#don't know what happened with my style in this one! it's a lot more cartoony. or something. it feels like it at least

[ruvviks]

vitali my best friend vitali

[ikimaru]

when and how did you find your art style? has it changed much over time?

I'm gonna go on a tangent here bc it's pretty interesting for me to look back on aksjd

I don't think it was really linear in a point A to point B kinda way, I still got it more or less where I wanted it to but I can't say it felt streamlined

my first fandom was pokemon anime, so I was 100% set on learning that style first bc that was fun to me, instead of learning basics or anything I went right in and learned how to draw humans in that style, then I got into Death Note so I had to learn an entirely different style bc the previous one didn't help at all, I didn't stick with it very long tho because THEN I got into vocaloid and various anime and more colorful characters so it was pretty much the huge eyes - dot nose style for a while

*then* I got tumblr and this site was very.. overwhelmingly cartoon-oriented so I quickly took an interest in cartoony styles and learned the style which I used between 2011-2016 pretty much, I think that was the first one where I could be like "it's mine" bc I was actively figuring out things I liked and putting my spin on them and it was so fun

but by the time I got into vld I wanted it to be more more complex so I was focusing more on learning lighting, anatomy and making the faces less cartoony annd I really wish I tackled the style of faces differently and I didn't end up hating drawing for several years in the process without even realizing it BUT Anyway

with gnshn last year is when I finally started compiling all the things I liked about drawing again from past styles and also new things so I can all combine it together at last, which is something I haven't done in huh 6(??)+ years.. ughhh lmao I really had to stop and be like "what do I WANT my art to look like?" and I'm still working on it

but yeah basically, it IS a lot more streamlined if you pick tutorials and go like that's a good™️ style to learn and go from there, instead of learning/unlearning things over and over like I did, I don't regret learning the previous styles tho, each of them were what I wanted out of it at the time, but there was a learning curve every single time

anyway your art path is your own whether you choose to get better in the faster way possible or do detours or something else, once you have a set of things that feel personal to you in how you draw them and you can comfortably use that to draw whatever u want to, you'll just know, it doesn't have to happen asap c:

[flawseer]

Mail Call #1

Responding to messages from @iusedtobemenowimnot @salveofthesandwonks @jrbfrkjbgfk @asleepinglaurel @ironnokana97b @kittykatchao

Link to post in question

I am very happy that you enjoy my content, thank you. The "Pantaloons" was actually not a typo or auto-correct though. Pantala is just a very funny and corruptible name.

Other candidates for least accurate way to refer to the place would be "Pancake Town", "Pantyhose", and "Pantlion" (if any folks over there like to bury themselves in the sand).

Mike Holmes' WoF style is very cozy and relaxing to work with. I'm not getting it exactly right, but then again the deviations and imperfections are what add variety.

It also happens that I read the comics before I went into the books, so the style kind of stuck with me. The dragons in the story are very expressive and animated, so a relatively cartoony and fluid style suits them. At least that's what I think.

I have not drawn Whiteout yet, but I am interested in doing so. If I ever get around to continuing my 3000 AS series of drawings, she will be in it, likely grouped with Darkstalker, Prince Arctic, and Foeslayer.

This might be a bit of a cop-out answer, but the best way I can think of to get into a style is to look at a lot of references. The comics are full of good material in that regard. Look for panels of dragons in flight, or standing around, get a feel for the shapes their bodies are constructed from, etc.. Identify the quirks of that style, then try to incorporate them into your drawing process.

That's my very general advice. I don't know how helpful or applicable it is. For something more detailed I might need a more specific question.

I have to stress though--and listen closely because I can only say it this one time: One thing that is absolutely, imperatively, critically important to keep in mind is--

...

[toomanythoughts2]

Toki and Murderface RoadTrip Old Fic Idea

I'm the author of the Skwistok Honeymoon Groupchat Fic, and this was another idea that was also going to be a Groupchat fic but it never happened because I was too indecisive about things. So have the ramblings of the possibilities of it all.

Anyway, this was a "Murderface and Toki Roadtrip" fic idea in a groupchat style. It would be after AOTD and after an album was released, and it would have been their own "Friender Bender". Now, I was never able to decide if this was Murdertooth, Polyklok + Murdertooth-Centric, or Established Skwistok with Secret Relationship Dickface. I was leaning toward the last one because then the fic had a plot, specifically one where Toki ends up becoming Murderface's confidant about his queerness and his relationship, and helping him come to terms that coming out to the band won't ostracize him, that he is worthy of love, he is worthy of being proudly in love, and that times aren't what they were when he was a child.

There were random bits that would have fleshed out characters and random scenes that would have been a laugh.

For instance, Murderface and Toki would have drastically different music genres to listen to.

Murderface is the driver while Toki is the passenger princess. Murderface flips between his black metal (which Toki also enjoys), Bachata (Spanish Singing Murderface is canon to me. He just can't speak it. Toki is shook.), opera (He went to that god damn opera by himself for a reason, he's gotta like it.), thrasher, generalized American Boy roadtrip music like Lynard Skynard, Areosmith, and Eagles to name a few (Toki knows these songs but listening to them within the American context of going on a roadtrip does something to his soul.), and The Divas™️ which are classic female artists like Whitney Houston, Cher, and Madonna (Toki is well versed in The Divas™️)

I think Toki would bring out a lot of EDM, Top 40 POP, indie bands with like 100 listeners on Spotify, Actual Norwegian Black Metal, Disney (They both know all the words. Nathan helped him make the playlist), ABBA (It's him and Skwisgaar's guilty pleasure band), and other animated/cartoony music made that's either instrumental or vocal (Think like Hex Girl's "I'm a Hex Girl" from Scooby Doo.)

Obviously, they both have a long list of other type of Metal-centric music that they switch between like Grindcore, Nu Metal, Doom Metal, Power Metal, and lot of lesser known and very niche genres.

Another scene would be Murderface and Toki making a pit stop to Pickles house while on the trip but they don't let Pickles know.

And they don't let Pickles' parents know. They basically sneak into Pickle's parents house while they're gone and steal Calvert's most prized possession, which is a signed football from his favorite player. He won it by using up Pickles' college savings before Pickles' decided he wasn't going to go to college. They steal the football, take pictures of them with the ball, take pictures of them pissing on Molly's garden and then ripping up the flowers, then a last picture of them destroying the football. They then send it all in the groupchat, tagging Pickles like, "Hey, we stopped by your parents place. Hope they don't mind. <3" and Pickles is crying because he's never felt more seen. (Alternatively, Toki and Murderface would have sent the football to Pickles and told him to watch out for a package from them with it in there, perfectly pristine. Then Pickles would have been the one to destroy the ball and send pictures to the group chat.)

There would have been scenes where they're in motel rooms and Murderface is outside filming Toki talking on the phone to Skwisgaar, where he's dubbing over their conversation.

Such as, "(Bad Norwegian Accent) Oh Skwisgaar, it ams beens a wholes 30 minutes of nots speakings to yous. I feels likes I'ms goings to dies. My weaks guitar playings hands can't keeps up the phones withouts yous!" then he would mock Skwisgaar like, "(Bad Swedish accent) I am feelings the sames ways, my littles dildo guitar player. Every seconds you ams away froms me, I dies on the insides. I may pass away withouts yous.” And then he posts the video to the group chat, which Toki chases him around with a bat for because those were private phone calls. (Murderface wasn’t too far off and he’s embarrassed.)

But, if we go down the secret relationship route, the ending of the fic would have been Toki filming Murderface outside of the motel room while Murderface was on the phone with Knubbler, doing the exact same thing. Except, while Toki and Skwisgaar were defensive in the group chat anytime Murderface recorded any of his dubbed phone calls of them, Murderface would confirm that, yes, that’s exactly what he was doing and yes, it was Knubbler. Which would end in them teasing him about it for a bit BUT it would end with a congratulations and good vibes.

There would have been a lot of running gags too.

There would be a running gag of them pissing off different things in the area like the Grand Canyon, Mount Rushmore, and the Hollywood sign. There would also be a gag of them going to all different kinds of tourist traps like the World Largest Paint Ball or Real Life Alien Exhibit (Mystery Shack perhaps?) and them fully believing it/having the best fun. Like, Toki adds a layer to the paint ball and just about cries while Murderface is on the phone with Charles looking at the “alien” and demanding answers on why they couldn’t get aliens. They would also try and sneak into Area 51 but they would be kicked out quickly.

They would also do a lot of touristy things like scenic routes through the mountains or drive in theaters in the Midwest or go to New Orleans for Bourbon St or see the Giant Sequoias in California. There would be a large portion of fluff of them just hanging out together and being friends and doing stuff. Toki would have so many pictures of cats while Murderface, surprisingly, had a lot of pictures of them together. (He’s a changed man after AOTD, he does not want to take for granted his freedom, Toki, and his friendship/relationship with Toki.)

Now, there was also another instance in this fic where they could have made a pit stop at Murderface’s grandma’s house.

This gave me a lot of ideas of what it would look like. I’m partial to my dingey and depleting two story southern home that has not been taking cared of due to poverty and old age while in the middle of acres of woods where the nearest neighbor is 2 miles away.

Now, I am also very partial to ranch Murderface, where they own farm animals such as pigs, chickens, goats, and maybe a cow and a horse. This would have been a somber scene, where Toki is introduced to Murderface’s homelife, along with getting a better understanding of Murderface’s trauma with family. There would have been a moment where Murderface shared pictures or sentimental objects of his mothers with Toki (and the group chat). It also would have tied in some of Murderface’s Appalachian beliefs such as glass bottles on trees and “never go into the woods at night if you hear a woman. That’s not a woman. That’s a skinwalker.” (Murderface fully believes in skinwalkers. He’s a 2am AM Radio listener of conspiracy theories. Is there an active skinwalker in Murderface’s childhood homes area? Possibly. Toki is too scared to get out of bed at night to check.)

There would have also been an attempted hit on their lives as well.

I did dabble in the idea of Toki and Murderface being targeted and hurt while on the trip and having to go to the hospital. It would have been something like this.

Murderface hops off the highway and decides he wants to take a scenic route on the trip. While on this route, he pops a tire somehow. He pulls over to attempt to see how bad it is and if he can just pop on a spare till they can get to an automotive place. Well, someone passes him and pulls over. Thinking they’re coming to help, Murderface greets them, only to then be shot at. Toki, who is still in the car, freaks out and while attempting to get out and help Murderface, Toki gets strangled from an unknown assailant from behind. Fighting happens, Toki knocks out the person behind him and Murderface runs back to the car. However, he gets shot (Don’t worry, he lives) but Toki, who stole the other assailants gun from his belt, shoots at the other guy and hits him in the chest.

Well, Murderface gets back in the car and he has to basically race to the hospital with one popped tire and a bullet wound. Toki has a nasty gash around his neck that’s bruising. Toki is sending a SOS message while Murderface drives. Some of it altered between Toki having to take the wheel while Murderface pumped the pedals to Toki having to take over completely by pushing Murderface’s chair all the way back and climbing in in front of him to take over.

They get the hospital in time, they are treated, and the guys + Charles have the two people plus that area searched. Here would have been the conversation of “Should we come get you to go home?” and Murderface would have said, “Fuck no.”

Basically, it would have been one big self indulgent fic of Murderface and Toki having fun while road tripping around the US and getting into trouble.

[billiejean485]

Some of you might remember that back in the day I used to love drawing Chat Noir a lot. However... what happened happened, and I lost all motivation for that. However, it's been coming back to me lately, especially ever since I started focusing on the concept art more. (Nathanaël Bronn is amazing man!)

So... I finally came round to share my artistic endeavor and a try to apply a more realistic style (with obvious fail). However... I know a cake is a cake to the fandom anyway, so here you go:

... One of the oldest attempts. Obvious lack of space between the eyes - something that I generally struggle with when drawing humans.

Then I thought I'd finally go back to drawing poses. Figuring this one out took too much, so I left it there for some other time.

This was the first one whose direction I started to like. So I kept pushing it.

FINALLY a pretty realistic one! But I still need to work out so much.

This one is more cartoony, and I probably pushed the expression too far. But oh well - gotta learn from your mistakes... (I still like how smug he looks though.)

After a longer pause I finally continue.

I think I hit the pose here, but when I started to draw in... I realized how little I know about anatomy. Back to the basics!

I thought: maybe I should try using a screenshot as a reference, and start going towards realism there. This was phase 1. I have yet to continue building upon it.

... Time flies by and I get the urge to just sketch poses again. So I start up an AI prompt generator I made for this purpose and, well... I get one to draw him in this ballet pose. How quaint.

I realize once again that I'm going to have one heck of a time if I start going into detail - and just with his head - so.... I go back to the drawing board.

Little study of his hair.

I still don't get it.

But I decide to wing it anyway and.... here's the result.

That's the last one for now y'all. I hope I'll manage to draw more. Although... figuring out how to draw him realistically is going to take me a heck of a lot of time. And practice. And study. Anatomy AND canon models.

So... wish me luck!

I hope you enjoyed these at least.

[0heartangel0]

Many months ago (March-May), I played and beat Tactica. From when I hit 'start' to when the credits rolled, I had many thoughts on this game, and for a while, I was too afraid to share them. But after these past few months of ruminating, I've finally wracked up the courage to come out the closet to say:

I hate it. It's not good. It was frustrating from beginning to end. I don't even think the dlc will change my mind on things if I ever think of getting it.

Now, before you raise those pitchforks, I'm not saying you should also hate it alongside me. If you like it, that's okay, and all the power to you to do so. I'm just here to go into too much detail as to why I personally don't have the same opinion. Much like my last big post, I'll be doing this in parts because I have a LOT to say. So, strap in, 'cause

PERSONA 5 TACTICA IS NOT GREAT: A VERY ODDLY-CONSTRUCTED RANT

Pt. 1: The Positives

Okay, I'm not gonna be entirely negative here. There are a couple of good things, believe it or not.

For starters, the art is very good. I know some people might not like it for how it not only strays away from the original's art style, but is made to be more cartoony, but to that I say that that's a rather close-minded way of looking at it. In its own right, it at least has an identity of its own outside of the original, and the cartoonish art style gives way for more expression on the characters, both face-wise and pose-wise. Each still of the characters breathes life into them, and there's even some unique ones depending on the circumstances of the scene.

There's even some moments of full art pieces, and they're gorgeous:

I heard some people compare the art style to that of Persona Q's, but I'd say it's more on the lines with Panty And Stocking's, and I love its art style!

The cutscenes.....well, it depends on which ones you're talking about. Most of the 2d ones are good, but some are dragged down by not-so-good blocking and camera work, especially one in particular (don't worry, we'll get to that one...). The 3d cutscenes...aren't great. My biggest gripe with them are how the mouths move, which looks so weird and awkward, and you notice it from the very first cutscene (skip to when Yusuke and Futaba start talking). The shading and lighting also seem off, but I think that's just me.

Oh, right. Positives. Positives! POSITIVES!

Uh...OKAY! As much as I don't like the vast majority of the characters in this game (I'll elaborate on this in the next post), three of them are handled really well: Futaba, Yusuke, and (surprisingly enough) Lavenza.

Futaba still reigns supreme as p5's best girl (and by 'best girl' I mean out of the PT girls, she's the most entertaining and interesting one. To me), and retains her usual quips and personality. But not just that. Out of all the PT, she has the best chemistry with Toshiro. Not only does she have the most/best banter and talks with him, but they even have the most emotional interactions together.

Before fighting Yoshiki, Futaba tries reassuring him that his mother did love him, due to her own experience of the brain tricking her into thinking hers didn't love her, either. However, she dances around even talking about her own mother, and is super awkward the whole time.

This makes sense, considering the game takes place about 6-7 months after she joined the PT, so she'd still be very socially awkward. It's also a big contrast to Strikers, taking place about a whole year since her joining + having recently started attending high-school, so she's shown to be much better with communication by then.

Another good interaction is after Toshiro finds out the truth behind what happened to Eri Natsuhara (God, that name...), and gets super depressed, requesting the thieves just leave him behind to die. Futaba then does what I wish I could do, which is slap him across the face. She then tells him that she knows what it's like wanting to die, thinking you're the cause of someone else's misfortunes, but if she climbed out of that, he can too. She later makes him coffee with Yusuke, who reveals to Toshiro that she needed help with it, much to her embarrassment.

As bizarre as it is, I do love their chemistry, and I love how Futaba's handled in this game because of it.

Yusuke is rather bizarre for me, because (and I must be honest), he's a character I don't focus on much in comparison to the rest of the Thieves in P5. That isn't to say he's a bad character by any means; he's great! It's just, while he has his funny moments, I always found Ryuji as the character to give me the most laughs. He has his emotional moments, but characters like Futaba I would resonate with more.

But in Tactica, my God, is he entertaining. Out of every character, he has given me the most laughs (aside from maybe Lavenza, but we ain't there, yet), and still stays true to his character. His most notable moments are in Kingdom 2. For instance, when the gang are trying to save a bunch of citizens while acting like Samurai/Geisha, picking team Samurai will result in Ann using her terrible acting skills to get a drunk aizen to cough up the information, only for him to obviously be confused with the way she's acting. Yusuke then uses this opportunity by claiming that Ann's just drunk, and needs somewhere to lie down. Oh, the place where those citizens are is the perfect spot! Where was it, again?

The aizen falls for it, and tells them where it is. But just as he's sobering up, and is about to report them, Yusuke knocks him out, saying:

Love this scene! (And yes, I know this scene is optional, for you can choose to go with the geisha group instead (Haru, Makoto, and Erina), but I preferred to go with the bois + Ann (and can I just go off on a tangent to say having Ann be a Samurai is so smart and refreshing? As a character that's always depicted very feminine, seeing her in more masculine garb is really fun and great. Also, she's adorable in the getup)).

Later on, in order to get inside Yoshiki's palace, Toshiro devises a plan to dress all the townsfolk as the Phantom Thieves as distraction. The real kicker is that Yusuke was the one to come up with the designs to them, much to everyone's horror:

So, in conclusion, Yusuke's great. Love him.

As for Lavenza, wow, did she get an upgrade! I might go as far to say she's the only character to get improved upon in this game. For most of the first game, she's split into Caroline and Justine, and we're only properly introduced to her by the end, where she serves her purpose as help for the final battle + exposition (I hear she gets more in Royal, but only played Vanilla, so can't exactly comment). However, she's given more screen time in Strikers, which would've helped to expand on her character.

EEEEeexcept she's instead left there to exposit on how there's an impending doom + fusions. That's it. The most memorable scene she has is right after Zenkichi awakens to his Persona, where she drags you into the Velvet Room to explain to you what the Apostle Arcana is (I don't think she does this for The Hope Arcana, which makes this scene more unnecessary and ironically hilarious).

So it was a huge shock when she popped up in Tactica, exuding a personality that was merely hinted to us when she was split into two people. And a welcomed shock, at that, because this personality is fun and downright entertaining.

For one, she is full-on chaotic. With the current state of the Velvet Room, she takes advantage by modifying and testing it out through....violent methods:

She even dresses to match with the theme of it being an armory/forge, wearing a blacksmith's apron and welding mask.

Her hammering down the melted-together gears that form the newly-fused Persona is really cute and more energetic than that of a traditional Velvet Room fusion. Also, the fusion accident cutscene is something that has to be seen. You won't regret it.

She even makes guns for you-

Well-

Not for free, anyway.

Yes, she still reprises her role as the exposition-dumper, but they at least gave her more of a character that might make you more interested in listening to said exposition.

Also, she almost runs over Ryuji with a train:

(Let's play a game: who'd kill someone the quickest: Haru when driving a car, or Lavenza driving the Velvet Express?).

I would show more examples, but Tumblr is mean, and won't allow me to have more than 30 images per post (the reason why I made my Shibuya Arc Zenkichi rant into 4 part posts in the first place). Just know that Lavenza is cute and unhinged, and is the best she's ever been in this game.

The other thing I like about this game is....is....uhhhhh....OH!

The voice acting's great as usual, including the voices for the new characters!

Leeana Albanese gives an energetic and spunky performance as Erina, while MacLeod Andrew's delivers a more serious, yet goofy performance as Toshiro. The casting director (can't find the credit for that) made the right calls for their newly-required cast!

And.....and..........AAAANNNNDDDD I like the secondary Persona mechanic! Not only does it allow you to further modify your other party member's Personas, but Joker can finally keep Arsene for the entire game, instead of fusing him for the first hour or so! YAY!!!

There's also......also.........also.................

Okay, I got nothing else. That's all of the positives I could think of for this section. Everything else is just a bunch of cons.

Mourn this part of the discussion, because we're not seeing anything else positive (maybe some decent bits at most, but that's about it for me). Let the negativity begin!

Pt. 2, Pt. 3, Pt. 4, Pt. 4.5, Pt. 5, Pt. 6, Pt. 7, Pt. 8

[bearpillowmonster]

Prince of Persia (2008)

This is actually the first PoP game that I bought because, well-

Just look at it. It appealed to me most, he's got what looks like a cybernetic hand, a blue and red head scarf keeping some sort of mystery about him, nice balance between grit and cartoon. And really even the gameplay, a big wide open world, and the girl stays right along side you. It was the makings of something great, but then...I played it.

I don't even know if it was two hours. I just felt like I had enough, like I had seen everything it had to offer already and here's why:

STORY

Background information first. The game has a decent story with the Prince looking for this donkey that has a bunch of treasure alluding for an adventure that happened off screen when he comes across Elika who is being chased and one thing leads to another and she releases darkness out of a tree. Ok, maybe that doesn't sound too great but it's more character based. The struggle between her and her father is interesting as you see the darkness overtake him, which gives you all the reason to bring an end to this madness. You see flashbacks of her because she doesn't really want to talk about what's going on or give you context so it's fed to you little by little, she's not even interested in the Prince, she just sees him as beneficial to her journey and over time the two grow fond of each other, which is how it should be.

The cartoony nature lets for a variety of unique animations, like her climbing on your back when you're climbing up vines, doing a little twirl when you switch positions, catch each other when they fall and just overall a ton of fun stuff that makes up for the fact that you can't play as her. Unfortunately, the Prince really just makes jokes, he isn't given much, they made him too pun-oriented as even Nolan North was confused by it but whatever, it's a disconnect. So what's the issue here?

THE PREMISE

Well, you have to get your fair share of light orbs- wait an effing second-

Yeah, that but it's the whole game. Like there aren't even enemies to keep you busy really. It splits the map up into sections where you climb these huge towers and trek landscapes to get to what amounts to a fountain, you fight a boss at the fountain, unlock it, and poof, light appears so you backtrack through the level (which does have varying paths but you definitely backtrack) in order to collect the orbs. There're little dark blobs that block your way sometimes and platforms can indeed have an enemy every now and then but it's not rewarding for anything, you don't get light, you don't get currency, you don't get anything, they're just another obstacle, not anything special, just a random nuisance.

COMBAT

The combat is a lot different, it has a sort of fighting game element where it locks you in a battlefield, and you skirt around each other like Contest of Champions. It's not "bad" but it can be annoying because of the control scheme. I learned it over time but it basically creates its own buttons. Red glove. What does it refer to? What did you map that button to? Grey glove, uh, block? Sword is obvious. But it doesn't show you the buttons, just the symbols and it's not much more in depth than that. I played this on PC and honestly those colors resemble the Xbox control style, the PS3 version has the actual buttons (and I don't have an Xbox controller so I had to fight with my PS4 controller to figure it out) but I think it helped that I played with a controller this time around because I used a keyboard and mouse on that dropped playthrough.

You get the rapid press sometimes but it's not necessarily how fast you press it, it's how early you start. And like sumo wrestling, getting too close to the edge for either of you will lock you in a heated quick time event to launch the other over the edge.

Perhaps one of the divisive parts though is that you don't "die". It's like this, falling will just have Elika catch you and put you at the last platform. Fighting, you're given a chance to save yourself with a quick-time event and even if you fail, the enemy just heals themself a little.

Then you have the "hub" of sorts which leads to the temple but traveling this empty wasteland takes a while because of your walk speed. I don't mind it in the confinement of these areas with the structures but when there's nothing there and you're just trekking...speed it up. Luckily if you unlock the fountain then you can fast travel.

They even have cool traversal methods that you learn by taking so many light orbs back to the temple (in the hub) but they're not free abilities, they're limited to where the spaces are.

The "power plates" eww, that's their official name? You couldn't say like "Ephereal Tiles" or some sort of lore based jargon like spirit energy emits from them, juicing you up with power for a short burst? Spirit Burst?

And you have what amounts to this huge wide open and lush background painstakingly created with breathtakingly beautiful places that you can't wait to explore but you barely even notice them. Like you probably see this picture and think what fun is in store for that place and what set-piece it might hold but the camera pits you against these wood and stone structures and that's about it, the rest goes relatively unnoticed, you don't go and walk around these places at all like you'd expect.

WHAT BROUGHT ME BACK

This.

A three hour video but a well made one at that. He mentioned that it's enjoyable playing as a side gig, just something to turn music on and play like it's Minecraft parkour and so I lodged that in the back of my brain and here I am, with a new approach and a new opinion on a game that I thought I'd never return to.

So I'm done complaining because I did indeed keep coming back to it and enjoying myself by viewing it from a movement standpoint. And yeah, it's not the best use of its appealing assets but I still found something in it.

[venacoeurva]

If you don’t mind answering, how did you develop your art style? Do you have any major inspirations or medias that influenced it? Just asking because I really love your style, it’s practically my dream style!

Thank you--I'd say my biggest influences for the cartoony style were Gorillaz, JTHM and Zim, HiNaBN, a boatload of the style diversity in the early 10's homestuck fandom on here (joined in '11, it was one of the few fandoms that I saw actively go outside of realistic or anime style and deviating from the canon style on a large scale), Nomura's kh/ff art styles, TWEWY, and a misc. variety of the kind of thick-lined art styles common in the early to late 00s. There are way more, but I can't think of them off the top of my head. I'm sure the goofy proportions of polygonal games from growing up did something, too.

My more geometric fancy style is inspired by the art deco movement, various ancient civilization's artwork and manuscripts with a harder emphasis on geometric cleanness than they typically had, hatching in general but especially the type you see in old Colonial American prints/art and money that add volume, and Alphonse Mucha's works, especially. I feel like the prominence of the brows flowing into the bridge of the nose is kind of a big tell for some of these lmao. That's gotta be my biggest takeaway by far

As for style development, it mostly happened naturally. I started going in a direction and worked a little harder on the dreaded staples everyone hates being told to work on (anatomy, lighting, perspective, etc.). I don't think it's necessary, but for me I needed to know the rules before I bent and broke them. Took a lot of practice with figuring out what would work, especially in regards to musculature, body and facial diversity, and characters being able to emote fully.

[fearoftriangles-art]

Art Log: January 2025

I figured I'd start organizing my thoughts in a monthly check-in like this so I can, like, actually make sense of them lmao

What I liked about my art this month-

I think I got pretty good at "seeing the shapes" in things, and I definitely improved at sketching what I saw!

idk what the fuck happened with that giraffe on Jan 3. what a GLORIOUS fluke. I think it turned out so well because I was thinking actively about the different parts of the animal and how I could make it look multidimensional. the only thing that kinda sucked about it was that I conned myself into having to draw and color all those spots lmaooo

things like drawing my hand on Jan 6 and the water deer yesterday made me realize that shading is not actually that scary. I'm not great at it, but it's doable.

The snow texture in the "snow jackalope" drawing came out very well! All I did was look up a guide and it took like 2 mins total. I may regret saying this, but I'd be down to draw more snow.

I had so much fun drawing fandom bullshit and my oc's. definitely more of that to come. and having practiced with different poses made it easier!

What I didn't like about my art this month-

omg bitch please learn to draw water/grass/rocks/dirt (specifically in the hills drawing on Jan 24 and the sea star on Jan 28 and the water deer yesterday) it's honestly embarrassing

honestly backgrounds in general. cause wtf I never know what to do...SO MANY of my drawings this month were just on like a plain bg with only one color. YAWN. BORING.

some of my drawings still look pretty static (I'm looking at you, snow jackalope).

this is not a gripe against my art itself, but holy fuck I need to learn not to death-grip my pencil. my wrist hurts like a BITCH. and if I don't get out of the habit, between this and piano and guitar I WILL give myself carpal tunnel.

Goals for February-

Consult my crazy insane talented artist friends more often. like hello bitch are you dumb you've got michaelangelo and da vinci on speed dial. maybe take advantage of that.

Focus on coloring

Focus on adding texture to drawings (fur for animals, smooth surfaces like rocks, things like that)

Focus on backgrounds and landscapes and skies

Draw some plants

Draw 'on the go' more often (I tend to have art be a whole production where I sit down and I tell myself "okay I'm going to do art now" but like. I need to make it more a part of my daily life. that will make it more enjoyable I think)

Practice with more exaggerated facial expressions and gestures- I love love love cartoony styles and would like to emulate that

to stay motivated, indulge obsession with The Character (it's ford pines. it's fucking always been ford pines. 2025 marks 10 full years since it's been ford pines. I have a major issue)

How am I feeling, art-wise?

Motivated and open to expanding my skillset! Gonna be super careful not to bite off more than I can chew, though. because wow those are a lot of goals for february lmao

[silver-linings3]

revisiting dreams/a dream idea

okay for context. sometimes i have a dream or a series of dreams in the past that i wake up without the memory of (not useful but it happens a lot given that i barely remember any dreams). anyway so, the plus side of this means that i can 'revisit' dreams that i don't completely remember having but will regain the memories of all the past dreams during the 'revisit'. The downside of the revisits is that i don't ever (as far as i know) ever get to return to that universe ever again.

last night's one has been the first in a couple of months (if anyone's interested i can talk about it later or maybe i willl anyway). the summary is kind of hard to describe because it's like a murder mystery except there's no murder and it's more of an arg hunt type thing. Think Cicada 3301, leaving their qr codes across countries in the 2010s. But the thing with this is that it's linked to this one website for the town/towns which is run by a group of kids, who everyone thinks is behind all this shit. for some reason, i know they aren't.

anyway, i was only back for part of my dream last night/ this morning and it was sort of like i was in the future of that dream, which is what also happened last time. and in the time in between the original and the revisit the 'clues' had either stopped turning up or people had chosen to ignore them.

the premise of these clues changes quite a bit, there's supposed to be a specific way to find them and they're in different places. sometimes it's a book code, sometimes its as easy as reading letters and putting them in the right order and sometimes they're really difficult to solve. At least a few of them have some disturbing words nearby in,,, like fridge magnet letter but if they stuck to walls. like the big clunky fridge magnets. maybe i'll find a pic later. last night's one was slaughter. don't know what that was about and don't want to know.

another general point that an area is part of a clue is that it will have a little spray paint or doodle of a specific animal. don't know if it was the same in the original but this one was a green owl. think duolingo green and i can't really remember the owl but it wasn't cartoony, it was really subtle.

i had to wake up before anything really happened but i solved that clue and it opened up something else/revealed some items or something (kind of video game style). i got a walkie talkie and some other things that i can't remember but were like survival type things maybe (a torch, etc.).

the follow up move was going to be using the walkie talkie to talk to the person(?) behind the entire thing(?) to find the next clue to go to and solve. (this one was in an alley way for some reason)

i think the reason i was doing it was to find out who was truly behind as i somehow knew it wasn't the kids (my friends?) behind the website, which was an orange and green coloured, tourist-style website.

the only real reason i'm telling you is because i know i won't return and i want to remember.

TL;DR: some sort of irl arg mystery following someone finding clues in random areas signified by a duolingo-green owl mark that has links to a website, made by kids who have nothing to do with it.

[cxsmicvega]

decided this is going under a cut bc its triggering af for peeps. Btw as I talk about this realize when I mention opposition I don't mean fucking nazis I mean people who may have made a slightly rough take due to lack of knowledge on the subject. That's it.

so tw for cult tactics, p3dophilia mentions, abuse, and manipulation

Like ok, this is the model I have seen used a lot so Imma go point by point here so y'all know I ain't being fucking dramatic

So starting with behavior

Control of physical environment

While not quite physical, the shit you put on your blog had to be rigidly controlled. One wrong move, one slip up, and you were just fucking done. You draw something a lil spicy but your art style is cartoony? Get called a p3do. Tried to correct misinformation, even in a way that still actively went against the person you were attacking? Harassment. It was hell. I remember even my own partner at the time doing it and dictating what I would post bc he was similarly deep in the shit.

Rigid rules

This goes back to the above point. You had to be so fucking careful to not even toe the line on the rules put in place. If you voiced support for hated tumblr person of the day at all get ready for some fucking awful shit in your inbox, hell even from your own damn friends. If you tried to sympathize with anyone on the "otherside" (ie be like "yeah it's fucked what they're doing, I just feel fucking bad for em") you were a fucking monster and just as bad as them. I experienced this so heavily first hand it was unreal.

Rewards and punishments

This one is a bit vague but bear with me. Rewards were def more social based. Say the right things, hate the right person, you got praise and love and notes and people defending you. The moment you stepped out of line? You were basically abandoned. Harassed by random people for daring to step out of line and then told you deserve it. I didn't experience this first hand because I was far too terrified to step out of line (my now ex made sure of that) but I saw it happen to my friends. It was hell.

Dependence and obedience

I was heavily dependent on the culture when I was stuck in it. I was traumatized, otherwise alone, and a teenager. I had no one but the friends I had made online and therefore I was obedient. I was good. Because stepping out of line meant losing the only support network I had. The only person I felt I had any connection to irl was my ex and he was similarly in deep.

Information

Deception

Ok I don't think I have to explain how deceptive and blatantly wrong most callout posts were. Like if you have seen them in any capacity you are FULLY aware of how bad it was. To tl;dr it as best I can, there was a 90% chance every callout post you ever saw was insanely exaggerated to make the actions of the called out worse than they were. All manner of understanding thrown out the window, any consideration that maybe someone was just in a bad place not even looked at. It was fucking BAD

Propaganda

It was a very us or them mentality at the time, propaganda for anyone on "the other side" being basically fucking satan. Idk how else to explain it because I was in so deep I didn't recognize it, and now its so far in the past I don't remember specifics. I know it was there though. Hopefully someone can explain better than I.

Discourages access to outside sources of information

If you did your research and came back with a nuanced point instead of a vehemently anti-whatever one, yeah no kiss your shit goodbye. Hell even using other fucking websites was shamed heavily because either A. the people there were stupid or B. the people there were bigots. Like the whole userbase. Somehow. Which makes no sense but ok.

Insider/outsider doctrine

I don't feel I have a proper grasp on what this means, so Imma skip it for now.

Thought

All/nothing good/evil us/them dogma

OH BOY THAT WAS FUCKING RAMPANT AS ALL HELL LOL. I keep repeating the same points it feels like, but again it was very much any "incorrect" take or neutral opinion on those who were "evil" led to some seriously fucked shit. Every post talked about any form of opposition like they were the fucking enemy. If you thought x way you were an evil person who deserved to die. And remember, this wasn't about fucking nazis or bigots. It was about some probably teenager who didn't have dysphoria despite being trans or something. Some stupid bullshit like that.

Encourages only "good and proper" thoughts

I do not think i need to explain after everything else I have said.

Thought stripping techniques

This goes back to the abuse mentioned in the behavior section. Any thought not like the rest of the group was shunned and demonized. You were not allowed to have nuance, you were not allowed to think differently, because otherwise you were punished for doing so. Even now I have trouble sharing more nuanced opinions out of fear.

Emotional

Feeling as if you were chosen or special

Due to the nature of call outs, if you managed to make a successful one you were endlessly praised. Told you were correct and so amazing for pointed all those issues (that were definitely more nuanced than you made it look). You were made to feel special, like you were doing a good deed, doing something right by putting down these awful people in your community. It was fucked.

Guilt/Manipulation

Again I really don't think I need to explain this much with everything else I have gone over. I would be repeating points I have already said.

Emotion blocking techniques

If you felt sympathy, empathy, anything like that for the opposition it was shut down so fucking fast. You were told you were too empathetic, that you were hyper empathetic and letting it get the best of you. That you needed to do better, to be better. That you needed to shut those emotions away because they were getting in the way of doing what was right. I literally identified as an empath for a long ass time because I thought having basic fucking empathy for people wasn't normal. Which is very wrong, I'm insanely low empathy. Fun facts of the fucking day.

Phobia indoctrination

Oldschool cancel culture played on a very specific fear a lot of traumatized people have, that we are actually terrible fucking people. It played on the fear that you were bad, broken, wrong, all to goad you into harming others because you don't want to be bad right? you want to be a good person, and good people do this. Bad people are the ones who oppose this. Bad people are the ones who are against this kind of thing. But no, you're good. You're a good fucking person so tell this traumatized 15 year old that they're a fucked up monster for correcting misinformation on this post about some random politician.

That's what it was like, that's what you did. It played on that nagging fear of being a bad person because we wanted so desperately to be good. And it ended with us hurting people in the process.

-----------

I think that sums up everything decently, I was kinda shocked I went on for this long and that I was right on the fucking money lol. I have missed one point, just the one, and everything else fucking tracks perfectly. That shit was a god damn cult where we worshipped the suffering of others to build ourselves up as good people.

If you suffered from that shit too, you ain't alone dude. I am still working through those issues myself and it SUCKS. I didn't think I would be so on the money, but hey, what can ya do. Something to bring up in therapy whenever I can do that again.

Thanks for reading, be safe, I love you!!

there's been a lot of talk about cults n shit around RQ's (because well.....) but while I'm at it can I like, mention how cult-like oldschool call out post cancel culture tumblr was??? Because I am genuinely still recovering from how much that shit traumatized me ngl

[1863-project]

I feel that Emmet would never chose to do evil, except in situations where its explicitly not evil!

Examples of what I mean: Education. Gotta reenact a completely fictional train robbery, then someone needs to be the robber. Or education on what happens if you are unsafe on the trains. Which I imagine are a series of badly acted videos in which both showcase why not to do various unsafe things.

(That said I also feel half of it would derail into an excuse for the Dead horse trope of tying someone to the railroad tracks. How often do you get an excuse for that?! Also the twins probably switch between who is the 'villain' of each educational segment. )

Yeah, that's the thing - what you’re talking about is normal, and cartoony, and funny. The post I reblogged was specifically about people doing ableist things with him due to him being the more obviously autistic coded of the two of them. The tl;dr is that since 2010 people have taken this character with neurodivergent traits and decided this meant he was unhinged in a way that actually really hurts autistic people who see themselves in him.

Does mental illness sometimes make people violent or lose control? Of course, although it's important to note they're more likely to be victims of violence than the perpetrators. Should we inherently be villainizing mental illness because of this? ABSOLUTELY NOT. There are people who almost fetishize this, and it does nothing to erase the stigma of mental illness, especially for people who do lose control. I work in a public library, and a lot of my patrons are experiencing homelessness. Of those patrons, a lot of them are dealing with mental illness (and not just situational depression) - some have big scaries, like schizophrenia or bipolar, and a lot of homeless folks actually have personality disorders (one study put that rate at 92% of respondents). None of these people are inherently scary or unhinged or bad - they're just dealing with a lack of access to treatment. And none of them have ever made me feel threatened on the reference desk! In fact, they respond verrrry positively when you treat them like regular people, because guess what? They ARE regular people! They're just dehumanized so frequently that they're traumatized.

Furthermore, autism isn't a mental illness (although being autistic often leads to mental illness due to how we're treated by society), but we are disabled by society's standards. Some people don't like to call autism a disability, but the social model of disability more or less does mean we're disabled. We're also highly stigmatized, and that's what the "evil" portrayals are perpetuating. To neurotypicals, we're too blunt and direct, too straightforward, too honest. They think we're being rude, but to us, their more passive, indirect communication style often seems rude and manipulative. They see our awkwardness and our unfamiliarity with social rules and our difficulties with speaking their language and they demonize it. We're ostracized, and people speak of us as if we're a plague and we need to be eliminated. They pity our parents and call us our parents' worst nightmare (instead of, you know, having a stillborn, or having a kid develop cancer, or something actually horrible like that). Instead of the supports we need to thrive, we're given stigma and trauma.

So to see a character with traits like ours, thriving and happy, means the world to us. We don't get that very often. Portrayals of us in the media are often made to be objects of pity or something to laugh at. But seeing Ingo and Emmet, who are not explicitly stated to be autistic but have a lot of autistic traits (making them autistic-coded), being happy and leading fulfilling lives...that is incredibly important for autistic people to see. Our traits are not demonized or mocked here. These characters are allowed to just 'be,' and that is so incredibly important for us.

So to go into the tags and see all of this "villain" stuff, or portrayals where the more obviously autistic-coded twin is "deranged" or "unhinged," plays into the stereotypes people have about us and it really, really hurts, which is why I haven't been in the tags in months - I can't watch myself being dehumanized anymore. I've spent my whole life trying to find my place in a world that hates me. I was so happy to find characters who were just like me who were happy and successful and allowed to be themselves, and the fandom post-PLA ripped that extremely healing space from me and other autistic people.

Sorry for going on a long ramble again, but this has actively negatively impacted my mental health - knowing that’s how so many people still see me and people like me despite the progress we’ve made in the decade plus that I’ve been part of the autistic rights movement really cuts deep and makes me worry that fundamentally on some level I actually am a bad person.

[alicenpai]

Have you answered Q21 and 30 yet? Would love to hear your thoughts on those :o

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

hi chiko!

I think I tried so many different styles over the years, and bc of art school I can probably draw in cartoony or anime styles pretty alright, so I won't pick any kind of animation adjacent styles for this one!

Edward Gorey, Ronald Searle

Norman Rockwell, J.C. Leyendecker

Dean Cornwall, Mead Schaeffer

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

this one is tough! as I haven't been drawing a lot of full pieces/posting very very sporadically this year.

like what is considered "underrated"? is it notes? funny enough I think before the pandemic my art used to get more notes, so, would someone consider my recent works "underrated" in that sense? it's tricky. 🤔 I know it's easy to blame the algorithm but there are so many factors at play that we cannot qualitatively control for. being on the right platform at the right time, drawing for the right fandom at the right time, catering to a suitable audience, how you format the post (like do you show closeups or just post the full illust or crop your art? do you just post a video instead??), and a suitable caption (e.g. something witty, relatable, funny, or just something basic like emojis or just 1 word)

for me I consider a work "underrated" or underperforming (I think is a better word for it), is if the drawing is not interesting enough that nothing is said about it. either about either subject matter or artistic techniques. for me connecting to others through art is so integral to the artist experience. if a post gets 1000 notes but it gets 0 comments, then i consider it a failure. if something gets 100 notes but it gets many comments, i would consider it the opposite of "underrated'.

like would original drawings be more underrated than fanart? 🤔 people have trouble connecting to ocs since they don't know the source material, so often those kinds of posts would get less notes or less comments. just interesting things to think about.

it's easy to go into the archive and look at the older stuff that possibly didn't get seen around as much, but i'll try to pull some more recent pieces.

I think this 6 fanarts did badly in comparison to other works because the trend appeared in 2020 but I wasn't able to complete this that year ^__T and the trend didn't come back in 2021... guess I'm not a trend setter..................... sighs 😔 haha

I do want to try this kind of fanart compilation again though! I'm bad at drawing under pressure though so I would have to come up with my own prompts...

this Kekkai Sensen x Trigun piece! I think the crossover alienated fans of both series bc you had to enjoy both T__T and I also didn't draw characters from either series interacting so I don't think it ended up that interesting? bc I wanted to make this a diptych (it's clear that there's a middle divide now that I mention it) but the triptych didn't end up happening!

besides both being created by Yasuhiro Nightow, I haven't come across that many fans who are fans of both, actually...? it's not in the case where the author's work is more or less similar in tone (or same universe), like Baccano x Durarara, Pandora Hearts x Vanitas no Carte, Higurashi x Umineko. I think something like trigun x cowboy bebop would have worked better because people are always unfortunately comparing the two hahahaha.

[inkdemonapologist]

I'm struggling to find my style to draw people. I don't know if I want them to look cartoony or more life-like, especially for batim. How did you find your style?

TL;DR Version: How do you find your style? By letting yourself experiment, drawing for a while, and never locking yourself into one way of drawing something.

Longer Version: My honest answer to the question "how did you find your style," I think, is that I didn’t. I kinda bounced around trying out anything that I thought looked cool, and eventually people started telling me that I had a distinct style because all the little pieces I had stolen over time added up to something that was uniquely mine. I can’t stress to you enough that 90% of my artistic decisions started with “Ooo, I like the way that artist draws hands! [tries to draw them the same way]” and then it’d just change over time b/c I wouldn’t be able to perfectly replicate it and I’d tweak it to match what I think looks cool and I’d end up with my own version.

More thoughts:

There’s a reason so many artists say not to worry about style, but advice that’s just “don’t think about x” is pretty hard to actually act on, so I think the advice I might try to give is to try things that look interesting, and keep yourself open to whatever is fun for you.

Like…. you don’t have to only draw one way to end up with a style. Some people shift their stylisation for every project or every piece, and other people do have one really consistent look to their work, but usually when that happens for someone who is comfortable in their style, it’s because that person has discovered The Most Fun/Satisfying Way To Draw for them. The way you find that is by trying different styles or elements that look fun or cool and absorbing the bits that work or make sense to you.

You can draw cartoony people sometimes and life-like people other times, and you can work on improving whichever one happens to appeal to you in that moment. If you draw a bunch of lifelike batims but then wonder if maybe you shoulda drawn them all cartoony instead, you aren’t locked in — you can try drawing them all cartoony and seeing how they look and find out if you like drawing them that way. You can switch back and forth, make them realistic for one fanart and cartoony for another. You can always try out shifting your style, and then draw with that stylisation again sometimes if you like it, and never do it again if you don’t. I think it’s actually good practice to try things that interest you — you may not use it, but you might learn something that can apply to other styles of drawing.

The truth is, I think, that style is a lot more than we usually think of. We think of things like proportions, or the specific abstractions we choose, whether we use thick or thin lines, exactly what shape we make eyes — but those are all surface changes. When you draw a lot and try out different choices and different styles, then there will also be choices that maybe you don’t even know you’re making — aesthetics that look cool to you, ways you’ve learned to compensate for your weak points, elements you put a lot of love into because they’re fun. And honestly? A lot of that stuff will shine through even when you change the surface qualities. You can draw cartoony and realistic and both can look like “your style” if you’ve drawn in both aesthetics so often that your personal choices and preferences and how you’ve made that stylisation work for you show up in both. The way I handle lineart is a big part of my style normally, but the lineless colour palette challenges I did are still in “my style.” If I drew with more cartoony proportions, it would still be “my style.”

That said, I also think it’s okay to happen upon a style you like drawing in and just, stick with it forever if that’s what gives you joy. It’s just that trying to FORCE that to happen, trying to Pick One when there’s many different styles that appeal to you, might just make you feel more and more indecisive, whereas embracing and developing any styles that you find enjoyable or satisfying might be what gives you the building blocks you needed to give everything you draw your own personal flair.

[nny11writes]

Happy fic writer:

2 11 14

I love your stuff btw <3

Aw, thank you! :D

My answers got pretty long (especially the snippet where I just wanted to post a whole entire scene apparently) so it's going under a read more.

2. Talk about a favorite comment you received.

God it's always hard for me to pick a single favorite comment because I am fortunate to have gotten so many that I love????????

A recent example is a really short note from a bookmark actually (every so often I remember bookmarks exist and then curiously look to see if anyone left notes) that was something like "It's momgella but somehow 100 times better". I don't know why that is such a sweet comment but I got really cotton in the chest happy feelings after seeing it! Sometimes a short and simple comment just hits one thing so well, or relieves a worry I had.

Any comment that is a variation on "wow I didn't know I'd like this so much!", *explains where I was when I laughed too hard out loud*, or telling me about a specific thing (the writing style, this one line, this character, this set up, etc) that was loved really make my day!

Like a lot of writers, while I love a lot of what I post I'm also really worried I post a lot of garbage that people will hate and regret wasting time having read. So those kinds of comments often pop the anxiety balloon that my brain was holding onto.

A different kind of comment I love is when I get a nice back and forth thread going on where the commenter inspired me and then they write back and we trade ideas and headcanons and jokes. I love that so much it's outrageous lol!

11. Who is your favorite character(s) to write about and why?

I mean, right now I think it's pretty obviously Catra lol.

But let's talk character types for a moment. I love me some short queens who either go 100% berserk or short queens who, through a great effort of will, do not punch every person they want to. Catra fits both categories nicely depending on when/where I'm writing her. She has a lot of depth to her character, with a lot of different and conflicting reasons for what she does or believes. She's an unreliable narrator who really can't decide if she's the worst thing to happen to etheria or the planet's last chance at having a brain cell. It makes her a lot of fun to write and play with because different circumstance could so wildly change her reaction without stretching her past blatant OOC limits.

And, sure, I do hit those limits and go beyond when I want to, but part of why I like Catra so much is how there's so much wiggle room! I like writing from Glimmer's perspective because she also has a lot of these same characteristics. But I find that when I'm writing and about to write something Really Dumb, I often feel like the character has grabbed my wrist to look me dead in the eyes and say "No." And when I try to stretch Glimmer in more cartoony ways or over emphasize traits too much she is much more likely to tell me to cut it out. Whereas Catra often sighs heavily and is like, "I will kill you, but I will also allow it, stupid."

Ahsoka also fell into some of these set ups, you can write her younger and bolder and brasher, quicker to anger and anxious beyond all reason or older where she is stronger in her convictions but slower and calmer to act. Fulcrum Ahsoka really meets the "palm tree with a core of diamond" idea my aikido sensei used to talk about. She can bend in the wind but doesn't break, returning to stand tall once more. She's more even keeled than someone like Catra, which can also be fun to play with in it's own way! Ahsoka can't be too stoic, and she definitely can't be right all the time, so showing the really human way she makes choices or logics things out is a lot of fun to me.

14. Share a snippet.

Who wants a long snippet about Catra and Hordak learning to be friendly post canon? STOP TRYING TO LEAVE MY POST AND READ THE LONG SNIPPET!?!?!?!?!?

~

She’d nearly forgotten about it by the time the all princess picnic came around. An event that was based, partially, on Princess Prom but at an annual and less rule rigid rate. Over the years it had grown slowly from the members of the Princess Alliance to just…princesses.

Catra nearly gagged as she watched a gaggle of them skipping and giggling about. The alliance itself was bad enough at times with the glitter and friendship always wins, but the broader princess community was particularly insufferable in their full party-going glory. She quickly swiped a handful of cheesy rolls into her arm and slinked away from the loudest of the lot. It was the work of a few minutes to reach her tree, it had the widest branches in the whole meadow making it ideal to nap in, and she almost managed to hide away when she saw him sitting at the foot of it.

Hordak had opted for a skirt today, and clearly Wrong Hordak had gotten to choose his top. Unless her former boss enjoyed wearing a tie dyed monstrosity covered in a rhinestone peace symbol.

They stared at one another in an awful sort of uncertainty before Hordak finally spoke. “Ah. Enjoying the…biscuits?”

Catra looked at her arm load of greasy rolls, which she realized were staining her shirt and getting into her fur with a frown. “Yup. They’re pretty good.”

“Oh?” He sounded surprised but she wasn’t sure why, if he’d tried them then he either understood or was an idiot. “Excellent. I was unsure if the garlic butter would significantly change their flavor profile.”

It took her an embarrassingly long minute of her life to parse out the Hordakaneese. “Wait, you made these?”

“Yes.”

She managed to not hurl a roll at his head and instead just pictured how satisfying watching it bounce off his spiked blue locks would be. “Okay, that’s what we call a soft opening. So you can, you know, share more if you’d like.”

Or at least Micah called it that and Catra was going to pretend she understood it better to lord it over Hordak.

“I am aware. …there is not much else to say on this matter. I am glad you like them.” The last sentence was said with such a bizarre cadence that she was sure he’d be drilled and practiced it.

“Great.” And with that she leapt up into the lowest branches and tried to enjoy her pilfered goods. Stealing usually added an extra layer of deliciousness, but knowing Hordak made them somehow negated the effect.

There was a long stretch of silence before Hordak’s voice floated up, “Did you bring anything to the picnic?”

What a piece of scrap, was Catra’s first very uncharitable thought, followed annoyingly by Adora’s stupid, Why are you being so crude? She’d been trying to think of a way to phrase things and somehow managed to use the most junior cadet sounding thing that came to mind. Real shame how well it worked.

“I made the mint lemonade.” Catra waited a beat before realizing that Hordak probably didn’t understand what that meant. Entrapta wasn’t really about non-carbonated beverages. “I grew the mint and harvested the lemons. Adora helped me squeeze them. Sugar, lemon juice, and mint. Mint lemonade.”

“Ah. It does an admirable job of…cutting through the heat.”

Alright, she’d hit her limit of translating Hordak’s weirdness for the day. “...so you liked it?”

She peaked over the edge of her branch to watch his head tilt in consideration. Well, that was a good sign at least.

“Yes. I liked the mint lemonade.”

And that was about enough of that.

[spongebob-connoisseur]

Who do you think does better job as the showrunner?? Paul Tibbit or Vincent Waller??

Hmmmm gonna say Vincent Waller.

I know this is probably my personal biases. Enjoying modern seasons + dislike of the middle era.

I just find the middle seasons that Paul was responsible for to be so bland and strayed too far away from what spongebob is about.

To be fair, both modern and middle eras strayed far from the original concept of Spongebob but I at least find the modern one enjoyable.

There's a lot of things I could list. The tone for the middle seasons was so mean spirited. Everyone being so cruel and mean to sponge. Even downright violent. Spongebob himself couldn't do a thing without messing up stuff. I can use Patrick as a good example of a character who really became so mean to sponge. Even so much so that there's multiple episodes where they aknowlege Patrick is a bad friend and person over all.

Character designs looked so out of place. They didn't fit the show's style much at all or occasionally weirdly sexualized.

Pacing was really off. Jokes rarely landed and so often there's a weird dead air between characters. Dialogue ends up being so bland.

Animation was so stiff. I get the modern seasons can be too expressive at times but I'd take that over how blank and expressionless the show was during this era. You only ever see them in the same perspective. Their expressions are so boring? Sometimes I feel like you can use the middle eras animation as a guide of what not to do.

I could go on but the middle era already has a lot of scrutiny. Not all of the middle era is like that. There's some good episodes but a lot of it just ain't it for me.

I don't want this all to be just me dunking on the middle era. I enjoy the modern era that Vincent Waller is responsible for. They fixed the pacing issue quickly. No more weird dead air. But they really went in the opposite direction. From nothing going on to EVERYTHING going on. I remember when I was first watching season 12, it made me a little dizzy.

Still the cleaned up most of the issues I had with the middle era. Like Patrick! There's still some duds but I like that they remember Patrick and Spongebob are supposed to be best friends and that Patrick genuinely loves sponge and Spongebob genuinely loves Pat back. I REALLY recommend The Whole Tooth or Patrick's Coupon.

Also the show is finally taking advantage of its bigger budget and actually having movement and expression. Sometimes too much but I don't mind it. When was the last time we had a cartoon with fun wacky expressions? Plus the more extreme expressions were season 12.

Seasons 9,10,11 had a better balance. I feel like expressiveness might dial down with season 13. There's not much episodes have been released for season 13 but the ones that have been seem to be cartoony but less expressive and I like it? I hope they keep going like that.

Oh also forgot to mention. The tone is nicer? Yeah it's not going to be mature™™™ like the classic era is. But its fun and lighthearted. Other characters like spongebob. He isn't treated as a pest like the middle era. Yeah he can be a little annoying but no one is downright malicious to him. It's a lot more fun and I'm also glad we have episodes of Spongebob that isn't just him messing up and destroying things/people trying to kill him ya kno?

Yeah I prefer Vincent's direction for the show a whole lot more. He gets a lot of hate since it isn't classic spongebob. But that's kinda the natural order of sponge. The same happened to Paul Tibbit.

In fact, a lot of the things people say about Vincent Waller is just copy and paste of what they said about Paul Tibbit. Because it isn't classic spongebob.

I feel bad tho for Paul Tibbit? Yeah the seasons he made aren't my favorite but mans got so much death threats and basically people saying weird shit like he should've never been born for what?? For making a few bad episodes?? Y'all okay?? Mans just accepted it. But its so fucked up.

Anyways I'm getting off topic. Who do you prefer and why? I'm curious and wanna know 👀