#common purpose

[mjkman1]

We need to work together as a single species in order to rid the world of problems like poverty and disease. If we can get rid of those things, than many of society's other problems will be eliminated as well. No more poverty anywhere means both in the United States, AND everywhere else in the world, including third world countries. No more third world countries means no more concerns for refugees and immigration. Everyone wins. Also, no disease, besides, in and of itself, saving lives, would also allow for a universally satisfying solution to the dividing issue of abortion, as no disease means no more pregnancy related complications. From there, the RIGHT can still technically be there, but without the reasons, so everyone wins. Have your cake and eat it too. Improving foster care is also necessary for this to work. Again, everyone wins.

[mumblesplash]

i know it’s like years old at this point but i love that one collab mumbo and grian did with tommyinnit bc it’s like the single most concentrated example i’ve seen of mumbo’s Chaos Nullification Powers

you get to see a bit of it on hermitcraft, mostly via his interactions with grian, but until seeing that collab it didn’t really hit me just how completely mumbo can no-sell other people’s attempts to control a situation. tommyinnit is possibly the single shoutiest, most chaotic minecraft youtuber out there, and in most videos i’ve seen he pretty much overwhelms everyone else and sets the tone for interactions because of this. but mumbo just. doesn’t let him. no matter how much tommy escalates in intensity, mumbo reacts with *exactly* the same energy he always does. grian largely comes across in the whole video as annoyed and reluctant to engage with the whole thing, but mumbo’s not even affected. he just rolls with anything he finds funny and basically ignores anything he disapproves of, only seeming more and more unflappable the harder anyone tries to get a rise out of him.

AND imo, this is the key to my favorite interpretation of him as a character

see, when the people around him are being more reasonable/calm, i think mumbo often comes across as anxious and a bit easily overwhelmed. the thing is, his nervous wet cat vibes do not scale. he has one setting. his responses to the last life ‘ah-ha!’ jokes and to hermitcraft 8 starting to crumble to pieces under a falling moon are almost identical.

mumbo jumbo is inexorably and eternally Just Some Guy, but that gets stranger and stranger the weirder his surroundings become. the giggly incredulousness that makes him an easy target for goofy puns looks Very different when it’s also his reaction to the impending end of the world.

[beescake]

Is Solkat the last two braincells in your brain or something/pos

yeas

stupid crush

[gray-warden]

I just realized I never posted photos of this really pretty harvestman i came across a while back. Note the green pedipalps and the dark and light spots on its back.

[thevalleyoftriumph]

love this guy. the corndog ☝

absolutely HILARIOUS to me how they just dont gaf. not a single care in the world.

[also i got curious over the name of their actual color, since ive seen the name maroon thrown around, but that didnt seem too accurate to me... turns out, their color is sienna! so thats what ill be calling them, personally :3]

[selemina]

I finally watched Animator VS Animation. I uh... I have feels. Those are some EXPRESSIVE stickmen, damn! If anything, AVA is a masterclass on body language! But it also happens to be fun, spectacular, emotional and beautiful! So much effort goes into every episode, I as a fellow animator I am measuring the amount of work and I am HORRIFIED! So it is time for another episode of "Sel finds stuff on the internet" : Go watch AVA! You won't be disappointed!

[serpentface]

how do you come up with the ways cultures in your setting stylize people/animals/the world in general in their artwork, i.e. jewlery, rock carvings, statues, etc? Each culture in your world seems to have a very unique "art style" and I love it a lot - makes them seem that much more 'real'. This is something I struggle with a lot in my own worldbuilding and I'd love to pick your brain if possible 😁

I think a starting point is to have a research process based in the material realities of the culture you're designing for. Ask yourself questions like:

Where do they live? What's the climate/ecosystem(s) they are based in? What geographic features are present/absent?

What is their main subsistence method? (hunter gatherer, seasonal pastoralist, nomadic pastoralist, settled agriculturalist, a mix, etc)

What access to broader trade networks do they have and to whom? Are there foreign materials that will be easily accessible in trade and common in use, or valuable trade materials used sparingly in limited capacities?

Etc

And then do some research based on the answers, in order to get a sense of what materials they would have routine access to (ie dyes, metal, textiles, etc) and other possible variables that would shape how the art is made and what it's used for. This is just a foundational step and won't likely play much into designing a Style.

If you narrow these questions down very specifically, (ie in the context of the Korya post- grassland based mounted nomads, pastoralist and hunter-gatherer subsistence, access to wider trade networks and metals), you can direct your research to specific real world instances that fit this general idea. This is not to lift culturally specific concepts from the real world and slap them into your own setting, but to notice commonalities this lifestyle enforces - (ie in the previous example- mounted nomadic peoples are highly mobile and need to easily carry their wealth (often on clothing and tack) therefore small, elaborate decorative artwork that can easily be carried from place to place is a very likely feature)

For the details of the art itself, I come up with loose 'style guides' (usually just in my head) and go from there.

Here's some example questions for forming a style (some are more baseline than others)

Are geometric patterns favored? Organic patterns? Representative patterns (flowers, animals, stars, etc)? Abstract patterns?

Is there favored material(s)? Beads, bone, clay, metals, stones, etc.

When depicting people/animals, is realism favored? Heavy stylization? The emotional impression of an animal? Are key features accentuated?

How perspective typically executed? Does art attempt to capture 3d depth? Does it favor showing the whole body in 2 dimensions (ie much of Ancient Egyptian art, with the body shown in a mix of profile and forward facing perspective so all key attributes are shown)? Will limbs overlap? Are bodies shown static? In motion?

Does artwork of people attempt to beautify them? Does it favor the culture's conception of the ideal body?

Are there common visual motifs? Important symbols? Key subject matters?

What is the art used for? Are its functions aesthetic, tutelary, spiritual, magical? (Will often exist in combination, or have different examples for each purpose)

Who is represented? Is there interest in everyday people? Does art focus on glorifying warriors, heroes, kings?

Are there conventions for representing important figures? (IE gods/kings/etc being depicted larger than culturally lesser subjects)

Is there visual shorthand to depict objects/concepts that are difficult to execute with clarity (the sun, moon, water), or are invisible (wind, the soul), or have no physical component (speech)?

Etc

Deciding on answers to any of these questions will at least give you a unique baseline, and you can fill in the rest of the gaps and specify a style further until it is distinct. Many of these questions are not mutually exclusive, both in the sense of elements being combined (patterns with both geometric and organic elements) or a culture having multiple visual styles (3d art objects having unique features, religious artwork having its own conventions, etc).

Also when you're getting in depth, you should have cultural syncretism in mind. Cultures that routinely interact (whether this interaction is exchange or exploitation) inevitably exchange ideas, which can be especially visible in art. Doing research on how this synthesizing of ideas works in practice is very helpful- what is adopted or left out from an external influence, what is retained from an internal influence, what is unique to this synthesis, AND WHY. (I find Greco-Buddhist art really interesting, that's one of many such examples)

Looking at real world examples that fit your parameters can be helpful (ie if I've decided on geometric patterns in my 'style guide', I'll look at actual geometric patterns). And I strongly encourage trying to actually LEARN about what you're seeing. All art exists in a context, and having an understanding of how the context shapes art, how art does and doesn't relate to broader aspects of a society, etc, can help you when synthesizing your own.

[vice-like]

when i first read this chapter i kinda assumed matoba could feel that this cat wasn't nyanko sensei, but then wouldn't natsume be able to tell as well once he was less freaked out? (not to mention if that assumption was right natori might have been able to as well)

and so now i like to think this fcking nerd could tell this wasn't nyanko sensei bc he memorized each and every single cat from the catalog and could recognize it (and since nyanko sensei's vessel wasn't in the catalog this isn't him)

not only that, i also like to believe he's been so obsessed with sensei from day one that he memorized the details of his vessel, just like he did with the other cats from the catalog, and could tell with a glance that the eye markings from this cat are slightly different

(which is true btw, midorikawa actually took the time to make the eye markings on this cat slightly straighter than sensei's)

[a-bad-case-of-the-stephs]

Wait I’m extremely curious about something. My sample size is going to be insanely biased given my account but whatever I still have to know. Reblog for bigger sample size or whatever.

(No shame btw I personally didn’t really internalize it on my first read through. Only once I had become sufficiently insane about stephanie brown did I put it together and Freak out.)

[seepingfrommyskin]

Kefka's height.

One of my absolute favourite discoveries I've made as I play and delve deeper into FFVI and all of its wonderful lore and trivia is that Kefka is...incredibly short.

In his concept art and most fanart that you see--including a few of my own--he's drawn as some looming, hulking figure. He's also often drawn with an air of confidence and even arrogance, and his design being eye-catching and vibrant also tends to give off the assumption that a guy like this must be...tall, right? Arrogant, confident, intimidating, evil, all characteristics of someone you may imagine that MUST have some sort of fairly impressive height. I've even seen quite a few art pieces where he is MUCH taller than the rest of the FFVI cast.

So with all of this in mind, paired with his final boss look where he really IS hulking and looming and ginormous, it is incredibly funny when you realize that--no. He is not tall. He is not average height. He is not even 5'6. (Despite what the online wiki says. Trust me I know.)

He's 5'4. 162 cm.

Kefka is an inch taller than Tina. An inch.

Now of course, he does appear to wear heels, and because of this delightful discovery, I have fully decided that he wears them BECAUSE he is so short. A way to assert dominance and all that.

Regardless, I thought it was really funny and will probably draw a few silly doodles about it when I get the chance.

[fanaticallyfleeky]

I’ve seen multiple posts about the ibuprofen and Buck’s allergy to naproxen and people thinking they’ve connected the dots, but the thing is

an allergy to naproxen does not inherently mean an allergy or sensitivity to ibuprofen

yes, they’re both NSAIDs but they differ in chemical structures. Allergic reactions to NSAIDs typically occur because of a sensitivity to the drug’s specific structure, so a person may react to one NSAID but tolerate another.

in fact, if someone has a known sensitivity to naproxen, doctors may recommend using a different NSAID like ibuprofen

Tldr: Tommy giving Buck ibuprofen makes perfect sense

[miyuskye]

MAG 67 after statement scene (and really the aftermath of every time Elias praises Jon)

[twinstxrs]

thinking about kageyama’s “it’s the setter’s job to break the wall in front of the spiker” in reference to how kenma sponsoring hinata while he’s in brazil and onwards is effectively doing that on a financial level. once a setter always a setter.

[ranticore]

working on my boiled ham again

i started a little bit of writing about him the other night so that's the reason for all the art. also he is more fun to draw than other stuff rn

smiling is not in a manticore's repertoire. this best attempt comes accompanied by angery ears because he didn't wanna try, but ambrose says it's best not to scare the townsfolk they're supposed to be protecting. so smile, twist

[residentfurry]

oh, brother, they'll never be rid of us.

for we plan on staying around for a long, long time.

version w/o the pokemon stickers (which I didn't draw LOL)

[pilkypills]

Throws me for a loop whenever a fic refers to Fili and Kili as “the twins” like I gotta scroll back a few paragraphs and see if i missed something