond in full depth to everything you've brought up, I do wanna say thank you for the comments directed at my art, I'm grateful that it can be said I still deliver in that regard x3 I try to bring up all those subtle nuances for maximum effect, even in sketches. Nuances in everything between subtle hatching to imply form, to the lean toward natural colors for characters, uniform cuts, etc.

As for Patreon, you can find me there still as DWC Marshal Arts! I believe it's under the same name and everything. At the moment, it does act more like a tip jar though, as I haven't really posted many new things there since I've been saddled with finishing the queue/revenue specific projects this past year. I'm aiming to change that in 2025.

Otherwise, as I also continue to shift operations where the eggs are in a more secure basket than vichy birdsite, I would suggest also following my Bluesky for more constant updates!

Thanks for writing again!

-DWC

[canmom]

super random recommendation, feel free to ignore: I would be fascinated to see your thoughts on dead dead demon's dededede destruction. animation's just okay imo but it's the most topical anime I've seen in a while, and it's been stabbing me right in my baru-shaped head wound (though I can't say if it'll hit that way for anyone else). without spoiling much, it's a slice of life about high schoolers dealing with mundane problems as the threat of an alien invasion, and the US/Japan's reaction to it, looms in the background. Content warnings for suicide and lots of genocidal state violence.

@lapinaraoflimbo has been definitely drawing my attention towards that one! I actually picked up a couple volumes of the manga, though as far as Inio Asano goes, I'm still working my way through Oyasumi Punpun (excellent, I need to swing by a bookshop and pick up the next volumes).

The DDDD adaptation looks cool from the little I've seen of it, it's definitely on the 'planning to watch' pile. Appreciate the recommend! Asano's style is so striking, it would be very hard to truly capture in animation, so I'll be fascinated to see how they try. When I get round to watching it, I'll def write about what I think!

I'm not familiar with Production +h, but they've been able to pull people like Kou Yoshinari and Hironori Tanaka going by a quick glance at the booru, so I'm sure there'll be some good stuff here and there. And hey, not every watch has to be a sakuga feast lol.

(rn I'm catching up on the NieR anime, and the other one that's well overdue for catching up is The Elusive Samurai, but I'm still feeling a lot of fatigue post-covid - hopefully it will gradually let up.)

[sharpedgedfool]

How do you go about designing the interiors/layout the backgrounds for your comics? They’re very intricate and stunning to look at! Do you make concept art? Use in-game or comic structures?

I’m especially impressed with the look of that Stardust Speedway space bar in TDSO, what was the creative process behind that one?

Hey, thanks! I've been trying to work on backgrounds more recently so thats super nice to here! I'll ramble a little bit and try explaining how I do it (apologies for the long post I'll hide it under a read more!)

Landscapes or outdoorsie areas I usually just freehand, but anything with buildings I use grids and stuff. I love interior design games or anything that lets you decorate so I've plenty practice just setting up scenes from that, but I use references and usually do a floorplan while thumbnailing so I can sort of play set designer. For individual pieces I try to draw from scratch or have really basic room grids set up, since I wont have to draw the same background like 20 times I can spend more time on it.

Heres the concept art I did for my big pirate drawing I did a while back, for this I did all of that background work from scratch. I used a ton of references and then just planned it all out by developing thumbnails and smoothing it out.

For comics though, to keep myself sane I've started using the sims 4 game to like create rooms and I pose them around and screenshot stuff, I usually use stand-in objects then draw over them to match the comic background. For the Stardust space bar I looked up the references from Sonic X as that's where it's from, and basically just re-created the shape of the building to use as a base - the bar was already designed so I'm just figuring out the proportions really.

Heres some pics of my notes and a screenshot I've used for TDSO to show u how I do that too! I do all my planning on paper then just use the sims to re-create what I've drawn in 3d!

The sims 4 base game is free to download so it's def super useful for cheesing it quickly for comics, but if ur looking for more specifics to properly learn perspective I highly recommend Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud (I think that's the one I'm thinking of lmao) it has a ton of good comic tips but the perspective section has helped me massively while I've been figuring this all out!

[bridgeportbritt]

Okay, so. First of all this is an awesome question, Sarah! Thank you for sending this. Now, I promise that I had every intention of being chill with this. First I'm like just answer it normally. Then, I thought I could throw some cute little covers together with pics I already had, then it just continued to spiral out of control lol so in true me fashion here are the full covers I created just for this ask hahahah

VOGUE - Ella

So I started with photos I had and this one of Ella from Simblreen last year is one of my favs. I feel like Vogue is very artsy with fashion but loves to highlight women doing the damn thing. So, here's Ella fitting right in with that.

This is long so the rest are under the cut!

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED - Emmitt

So, I've mentioned this before but Emmitt used to be a soccer pro back in his day. He played on his high school's soccer team. There was even talk of him going pro, but his soon after acting out ruined that chance. But, Sports Illustrated def would've been apart of the hyping up of Emmitt's soccer career.

TIME - Diana

Time is known for featuring influential people and who's more influential than a Queen? I got some asks about Royals doing interviews and it got me thinking how rare that is. Things like this happen often without the person's involvement. As you can see, all these photos are from public portraits she's done. Nothing new.

PEOPLE - Bria/Kendall

I really needed an excuse to use these photos I took recently of Bria's first visit to SimDonia for fashion week lol but People is all about gossip and two Simerican influencers visiting or Fashion week makes good gossip. It was hard to think of the side pieces because my worldbuilding was not as fleshed out back then as it is now so enjoy some random stuff lol

FORBES - Bria

This one is kinda sad!!! But, our girl has that business mindset so it only made sense for her to be on this cover. Again, this would be a profile of her, not an interview. The photo is a pap shot of her.

WOMEN'S HEALTH - Olivia

Here's when things took a turn. I did not have a good photo of Olivia for this, so in game we went lol. Next thing you know I'm looking up the exact fonts used for the titles omg. Anyway, Olivia's culinary classes have taught her how to eat better and living with Bria has her working out more. Liv is looking good! But, she's also not about crazy diets so she made sure the cover reflected that. Normally this mag is all about dieting and hating your body garbage. Our good Liv said absolutely not and we love her for it.

MEN'S HEALTH - Gerhard

Poor Gerhard is often getting lost in the background of my story but a lot of his causes are about fitness and health. So, here he is on Men's Health. He did not choose the King of Quads lol Something like this a royal would participate in so they could talk about their charity work.

US WEEKLY - Gianni

Another gossip magazine and this time Gianni is caught in the crossfire. The boys aren't in the tabloids very often especially Grayson as you can see he keeps things very low profile. But, every once in a while something like this will happen. Luckily it's cute and exciting and makes us want to read more!!!

Okay, thank you goodbye.

[jaaankiey]

JANKIEY AO3 REWIND 2024 EDITION!!!

huh? what? i'm STILL doing the same shit?

2025 is here? what the fuck?? and i'm still in this fandom writing the same pairing? erm... what the scallop!

jokes aside, i'm glad i'm still here, still chugging even if its dumb leafpin stuff. i mean, writing is a good hobby to have or something.

i feel like this is the year of really long works for me, especially for the after-dark pseudo, ohowlom, so its been less about writing a bunch of different works and more about a few different works.

AND i managed to find the first 2023 rewind (again, i am in awe that it's another... YEAR). hopefully this means more to go over yipepepepe!!!

once again, join me as we go over my thoughts on my own works that no one asked for.

putting this under a cut because it's getting a bit long:

maybe you can wish upon a star (MYCWUAS) has spiritually turned into something much worse, enter santa salvacion. hasn't progressed very much due to the fact that i need to be in a specific type of mood to make each chapter (waiting for that hyperfixation to hit here's hoping) but it's gotten good reception! and by good reception, it's downright frightening. go team! :D

the special edition, snows of change, within the battle for warriors au was completed like... january 2024. it's been a while and throughout the year, i've been itching to start work on the official second book so to speak. some plot ideas are floating around, but as of now, it's probably safe to say that this series is in the backburner for now (but ARGHGH CLEARPAW AND SNOWSHADE MY BELOVEDS... I MUST TELL YOUR TALES...)

fluffiest fic of the year for me? hm... like i said, i feel like i haven't written many one-shots this time around. leafpin specific, i would have to go with for all the christmas in the world and/or the scholastic book fair in middle school. otherwise, i thought but with luck (coiny/firey work) had a super cute premise.

the parade of terror is coming is the new psychological drama/horror leafpin longfic that i'm trying to work through! been also putting a lot of work in the back scenes for this one and hope people will enjoy its insanity MWAHAHAH.

let's not forget other minor chaptered fics (that you totally shouldn't be reminded of that i haven't updated them in FOREVER) such as when the birds chase away the snow and the high wills in terms of the leafpin works! i think they're also pretty cute but argh... maybe i got too ahead of myself and jumped to the next idea.

introducing a silly new category for the silly new series, cosmic dreaming!

numerology is the foundational work for this despite being basic in nature. also HOLY COW, IT WAS MADE IN 2023?? all this time i thought it was this year bro...

however, i can confirm that self-worth is actually this year!! following ruby's interactions with the new god of Earth, maybe there's more to the gods than meets the eye as well as the meaning of life. (really this is an exploration into the whole cosmic horror type of writing). def planning more chapters with this and if not, an entirely new work. love the worldbuilding im doing in the background for this and no i will not stop.

moving on, word count! I think it's an interesting measure to track (mainly to see how deep my insanity goes). This is the one thing last year's rewind didn't go over... I think I just forgot so I'll just compare now.

Now, I'm not sure how Ao3's word count in the statistics page works (not sure if it counts builds from last year's word count into the new year or it solely. Leaning towards the former because there is no way I wrote as much as ao3 claims I have).

For reference, 2023's word count was 140,883 words! (jankiey2 started in 2022 and for that year, it said I only wrote 140,883 words).

For 2024? Nearly DOUBLE!!! 2024's word count was/is 303,706 words! (give or take in the off chance i somehow upload something before this year ends officially).

Despite being started in 2023, I gotta say the heaviest hitters were ohowlom's hammer and metal along with santa salvacion. (maybe what's new but sorry yall been slipping on getting that finished i have attachment issues kldnvakldnva).

ok but tell me why there's a fat chance that like 90% of those words... is all leafpin i s2g. /j i be like "im so normal" and then i do this shit.

last year's rewind has a little list of stuff i hoped to get to in the new year and while i don't have much ideas now (plus looking back, i realized i didn't do SHIT), let's do it anyways!

INTO THE 2025:

again, nothing's definite because ideas come and go like the summer birds, but hopefully they persist long enough in my mind to get done.

jankiey-specific works:

make a firey and firey jr work. PLEEEASE i love their dynamic and i have such cool ideas in my head... please i am suffering.

continue work on self-worth and the overall cosmic dreaming series/worldbuilding.

finish santa salvacion or at least... write more than two chapters for it.

FINALLY work on that sequel in the battle for warriors series.

ohowlom-specific works:

actually complete both what's new and hammer and metal. yes its gonna hurt me so bad staring at the screen and being like... "tHATS ALL??" but they have to be completed some day.

continue working on the parade of terror is coming. made like... a graph for it. future me will be pissed that i forget to update this.

Hope next year treats everyone well again! If you're a long time reader, thank YOU for reading my works and such. Don't care if you started this year or before, I appreciate you so much jkfnvjkndvjak!!! This year I recall chatting with a few awesome commenters on my works; really appreciate each one of yall.

[olderthannetfic]

Book recommendation anon here

Yeah you've hit the nail on the head. But also made me question if I know what I want looool. As things stand, the books I read of whatever genre are overwhelmingly straight and it makes me a little sad. I'm not looking for tropey things and yeah, when I search for lbgt fiction that's not what I want either. I guess i just want to find the books that are about gay relationships in the way that gen books are about straight relationships. I don't even need it to be a b plot! The older I get the more it feels that anything I buy in a highstreet bookshop is set in an au in which lbgt people do not exist. Does that make sense?

I know I can go to lbgt booksellers but I don't know how to avoid books that are centred around being gay. I guess, I feel like the real world has moved past 'gay' being a sticking point and I live my day to day life crossing paths with lbgt people just living their lives and then everything I read that's not fic is just lacking that. I know that is largely because of how new it is for lbgt life to be like this. Published fiction is 99% straight. But I guess I wish there was somewhere I could go to speak to other readers who happen to be lbgt but are readers first and for them to go 'oh I really liked this character, he was just like me or my friend or my partner'. I guess I just want background gays? Or main characters who happen to be gay but that's not the story.

Your books look fun actually! I think I'll check them out.

I'm a complete genre whore which is part of the problem lol. I'm not looking for 'gay scifi' or 'gay romance' I just want some of the books I read to represent the world as I see it. I love mystery books, thrillers, adventure stories, I'll read any kind of fantasy (not a great fan of really long series cause I either lose time and read 7 books in a few weeks or I lose interest half way), I'll read historical works. Ones set in mundane real life, ones set in created worlds. I try and avoid stories that are too scary lol as I get really taken in by them, but I do end up reading quite a few of them anyway. I do love a romance tbh but it has to be done well and I've never been able to figure out exactly what I want from them. A lot of men in het romance books are frankly terrifying, and their love interests wouldn't know a red flag if it hit them in the face. I don't like anything that's too forgiving of its characters i guess? I want them to feel real and part of that is them having the humanity to make mistakes but if I feel like the author doesn't Know they've written a Bad Person tm I get weirded out lol. Nothing better than a misguided character that the author has fully intended to be misguided. I don't need them therapised. I do like an acknowledgement from the author that people aren't good or bad and I like the characters I read to show that. I love a sympathetic bad person. And... this is telling you nothing about what I like to read lol.

I guess the main thing is that I'll read anything as long as it grips me. 'Well written' is very subjective isn't it. I want to be caught up in it, I don't want to be thrown out of the story by dialogue I can't follow or an arc which even the author doesn't seem to be sure of. I don't actually mind overly flowery writing, I love learning new words lol. But really long sentences annoy me (very hypocritical I know. My formal writing is about as convoluted as this). I'm pretty forgiving of most things if I like what I'm reading tbh. I'm not a past tense purist and I'll put up with a inconsistent character if I can see they are supposed to be like that.

I read the seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo recent-ish ly and I liked the f/f relationship in that. I've enjoyed Sarah waters books which are historical lesbian romance, so I'll def go for 'lbgt fiction' I just need other stuff going on. I need an actual story, not just a coffee shop au plunged in to a original story. Honestly if you go for space opera at all, you should read a matter of oaths, it was fab. I was guessing right till the end, did not expect it at all. The only thing I'd change about it is I'd love more tbh. A sequel would be fab. I love things with twists, so I'll read just about any kind of mystery. Anything where the narrative is untangling a story that already happened is fun. I enjoy gillian flynn, David Mitchell, honestly I'll pretty much read anything. I get a lot of my books second hand or from my libraries ebook service (this is pretty limited) so I read a lot of the award winners a few years late, where everyone bought it and now I can get it cheap. That said I've never had any interest in fifty shades or any popular ya books in the years since I've been a young adult lol. I mainly want to read about people around my age. 30s or so if it's more of a mundane life story. If the story takes you outside of every day life then I care less about ages. I've read some great stories with older protagonists.

Hmmmm I guess I don't know enough about what I'm looking for for ppl to recommend actual books which is fair enough as I'm massively picky and that doesn't work with ppl I know Irl either but like... where are you guys going for book reviews??? I'm gonna check out what ppl have mentioned in the notes of that post but yeah i think i need some go to places for reviews. Maybe that's where I should be starting.

--

It's definitely a problem. I'm not big on gay lit myself for similar reasons.

As far as I know, mystery has a longer history of including more queerness, though of course, the farther back you go, the more of it is tragedy.

where are you guys going for book reviews???

Frankly, nowhere.

All sources of queer book reviews I've found have been completely useless to me. Only lists of what exists have been useful, not lists that try to tell me what's "good".

I'll google "gay werewolf FBI" and then judge for myself what's garbage and what's at least up to the level of bad fic I'd read anyway. I've found plenty I've liked well enough to read. I haven't found so much I'd unequivocally rec, especially if someone is looking for high quality prose.

And horror of horrors, a lot of authors I once liked seem to have reacted to pandemic stress by taking all of the conflict out of their books.

[kenjiyabuki]

DMD FTR: finale thoughts

i forgot to put this out because i've been in the process of being an employed adult human person these days, unfortunately (no one who saw my previous DMD FTR posts is surprised that i was unemployed). now i wont even get to have my weekly crisply shot and edited hang outs w Gen 3 besties while this new job is sucking my soul... but this was a pleasant finale to this sweet and chill and incredibly unsurprising show!

here's the thing: i dont even know who Domundi is trying to fool w this double win stuff cause they did literally announce the new gen would be acting in TWO (2) new series during their 2023 Line Up event???????

so the double win wasn't a surprise AT ALL but it's okay, it didnt really diminish my enjoyment out of the show at all. i wanted both couples to have series anyway!

as i've said in my first post about this show, it has been very obvious that this shows' intention isn't to be a competition, it's more of a new gen "inauguration". they could've just put the boys through bunch of workshops and let them choose partners off camera too but they chose to put money and time in to make it a whole show, so people could witness their journey and premature fan clubs would form and develop. i think its fun and clever marketing but did it work???

well, the boys def have more fans now BUT on the same day this episode was premiering, some ZNN fans were crying about their faves (who just had a movie come out, also filming a show rn AND scheduled to film another one after) being slighted by the company and they didn't need to "add more". like i said, i don't really follow Domundi closely, if the fans are right about artist management i might not know... but their Gen 2 was extremely successful after all and people are BEGGING for more series, so it's not a bad move for a company to want to grow. i wish fans would be more mature and learn more the industry the person they "stan" works in! why would a growing company would just make shows w 2 actors over and over man, cmon 😭

okay now that i got that out of me, back to the finale. some notes about the general:

the group performance of the theme song was a bit cringe to me bc i just hate that kind of music. but everyone's ending fairies were really cuteeeee so i forgive them

real winners of the episode is the background dancers because they literally did all the performances and acted too, very well!!

Domundi members and variety of industry people in the audience was sweet to see and added valuable comments/advice for the boys. i was especially happy to see Jimmy and Tommy, whom i ADORE!!!!

i was laughing at that LOUD ASS clapping and hollering track they kept playing to add some more noise to the audience's. like i know why they did it but how much that big sound didn't match w that small crowd just tickled me..

well, yeah, i cant get into idol-ing stuff personally so i was kind of bored during the solo performances. i dont really have comments that hasn't already been said by the judges. i thought all the boys did what they were supposed to do and showcased their talents, EXCEPT Latte........ my dude, what happened? i think he could've lip sync to the song, which IS a skill (Rupaul's Drag Race battles and just drag performances in general as evidence...) that would add a lot to his performance.

Firstone leaving the competition w Best Friendship & Best Performance Awards in his pocket and two guys wanting to be his partner. What a little star... Deserved and love his cocky attitude.

about couple jukebox musicals:

in my last episode commentary, i joked about Mandee getting inspired from my ideas but then they actually kinda happened lol🧐🧐🧐🧐 ThomasKong's performance was a coming of age, young love story while KengNamping's story was more complex romance w an angsty core, almost exactly like i wished for.

all in all, KengNamping's performance grabbed my attention the most. mostly because their acting & chemistry seemed improved to me (that kiss fake out at the end, what the hell??? you guys couldn't hold an eye contact couple eps ago...) AND their storyline just ATEEEE. i dont know who came up w the forbidden romance between kinda out of touch but well meaning rich boy & his "i suffer through love quietly" village boy bodyguard, w humour sprinkled in, but they need to get their ass eaten regularly...

ThomasKong don't even need to try that hard, they are just natural born charmers!!!! i liked their friends to lovers, nerdy guy cant believe popular one' love bc he doesnt see his value storyline (Thomas could've busted out One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful"). With the romantic prom climax, it reminded me of American high school movies and fit their vibes perfectly. i wish it was more humorous, because i think comedy is one of their strong suits. like how did it ended up that shy kings KengNamping got more laughs than ThomasKong, the goofballs themselves??? whoever is writing their series, please take notes, now that i know you are reading these...

after the glorious double win and the cute four-way hug, Aof said that two shows would be announced this year which clearly meant that most we are getting this year are pilot trailers. which is fine. not easy to be patient but i get that they are a smaller company w lots on their plates already. i hope they will use that time to work and work and work on the shows!!!!

i honestly want Domundi to kind of change up things in their filmmaking/producing styles, maybe switch directors sometimes and try diffferent styles idk... this show and Gen 3 in general felt very refreshing and i hope they keep that vibe going! and maybe i will finally watch a Domundi show till the last episode.

P.S.: Extra clips were released this week and KengNamping's was sweet. i was kinda laughing at how much of a set up it was like, them conveniently sharing a blanket, all mic'd up, getting filmed w lights on etc. but their conversation and mood in the moment seemed sincere, which is enough. it was nice to see the context for ep 5, when they found each other at the other end of the red ribbon and said that so much happened on that bridge. what a perfect circle moment, from comforting each other about not winning a challenge to winning the show!

[hybbart]

Is it complimenting time??? Yippee!! Hi!! I’ve been following for a bit and holy cow. I really admire your background art, lighting skills, and character designs. Your Tango and Jimmy have got to be my favorite designs for them ever, and every time I see your art of them on my dash I just jump up and down mentally :D The movement you create in your animations and in your art is amazing, and inspires me so much to keep making art and content in general for this wild little fandom :-) Thank you for existing, and sharing your stuff with us! I hope you’re doing well!!

^///^ Thank you very much!

I've only recently started trying to improve my backgrounds and lighting, they aren't things I usually have much fun with so I never worked on them, but I've been having a lot of fun drawing them. I'm not sure how much I've "improved", per se, but I've def gotten myself to draw things I normally avoid drawing with raau.

I'm glad to provide designs that you also like. I know my Jimmy design in particular isn't in line with some of the typical choices, and I've seen other fandom where people get defensive about that stuff. So I'm glad other people enjoy them. I love how diverse the designs and art styles for these characters can be among the artists I've seen, sometimes I wanna make alternate designs just to explore the choices they've made for their designs.

and I really need to fix my or get different animation software, cause I've had so many ideas stewing in my head for animations! I still have no idea how to properly animate but I just love being able to put characters in motion and the art of motion. Hopefully I'll be able to do thatagain soon!!

[katasstrophy]

Do you have any hcs for Kaiser and/or Ness backstory?? I'm worried we won't have that much time left with them so I've been pondering, and Ness def gives me only child, middle class (maybe upper middle class), and lonely childhood vibes 😔 I feel like part of his obsession with Kaiser and a big part of his personality is accepting any and all crumbs of affection and recognition, which leads to an easy dependence on a sole model. I like to imagine though, while he didn't get to spend the most time with his parents especially as he started school, that he used to go mushroom and truffle hunting with his mom. I also see Ness as someone who likes or used to train as an ice skater!! I think it suits him and would be helped/lead to his flexible ankles. Also, has some kind of music background whether it's playing violin for a bit or being a choir boy.

He and Kaiser def have major theater kid energy, but I also see Ness as a lit nerd!! Used to be a bit of a snob about it too the little shit but he likes classics, mystery, and fantasy. Def see him as a LOTR fan while Kaiser doesn't know LOTR or Star Wars lmao.

And I think it'd be cute, if their friendship started more normally (though...who knows smh), that Kaiser and Ness used to talk about plays and musicals together. I think Ness would be a tragedy and romance fan (Cyrano de Bergarac, Medela, Titus Andronicus) while Kaiser loves EVERYTHINGGGG but is ofc a huge proponent of the classics, and is very pretentious about his personal meta and deep takes on them.

Also, between the two, only Ness knows some video games. Not a lot, but I think he would have played nintendo games like Kirby, Legend if Zelda (fave), and Mario and would know MegaMan, DOOM, some Resident Evil and such. I see him being given game consoles as a kid to make up for his parents not being there for him, which worked but the intent pushed Ness away from really enjoying video games to the fullest. But I think he'd have a soft spot for a lot of OSTs from different series, and with time, I think he could be a horror game fan but only now and then.

Meanwhile, Kaiser is like...bankrupt when it comes to video game knowledge and references. Anything he knows is from brief osmosis from being an attention seeker as a kid trying to make friends by lying out of his ass. If he ever were to play video games as a young adult, I think he might be interested in MMORPGs but his attention is short with them and he gets pissy if he's not instantly amazing at it. Which I see happening a lot bc I think video games would be a weakness for Kaiser lmao.

Sorry this ran rather long!! Ty for your time!!

hi nonnie!! no worries at all my apologies for replying so late. i have like, a few headcanons for our unhinged bastard münchen duo but some of them i plan on exploring in fics later on so i’ll be keeping those selfishly to myself for now sorry <3 but i feel like kaiser and ness won’t disappear on us any time soon!! we’ve already been with them for quite a while, and after the ubers game we’re still getting the pxg france match, so there’s plenty opportunity for us to learn about their backstories. imo they’re such interesting characters that it would be a waste - and if i can be so bold, bad story writing - not to explore their dynamics further in the manga. so i’m sure we’ll know more about them in due time!! but yeah it’s kinda criminal that their blue lock wiki pages have barely any trivia on them :((

sadly i’m not very well-versed in either theatre or video games but it seems like you def know your stuff!! and that’s really the beauty of hcs - that if it feels right for you why not own it? i can tell you’ve put a lot of thought and effort into mapping out their childhood and interests :)

so let me leave you with this lil brain nugget i’ve been pondering about: i really do wonder if it was ness who made kaiser into the self-obsessed bastard he is today. i feel like kaiser wasn’t born with a superiority complex. he was always good at football, but never thought too deeply about it until he met ness. ness was the original egoist. i mean, from his current skill set, he still surpasses isagi in many aspects. so it was ness who was really good at football, who didn’t have an equal until he saw kaiser play and it shattered his entire worldview, because just like isagi, he realised kaiser embodies that “perfect form of soccer.” and he made it look easy, effortless. so ness became obsessed and decided to devote himself to kaiser, who measured up to be the best in his eyes, and thus, slowly, kaiser started believing himself to be the emperor that ness made him out to be. wouldn’t you develop a god complex if someone was constantly at your beck and call and praised you for it? defended you against everyone who tried to stand in your way but ultimately failed? i’m pretty sure that’s not how their story will go but it is an intriguing food for thought no? (okay now that i'm reading this back it's low key giving a reonagi foil lol but i still stand by it)

i also wonder if kaiser’s rose tattoo has anything to do with his desire to leave bastard münchen but being unable to do so as of right now, hence the thorns symbolising that he is “shackled”. which means he’s looking for something or someone to set him free by “unlocking” the keyhole on his left hand. my guess is that isagi is definitely involved in that process somehow but we shall see!

[jkgnggj]

please I need to know WHAT is the psychickers h2o mermaids au please tell me I've been thinking about it all day the autism in my mind has consumed me and all I can think about is psychickers h2o mermaids au

OKOK SO I DONT HAVE IT WRITTEN DOWN ANYWHERE BUT I GOT IDEAS !!

Basically in h2o there's three mermaids at first (Rikki, Cleo, and Emma) and yk three mermaids and there's three psychics. So it's not like an incredibly accurate substitution for the characters but just a general substitution. Like the psychic kids aren't taking the place of one singular character just of a mermaid if that makes sense. So saiki and Miko and Tori are mermaids. And like how in h2o there was a normal guy who wasn't a mermaid but helped them when they needed it, we got Akechi as the normal non mermaid guy (bc he's not a psychic in saiki k).

As for their powers I'm still deciding but for right now I'm leaning more towards Tori having that mist evaporation power Rikki has and then Miko having the moving water thing cleos got going on? And then idk if I should have saiki get the freezing water power or if he should have all of them like Charlotte did? And idek who's be Bella or Charlotte in this au I haven't thought that far ahead Idek who Zane would be. He's giving saiki vibes but the relationship Rikki and Zane had is more of an aren and metori relationship and doesn't really work with any of the psychickers or any other character. And since Charlotte was sorta cleos rival and liked lewis then if I wanted someone to fill her role it'd be extra super tough bc who tf would like Akechi? (Besides the psychickers) The closest to Charlotte to me would be Teruhashi (bc why wouldn't the perf pretty girl have all the powers and be special and a mermaid etc) and maybe she'd be trying to get saikis attention instead of Akechi's but idk if I should really make teru a villain hmmm

As for the story I don't think I'd follow the plot of h2o besides some things like the plots Abt the full moon and how they turn in that magic pool of water and maybe their work place. Id def change their backgrounds a lil (both different from the show and the anime). So Idk if Tori would still be a monk here or not, it depends on whether I want them to just live by the beach in Japan or westernize them. Tho I think him being a monk and having to juggle his monk duties with being a mermaid would be interesting. But I was thinking of making Tori a surfer or like lifeguard for summer bc I thought that'd be incredibly interesting. Like he'd have to decide to still be a surfer or a lifeguard or to stop being a mermaid.

Of course I don't really wanna change their personalities tho putting them in a diff setting and stuff makes things a lil difficult bc without the settings and conditions they grew up in they might've turned out different. Aka maybe if he didn't have to hug ppl and didn't grow up as a monk Tori might've not turned out a perv, or without her powers and stuff Miko wouldn't dress or speak like a gyaru, and without his powers saiki wouldn't be so angsty and sad. Also idk if I want them to be friends before they turn mermaids or the fact that they all turn mermaids by accident together forces them to become friends reluctantly. I like the latter tho. Them all sorta hating or disliking each other (which is kinda how the three girls were in the show at the beginning I think) would be fun.

Though if miko didn't have her lil fortune telling business I think she'd maybe have a different business that involves the beach somehow? Though again it would be fun if she still grew up being interested in fortune telling and astrology stuff. And as for saiki I think he'd still be pretty quiet and introverted even without his powers yet somehow still easily make friends like nendou and kaidou. Though I think Akechi still staying his childhood friend after all this time would be the only thing that changes for saikis relationships. He never moved away so they stayed best friends.

And akechi gets two more friends out of it when he notices his best friend acting weird and all of a sudden he's hanging out with these two monkeys he's never seen before and he gets suspicious and follows them and sees one of them turn into a mermaid and he gasps and wants to study them etc etc. Also instead of cleos sister kusuke would be the annoying sibling, still older sibling and he'd find out Abt saikis secret too eventually, a long with the other twos secret.

Now what I can't really decide is if there should be any ships or not especially between the psychickers. Idk if I want a big polycule or mikotori or torisai or torikechi. I still need to iron out a lot of details as u can see but ty for the ask! <333

[minevn]

first ramble of many: im feeling insane but hear me out. i’d just read this reddit story, in which OP’s bf would bully them online, anonymously, with different accounts and platforms, resulting in OP turning to the bf for comfort.

in irl circumstances, this is gross af, obviously, but i genuinely feel like kei is the type to do this same thing if he’s dating mc. you know, with his hackerman abilities and whatnot…..

he does hate seeing mc hurt in any capacity; mental, emotional, physical, etc. but he also takes a sick pleasure in being the cause of a certain pain that’ll make mc see him as a safe/comfort object, even tho he’s so deeply ashamed of his actions.

the less rational part of his mind tells him that he only wants to show you that he’s safe! that at the end of the day, he’s in control of all of this, so he can get as personal or distant with the insults coming from “pinkluvr26” or “madrabb1t” as he wants. these people can’t be kei, your wonderful, caring boyfriend who’s been nothing but supportive this whole ordeal. he’s there for you no matter what; even if your enemy is actually him.

even if you do find out, it’s not like he meant any of that stuff! he loves you! he loves you so much that he’d give or do anything to get you to love him back 💕

Your brain is absolutely massive, just huge. Mega mind literally cannot compete with you. Honestly, rn I'm not going to write a drabble for this cause my brain is fried and for some reason I just don't have any ideas, but I would eventually LOVE to write something with this concept. (I'm also sadly not the best story writer. Scripts I think I write fine, but I hate my writing whenever I write a drabble/story. Anyways I'll be working on this juicy story slowly in the background<3) For now lemme gush and brainstorm some ideas for this because I'm losing my MIND over this.

At first I really struggled to see it because it is a really shitty thing to do and I just couldn't imagine sweet baby Kei doing something like that. But the more I read this and thought about this, he ABSOLUTELY WOULD! (Bro manipulated ME even though he's my character?? like what?) Even better, he'd pin it on one of the other Li's since he knows you're already being stalked. Haruto would even be an easy target to blame for saying really personal thing, since he's known you since you were babies. And Yani and Kage are not THAT subtle with their stalking, he could easily pin it on them. Maybe even a Kage and Haruto two for one special, where Kei pins Kage saying the information, but Haruto was the one that gave it to them(He could do this with Jun and Aki as well). And the twins, the twins would be so easy to frame, they're already jerks to you anyways. Kei could say some of the most hate-filled and hurtful things to you and frame them for it. Minato might be a bit more tricky but maybe if you and Minato were friends, he could blame Haruto telling Minato your secrets or making up lies about you, after all, Haruto has been known to do that stuff in the past. He's great at mimicking their texting styles as well so it's just even more believable.

This is so devious and awful but I can really see Kei doing this, like I can't get this out of my head. Like I know I just read this, but like I'm gonna be thinking about this for the rest of my life. I'm feeling insane now too/pos. Dude, you're brain is literally on another level, this is like, one of the best things I've heard. I'm literally so in love with this concept. I do think Kei would be one of the most dangerous Li's, like mentally and emotionally, Yani is def the most dangerous when it come to physical strength(and using it. Hoshi and Minato would probably be able to beat them, but also if Yani is fighting for you then nothing can stop her)

Like especially if you have a pretty big following, I think he'd put out more personal information or spread lies that way you lose your following and get more hate that doesn't even come from him, and he'd try to use that to feel better about himself as well. Like "I may have started this, but I stopped a while ago and only said one thing." or "I didn't even say anything rude."(Because he wouldn't have to, he would just have to get the info out with proof)

He would 10000000% feel guilty, I think it would eat away at him and maybe even make him more sick and twisted. Like you said, he feels guilty, but he does get pleasure from it as well. It would just further his beliefs that you NEED him. Even if you found out it was him, who else would you turn to if he ruined your social status, no one else would want to talk to you. But it's okay, he'll ALWAYS love you. Even if he didn't mean any of that stuff, other people definitely think that stuff about you now, but he doesn't. And if you think he DOES feel that way, well, he'll work on making sure you know he loves you eventually, but for now, he uses it to his advantage a bit. You can think he feels that way about you, and he'll say things like "But I'm staying by your side, no matter what." or "I won't let you go through this alone." just to make you feel even more grateful towards him. Because everyone else has left you. Everyone but your sweet, caring boyfriend Kei.

Idk if anyone here knows what smau's are, but I would love to try a topic like this with smau. Just in case you don't know what smau's are, they're "a type of fanwork where fans create graphics that look like social media accounts for fictional or RPF characters" I've been really wanting to work with that but I wasn't sure with what, but I might have an idea relating to this concept if anyone is interested.

[bunny-hoodlum]

Saw you mention ADHD inattentive? And I had not heard the specific kind of adhd but what you described sounds true to me (also can’t do a diagnosis right now). But I’d consider myself a very creative person. I want to create freely like I did as a child, improve, and excel but I struggle with the motivation. I end up scrolling on my phone or watching tv. How do you manage that or deal with it without being hard on yourself? Thank you for your time!

So I've been looking into ADHD more seriously in the past three years. I've had bouts of anhedonia and the most recent one last for two years and it got to the point where I couldn't even watch or read two-seconds of anything without it feeling utterly painful and I had no idea what the hell that was about. But I at least had the awareness after it happened often enough that my attention span was fucked and I genuinely didn't seen to latch onto or enjoy anything anymore and I thought 'Wow, guess this is adulthood for me, sheesh'.

I also thought back to myself as kid growing up, some things I knew I did and some things I did that had been told me. Apparently my dad thought I might be autistic when I was 4, but never followed up on that. Nobody cared that I was a good test taker but rarely ever turned in homework. Oh, ooh, she must just not care, wah. My mom told me stories as an infant that align with me being an HSP baby, and I def have Rejection Dysphoria which is kinda getting better but sometimes still results in petty Splitting spirals. 😅

Sorry, none of this has to do with your question but maybe it'll useful to someone else. 😅

So the funny thing is, I am not addicted to social media. 😭 I barely use it. So I don't have anything personal I provide about that, but you could try going minimal on your phone. Just dummy the hell out of it. Remove apps, etc. I know companies be breaking how their shit works on mobile browser, at least for me, the site gets app-blocked basically. "Open in App", "Get our App", ugh. 🙄😮‍💨 But when you make distractions harder to get to, you can readjust your reliance on it. Backtracking slightly, I used this method to cut off my 'addiction' to Reddit. I still rly don't get hooked on socmed otherwise. 🤔 I always bookmark stuff or keep the tabs open, and say I'll get to it later. 😅 I'm always accruing things for myself or some creative endeavor. I kinda relate to Markiplier in that way, that the only time he hangs with his friends or makes friends is if it's during a project. His whole life rotates around the next idea and the next idea. 😅 Forgive me, I'm rambling quite a bit.

Tldr; make distractions more inconvenient, lol.

If you feel like your symptoms are unmanageable, their could be other disorders that you need to take care of. Some ADHD-havers need stimulants and others need anti-depressants.

I'm a stimulant-type. I started taking a $30 B-complex supplement when I noticed that Monster energy made me feel better. I get high caffeine blend plus 2 shots of espresso from my preferred gas station. As a female, I had to pay attention to my PMS symptoms making me sleepier than ever. Some shit got out of balance and I was a goner for the following two weeks.

Your next question about not beating yourself up. My suggestion is trying meditation, maybe getting an ONO roller or something like it, something to make your hands busy when you're trying to devote your attention to something. Just focus on clearing away the background processes of anxiety in your internal task manager and try to visualize how you'll feel when you get that thing done.

Like, I still procrastinate on folding the laundry. It'll literally take me 20 mins or less and I can watch videos while I do it, but I just don't for rly no good reason. 😅 But it's better to feel guilty while doing the thing you've been avoiding, then feeling better after becuz it's done. And then maybe the guilt lessens becuz you've created this routine and positive association, 'Hey, I can do this thing. Hey, this actually takes no time at all.' You know?

I'm no expert and everyone's experience is different. But I recommend looking into it more for yourself. The HowToADHD channel is a pretty good one to start with. They are like the definitive channel for sure. I know that Dr. K put out smthn a couple years ago as well, but all in all, you can only do your best and try to retrain how you do things. There's stuff too like the Pomodoro Effect... 🤔 Just try to find what works for you! Even rn I'm so distracted with writing that I haven't been drawing at all, so I'm just managing myself, pretty much just scraping by. 😅

Oh yeah, I started opening all the cabinets to make putting dishes away easier. Idk if that's useful to you, lol. ADHD requires quirky solutions, haha.

Sorry this turned out so long! I'm wishing you all the luck! 🙏🤗

[jenjennhi]

Hiii can u pls do a face tut pls I’m begging you

heya! sorry this took some time, i just moved and it's been really hectic @@

and thank you for the question! i'll use stuff for bela and shadowheart as an example for ya for the two styles i usually do

warning, i am not a teacher and i'm still experimenting and learning so uhh some of this might be scuffed but is how i do it :>

also noting that i use csp or photoshop depending on my mood and what brushes i want to use but the same technique works for either and i use 2 brushes for the main bits and additional brushes if i want to add texture

--

1 - so after i have the sketch roughed, i usually put it on a multiply layer and add a background layer under it (i leave it white or almost white if i'm just doing a doodle or sketch) and i start to figure out the lighting and shading under the outline layer

the lighting is usually pretty rough and i'll start to understand what i'm going for as it starts to shape up but i try not to reduce the brush size too much so i don't get too muddled

(at this point i'm going thru my mantra of "trust the process" and breathing into a paper bag and kicking and screaming about how i want to quit)

--

2 - once i have the lighting somewhat how i want it, i start tweaking the color and i do it by using adjustment layers and manually painting. this part is kinda like cooking and tasting as you go, if i feel i want the image to feel colder/warmer i'll adjust accordingly but i will tell you how i did it for both examples below:

for bela, i actually painting above the shading/lighting layer and used "soft light" and "hard light" blending modes for the hair and skin to fit more with how i wanted it to look. i used color balance and curves for the background to get it to more of a purple/blue and darker

for shadowheart, i actually put the color below the shading/lighting layer and left the color as is and swapped the blending mode for the shading/lighting layer to "multiply" and then did adjustments using curves and gradient maps using "hard light" and "soft light" too and i think i had a "color burn" just for fun

this is my fav part of the process bc i just experiment and mess around with different layers. i usually have a vision for how i want the color and lighting to look but there's always room for new ideas! so i just mess around for a while here till i'm happy!

--

3 - rendering time! um i don't really have much advice here except i just start going in and rendering in closer detail. and remember references are your friend!!!

bela render progression:

shadowheart render progression:

i sometimes end up changing the drawing quite a bit during rendering but that's okay bc as you go into detail, you will notice discrepancies from the pre-render stages

for the style i used with shadowheart i just paint over the outline pretty much with some bits of it left it and i blend more to smooth it out more. for the style i used with bela, i add back in any outlines i painted over that i wanted to keep

--

and at the end of the day it's your art and how you express it is what's always gonna be the best so trust your gut (and references) but also it's okay to take creative liberties and go with the "cool rule" :3

and keep practicing!!!! i def feel i've gotten better with drawing faces compared to a year ago

i hope this helps and if it didn't ":3 i hope you had fun reading