#but trying to draw vaguely people shaped things

[aulerean]

[local-dragon-haunt]

hey! i’m an artist and i was wondering what about the httyd crossover art made it obviously AI. i’m trying to get better at recognizing AI versus real art and i totally would have just not clocked that.

Hey! This is TOTALLY okay to not have recognized it, because I DIDN'T AT FIRST, EITHER. Unfortunately there’s no real foolproof way to distinguish real art from the fake stuff. However I have noticed a general rule of thumb while browsing these last few months.

So this is the AI generated image I used as inspiration. I will not be tagging the account that posted it because I do not condone bullying of any type, but it’s important to mention that this was part of a set of images:

This is important because one of the BIGGEST things you can use to your advantage is context clues. This is the thing that clued me in: right off the bat we can see that there is NO consistency between these three images. The art style and outfits change with every generated image. They're vaguely related (I.E. characters that resemble the Big Four are on some sort of adventure?) and that's about it. Going to the account in question proved that all they posted were AI generated images. All of which have many red flags, but for clarity's sake we'll stick with the one that I used.

The first thing that caught my eye was this???? Amorphous Blob in the background. Which is obviously supposed to be knights or a dragon or something.

Again, context clues come into play here. Artists will draw everything With A Purpose. And if what they're drawing is fanart, you are going to recognize most of what you see in the image. Even if there are mistakes.

In the context of this image, it looks like the Four are supposed to be running from these people. The thing that drew my attention to it was the fact that I Didn't Recognize The Villains, and this is because there is nothing to recognize. These shapes aren't Drago, or Grimmel, or Pitch, or any other villain we usually associate with ROTBTD. They're just Amorphous Blobs that are vaguely villain shaped.

Which brings me to my second point:

Do you see the way they're standing? There is no purpose to this. It throws the entire image off. Your eye is drawn to the Amorphous Villain Blobs in the background, and these characters are not reacting to them one bit.

Now I'm not saying that all images have to have a story behind them, but if this were created by a person, it clearly would have had one. Our group here is not telling a story, they are posing.

This is because the AI does not see the image as a whole, but as two separate components: the setting, and the description of the characters that the prompter dictates. I.E. "Merida from Brave, Jack Frost from ROTG, Rapunzel from Tangled, and Hiccup from HTTYD standing next to each other"

Now obviously the most pressing part of this prompt are the characters themselves. So the AI prioritizes that and tries to spit out something that WE recognize as "Merida from Brave, Jack Frost from ROTG, Rapunzel from Tangled, and Hiccup from HTTYD standing next to each other".

This, more times than not, is going to end up with this stagnant posing. Because AI cannot create, it can only emulate. And even then, it still can't do it right. Case in point:

This is not Hiccup. The AI totally thinks this is Eugene Fitzherbert. Look at the pose. The facial structure. The goatee. The smirk. The outfits. He's always next to Raps. Why does he have a quiver? Where's Toothless? His braids? His scar??

HE HAS BOTH OF HIS LEGS.

The AI. Cannot even get the most important part of it's prompt correct.

And that's just the beginning. Here:

More amorphous shapes.

So these are obviously supposed to be utility belts, but I mean. Look at them. The perspective is all off. There are useless straps. I don't even know what that cluster behind Jack's left arm is supposed to be.

This is a prime example of AI emulating without understanding structure.

You can see this particularly in Jack, between his hands, the "tassels" of his tunic, and the odd wrinkles of his boots. There's just not any structure here whatsoever.

Lastly, AI CANNOT CREATE PATTERNS.

Here are the side-by-sides of the shit I had to deal with when redesigning their outfits. Please someone acknowledge this. This killed me inside. THIS is most recognizable to me, and usually what I look for first if I'm wary about an art piece. These clusterfuck bunches of color. I hate them. I hate them so. much.

Anyways here's some other miscellaneous things I've noticed:

Danny Phantom Eyes

???? Thumb? (and random sword sheath)

Collarbone Necklace (corset from hell)

No Staff :( No Bow :(

What is that.

So yeah. Truly the best thing to do is to just. study it. A lot of times you aren't gonna notice anything just looking at the big picture, you need to zoom in and focus on the little details. Obviously I'm not like an expert in AI or anything, but I do have a degree in animation practices and I'm. You know. A human being. So.

In conclusion:

(Y'all should totally reblog my redesign of this btw)

[renthony]

One of the most irritating things in the goddamn world is the way people will immediately go "LMAO YOU HAVE A FOOT FETISH!" at any artist who happens to draw a foot.

I've been browsing online for different anatomy references and working on studies, and every single time I see an artist practicing anatomy of the feet, some jackass has to show up and make some joke about "lmao foot fetish, foot fetish! Put those things away! Ew!"

There's nothing wrong with having a foot fetish, and I think it's really fucking weird that people can't stop making "lol foot fetish" jokes at artists practicing anatomy. Especially since it doesn't seem to happen with other body parts?

Everyone knows hands are hard to draw, so I've never seen anyone looking at an artist's hand studies and make "lol hand fetish!" jokes. I don't see it for eyes. Or noses. Or ears. Just for feet.

Meanwhile, I know plenty of artists who go out of their way to avoid drawing feet ever, even when omitting the feet looks weird, because clowns online are over-eager to make foot fetish jokes the second they catch a single glimpse of anything vaguely foot-shaped. I have seen it genuinely hit the level of full-on sexual harassment, with people trying to "prove" that the artist must really be a foot fetishist making secret fetish art.

And it's fucking weird that people think that's funny instead of a form of invasive harassment.

[celestialprincesse]

🌹💞

Simon Riley does not like Valentines day. To him, it's another one of those pointless holidays people use as an excuse for overconsumption and to try and show off how their lives are better than everyone else's. Simon hates the excessive gaudiness of it all and the lame hearts and flowers. Seriously, how much thought does someone put into a wilting bouquet of red roses and some overpriced chocolates in a flimsy heart shaped box - they're at the front of every supermarket throughout basically all of February, everywhere.

Simon Riley hates Valentines day until he meets you. Bumps into you at the local florist, unusually unaware of his surroundings as he stews on the pointless idiocy of another lame holiday. The way you squeal as the three dozen peonies wrapped in brown paper tumble to the floor which you land rather inelegantly beside snaps him from his reverie with a grunt. "Fuck - shite - M' so sorry love." He stutters out, feeling like all the air has been punched from his chest when he sees your big eyes staring up at him with wild confusion, now crumpled flowers long forgotten as you stare up at the intoxicatingly rich brown eyes of the man before you. Although, man doesn't feel like the right word for him, tall and strong and holding out a hand the size of your head to help you up, your peonies dwarfed by his long fingers as he helps you up.

You vaguely hear yourself mumble something in response, an awkward stutter like a lovesick teenager asking their crush to the movies, met by a strong hand to the top of your bicep, soothing you, asking if you're alright. A concerned eyebrow furrows when you don't respond, just stand there gawking like a fish. He wonders if maybe you hit your head on the way down, and he was too dumbstruck by the flurry of soft silky skin, glossy, sun-struck hair and petals to see. You look like you've just seen God, and he looks like he's just seen the most beautiful thing said God could ever have crafted.

"Are you okay?" The low timbre of his voice - you don't even know how to react, so dazed and confused and there's butterflies - no, not butterflies, bald eagles and kestrels and ospreys, massive feathery wings beating against your diaphragm and rendering you speechless - butterflies are for normal men. The man before you is too monumental for butterflies.

"Yes! Yes." You squeak in embarrassment like a mouse under a cat's paw, looking defeatedly down at your flowers, brown eyes following your gaze with a sympathetic look.

"Were these for someone?" He seems almost a little flustered by his foolish lack of spatial awareness, which just so happened to strike at the worst time, seeing as now he stands before you, clutching a withering bouquet, failing to save this conversation. Both of you stand like that together, in some strange limbo, like time has stood still in order to force you together, not starting back up again until this conversation goes somewhere. "Just me." You murmur, voice so pathetically small under the draw of his magnetism. He's probably here to get flowers for his girlfriend, or fiancee even. She'll probably turn up any second, beautiful and charismatic and just as magnetic as the man before you is.

"Let me buy you some more, yeah?" He nods his head back in the direction of the fancier florist in town, the one you'd splurged on in a valentines induced self-pity party. He buys you three dozen pink peonies, matching paper and ribbons too. He also insists on taking you for a coffee, and buying you some silly pink and white frosted cake in the excuse that your blood sugars probably dropped after the fall and some other fake nonsense like that. You obviously say yes, to the flowers and the coffee and the cake - to the gentle smiles and the crease of his warm brown eyes, his hand on the small of your back. Both of you say yes to giving Valentines day a try.

⋆ ˚.⋆୨୧˚

Some short simple little V day fluff for y'all the brain isn't braining at the moment but also wanted to give you all a little Valentines day present because ily

[charcoaldustonmyfingers]

Kinda oddly embarrassed to send this but oh my god your art is so pleasing to look at for some reason

I think it's just the soft shapes you use and how amazingly 3D everything tends to look?? Like the angles and proportions are just so perfect that I find it easy to imagine most of what you draw as a 3D model or something

And like I don't think I could nail it like you (maybe with time!!) But I am definitely taking inspiration from it because it DOES get me thinking about how you use shapes and angles and wonder if I could practice that because oh my god I wish I could absorb your art

Do you have methods or techniques to make it look so 3D? if you know what I mean? I tend to use grids to try and map out the shapes in a vaguely 3D plane, so I was wondering if you had tips kinda like that to share with the class? or if you're just winging it and it's a lot of practice?

Thank you so much!!! It really means a lot to me when others take inspiration from my art, it reminds me of all the artists I used to look up to and emulate when I was first starting out on MSPaint with a broken trackpad for a pen, you don’t have to be embarrassed! You’ll definitely be able to harness 3D space and create fantastic work, you’re already well on your way! Having passion and a desire to learn will take you far :)

My biggest focus whenever I draw is to make the characters feel real, as though you could reach out and enter the space they’re in to sit next to them on the couch. I’m so glad that I’m able to pull it off! Thanks for the rose, I’ll be sure to cherish it :)

As for my methods and techniques…

Drawing on a 3D grid plane is definitely something I do! Its perfect for comic panels or storyboards, to set the scene and ground characters or props to their environment.

I did a lot of classical study, that is life drawing and still life drawing, but simply using reference for buildings and anatomy also helps a lot and is a lot easier to find. I’d also sketch my hands, plastic animals, and my surroundings, as well as people watch for inspiration for character mannerisms or fashion. It’s useful to know a little bit about the inner workings of anatomy, as there are places were bone makes a person inflexible, while places with more muscle or fat are affected by things like gravity or pressure that change their shape. Drawing a flour sac to act out different emotions is a great way to practice weight and character acting!

Having studied animation, I did a lot of turnarounds to get characters consistent and able to be rotated in 3D space. It can be pretty tedious for some people, but it really does help solidify the characters’ shapes and design, and serves as great reference to look back on if you need it! If you don’t want to do something so stiff as a turnaround, simply drawing expressions and poses from dynamic angles helps too. I’ve found that breaking a character down into basic shapes that are easy to draw in a 3D plane also can help my anatomy and foreshortening be more accurate.

Most importantly, find something that brings you joy to draw! Every “traditional” method of study can be applied to things you like, so don’t feel the need to burn out thinking you can only draw the Mona Lisa or whatever. I’ve done anatomy studies on the Rise turtles to figure out their skeletal structure, and friends of mine have painted some mind blowing concept art inspired by Sonic and D&D!

I hope this helps some? Best of luck, and have fun! :D

Below are a couple of examples of some of my studies:

[clannfearrunt]

some Shark guys biology musings from the span of the past year or so. Don't ask me what their hands are shaped like I'm basically re-inventing it every time I draw it right now

The gills have closed up forming a buccal pouch filled with blood vessels, now used for thermoregulation rather than gas exchange. They might pant out of their mouth when particularly hot/out of breath, but because sharks will also gape their mouth to communicate stress/aggression they tend to avoid it whenever possible. Their faces don't have a lot of muscles to form detailed expressions; the extent of facial expressions for sharks tend to be seen through the openness of the eyes and mouth.

Here's a rough thing of the evolution of terrestrial sharks:

The bulk of modern terrestrial sharks can be found on the eastern half of the Big Continent (I'm not naming it bc what if SQL names their landmasses officially), where crocodilians have gone extinct. The other lineages of salamander sharks can also be found along the many islands stretching across the ocean off to the southeast of the continent as well. None of them are in traditional cephaling territory but lmao

Crocodile sharks are. Well. They're a group of larger freshwater sharks that frequently occupy a crocodile-like niche. Smaller species can be confused with salamander sharks, but they're much more resistant to desiccation and can wander away from water to look for food and new territory. This is where true endothermy begins cropping up in terrestrial sharks; the largest extant species don't bother with it, but several smaller guys seem to have developed it independently of each other.

The Haye are an iconic megafaunal predator of the so-called Mollusk Era. Lots of mythologies around them I'm sure. It used to be believed that they were the Shark folks' closest living relative, but modern research has found that to be untrue. They're endothermic and can be found even in fairly cold regions, but usually don't stick around for the winter in polar regions.

Mud Hounds are a diverse group of mid-sized, endothermic terrestrial sharks. Pictured is a beloved little digging guy usually known as dorghai. Many species rely on their keen sense of smell and electroreception to track their prey; they get their name from the common behavior of sticking their nose into wet mud to feel for the electric signatures of smaller burrowing prey. Even species that don't make active use of their electroreception often retain the ability. Seems they just haven't gotten around to losing it quite yet, even though electroreception isn't very effective in air. The Shark folk are no exception; some people report being able to "feel" active thunderstorms or faulty electronics. With practice they can actually do fuck all with it, but for most people it's just an occasional vague annoyance.

I didn't draw other examples of the group Shark folk are in, dubbed the walking hounds, because they're the only living member of the group. The reason for the group developing bipedalism isn't known right now. Also, I tend to draw Sharks standing fairly upright, but the most natural standing posture for them is more raptorial. Upright postures are associated with alertness/nervousness, or temporarily trying to take up less space in crowded areas. It becoming a default/preferred posture is seen commonly in "city" sharks used to living in high density areas with smaller species.

Yeah or an anxious city shark. Lol

[sewerpalette]

My Human AL-AN redesign!! The video is still a WIP because I got sick haha, but yk.

At first I was scared I wouldn’t see a lot of visual Improvement, since the video is only 7 months old, but I compared the two and wow, there is a huge difference and I’m very happy with it.

Also this isn’t really much of an AU(?) it’s kinda hard to explain but it’s basically just the alien designs replaced with humanoids for my personal convenience (can’t draw em very well), with some minor story altercation that doesn’t really affect the plot. I think with AL this is easier to explain as they canonically have the ability to cause visual hallucinations, so this design would probably just be an extension of that, not really how he looks. I always liked the idea of the architects being a little eldritch that way, they have a true form but it’s unphysical, the human mind can’t make it up so the individual simply chooses what to present itself as: at least that’s my personal interpretation/headcanon.

As I’ve said before in the first post about the concept design where I further explain my decisions -

, I gave him a burn scar over his face from the disease research facility incident wich I imagine stuck with him in a way it, in one way or another, burns itself through every body he possesses aslong as the transfer doesn’t go wrong and he remains with the memory (also obviously to resemble his face screen).

His attire is based off of those the alterrans scientists wear, the pattern is a mix of precursor architecture textures and shapes mimicking those on his body, the logo on the lab coat is inspired by the architect statues from BZ, wich i reaaaally loved.

Hair/face shaped to vaguely resemble his face plate thingy and horns.

Also gave them a bag in wich I imagine carries all the different tools that are built into their arms in the game, because I’d rather die than draw those again beyond blocking in rough shapes haha, bag coincidentally ended up having a sea dragon color palette wich I initially wanted to change but ended up really loving because it kinda symbolises his guilt haunting him a little. it’s also stacked to the brim with enzyme 42 for obvious reasons.

I also still stand by the idea that the architects would look a little uncanny when trying to resemble humans, they can mimic them to near perfection, but something is just off, the body ratio looks strange, neck a few centimetres too long, shoulders a tad bit too low, lower legs too long, face moving too monotonely, small things like that yk.

Had to rerender this because I started drawing at like 6am at wich point my brain was rotting so hard I completely forgot what brushes I use, but that doesn’t really matter since I love to render so yk lol.

I made a poll on Instagram asking wether or not people liked the glasses, because on one hand I felt it made the colors more even whilst directing attention at and lighting the face nicely, but on the other I don’t really wanna make every „smart“ character have glasses, so I decided that these are reading glasses, wich means he does have them but he can also go without.

here is the alternative without:

[superdorkcat]

Copium for Pyonderful

I. Introduction

Satoru and Daifuku have been the most popular picks for Wonderful’s midseason Cures ever since the first promo images came out

It’s been 26 episodes and people are starting to think it won’t happen, though

HOWEVER, I’m here to tell you there’s still hope

II. Color Schemes

All Precure seasons have their team's color scheme appear a lot in merch, logos and the like, as well as the show itself (they ARE symbolic of the main characters, after all)

Interestingly, WanPre has had two color schemes pop up

The two unspoken for colors in both schemes are associated with Satoru and Daifuku

III. Daifuku's Design

Daifuku's design is very stylized

The only other Earth animals that look like him are Komugi and Yuki

IV. Festival and Niko Egg Episodes

In the festival episode, Yuki says that Daifuku isn’t a normal rabbit

He also shuts his eyes and has a close-up once the Garugaru gets purified

Komugi’s wish paper falls to the ground right after

Possibly symbolic of Daifuku wishing to be able to talk with Satoru like the others?

The episode after has Niko’s egg only start to glow after both the Cures and the Bunny Boys touch it

V. Orange Drawing Pen

One of the pieces of merch coming out for Wonderful is a set(?) of five drawing pens

These pens are pink, purple, blue, green, and orange

The pen’s design is also secret, much like the one of the cards for the movie (more on that later)

VI. Lack of a Character Song

Someone on Reddit pointed out that Satoru doesn’t have a character song on the vocal album

Rosemary and Takumi both got songs on Delicious Party’s first album, so it’s not due to him being a male supporting character

His character song could be being saved for after a potential Cure debut

VII. Late Season Additions and Movie Appearances

Previous seasons have had a teammate join in the 30s

Cure Moonlight in Heartcatch episode 33

Cure Muse in Suite episode 36

Cure Majesty in Hirogaru Sky episode 31

The last example had a surprise appearance in All Stars F

This could theoretically happen in Wonderful’s movie

Daifuku is prominently featured on the poster and a leaked card listing include a mystery design that could be either a movie-exclusive character or Pyonderful (they've shared a card before, after all)

VIII. I Know the Focus has Mostly Been on Daifuku, BUT-

Most of this copium only seems to hint at Daifuku becoming a Precure

But I maintain that it’s only because between the non-verbal rabbit and the sidekick who’s appeared in every episode, the rabbit needs his Cure debut built up more

Satoru not becoming a Cure too would break up WonPre’s duo motif (the theme is “humans and animals can all become friends,” after all)

Midseason duos have been a thing in the past (see Hugtto!’s Ma’Cherie and Amour)

Also, this poster made for the stores has two weird, vaguely Cure-shaped gaps in between the Wonderful and Star Twinkle girls

IX. Midseason Incentives

There’s a chance that WanPre won’t have any new Cures after Lillian, but I doubt it

The last season w/out a midseason (Smile) was over a decade ago

No midseason means that Toei misses out on all of the potential toy sales from that Cure

Cure Wing was apparently really popular in Japan, so it makes sense that Toei would try to replicate that success

X. Conclusion

Ultimately, there have been no leaks definitively proving or disproving Pyonderful

The Wonderful movie premieres on September 13, so we theoretically have until September 8 (the air date of episode 32) for Pyonderful Precure

August will most likely be the deciding the month

[chernabogs]

ADUMBRATE

Inc: Reader/Yuu, Grim Warnings: None WC: 925 Summary: Adumbrate: to foreshadow vaguely

There is something piteous in the way that the visions work. Now that it’s settled in your mind that these are indeed visions of a sort, and your friends have expressed their sincerest condolences (‘that’s shitty,’ as Ace put it), they are quite… piteous. 

You’re back in the bathroom of Ramshackle with your hands on the edge of the sink. When the visions first began, they were merely dreams that would leave you dazed upon waking. They’ve progressed since then. They’ve developed a sense of consciousness that allows them to know that you know, and since the secret is out, they’ve taken it upon themselves to make sure you can’t forget. 

Another wave of nausea hits you. It feels more like a migraine than anything else, but rather than seeing an aura, you keep getting flashes of what the world wants you to see. Colours, people, faces you can’t place and voices you don’t recognize. Although you know now that what you originally were seeing were foreshadows of the overblots to come, things have changed since then. Beasts, burning skies, a sun blotted out by black ink—whatever you’re experiencing is something of a more cosmic scale than just a few ‘odd dreams’. 

You retch and spit in the sink before forcing yourself to go to the toilet instead. The pungent aroma of bleach hits you as you heave and vomit last night's supper, and then yesterday's lunch, and then bile once your stomach has no more to offer. The contents swirl in the bowl before you, forming their own shapes and messages that you have no interest in trying to discern. Your hand hits the handle and drowns it all away as you rest your forehead against this porcelain salvation. 

“Checking our toilet.” You reply wryly as you straighten up, still on your knees. “Mint condition, as always.” 

 “Prefect?” A quiet, slightly groggy voice speaks up from the doorway of the bathroom. You open your eyes against the light and drag your gaze over to where Grim is standing. His eyes are squinting with residual sleep he sways before settling down on all four paws. “What’cha doin?”

You don’t feel like you’re capable of getting to your feet just yet. The porcelain against your face is slowly becoming your new best friend. Your answer brings a scowl to Grim as he remains lingering at the door.

“All that heavin’ and gaggin’ doesn’t sound like you’re checkin’ to me, but...” His voice trails off as his tail twitches. You’ve come to know your housemate enough to know that he’s worried—not that he’ll ever disclose that to you. You offer him a tight smile without any reply. After a prolonged stare down, he finally huffs and turns his back to you. 

“Well. Check it quieter then, will ya? Surprised the ghosts didn’t come back from the dead with all the noise you were makin’.” He grumbles before slinking off back to your shared room. It wasn’t the noise that woke him—if anything, it was your absence. Any time you wake up, Grim tends to wake up shortly thereafter, as though he knows something is amiss. You watch him until he vanishes. Only then do you finally turn back to the mess you’ve made. 

The flashes of what you’ve seen have died down, but the sense of unease they brought still remains. Your stomach twists again and you finally—with more than a little help from the toilet cover—push yourself back to your feet. You can’t discern what they are just yet. You’ll need to sit down, write or draw it out, and then maybe study it for a while. You’ll need to ask one of the upper years or the school librarian what they think is going on with you. Hell, maybe Ortho will know. He’s the one who’s promised you a viable way home—the only one at that.

Then again, if he tells Idia, and it somehow gets to STYX, you might have additional issues on your plate. 

“Dammit,” you mumble as you move back to the sink. Something squirms in your mind. Something breathing, something full of spite, something that’s laughing at your predicament.

You had seen that beast again. Hungry, hurt. Its tail had twitched, and its mouth had been a hell of blue flames, ready to indoctrinate you against the backdrop of a starless sky. A thought nags at you that you already have the answers you seek—much like you had with the overblot—but someone else is preventing you from figuring them out.  

Something, someone—this is all becoming too much, really. It’s two in the morning, and not the most ideal time to begin crisis spiralling. 

You wipe your mouth with the back of your hand, splash your face with cool water, and look into the mirror again. You look like shit, plain and simple. Your eyes are dazed, your complexion screams ‘illnesses,’ and the trembling of your hands tells you this runs deeper than the flesh.

For a moment you think the surface of the mirror ripples, as though there is movement just beyond the veil before you hit the light and plunge the room into darkness. The only things that speak to you from mirrors are a masked face in the hall and Mickey—and you know neither of them are in this washroom with you right now. 

You ignore the silver glow, ignore the screaming pain in your head, and return to Grim for a night you know sleep will evade.

[rikeijo]

Yuri!!! on stage pamphlet, Kubo Mitsurou - Character comments

Katsuki Yuuri

The character of Katsuki Yuuri, previously still vague, solidified in the scene in episode 4 when he touches Victor's hair whorl. That scene is also one, where I managed to express an idea I've had in my head for a very long time - I wanted to show something like a moment not connected to the main story, when their relationship changes, but not in a logical way. The same thing can be said about the scene in the last episode when, even though Victor is crying, Yuuri pushes aside his fringe and says "So you cry too!" - Yuuri has this very primal (原始的) characteristic of putting his own curiosity first before feelings of the other person, that's a desire he can't suppress. I think it was our intention to use this characteristic to make the viewers expect that he is surely going to act in a way they cannot predict. Throughout the series, Yuuri's character was shaped by misleading the audience to think they know Yuuri's personality and then showing them in each episode that they were not right about him. That's why the character turned out to be much more complex that we thought he would be in the first episode and I think the viewers can sense that the creators had a lot of fun writing him. We sometimes say that the characters are acting on their own, but in this case I think we were writing the character while being bossed around by him.

Victor Nikiforov

Just as it was with Yuuri, I couldn't fully grasp Victor's personality in episode 1, and so his character also solidified over time as I was writing the show. Beginning with the scene in episode 4 when he told Yuuri "I'm not going to hold back" during their conversation on the beach, and then when he was "really hurt" after Yuuri touched his hair whorl, little by little the underlying kindness Victor possesses started to show up more, as even though he had no idea what Yuuri was really thinking, he wanted to get to know Yuuri better and Yuuri to get to know him better too. Actually, I also thought the fact that even staff members couldn't fully comprehend Victor's actions made him all the more charming. Because his actions were impossible to comprehend, the audience too has been watching the show without being able to form any strong assumptions about him and the sense of insecurity you've been getting while watching him was probably also a sign that you started to like the character... I've created Victor by trying my best to draw a cool and beautiful human being. I don't think however, that he could ever be mine. Yuuri also feels this way, but in Yuuri's case he was able to form a very strong connection with Victor thanks to skating. I was writing the show while thinking that I'd like the audience to enjoy the feeling that in every episode, together with Yuuri, they too get to meet Victor they've never seen before, as the relationship between Yuuri and Victor is forming - relationship that was only possible because Yuuri had skating as an excuse [免罪符, it means something like "get-out-of-jail-free card" - funny word choice, but Mitsurou really pushes here the idea that Victor was way out of Yuuri's league. ]

Yuri Plisetsky

In case of Yurio, his character as well as character design were very clear from the very beginning. He was very easy to write. He is my favorite type of character and based on my experience I was sure he's going to be popular. He is the type of a side character, who can outshine even the main character in terms of popularity, so I was careful not to make him "angsty" by e.g. giving him a tragic past or making him have a difficult family situation. With Yurio I didn't want his character to be someone who gets popular because people feel sorry for him, so I gave him family and coaches, as well as new friends, and wanted to show his strength by making him achieve even greater success while being in a relatively good place emotionally. I think I've managed to use the basic manga trope of writing about a strength of found family instead of real family without focusing on the tragic aspects of this trope.

Christophe Giacometti

Chris was born as an ultra sexy character, a character who is very aware of his "eros" and at the same time has the strength to not care when other people stare at him. I decided on the visual side of the character first - I gave him those curled and long, stunningly beautiful eyelashes because I wanted the audience to think: "How grateful we are that such a beautiful skater exists in this world at the same time as Victor!". I also wanted to show the gap between his super cute look with curly hair when he was a child and his present look and suggest that a lot of growing up happened there. While I was writing him, or I should say it was more thanks to the choreography and music we created, the charm that was radiating from him was neither masculine nor feminine, but simply Chris' charm. I personally wanted to make him a "skater who looks good naked" and was having great fun writing him.

Phichit Chulanont

With Phichit, I was aiming to create a pure and energetic person. I've actually heard Thai artists active abroad saying that they want to show everyone the new face of Thailand and also that there are certain aspects of Thailand they were only able to see after they went abroad. So, I felt that young Thai people right now are really making a lot of effort to reconstruct themselves, so I wanted to make Phichit a person who has the spirit to create new things. With the fashion he wears, I was aiming for something Harajuku-like.

Ji Guang-Hong

I've come up with this idea of a Chinese competitor, young but with good skills, as a counterbalance to the great number of overwhelmingly strong competitors who appear in the show. I wanted to make him a character who shows all the signs of becoming terribly good in the future if he continues to gain more self-confidence and experience. When it comes to his personality I was imagining him following the latest trends, like all the modern kids do, or maybe traveling to the USA off-season to train at the same rink with Leo, for example. I intentionally didn't make him really stand-out, because I think he is still at a stage before he can bring out his individual personality.

Jean-Jacques Leroy

Before we even started to think about the story, I effortlessly came up with lines like "JJ won't give up! He can't give up!", so JJ is the character who has already been well-defined even before he was created. We placed a very rough order for his song: a song which feels like it was written by somebody who could win a Grammy. The request we've made for the lyrics too wasn't all that specific but the finished lyrics were well... absolutely amazing! I wanted to make JJ into a character who would make the spectators sing that song while he skates his short program. He is too egoistic, so other competitors who can't get along well with him, simply can't get along well with him, period. He isn't the type who can become friends with everyone. However, he doesn't really care. I wouldn't say that he for sure isn't hurt at all by this though, if you look deep inside, but one of the incredible things about him is that he doesn't let it show on the outside.

Georgi Popovich

We aimed to express different kinds of love and here is the type of competitor who puts all the emotions he's experiencing after he broke up with his lover into his performance. I was thinking that maybe in a country like Russia nobody would have a problem with him doing something like that and so I gave him this kind of artistry, different than the artistry Victor has. And again, also compared to Leo, he's a different type of artist. Georgi is very serious about practice and listens to what his coach says too diligently. But I think he loves himself the most, more than anyone else. He is a narcissist, so he loves his lovers very much too, because they love him. I think that's why he reacts with this "I am the one who can protect you!" thing after he gets dumped. The ability to transform all these feelings into a performance is his strong point.

Nishigori Takeshi

Nishigori was created because I wanted to introduce a point of view of somebody who has gave up on skating. He is also a childhood friend of Yuuri and somebody, who has been watching him from a very close distance - so he's a character with a quite complex setting. He is the only married man [in the show] so I wanted him to be masculine and not somebody who fret over things a lot. I also was thinking that the reason why Yuuri didn't want to go back to his home town for such a very long time, is because of Nishigori and Yuuko. When it comes to Nishigori and Yuuko's relationship, I think Yuuko is the one who started it. She didn't confess her feelings directly but I think it was probably very clear that she likes Nishigori. Because men from Kyushu don't go after a girl who they know they don't have a chance with. They never try to reach a "flower that grows high on a mountain top [an idiom representing a unattainable goal] (laugh).

Leo de la Iglesia

Leo, who was looking up to Victor, is the only competitor who choreographs his programs by himself. He wants to leave no doubt that he is self-producing his programs - he wants to skate his own choreography to the songs he likes to truly bring out his own charm. When it comes to figure skating in the USA, there is a lot of strong competitors in different parts of the country and so there are also skaters of different races. I think there is that conviction that to be able to show your own strengths in these conditions, the most important thing is to express the "I'll be saved by the things I love" core part of you. Leo can't for example jump quadruple jumps yet, but instead he wants to find his other strong points and show them - I wanted him to be a strong person in this way.

Minami Kenjiro

A skater who just made his senior debut, Minami-kun, was created because, just like Yuuri looks up to Victor, I wanted other Japanese skater to look up to Yuuri and Yuuri to be aware that there is somebody who looks up to him. Yuuri had a very bad start at Nationals, so Minami has already won with him once, but I thought I wanted another active competitor to tell Yuuri that he wants Yuuri to continue skating. And so I gave him this pure personality, the kind that Yuuri doesn't possess, so he can yell "I will definitely win with you!". Because of that, he became a character like a classic shonen manga protagonist. And because he has the vibe of anime protagonist I also gave him a matching haircut. I created him feeling that "If Yuri!!! was a shonen manga Minami would definitely be the protagonist".

Otabek Altin

He is a stoic, rugged and serious skater. A type of man who doesn't go to gatherings with other skaters. He left his family and was moving from country to country throughout the course of his training, so he had to wait a long time for a breakthrough. While training, separately from skating, he was also making friends among local musicians, so he has a lot of companions, who are important to him not only in Kazakhstan. He is the type of person who you can trust. He doesn't talk much and doesn't use social media much. But somehow you feel that he can for sure make a lot of progress. He also has this idea to do things that other people don't do. That's why I think that [since he started till the moment we meet him in the show] he's been treating skating very seriously. Otabek is more of a warrior or a soldier than an artist. I see him as this kind of person, who respects competitors who aren't on a level playing field with him and he treats them like comrades-in-arms. That's why, after he met with Yurio at a summer camp and saw his strength, he decided to find his own style of fighting, other than ballet, and he never forgot Yurio, who also had a soldier-like dream.

Michele Crispino

I think Michele loves his sister too much and that's why he doesn't really want to change. He has the skills and skates very good. That's why he managed to get to the GPF and is a very strong competitor, but there's also something missing there and he can't really break through. I wanted to show that his love is of a different kind than the rest of the cast's. I think the kind of love he has for Sara is a little bit different than familial love, but well I think that in his mind Sara is the only person he can trust. But Sara herself thinks she needs to change. I wanted to highlight this change by making Michele a tough/traditionally masculine guy. I was thinking that I want him to use the emotions he has because of his sister to have the break through even if these emotions are not necessarily positive. It was fun writing him.

Lee Seung Gil

SeungGil says pretty harsh things and has the most athlete-like mind of all the skaters. The pressure he is under is huge so, as the real athlete he is, to protect himself from being influenced by this pressure, he doesn't do any fan-service. I think that he is simply a stoic competitor, but because during interviews he says things like: "Is it really necessary for me to answer questions like that?", people misunderstand him and tease him for being cold. The story that I was thinking about for him is that he competes with this stoic attitude, but he knows that if he doesn't become more expressive, he can't win, so he chose a song and costume with an element of surprise. I think this gap is where his charm is. I think he, in his everyday life, isn't interested in things other than skating and usually wears clothes his mum bought for him, or jersey.

Emil Nekola

There are a lot of characters who stand out, so I wanted to design one, who doesn't, and instead simply has a sunny disposition and is like a younger brother or the kid in a group. Skaters from Czech Republic are popular so I thought that it will be a good match to his personality if I make him Czech. The image I have for him is that he is friends with Michele and is the kindest person among European skaters. I was thinking to make him "a big guy who you can depend on". He is very good at physical activities, so I think if, in addition to skating, if he decided to do snowboarding or extreme sports he would be pretty good at them too. He himself isn't really fixated on skating and has a lot of other things he likes to do. But right know he is focusing on skating. That's why, unlike Michele who is like: "Skating is the only thing I have in my life", Emil has a very good way of dealing with the pressure - he is a clever guy.

Closing comments

The things to enjoy while binge watching all episodes

At the end of ep 10, it was revealed that Yuuri at the banquet actually asked Victor to be his coach. If you re-watch the show from ep 1, while having this in mind, the relationship between Yuuri and Victor will surely appear very different. In the beginning of ep 1, when Victor ask Yuuri "Do you want a commemorative photo?", to him Yuuri wasn't someone who really stood out from the crowd. But then, he watched the video of Yuuri skating a perfect copy of his "Stammi Vicino" program, while having some prior knowledge of Yuuri from the "be my coach accident" at the banquet. And as the story goes, because of that Victor's got certain ideas and decided to travel to Japan. If we look at the events from Victor's perspective, it must have been very weird for him, because Yuuri himself asked him to come, but after he came Yuuri met him with this "Why are you here…?" reaction. I think you should be able to enjoy the story even more, if you change the perceptive you watch the show from when you re-watch all 12 episodes at once.

To fans…

I think without both the fans who were supporting us and the staff members who participated in production, we wouldn't be here today. I can't thank you all in person, but we are thinking of doing something, so you can enjoy the world of Yuri!!! even more, as a thank-you gift. I'm looking forward to your continuous support of Yuri!!! on ice.

[avengerscompound]

Shared Experience - Chapter 18

Shared Experience - A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Rating:  E

Warnings:  canon typical violence and death

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Rose Astor

Word Count: 2092

Summary:  Rose Astor met her end in 1920, joining the ranks of the living dead two years after the birth of Steve Rogers.  A century later the two meet in battle - a beacon of light clashing with a creature of the night.  Despite their differences, the two bond over their shared life experiences.  Can a vampire become an Avenger?  Can two such different beings create a life together?

Chapter 18

A sense of trepidation hung in the air affecting everyone.  There was a plan, but as much as they’d talked out strategy and tactics, and worked out how to put them into play, it still relied on one large piece of chance.  They could set the trap, but Marcellus needed to step into it.

Before nightfall, the Avengers and the Forgiven had gone out into the tourist crowds.  Wanda had dressed much younger than she was and stuck with Eliza.  They were the bait.  The hope was he’d be called to his little escapee and the promise of a new victim would draw him out.

Everyone else found hiding spots, each human staying with a vampire.  Steve and Rose had paired up and were hiding on the balcony of a hotel that overlooked the market below.  They sat up there like any other couple might, sharing a drink, talking, and occasionally checking in with the others.  They didn’t want to draw attention to themselves, and while people were still exploring the town, acting casually was the best way to lay low.

As the crowds dispersed, they became more conspicuous and ended up crouched down behind the railing, peeking over from time to time to keep an eye on things below.

It wasn’t until just before midnight that the first vampire was sighted.  They darted down the alley to the square where Wanda waited with Eliza and beelined straight for her.

It was impossible to tell what they were talking about, but they seemed to argue for a moment and then the vampire turned into a cloud of bats that flew off in the direction of the castle.

“You can turn into bats?” Steve asked.

“I can’t, but some can,” Rose explained.  “Mind you, I had a terrible teacher, so who knows what I’d be able to do if I was shown how.”

“What just happened?” Steve asked via the comms.

“That was one of Dracula’s lackeys.  He knew me and wanted to know why I was out with such a tasty-looking morsel.  I told him she was a gift for Marcellus and that I wanted to go back to the castle.  He asked what I’d do if he just took her.  I said I’d rip his head off and that he should get Marcellus.  We argued a bit more and he left to get him.” 

“You think he’ll come?” Tony asked.

“No doubt about it,” she replied.  “He won’t be able to resist trying to take me back, especially if I’ve got such a tasty little snack for him.”

“I’d really appreciate it if everyone would stop calling me a tasty snack,” Wanda said.

There was laughter over the comms.  “What?  You don’t want to let someone have a nibble?” Elsa asked.

“Okay, okay,” Steve interjected.  “Serious masks on.  He may not take long getting here.”

Steve hadn’t been wrong, barely five minutes after everyone had settled down a thick fog drifted in.  “Stay sharp,” Steve said over comms.  “This is it.”

It was difficult to see through the fog.  Even with Rose’s keen eyes, there were just vague shapes moving.  But if it hid him, it would hide them too.  Steve gave the signal, and she vaulted over the balcony and crept up to the plaza’s edge.  The others did the same so that by the time the fog dissipated, the whole area was surrounded by Forgiven and Avengers.

Marcellus stood in the middle with Wanda and Eliza, towering over them.  He’d barely changed since the last time she’d seen him.  His clothes were more modern, but he still wore his hair long and he had that stupid thin moustache.  “Eliza, my sweet girl,” he said, speaking Romanian.  He reached for her like he was going to caress her cheek. “You’ve realized your error?”

Eliza hissed, baring her fangs and flinching back from him.  As she did, Wanda got to her feet and held out her hands, pink chaos magic danced around her fingers.  “You wish, you piece of shit,” she hissed. 

Rose stepped out of the shadows behind him, clearing her throat.  “Your time has come, Marcellus,” she said.

He wheeled around, finally spotting the others, and he bared his fangs. “Rose?  What is this?” 

“Your reckoning.  You will never hurt another person.  Not ever,” she said and flew at him.

They had collided, scratching and biting at each other in a berserk, animalistic fury before anyone else could react.  Eliza was the first to move, quickly joining in the fray. 

Everyone else stepped forward, but held back, unable to find a clear shot.  “Rose, fall back so we can get him,” Steve called.

Before she could respond, Marcellus had exploded into a cloud of bats and taken off.  She snatched one out of the air and crushed it in her hand, reducing it to a handful of ash in the blink of an eye. 

Wanda raised her hands, engulfing as many of the bats as she could into a cloud of pink energy, and pulled them back to earth as Tony shot at the bats that had evaded capture.  Both Razio and Narcissa transformed into bats as well and took off after the stragglers.

Seeing himself outmatched, he reformed and held up his hands.  “Alright, alright, I surrender,” he said.

Rose flew at him again, but she was caught by Wanda’s powers, holding her back.  “We can’t,” she said.  “We don’t kill.”

Marcellus laughed.  It was a sickening, mocking tone.  “That’s right, my sweet,” he said.  “That’s what happens when you turn to the light.  There are rules.  There would have been no rules with me.”

She balled her hands into fists, snarling at him.  Behind him, Elsa had raised her crossbow, but before she had a chance to fire, Steve threw his shield.

Rose watched as if in slow motion, as it spun through the air, directly at Marcellus.  He was still laughing when the shield struck his neck, and before it had even passed through him, he had exploded into a large cloud of dust.  The shield stuck the fountain behind him with a loud clang and everyone stood frozen as the dust fluttered to the ground.

Rose’s legs buckled and she collapsed to the ground with a desperate wail.  Seeing her maker reduced to ash so suddenly after all these years felt like a sudden weight had been lifted from her shoulders and yet she couldn’t quite accept it was real.  The man who had irrevocably changed her life, who had tortured and raped her over and over, was gone.  He would never hurt anyone again.

She lay sobbing in a heap on the cold cobbled ground.  Steve was the first to move, crouching behind her and pulling her into his arms.  “It’s over.  He’ll never hurt anyone ever again.”

She clung to him, her face pressed to his chest as she wept the sudden removal of this shadow such a relief it overwhelmed her.

Everyone had started to move around them, seemingly unsure of what to do now.

“What did you do, Cap?” Tony asked.

“I think you saw what I did, Tony,” Steve answered.

“He was surrendering,” Tony argued.

“And then what?  We put him on trial?” Steve asked.

“We’re not judge, jury, and executioner!  You know that better than anyone!” Tony snapped.

“If he hadn’t done it, I would have,” Elsa said.  “Look, Iron Man…”

“Tony’s fine,” Tony interrupted.

“Whatever,” Elsa said.  “This isn’t the world you’re used to.  Yes, no two vampires are the same, but you have one like him - he’s sadistic.  And he’s immortal.  But he’s also already dead.  Steve didn't kill him. He laid him to rest.”

“Oh, and I bet all these other vampires would like to be ‘laid to rest’ like that, huh?  If we're doing them a favor,” Tony argued, gesturing to the vampires gathered nearby.

“Of course we wouldn't,” Narcissa said.  “But we also cannot pretend that it's the same thing.  Some of us embrace our humanity others do not.  He was a monster before he was ever turned.  He took this gift and used it to be the worst kind of monster.  He hurt children!”

“You will never really understand this, Stark,” Razio said.  “But understand that he has been doing this for centuries.  If you’d captured him, he'd outlive you, your children, their children.  How many life sentences for crimes that are past their statute of limitations do you think he'd get?  You can’t prove that he killed anyone.  You’d be lucky if a jury even believed that he hurt Rose and Eliza given they just have their word for it.  I’d hazard a guess that you couldn’t even medically prove that anyone has ever touched Rose or Eliza - if you get my drift.”

Tony furrowed his brows and then his eyes went wide in understanding.  He looked at Rose and Steve and winced.

“At some stage, he would be free once again and would return to hunting and hurting people once more,” Razio continued.  “This was the only solution that would keep people safe.”

Tony huffed and folded his arms over his chest.

“I get it, Tony,” Steve said.  “If you want to court martial me or have me charged for this, I understand.  But I don’t regret my choice.  I couldn’t see any other way to resolve this.  They’re right, there was no other resolution.  He could have mind-controlled you as soon as he got near you and had you try to kill us all while he escaped.  But I’ll take whatever punishment you see fit.  Can we go back to the hotel now though? I’m worried about Rose.”

Tony huffed and looked around at everyone.  When no one else seemed to want to take his side, he nodded.  “Fine.  But we’re talking about this later.”

Steve helped Rose up and looked at the others.  “Thank you all for everything you’ve done to help us.  If you ever need anything - anything - the Avengers will be there.”

Flavio approached and shook Steve’s hand. “I would never have imagined a world where I would work with someone like you.  It was delightful.”

After a few more goodbyes, the two groups separated and the Avengers began their walk back to the hotel. 

“Are you okay, sweetheart?” Steve asked as he supported Rose down the cobbled path.

She nodded slowly.  “It was just overwhelming.  What he did to me - it changed the course of my life forever.  He’s been a dark cloud and a threat hanging over me for a hundred years.  Now he’s gone, I don’t know how to feel.”

“You can live in the sun now.  Both metaphorically and literally,” Steve said with a smile.

She looked up at him.  “It scares me that you just killed him like that.  I know that you are against killing people if it can be avoided.  It makes me think you don’t see me as a person.” 

Steve stopped walking and turned to Rose.  He put his hands on her shoulders and looked deep into her eyes.  “Honey,” he said.  “We had this exact dilemma with you when we met.  I had to choose to trust you were good and let you go, or see you as a monster or other and - not.  I let you go.  Marcellus was a true monster who also happened to be a vampire.  I saw him surrendering and knew it was just more of the same manipulation that he’s been using on people for centuries.  Do you think I made the wrong choice?”

She shook her head.  “No.”

“Do you really believe I see you as a monster?”

She shook her head again.  “No.”

“Good,” he said, brushing his thumbs over her cheeks.  “The shadow is gone, Rose.  You don’t have to live in the dark anymore.  We can step into the light together.”

He leaned in and kissed her and she closed her eyes, melting into it.  She and Steve had such a similar life experience.  Both born at the start of the twentieth century in New York.  Both were given powers and immortality early in their lives.  But where Steve had been a symbol of good and light, Rose had been made a creature of death and dark.

Tonight Steve had taken a step into the dark that went against his beliefs and morals and by doing so, he removed the shadow that had been keeping Rose in the dark.  Now they could both step into the light and start their lives together.

And Rose could not wait.

// NEXT

[solidwater05]

I dreamed that I was in my old school and there was a girl I had a crush on? It was actually kinda cute but there's not much to say about the scene

My mom picked me up and said that we should buy cherries, but there were sheep grazing (... on the street) so we had to take the long way to the produce store. The long way included taking an elevator that was inside a different store, and the store owner was well aware that lots of people needed that elevator to buy food so they charged people for using it. Because of this my mom told me to buy the cherries on my own so she didn't have to go because they charged per person

Despite this, my mom was talking to me in the next scene, but she wasn't physically with me. I assume that she was behind me because she didn't say anything more to me once I kept moving forward

I was in a completely different place, imagine some kind of concrete port or bridge, but it was pretty wide and it was built more like a hall, made for pedestrians. All the structures supporting the roof were also made of concrete, and the gaps between them were too small for a person to go through

I saw people walking on the edges of the bridge outside. I felt like I had to get out too, but I couldn't find any exit

The details here are blurry, but I know that I eventually made it to a place vaguely shaped like the front of a spaceship or Baby's control room in Sister Location. It was partially submerged in the sea (or fully but very close to the surface)

I realized that it was impossible to go back, and that I would be there for eternity. There were many people there, also trapped. Nobody was happy about it, and they didn't really have any sort of organization or anything.

Dunno when but the scene changed to something more open (no roof, still in the middle of the ocean), there were some small concrete rooms that we couldn't enter, and a big chain connecting the area with the (possible to escape but strangely liminal despite the amount of people) port.

[ID: Two rough doodles of the place described above. From a bird's eye view, it has a roughly boat-like shape, with two distinct areas. The area on the left is narrow and has a big chain going off the screen. The area on the right is wide, and it has a smaller structure on top of it, on the very right of the "boat". There is a chain connecting this structure to the ground.

From a side view, it's divided in three sections, each other being taller than the other. The first section has a chain that goes off screen and small stairs leading to the second section. The third section is higher up in proportion and doesn't have any stairs to get up. On the third section is a square shaped structure connected to the ground by a chain.

There is text labeling things in both drawings. The square structure is labeled "This was a room!", the word "room" is underlined in red. The chain connecting the room and the ground is labeled "this chain did nothing, but it allowed you to get to the roof easily". The word "roof" is underlined in red, and there is a dotted arrow going up the chain and onto the roof of the structure. The chain that goes off the screen is labeled "Big chain connecting this place and the real world(?)"

Finally, on the side view drawing, the two lower sections are labeled "everyone stayed here". /End ID]

Everything had grass and there were some trees growing from the highest section (which was like over a meter taller than the previous one, the drawing is not to scale)

I was panicking because, oh shit, I'm trapped here forever and everyone just told me that it's dangerous here and there's nothing we could do. But someone (who was not there physically and only I could hear?) told me to try to collect food from the trees and try to make a farm. The voice said that even if I never get out I could reclaim the place and live well, but that I should be careful because sometimes unspecified bad guys (pirates?) checked on that place and they couldn't know that the people there were thriving.

So I started shaking a tree to get some fruit.

[ID: A rough doodle of a vaguely acorn shaped purple fruit with downward pointing green spikes. /End ID]

Imagine a dragon fruit but the spikes point down and it's also small enough that a newborn could hold a dozen of them with one hand. They were also said to not taste great and not be very nutritious but hey, better than nothing. I remember the tree having huge leaves that reached the floor. Imagine if willow trees had wayyy more vines(?) and were softer. Yes you could hide inside with ease

At some point I walked on the chain until I reached the port and immediately went back, I think I found an exit but it would have been dangerous to try to return? I didn't tell anyone

There was also a scene about owning a Minecraft observatory but I have no idea how it fits with the rest of the plot, even if it was supposedly set in the same area

[frozenjokes]

Lost In Translation

“Right. You all have thirty minutes, or until I get tired of you; a far more likely outcome to happen in very little time, so think twice before you two go on yelling and talking over each other,” Etho threw an aggressive point at Scar and Grian from their place on the sand, tail flicking irritably. They had some sort of human game in front of them, thinly sliced human scraps with shapes and symbols Mumbo didn’t understand, but given Etho’s less than joyous mood, Mumbo held off on the questions. He got the feeling he may have been pushing it already by asking Etho to come back to the shore to speak with all of them, but the other mermaid had only looked tired, not completely unwilling. Mumbo understood. Very little peace with those two. He nodded along as Etho translated what they’d said to Mumbo, but startled at their next words, ‘You first, Mumbo. Say whatever you want to say.’

Oh goodness. He hadn’t prepared for this. Well- obviously he’d thought about what he wanted to say, but he hadn’t expected to be first! Etho made a small huffing noise in response to Mumbo’s anxious clicking, which was entirely indistinguishable between amusement or annoyance, but they didn’t say anything, fins patient. Not patient, however, were the two humans on the shore, boring holes with their barely contained excitement right into Mumbo’s soul. Goodness. Oh god. To escape their eyes, Mumbo dove into his bag of trinkets.

‘Gifts. I want to give them their gifts. Music boxes. The music boxes. Tell them they’re fragile, please, very fragile. I don’t know if they work above water, and I don’t quite see why they wouldn’t, but I’ve never tested it- I don’t want them to break. Tell them they’re fragile.’ Mumbo dug out the boxes, gingerly placing them where the water met the shore and backing away.

“He brought you two both a gift from where he’s from, a very important cultural thing, so for the love of god, don’t break them. They’re music boxes, they play mermaid songs. They work underwater, so don’t try to play them outside of it. He wants to stress that they’re fragile, but I think Mumbo thinks humans are a bit clumsier than..” Etho trailed off, staring the two humans down, “Nevermind. Treat these like glass. The boxes are sturdy, though.”

“Okay, I’m making a conscious effort not to be offended by that.”

“Gifts?” Scar, barely contained, squealed over the tail end of whatever Grian had said, launching himself toward the water in a way that made Mumbo’s stomach lurch. He was going to break it. No doubt.

“You’re making him nervous, Scar,” Etho mumbled, and Scar stopped short over the boxes, looking almost startled from Etho to Mumbo to Etho to Mumbo to Etho again.

“What? He’s not doing anything. Did he say something?”

“No. Do you say something everytime you’re uncomfortable?”

“No. Usually I make a face about it though,” Scar gestured vaguely to Mumbo, who was really wishing Etho would do the translation thing he came here to do right now.

“You own a zoo, Scar. You are the animal guy,” Etho sounded exasperated, which was really making Mumbo anxious now. Come on, Scar! Don’t ruin this. But Scar didn’t look any less confused; if anything, he looked frustrated, brows furrowed and frowning.

“Alright, great, yeah, I do animals. I don’t know if you noticed, but that’s a whole ass person!” Scar made a grander gesture, and Etho flicked his tail, but Scar wasn’t done, “I know Mumbo doesn’t really emote like people do, but he’s obviously sentient! I don’t understand how dehumanizing him is helping anyone! I mean, besides making some people feel less badly about plotting to murder and sell the bits of our friend here-“

“Okay.” Grian bristled, but Scar didn’t stop.

“I won’t draw a line between the two of us like we’re any different. I don’t respect Mumbo any differently than I respect the both of you, and that isn’t to say I think down on Animals In General either, because I don’t, obviously, but it isn’t the same. It kind of bothers me that you think of Mumbo so differently- especially you-“

“Scar.” Etho said flatly, eyes lidded, “Shut up.” Scar blanched, but didn’t speak, so Etho went on, “That,” he pointed to Mumbo, “Is not a human. That is a mermaid. I have no idea what’s running through that head of yours, but Mumbo is not a human person. You can not read him like a human person. He does emote, quite expressively at that. With his fins. Just like a dog or cat does with their ears, or some other equivalent.“ ‘-you complete fucking buffoon, what the fuck are you going on about.’

“Oh.” Scar stared at Mumbo for a moment, who was doing a poor job at pretending he wasn’t very irritated right now. “Oh. I see it.”

“Have you not been looking at his fins?” Grian asked, the question more genuine than anything, but Scar clearly interpreted the tone otherwise, hunching his shoulders with a defensive huff.

“Of course I have! When they’re moving a lot I do! But they don’t usually move that much.” Was Scar angry? Mumbo was having a difficult time telling. He didn’t really sound angry- more.. squeaky. What did it mean when a human was squeaky? Grian opened his mouth to say something, but clearly thought better of it. Etho did not have the same reservations.

“You haven’t been looking at his face, have you?” Etho paused, fins flaring in sudden thought, “You haven’t been looking at my face have you?”

“Of course I’ve been looking at your face!” Scar threw up his arms, “I look at all of you!”

“That- Scar. Mermaids don’t make expressions like humans do. We literally do not have the muscles in our faces- mermaids don’t emote like that! Do you know how weird it was to go from nothing to my face just Moving all of the time?” Etho’s exasperation seemed to shift, looking more like he had been wronged by The World than just Scar.

“Are you really worried about where I’m looking or do you just want to complain,” Scar huffed with just a hint of a smile, and honestly, Mumbo had completely given up trying to puzzle out how anyone here was feeling.

“To complain!”

Scar snorted, “Well then, human Etho doesn’t make many faces anyway, so I don’t bother looking much at all.”

“Good! I don’t want anyone looking at my face while I’m possessed. Scratch that, I don’t want anyone looking at me ever.”

“We can all tell.”

“Good!”

“What.” Mumbo cut in firmly, unable to take any more of this, before remembering there was someone here who he could complain to in far more detail, ‘You two are just as bad as Scars and Red. Do I get to know what you’re bickering about, or do I have to stay in the dark forever?’

Etho blinked, staring for a moment before looking back to Scar, “He’s mouthy.” Mumbo bristled with a short hiss.

“What? What did he say?” Grian perked up, then, after a quick glance at Mumbo, puffed up defensively, “Well I bet he feels left out! No wonder!”

‘They’re defending you,’ Etho clicked with a short gesture, and Mumbo was too struck between vindication and annoyance to react, ‘Scars wasn’t using their brain. They’re weird about you.’

‘Weird? What does that mean?’

Etho rolled their fins, a wordless non-answer, and Mumbo had to consciously lay his own fins flat to avoid screaming his frustration to the world. Humans! The WORST.

‘I don’t like how you talk to each other,’ Mumbo huffed, fins twitching, ‘You didn’t used to be so mean. Now whenever any of you are together all you do is argue without any regard for anyone else. What changed? Are you all in season or something?’

Etho gaped at Mumbo for a moment, a human expression, before breaking out into that odd human half-laugh, wheezing a howl with flared gills. The longer this went on, the more Mumbo was convinced that Etho might actually just be dying, and given the strained looks on Grian and Scar’s faces, it seemed they were thinking similarly, but Etho did straighten up eventually, making a gesture of wiping something from their face that Mumbo didn’t understand the meaning of.

“Mumbo thinks you two have been so bad to each other because you’re horny, and he’s right.” Etho wheezed (laughed?) once more, holding their chest, but whatever they’d said (a translation, maybe?) definitely had an impact, both Grian and Scar jumping in alarm, their faces ranging from strained to outright distressed.

“What- how- Mumbo!” Scar wailed, but in his loss for words, Grian took over.

“We haven’t- Where’s he gotten this impression from! We hardly even visit together at all! What, did we argue one time and he’s just- What exactly did he say!?”

Well, Mumbo hadn’t really been serious, but he was starting to think he was onto something now. Huh. The more you know. Maybe he should make a mental note to avoid humans in the late summer- how long was this going to last? Etho said something in human that Mumbo missed, Grian only cutting through his thought with the sheer volume of his protest.

“That is not true!”

“Is it not, though?” Scar looked thoughtful, but the facade cracked when he snickered at Grian’s affronted expression; wow, the way humans changed color was so odd! Could they turn colors other than red? Mumbo was pretty sure he’d have seen it by now if they could, but still.

‘It’s complicated,’ Etho settled at that conclusion, infuriatingly vague, ‘Humans don’t quite have a season like you’re thinking, but they’ve both been worked up for a while now. Human relationships tend to reach a point of complexity that is rarer for us. Every relationship dispute I’ve known in the deep is dealt with..’ Etho paused, frequent clicks filling the silence as they thought, ‘Well, if we’re unhappy enough to fight with teeth.. No. Whatever they’re doing isn’t normal for humans either. Freaks.’

Mumbo cocked his head, just slightly, curiosity like claws longing to pull the whole story from Etho’s throat, ‘They’re fighting over someone?’

Etho snorted, ‘I guess you could say that.’ Wow. Etho was quite possibly the worst person in the world they could have had to translate between them. What did that MEAN. Etho sure wasn’t going to elaborate, their attention already back on Grian and Scar, who were still bickering, though quite a bit redder in the face than before.

“Alright, who’s next,” Etho cut in, eternally unamused, “Less uncomfortable flirting, more Mumbo.”

“That was not flirting!” Grian hissed, but Scar was unfazed, eyes bright at Mumbo’s name.

“Me first, me first! Please tell Mumbo ‘I love you!’ from Scar. Or just teach Grian how to say it, and maybe one day I’ll be able to say it too.”

“You-“ Etho snorted, “Seriously? That’s all you want to say?”

“That’s what’s come to mind right now. I mean, most of the time we run into issues it’s kinda on the spot, y’know? I didn’t really bring any human stuff for him to look at today- augh! What a complete missed opportunity! Then I’d have more to talk about! I mean, I could talk about my week like I do normally, but I don’t really feel very strongly about it. I do that anyway, regardless if Mumbo can understand me or not. He likes listening!”

“He likes listening, huh?” Etho huffed, but the way their fins were waving, Mumbo was pretty sure they were amused. Grian snorted as well, but raised his hands in defense when Scar turned to admonish the two of them, though Etho didn’t look much like they cared at all, eyes narrowed and tail twitching in a sharp focus that lasted so long, Scar looked up, confused by the silence.

“Is something wrong?”

“Uh..” Etho’s fins lowered, looking embarrassed, “No, I just.. I’m not entirely sure how to do that. It’s- the language is complicated, and a lot of it isn’t even said out loud- and big feelings- love is a big feeling. You usually communicate something like that with song, and never on the behalf of someone else- I mean, maybe, but the context would have to be there.. Everything I’m thinking of saying with words just sounds.. Well, he might get the wrong message. This is an unusual thing for a mermaid to just say to another.”

“You guys don’t tell each other you love them?”

“We do, just not the way humans do. Most of it is wordless, and most of that is acts of service. Time in each other’s company. If a mer isn’t fond of another, they kind of just swim away.”

Scar chewed on his lip, distress in his furrowed brow, “But I want him to know.”

“I’m sure he knows, Scar,” Grian tried, but despite the soft tone, this didn’t seem to make Scar feel any better.

“Can you try? Even if it’s a little odd sounding or not quite right, I don’t care, he’ll still get the idea.”

Etho didn’t look convinced, fins wavering, “Maybe now is a good time to say I’m a bit rusty.. It- it’s been a while since I’ve been home, even before I became human, and listen, I’m not looking for sympathy or anything, but I lived in a pretty remote place with pretty stony inhabitants, and they were not the most warm or loving supports-“

“Etho,” Scar crouched to Etho’s level, “Any time, any place, I will always be free if you want to talk about how your parents never taught you how to say ‘I love you’-“

“Oh god, no. Absolutely not. Also, Scar, again, that is not how the mermaid language-“

“-But it doesn’t matter to me how you say it or if it’s awkward or whatever. I don’t care if the translation is completely incomprehensible. It would just mean a lot to me to be able to tell him, that’s all. That’s all I want to say, I won’t bother you with anything else.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Etho returned dryly, but Scar looked so desperately hopeful, so intensely genuine, and despite avoiding eye contact, Etho still cracked, “Okay. Just give me a second.”

…

‘Scars,’ Etho started, and for an uncomfortably long time, that was it, though they kept shifting their tail in a gesture Mumbo didn’t really recognize.. Was Etho trying to say something, or were they just nervous? Without the mobility in the water, it would be a lot harder to speak properly, but Etho made no move to abandon their human game. Etho made a couple sounds like he was testing the language, but perked up a moment later, looking hopeful. ‘How do you say it, ‘love?’ On behalf of someone else?’

Mumbo straightened with a soft click; ah! They weren’t sure of the translation! That made sense, especially when Etho had been away for so long with no one to talk to- they were still fluent of course, just a few things slipped through the cracks- wait a minute.

‘Love?’

‘To love. A friend’s affirmation. Humans like to affirm each other often.’

Mumbo’s fins waved, light amusement, ‘They say we are friends, then. That is sweet.’ But Etho wasn’t satisfied, tail fin thumping against the grass.

‘Stronger feeling. Deeper.’ Surprise set Mumbo’s fins on end, but Etho was distressed by the reaction, waving their hands in what had to be a frantic human gesture, ‘Not that deep!’

‘You’re confusing me.’

‘Scars is your friend. They feel strongly, they wanted you to know. A human gesture. Friendship sets a distance. Scars feels closer- there is no distance, he wants you to know. It is not- not- mating. Between? No. Forget I spoke.’ Etho put their head in their hands. “I’ve ruined it.”

“What? What did you say?” Scar didn’t look any bit alarmed, though Grian behind him was glancing from Etho to Mumbo and back again, wary. Mumbo had little idea what to make of that.. Everyone except Scar seemed to be nervous, but Scar was always the confident type. Was this something nerve wracking?

“I don’t know! I don’t know. Who knows what he took from that!”

“You could ask?” Grian suggested, but Etho shook his head fiercely.

“I’m never speaking again.”

Hm. They seemed to be distressed. It was overall difficult to tell, but the general vibe made this seem like some sort of confession? Poor Etho, Mumbo wished he could have been more helpful with the translation. Even Scar looked a little down now, though, humans tended to absorb each other’s emotions quite strongly. Scar wanted.. not courtship, apparently, but not friendship either? What did that mean? Something about puzzling out Etho’s words had the logical part of Mumbo’s brain firing rapidly, but the moment that slipped, he felt his heart rate rise and his fins in turn. Did- Just the idea had him so flustered- humans! What was Mumbo going to do with them!

The three of them began to talk again on the shore, but Mumbo didn’t even try to listen, lost in the fantasy world where someone like that would even be possible. Had he misunderstood? But Scar must not have seen any issues if he intended to make a grand confession out of it, even if translation problems got in the way. Did humans have more stages between friendship and partnership than mermaids? Is that what Etho had meant by ‘between?’ Perhaps Scar meant to gauge interest, see how Mumbo reacted.. Is that why Grian was so nervous? He wanted this to go well? Oh, poor Scar! Mumbo hadn’t given any reaction at all! No wonder he was disappointed!

Actually, before Mumbo got ahead of himself here, how did he feel about this? Intrigued, surely, but for the right reasons? Scar could be abrasive, certainly, but Mumbo always got the impression his heart was in the right place, and he was always so patient, wasn’t he? He loved to swim, loved to try keeping up with Mumbo when he had no chance, loved to play- oh goodness, Scar had been bringing Mumbo gifts for as long as he could remember! Was that- had Scar always been interested in him? How could Mumbo have been so daft!

In his defense, this felt a little like an objectively odd thing to happen. Scar was always so full of energy, but Mumbo had never considered part of the reason to be infatuation! Mumbo was aware he did well for himself aesthetically, most if not all having to do with his size, but Scar had little base of comparison.. though, maybe humans didn’t care for the same attributes? They had eyes, for one; distinct features mermaids could sense without sight probably didn’t matter as much to humans. Maybe Scar liked Mumbo’s fins? They were colorful, weren’t they? Oh, Mumbo loved color.. Humans had quite good ones, though not as good as a lot of fish. But the way they wore color, oh, Mumbo would kill for some human clothes..

Perhaps he’d gotten off topic. How did he feel about Scar? Scar.. Mumbo liked Scar. He appreciated that Scar met him where he was most comfortable, spending hours trying to teach words of a foreign language to.. varying levels of success. It was damn hard, frustrating at the best of times, but that didn’t seem to bother or discourage the human.

Scar was also mildly terrifying in every way, and Mumbo was never sure if the human would survive the next week. In fairness, he didn’t know how humans survived at all, but at least Grian seemed to value his life!

Goodness, how odd it was to be considering a human of all things.. But they were sentient, weren’t they? Mumbo couldn’t really find a problem with this. Experimentally, this seemed like an incredible opportunity! Scar wasn’t looking for any firm commitments, and that was fine; Mumbo wasn’t about to trade scales over Scar anyway, especially given their distance. Oh, this was sweet, wasn’t it? Scar was very sweet..

Ah! Mumbo had so many gifts to make up for! He nearly forgot Etho altogether, just about to turn tail when the other mer spoke.

‘Red wants to apologize for the net, and for how he tried to kill you afterwards. They-‘

‘RED-‘ Mumbo’s head spun, that little tidbit setting his fins completely on end and quivering, ‘RED TRIED TO WHAT!?’

Etho stared, glanced at Grian, then back again. “Oh. That’s awkward.”

“I- What did he say-?” Grian squeaked, distress clear, though he could not be nearly as horrified as Mumbo.

“He didn’t know,” Etho said simply, and Scar drew a sharp breath.

“Oooh, yeah, that is bad. That is. Hm.”

“HE DIDN'T KNOW!? He didn’t- what did he think I-” Grian shrieked, and that really frightened Mumbo, jumping back just a bit further away. “Oh god. Oh god.” Grian stopped, turning to Mumbo stiffly, eyes alight with- an emotion, surely- ‘I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry-‘

Etho cackled, the noise more human sounding than any of their other ‘laughs,’ while Scar only sat in the sand, hands over his eyes.

‘I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry-‘ (and so it went for quite a while longer)

[irlplasticlamb]

You draw people’s faces so SO accurately and I was wondering how you practice that. When I try, I can get it to vaguely look like the person I’m attempting to draw, but you’re typically spot on.

thank you so so much! i will gladly walk you through my very silly process hahah!

okay so!! firstly i photobash my reference and i will usually do my best to find photos of faces from the angles i need them for the particular piece — it’s a lot easier to get the features right than when you (for example) try to draw a side profile off a portrait photo!

(yo this looks so funny)

then i will trace (yes trace! tracing is not inherently evil and can be SUPER helpful with speeding up the process and getting the placement of things right :) the very basics of the faces and the pose — don’t get too detailed with that honestly the simpler the better! you don’t want to get too caught up in perfect accuracy but rather just get the general feeling of what goes where!

then i will turn off the reference layer in the drawing app (but still have it opened as a separate window so i can keep looking at it) and keep refining the features — as you can see i do change and exaggerate certain features to fit my style — the key is to focus on the unique features of the character you’re drawing because these are the things that will make them recognisable! for example with kendall it’s his nose and eyes and lip shape!

i will usually keep refining stuff as i do my lineart and colouring — just keep looking at the references you have and keep comparing with what you have on your canvas!

as you can see i never end up with an exact copy of my reference but because i try my best focus on the specific features of the characters i draw they end up pretty recognisable :) it does take a lot of time and practice so don’t get discouraged! i’m still learning A LOT!

[what-even-is-thiss]

As a person who sees clear visual images in their mind, I am SO curious as to how your mind functions without doing so! So if you looked at an object you've never seen before, then turned away from it to try to draw it from memory, you would literally be unable to draw anything at all? Not even make a guess as to the general shape, or vague color?

Or WOULD you be able to draw it somehow, without seeing it in your mind? In that case...how would you know its attributes, without seeing them?

This is fascinating to me, I am SO curious.

My brain still stores information. Colors and shapes are raw information as well as things you can see. The last time I got diagnosed with adhd there was a portion where they made me look at shapes once and then draw them from memory and I was quite good at it. I can’t speak for everyone but for me shapes are quite tangible. So I could feel the direction the pencil should go. I wasn’t referencing an image in my head. I was referencing data stored in my head that told me what it would feel like to draw that shape.

There’s also people with the ability to make pictures in their head who can’t make smells or feelings or sounds, etc. in their head. But a person who can’t make tastes in their head still remembers that the cake they had at their cousin’s wedding was a weird lime flavor and would probably recognize it at least somewhat if they tasted it again.

I’ve got a list in my head of information about pears. Pear, in fact, is a type of shape that people reference. I can recreate in my head what a pear would feel like in my hand, I know what it tastes like, I’ve got a list of colors I know that pears can be. So if you asked me to draw a pear without looking at it, that’s no issue. I’ve got a list of things I know about it.

If I saw something I’d never seen before, there would still be data to reference. I’ve got words for the shapes it might be, the colors I saw on it, things I’ve seen before that look a bit similar. I wouldn’t have a visual reference to draw from, but if I’ve never seen a thneed from the Lorax before and you showed it to me I can remember that

1. It’s pink and fuzzy looking

2. It’s a nonsensical shape that nonetheless still resembles a sweater

So from just knowing that even after just seeing it once I could probably make a crude drawing of it.

[spaciebabie]

any advice 4 when u want to keep drawing 2 improve but u cant get over perfectionism ? like when u just dont care how its gonna turn out, if its bad its bad yknow?

ahh yes lowkey ive struggled with this a lot. not as much now as in the past tho, and honestly its beecuz ive developed a more neutral view on myself/my art in general. its going to take time to get to this state of mind, so dont be too hard on yourself when you find yourself falling into bad habits.

advice under the cut (kind of long winded) ⬇️⬇️⬇️

the first thing ive done to overcome perfectionism is focus less on details and more about overall shape and form. when i sketch im trying to get roughly what i want, and i limit the strokes i do in certain parts of my sketch to like 1-3 depending on what im drawing (im ngl i also am very impatient and have created a workflow that makes it so i am able to start and finish pieces as fast as possible LOLOLOL. shrugs. i just like drawing fast).

a good example would be this thing i just drew:

in all of my sketches i tend to use as few strokes as possible and just get the basic idea down. good for not overly focusing on teeny tiny details and worrying about them later (i also use the same technique for lineart, but just end up connecting the lines. thats another tip i have, if you like your sketches more than your fully lined pieces, just line the same way you sketch! or you could also use your sketch as your lineart :P)

another tip i have is to draw from references, and once again, focus mostly on shape/form/the big picture of your subject before going into details (do you know how many planes there are on the human face....i still dont know howta draw faces properly but im not mad at myself anymore about it, i just open up a reference and try to learn). i also recommend having a drawing session where the goal is to draw awfully. draw something you want to draw, but that you're not sure if you'll draw it right, and draw it. dont try to correct it, acknowledge that what you made isnt perfect, and then draw something else. you're learning! of course its not gonna be perfect. but inevitably, you're going to get frustrated. just remember if its something you really want to go back to, you will be able to revisit it in the future. feel your anger and frustration, but do your best to not direct it inward.

small side tangent about shading- I AM SO SHIT AT SHADING SKFHSAFDJHS. people dont tend to notice (surprising), since ig my shading style is considered "beautiful" or something, but if you looked at it on a technical level, there are mistakes everywhere. i havent really tried to improve it. i dont really care most of the time b/c i just like shading for fun. and especially when im shading my sketches, i already have it in my mind that its not supposed to be perfect. its a sketch. this is where im supposed to make all of my mistakes. once i start making my way to the final product is when i start worrying more about if i did the lighting correctly (even then ik im not good at it im not trying to be a god im just trying to draw things that make me happy).

additionally, i really rec u dont try and fudge a sketch until its better if you're deep in a Perfectionist moment. keep the old sketch and start over on a new sketch taking bits and pieces you liked from the original, and improving on those that you dont (shitty thumbnails are also good if you have a vague idea in mind but need ta figure out howta place subjects in your scene). honestly drawing the same thing/idea over and over gets me a better understanding of my subject each time, so naturally each iteration looks better. it doesnt take me that long to sketch tho, so if sketching takes you forever (sometimes if sketching takes you forever its b/c you're a perfectionist skjfskdjf) just think about how much time you're willing to spend on something. remember☝️ its okay to give up/take a break on something and try again later. sometimes you just needta stop looking at your art and like. look at a tree or something lmfao.

i will also say that im not looking to go into a career in art, im more of a hobbyist. ik school environments dont exactly.....help with perfectionism lol. there are certain expectations put on people who go into the art field that are inescapable. if this is the case for you, i still think what ive discussed before can help you, but i also think that you may need to lean more on the mental tips i have also provided below.

alright! mental health tips in regard to art:

so, i have c-ptsd, and with that comes a lot of self image issues that ive had to work on. my feelings about myself extended to the way i felt about my art. it was shit, it was awful, i cant draw like this other person can so why bother, if its not perfect i shouldnt draw at all, etc. and honestly, something thats helped is affirmations. my affirmations are c-ptsd related, but ive noticed a shift in the way i view myself, and by extent, my art since ive started repeating them to myself daily. and honestly, i think a requirement of overcoming perfectionism is telling yourself that your art doesnt hafta be perfect, A LOT. LOL. LIKE YOU ACTUALLY HAFTA ACTIVELY TELL YOURSELF YOU'RE NOT AWFUL LMAOOOO. its funny, we dont think much about how we naturally are self critical about ourselves, and we dont realize that we are basically repeating negative affirmations about ourselves over and over and thats why we're not improving (mentally).

even when you're not drawing, i think it would benefit some people to have some kind of notification on their phone to remind them to tell themselves that their art doesnt hafta be perfect daily/however often you feel you might need it. and then with that affirmation, practice Shitty Drawing. one of the best tips ive ever gotten for this was from one of my friends monnie. get out your sketchbook or some printer paper, take out a shitty pen, and DRAW. and then any mistakes you make are permanent and you cant just endlessly try and fix them. it forces you ta sit with this uncomfortable feeling that something you made isnt perfect. eventually your brain will realize that when your art isnt perfect, you can still draw and you're ALLOWED to continue to draw even if what you make isnt spectacular. if you dont want to repeat an affirmation daily, try to remember to at least repeat it before you sit down to draw. something along the lines of "my art doesnt hafta be perfect in order for me to want to draw. im allowed to draw even if its not perfect" or something else. it depends on what you most struggle with in regards to your perfectionism. im ngl its probably going to feel cringe at first, but i promise you, it really works if you put it into practice longterm.

shoot for neutrality instead of positivity first. let me tell you thats where i am now and its so much less exhausting drawing lmfaooo. i make something that looks like shit and im just like. i dont fucking careee i dont give a fuccckkkkk

those are my tips :] i hope this was helpful!