#hmm. i like using color scheme of the characters i like and used it on my own OC

[heretodefyfate]

Anyway I have a oc called Neo and I tried the vs portrait for the first one I posted it on my blog I also posted the second one but he is a slime instead because I messed up the angle so you have a little slime

awwe, cute slimy boy (he is not a Solosis, is he???)

[tatious]

Aight, here goes nothin

The Wild Robot X Kamen Rider crossover AU

(Art by @hanpi_kun on Twitter)

This au has been in the works since December of last year. It's only now that I have the courage to show it here in Tumblr (please go easy on me)

I even came up with a synopsis :

"Roz, a rozzum unit longing to return to her island home, finds herself entangled in a perilous twist of fate. Unintentionally thrust into the role of humanity's unlikely hero known as "Kamen Rider", she becomes a key player in a covert project operated by one man to protect humanity's future. Now, Roz must contend with the schemes of Universal dynamics, as well as confronting a corrupted rozzum unit and her army of "Augments." Whose destructive rampage threatens to wipe mankind off the planet, as part of their mysterious "Salient Neutrality initiative."

OR

I turned roz into a power ranger because I'm fucking bored

And unironically, i think that's probably the best way to describe what kamen rider is to people who never heard of it, except instead of men in spandex, we have cyborg karate bugmen in motorcycles

Also I think it's important to note that this au takes place during "The Wild Robot Escapes", the sequel to the original book of the wild robot.

(Please excuse the poor art)

For roz's design, I decided to (or at least try) lean towards Kamen riders from the showa era, like white gloves and a scarf

I also gave her a shield as a little spin on kamen rider's usual trope of having a sword as their weapon, emphasizing her nature (or programming?) to defend. She doesn't want to fight, she wants to protect.

We've seen her willingly risk her life to protect an island full of animals. In this au, I want to take it to the next step and see if she'll risk her life once again, only this time to protect humans who are actively working against her.

Will her limiting code set her up for failure, or will she become more than what she was programmed to be, for the sake of humanity's future?

In contrast to Roz, Vontra's design took inspiration from Kamen riders from the heisei era (the era after showa). A lot more sharper edges, less clothing materials like scarves and gloves, more armor, and collars.

Much like her original body, vontra has tentacles that she can pull out on her back. (She only got four instead of five, though)

But since she was given weapons and various data in martial arts by universal dynamics (to counter Auxilium in combat), Vontra wouldn't use them at all if it proved unnecessary.

But sometimes, she'll pull them out for use as extra hands or intimidation tactics. (or just aura farming)

One more detail : the name "Archus" came from the word "arc", which represents progression and development of a character.

Hmm, wonder if that's hinting at something.

Here's a closer look at the belts

Kamen rider's transformation gear almost always consists of solely a belt that is activated by the Rider doing a pose and saying "Henshin". But for this au specifically, they work differently.

For instance, the assistance driver (roz's gear) is used to activate her combat protocols, which basically overrides her inhibition protocols, allowing her to fight properly. But in turn, it severely drains roz's power and, as a solution, limited the usage time of combat protocols to only three minutes. Leaving roz barely holding on before collapsing down, out of power.

Once it reaches 2 minutes the light at the center of the driver will start blinking red, signaling that they only have 1 minute remaining.

(Basically, think of Ultraman's color timer)

As for Vontra's, her gear basically works as an extended power core. Like roz's, it also starts blinking red. But it's not limited to time, more so as it's a measuring system of how much energy and power vontra has left. If it's red, it's time to retreat.

Ah yes, evil roz be like

"A rozzum NEVER completes it's task"

I don't got much to say about her from a design standpoint other than the foot that took way too much time to draw than I would've liked.

I specifically drew inspiration from Kamen Rider Ark-One, from Kamen Rider Zero-One.

One last thing to say about this au

The story took a few inspiration from stories like Megaman and Big Hero 6, where robot assistants became heroes and whatnot. And I thought to myself

"What if roz became one as well?"

Well that's all I got for this au

I will be sure to expand on it, flesh out the world, characters, plot, and everything else. As I have also planned to write a fanfic based on this au.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post.

Have a nice day!

[laxmiree]

[CN] MLQC Lucien’s Sweet Scheme ASMR translation

⚠️ SPOILER ALERT!! ⚠️

This post contains a detailed spoiler for an ASMR that has not been released in EN yet! Feel free to notify me if there are any mistakes in the translation~

T/N: The ASMR name 蜜谋 (mìmóu) consists of two characters: 蜜 (mì), meaning "honey" or "sweet," and 谋 (móu), meaning "plan"/"plot"/"scheme". In this ASMR, it refers to Lucien scheming to get punished (and also the other way around) LOL

⚠️ This ASMR is NSFW and NOT suitable for individuals under the age of 18 due to its sexual nature. It is recommended that those who do not meet this age requirement refrain from proceeding beyond this point.

Twitter link [click here]

GDrive link [soon]

Transcript under the cut~

[Transcript]

[sounds of door opening + clinking of things]

I'm back.

Mm

Today's experiment

went much smoother than I expected,

so I came back early.

Just in time,

I also wanted to see you sooner.

Hmm?

What are you doing

Are these… gems?

[chuckles] I have only heard about it on the phone before

when you were filming a jewelry show

you bought a very beautiful emerald rough

[the fact that the emerald is still rough is important for the later part because it means that the edges are sharp and can cause pain-]

I just didn't expect…

there to be so many.

There's only one,

and the rest are candies?

[chuckles] So that's how it is

If I find the gem,

will it and you both belong to me?

It seems that

this is a "test" for me from my little lady.

Of course, I am willing to accept all your challenges.

However, before we begin,

I would like to understand the rules of this game.

For example,

how many chances do I have?

Or…

if I guess wrong,

what will the punishment be?

[the way he said it… man is looking forward to the punishment🤪]

Hmm?

You want to keep it a secret for now?

[chuckles]

Okay

Then…

[Lucien reaches out his hand to pick up one of the "gems", but is held back]

Am I not allowed to pick it up,

and can only observe it here?

[chuckles]

Fine

Then…

I'll choose this one.

Hmm?

Did I guess wrong?

Alright

Then can you tell me now 

what the punishment is?

Close my eyes?

[some rustling noises in the background as he is being stripped open-]

[LUCIEN'S HEAVENLY PANTING AS HE'S BEING PUNISHED-]

…although when you stripped open my clothes

I probably knew what the "punishment" would be,

the "gem" you just placed on my back

is even a little colder than I imagined.

This little lady looks a bit disappointed…

Hmm?

[chuckles]

Because I don't look surprised?

Maybe it's because,

when I guessed wrong, the mischievous look in your eyes was too obvious.

[T/N: he affectionately uses the title “little classmate” (小��学); I'm using ‘you’ for better flow~]

However

Compared to my back…

The waist areas around ribs,

and lower abdomen below navel,

are densely populated with nerve endings

and are much more sensitive.

[some DELICIOUS soft moans as he’s being punished in those places-]

[breathlessly] These areas

might better achieve the effect you desire.

[hell yea I sure wonder what kind of another ”””effect””” she's looking for-]

[chuckles]

Then…

I'll continue guessing

[chuckles]

This piece has a cooler color

The cracks in the crystal are also more natural

It seems to be the one

Did I guess wrong again?

I didn't expect this game

to be more "challenging" than I imagined.

[sigh]

It seems this little classmate is going to win another round.

Bring it on.

[chuckles] You can use a bit less force.

Otherwise,

the stimulation felt by the nerve endings

will be overshadowed by other sensations

[other sensations here might refer to pain caused by too much force… pain play doesn't work as well as temperature play on him due to him canonically having an absurdly high pain threshold and is less sensitive to pain]

Just like this…

[Lucien takes one of the “gems” and runs it on her body]

Hmm?

Did it feel cold to you?

I just think that

personally experiencing this feeling

will help you do it better.

[I think he doesn't mind the pain itself, BUT if you want to give him ‘better’ punishment, focus more on the temperature play🤪]

[chuckles] 

Sorry

the way you opened your eyes wide just now 

was really cute.

It made me want to be a bit more "excessive."

The one I have in my hand

should be the emerald you asked me to guess.

Of course, it can't be wrong

In the emerald ore,

there are some granules and textures

Moreover

emeralds are called beryls

and are mostly in the shape of hexagonal prisms.

When you were preparing the show,

I also secretly "stole" some knowledge from you.

Did I guess wrong on purpose before?

You caught me.

Within the rules,

experiencing everything the game has to offer is what makes it enjoyable, right?

[chuckles] Don't get distracted,

look,

the candy in your hand is already starting to melt.

Although this beautiful and translucent gem

is also very captivating.

To me,

the candy in your hand is more attractive.

[sounds of him rolling the candy to his mouth and licking the melting sugar on her hand]

Although it looks just like a gemstone on the surface,

it's sweeter than I imagined.

It has a bit of a green grape flavor.

Miss Producer,

haven't you tried it yourself?

Then…

[kissing noises as he ‘shares’ the candy sensually]

Let's share the fruit of this "victory" together.

[MORE delicious kissing noises before it fades away. With him being stripped off, I think we all know where this is going iykwim-]

[blood-orange-juice]

ok so ive never properly played genshin and don’t plan to but i know a bit about it’s lore and characters and i think it’s really neat. however i have thousands of hours on ffxiv. on that note please explain why graha and childe are similar. i only have very basic knowledge on childe and i gotta know

Fellow ffxiv enjoyer. <3

(anyone asking me about G'raha has a 100% chance of getting a wall of text and I'm not apologising for that. enjoy your wall of text)

I'm not entirely sure I'm not a case of a person with a hammer to whom everything resembles a nail, but I do think they are the same archetype.

Sweet characters who could have been perfect sidekicks (who still are perfect sidekicks) but listened to too many epic tales as kids and found themselves in a wrong place at a wrong time and now have to play a key role in some universe-changing story.

Both are defined mostly by their stubborness, they are not very suitable for the roles they've chosen and fail over and over again until they do it somewhat right (barely).

No matter how badass they look, their power is not their own, G'raha is a glorified technician of someone else's miracle and little else than a living key, Childe wields an art of old Khaenri'ah without fully understanding it. It's all borrowed from someone else who needed them to achieve a goal.

They do look badass, but mostly because they larp. I'm honestly not sure which one enjoys theatrics more.

Civilisations that created the magic they use specialised in perversion of the natural order of things. They try to use it in relatively noble ways and mostly hurt themselves but the flavour is there.

Both are unbelievably tragic and both somehow make their stories seem almost lighthearted. Complete absense of self-pity. I think that's what makes them both so charming, it's a rare trait.

Both have an incredible capacity for loyalty and love and an incredibly twisted view of what relationships look like. "I'll cross time and space for you, I'll die for you, I'll build a city for you, I'll live for you but please don't ask me to share my plans." "I'll sacrfice my own health and respect of my subordinates to keep my brother's happyness, probably my humanity too, but don't expect me to actually interact with him."

Both have something that looks like self-sacrificial tendencies bordering on suicidality while being, if we are honest, a self-serving trait (partially born out of low self-esteem but still self-serving). They want to live in an old myth and sacrificing oneself is a perfectly reasonable price for that.

Huge egos. And I mean Huge Egos. It's a bit less obvious in Graha's case but I know the type, you see guys like that in PhD programs a lot.

Huge dorks. Both of them.

Both are stuck somewhere between human and non-human and, hmm... their ability to remain human is the most astonishing quality of both. By all accounts, neither should have. They somehow did.

Both are incapable of lying to the point where a third of each fandom headcanons them as autistic. Both are somewhat all right with tricking people without technically lying (although Childe had more practice).

Both are secretive because no one would understand anyway.

FF XIV is a kinder story, so it's easy to overlook, but technically G'raha is a case of body horror, accepts the role of a villain for a while and hides from the player way too much. Hmmm... Where else have I seen it. Hmm. Oh right. That ginger guy from Genshin.

Minor things:

Both are little shits and enjoy annoying the hell out of people they dislike.

Abysmally bad fashion sense. There should be a name for this particular type and level of bad. I don't think I've seen this anywhere else.

And then there's the colour scheme. Red+black+white+blue and red+black+light grey+blue (it's an "anime magician" color profile, I think. black-red-white as alchemy colours + blue as pure magic/something elemental). Childe doesn't quite fit but still the combination is rare.

They way they talk. Dear gods. Who the hell talks like that.

Here's where the similarities end.

One is morally grey but ultimately a good guy (technically. I think the point of ShB was that Emet and G'raha are almost the same), another is a morally grey but still (kind of) a bad buy.

At every step of his story Graha is surrounded by people who love or at least appreciate him, Childe is pretty much on his own and surrounded by people who are either shitty or clueless.

G'raha is kind. Truly and astonishingly kind, in a doomed world he chooses to love everything he touches. Silly little priest of hope. Of all the things he has done this is the most wondrous, I think. Not the time travel, not the city he founded, just being able to remain kind after everything that happened to him.

Childe is... well, Childe. I think he is a deeply decent person (to the point of having a visceral distaste for any kind of unfairness) and he's idealistic but he's indifferent more than he is kind. Empathy usually develops only when someone has shown the person empathy first and, as far as we know, he didn't have much of that in his life.

Also G'raha builds things. Childe breaks things. Childe breaks pretty much everything he touches.

One is an archeologist and a mage and another is a warrior.

I think these differences are caused mostly by the settings they were put into. Childe raised in Sharlayan would have been a very different person. G'raha trained by a voidsent and shipped off to Garlean military would look very much like Childe.

G'raha also has a beautiful character development arc. I love his ShB role. He has this huge ego in the raids and is insufferable and then we see an older and wiser him with a bunch of actual achievements and a bad case of impostor syndrome (trying to do anything real always humbles a person, we all know that real world is held together by sticks and scotch tape. honestly, this change alone is beautiful). And he gets to be an actual hero when he abandons all hope to be Important and resigns to die as a nameless villain if it saves everyone and spares his loved ones from heartbreak.

Childe's character development is yet to happen and I'm not hoping for much but we'll see.

The only difference that definitely isn't created by setting is that G'raha is naturally manipulative. In a kind-hearted way and mostly for the sake of better larp but he isn't that straightforward. Childe is spectacularly blunt for all his mysteriousness.

As a bonus, they both compare main characters to stars, but in completely different ways.

"No doubt your heroism will be the star by which I chart my course," says G'raha to the WoL.

Childe mentions the morning star, which is, of course, pretty and a good companion to a lonely traveler, but also it's not a celestial body you can chart your course by.

It's a guy whose signature weapon is called "Polar Star" and his first artifact set was full of nautical themes, so I think he fully understands what he's saying. "You are my friend but I won't change anything in my life for you."

So I don't think his story will be anything like G'raha's, his life took a different turn very long ago. I do think they used to be similar as kids, bookish boys who dreamed of adventure and being special. So it's fun to compare.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk. <3

[yuseirra]

Hi there, lovely artist! Do you watch the oshi no ko anime? I ask because I wondered if you are excited to see their depiction of Hikaru, because you make such lovely art of him (it's a depiction I quite like :)). It made me wonder if you have some kind of expectations for the anime.

I'm personally very excited to see Hikaru animated and voice acted :D

Hello anon~ thanks for calling me lovely!♥ I love getting complimented!

Oh! I watched the first 2 eps of the second season, then I decided to put off watching it for a while (I can always buy it in our local OTT platform, they have it there!) because the manga... ;v; is already making my head spin so much already. I can only focus on one thing at a time... It was SO good though!!// I remember how the first episode started with stage-play, which was very impressive. The opening animation sequence is amazing too! I'd like to binge it all at once later.

Hmm...about expectations, I personally consider the current arc to be great in terms of depicting Aqua's psychology. It was peak in terms of helping us understand his character, so I appreciate that a lot. We get to see all his pains and trauma and the struggles he had, and it was so powerful. I'm sure the anime would be touching on those currently, if they do a great job with that (along with Akane's rivalry with Kana and how they shine on stage in different ways) I feel I'd be happy with it! Also that scene with Melt. I'm sure that one's been animated because I saw a thumbnail of it on youtube. I'm also looking forward to the aqukana date. That's one of the few peaceful, cute moments we have. I'm sure I'd watch that part the moment it comes out because I'm curious how that's going to be acted out.. and I need to see some happy moments in onk for once. Stuff's been depressing in the manga lately and I feel sorry for a lot of characters;;

OH... thank you!// I'm so happy to hear you like my depiction of him!!/// That gives me strength. Yeah, I'm excited too, because we never saw his color palettes yet, haven't we!! It's going to be all over the internet once it's out, won't it...I'm a little worried if I got it way off.. but I'm prepared to take what they give us! The anime team does the series justice. I trust they will come up with something good. I just mentioned I'd watch the aqukana dating scene as it comes out.. well, that scene with hikaru's also a scene I want to watch (and I NEED to in order to get his color schemes right in the future 'cause I draw! o<-<)

I really want him to get a bright color palette, because his name has to do with both "god" and "light"... or the god of light if combined.. I SERIOUSLY believe he HAS to do with amenouzume, the entertainment god's husband!! That god conveniently is said to have a "shining body" and is called the god of the bright lights!!!! There is no way that has nothing do do with him!! I don't really picture him with dark eyes, I feel golden eyes would really suit him because that gives off the "light" imagery and it'd make sense. It'd also be able to make his black star eyes really stand out as he has them.. and I feel he'd make a good contrast with Ai if he's colored a bit brighter than Aqua or Ruby. purple and yellow contrast each other very well! So I'm crossing my fingers for that to happen. Same here, I'm really curious how he'd sound like, and I'm happily awaiting to see his depiction in the anime. Since I drew a lot of things about him already, I'd be a bit embarrassed if happened to get his colors off... but?? It's the colors I really want. So I won't regret having colored him that way. We can all dream, right!

I drew them upon having received your ask!

it'd be really nice if he has these bright colors that contrasts Ai's dark purple. Saying this again because I really want that to happen ;v;)9999

I get chatty, I hope you can feel my excitement! :) This series makes me both so nervous and excited... I guess it will be like that for awhile.

Let's keep having fun together! I appreciate your ask and I hope you have a fun weekend!

[ts2cambremon]

Questions 1, 2, 4, 7, 11, and 13 for the Simblr Story Process Ask! I'm dying to learn alllllll about your writing process! :D

Hiiii @esotheria-sims! Thank you 🥰

And shout out to @thegingernerdist who also asked for 13! I also answered question 7 in the previous post!

1. Do you hide any secrets in your story that only a few people will find?

Hmm... I mentioned in an earlier post that I like to sneak in some foreshadowing, so I guess that could also fit this question!

2. Sims writing has a visual component. How do you utilize color/objects and setting in your story?

I use it a lot! Every character has a favorite color when it comes to outfits, and their magic is also distinct (Ren has green blasts, Andra's got fire, Inna the lightening, the Baranims have white bolts...) which comes through in battle scenes. Inna has a changing color scheme, although she prefers to dress in pink she sometimes dresses in white to appear more innocent than she is when she's trying to manipulate people. Kadja also usually dresses in orange, but she went for blue to "fit in" the monastery.

The architecture is also a big one. In my original idea, Cambremon was actually an underground city but that's just not practical gameplay wise. I try to create closed spaces with stone walls or dark wood. The hub is supposed to feel very dark, as opposed to the bright white snowy wastelands.

Some objects have become motifs, like Kadja's painting representing Ren's obsession, the creepy slave pillars representing the Cambremon's harsh rule, and the red dress representing Ren's one-sided desire for Kadja. There's also the portrait room which is a recurring setting, and usually alludes to the weight of the first generation and of the Cambremon name on the second generation.

Another little color detail: a lot of scenes with Bone Spirit have a purple light effect because the Sun n Moon candles with mana powder have a purple light!

4. What scenes do you find hardest to write?

Hardest to pose are definitely the group scenes! My computer can't handle more than 10-12 sims on a lot, so I have to get creative with deco sims (but the lighting on them is usually a bit wonky, or they get covered in snow like other objects! Argh it's a struggle)

Hardest to write... well that's actually descriptions, which is why I love the simstory format, I can focus on just dialogues 😁 I also find that I edit dialogues a lot, usually to cut them down to the essential. I feel like I now have a much better grasp of the characters and their voices, so it's getting a little easier to write them!

11. What are some elements you think are becoming cliché in the genre you're writing?

Honestly couldn't say, I'm actually a big fan of tropes when they're done right or subverted. One thing that I personally love as a reader is when there are real consequences for characters' actions, so I guess not a fan of stories with extensive plot armour or deus ex machina twists to get the main characters out of a bad situation.

One thing which does annoy me is when sexual violence is either swept under the rug or exploited for cheap thrills in fantasy stories. On one hand, it's definitely an aspect of any unjust, hierarchical society, but on the other, not something that should (in my opinion) be used just for "shock value". I sometimes struggle on the best way to adress this within the bounds of Cambremon, and I've settled with indirect allusions, as with this Simstober post.

13. What characters do you feel most connected to? Why do you feel connected to that character?

That's a tough one. Depends on the day, but it's a tie between Kadja, Inna, Bruk and Marek. They're all interesting characters to play with, and I'm also invested in Cambremon eventually becoming a better place, so hoping the "good" faction wins out! (But the evil faction makes for juicy drama haha)

[carl-lenn]

what's star2? 👀👀

Heya hi wyv! Welcome to my ask box. Short answer is that it is this -> 🌟. It is also the tag I use to mark any post I find heartwarming, wholesome, happy and all the such. Pretty star and all that.

Long answer is this that it is this

So not too long ago I used to work on this game called Adventure Forward 1: The Blue Stars. Which is a fangame/mod of another roblox game called Adventure Forward: Star Savior (which is like roblox sm64 before robot 64 was a thing). This fangame was made by an online friend of mine and eventually I was invited to start working on it. For one of the updates we wanted to add a new town that is snow themed. The main antagonist of the originial game's sequel had a symbol that looked like two overlapped pointed shapes, and since that antagonist's human form was going to be featured in our fangame, I thought it would be cool if I created a similar design with the stars.

Below is a dev screenshot of the original design. It was originally going to be a fountain decoration to parallel the one in the original town, which was just one grey star

The other developer thought it was too on the nose in the symbolism with that antagonist due to the coloring. A little bit later, since we were making ice levels I thought, hmm what if the collectible stars were snowflakes too, rather than the typical yellow. And so I made these two right designs. In the final version we used the middle one, whereas the right one was used in the finale, with the color scheme of the original fountain deco star.

A few months later I drew this image. The section featured in the background wasnt in the original update, but added in a little while later as an extension for the ice world. This was my roblox avatar, he eventually became more of an OC. His name is Trip

Now I just use the starflake symbol because I like how it looks aesthetically, and as a slight nod to the game I used to be a part of. Basically its a pretty star and all that. ... Yknow.. maybe the short version wouldve sufficed aswell.

As a side note if you ever see some guy named Nyav around let me know. He used to be a character in this game but has escaped containment.

[rayman-chibi]

So I took a Uquiz about what oddly specific color palette I would be after being tagged by a lovely lady :P

And then I realized something:

"Hmm, these do look like colors I would use, so pastel-like and fluffy... wait, do these remind me of a certain art challenge?"

And then it hit me.

I'm gonna be using the colors I got:

And then use them to create an alternate version of this color wheel art challenge that pretty much half of the art community was doing:

Here is the result for the base I'll be using:

(+ one without the color dot things)

And here's what I got so far:

(And ofc I put Kid in there even though nobody's gonna ask for him, HE'S MY FREAKIN SON PEOPLE >:D)

What I need now is, of course, your requests!

Let's start with the red-orange color. What character do you think fits that color? Let me know in the replies and the reblogs. It can be a Rayman character, it can be a non-Rayman character, it doesn't even need to be a character from a video game at all! Just give me a character that you think has red-orange in their color scheme and the one that interests me the most will be appearing on that slice.

See y'all soon!

[lastbraincelliswith-opera]

Escalated Chaos 

Egashira and Mukai are at a place where their comfortable banter has caught the eyes of everyone around them. They are too dumb to realize their old married couple dynamic despite coming to terms with being very attracted to each other. What happens when a bet scheme involving the two devolves into pure chaos?  Context: Mitsumi being Mitsumi agreed to put on a play at her hometown summer festival. The problem is not enough members are available to do so. Kanechika is in film school but quickly agrees for the old gang's sake. Mika was asked for help with a Japanese Canadian character during screenwriting and was eventually roped in for the role. As for Mukai, it was just convenient. Kidding, no seriously when everyone’s involved we are not gonna leave out our best boi- shh let me have this. Let’s just imagine the story is a bit further along in their 3rd year and Shimamistu is a thing. Not like it’s relevant just minor side details.  Sorry, if they seem too ooc the story just kind of got away from me. Also, not proofread sorry in advance.

Mika feels a whoosh in her heart, is that even possible what the heck, she fans herself. Damn, that tall spacey idiot for being so..so.. gorg- stupid. Yes, you heard her right she totally- er did not call a certain someone named Mukai gorgeous. Pull yourself together Mika you idiot. Yet, despite herself, she is pulled into a haze where a low-timbered voice whispers sweet nothings in her ear and strong arms pull her close by the waist. She could just about dissolve why did he have to be so damn hot- irritating. 

“ Egashira… hello earth to Egashira??” Mukai bends down to her level speaking in that casual tone snapping her out of the reverie. She is gonna find the costume designer and makeup artists to make them pay hell for the state she is in. Why is he pulling off the Yukata so well?

"What are you doing daydreaming in the middle of the debrief?” Mika gives him the stink eye for calling her out like that. “Shut up, it’s your fault” Looking utterly confused he starts “How is it-“ 

"Alright love birds let's settle down” Kanechika hollers from the podium. They both are quick to turn around blushing wildly at the older boy’s assumption. “That got their attention” Shima whispers as Kanechika gives him a thumbs up grinning. 

“Alright everyone before we get to it- I wanted to thank you all for making this possible and agreeing to lend a hand. Special thanks to Egashira-chan and Mukai-kun for taking on the extra roles. And Mitsumi-chan..” Argh, leave it to him to make this out to be a big deal and draw attention to us Mukai groans internally. Wait a second what was that weird comment about us before do we look like a couple with our costumes? His lips turned up as he bashfully straightened out his suit front thinking how they probably looked to others. 

“What the hell are you grinning about like a fool?” An elbow nudges him as Egashira looks at him and back to the podium. “Hmm, uh nothing?” she hums noncommittally squinting at him as if she could see right through his bullshit. 

“Oh hey” he looks at her through his peripheral vision frowning a little “Yeah?” she answers looking away definitely not wanting to be caught by everyone again. “You look great!” he whispers. Now Mukai can’t help but blurt that out he has been holding it in since she came out with those blonde streaked braid and hazel-colored contacts. The leather jacket with Kohl in her eyes was so badass. Why is his heart beating so loud his ears are almost ringing- he chances a look at her. 

She is hunched down covering her face- is she perhaps laughing at him? 

What he doesn’t know is that she is in fact smiling so hard it looks like she is laughing. To hell with that pine-tree-sized moron is he doing this on purpose Mika curses in her mind but manages to whisper back “So, I don’t always look great?” That makes him flounder “No… Uh..I mean that’s not..you’re pulling off the costume better than I thought” Shit, he is digging a deeper grave is he still that bad when it comes to talking to girls. This actually makes Mika want to laugh but she pushes ahead trying to sound upset “What are you trying to say?” 

“No..sorry wait..” He frowns deeper pausing and something dawns on him as she shakes beside him “Wait are you pulling my legs?” He nudges her as if asking her to stop. “mean!” That nudge was the last straw and Mika loses it at the absurdity of it all. Oh hell no now she’s done it everyone’s eyes are back on the duo. For once in his life Kanechika looks like he is seriously contemplating something. 

They both want to dissolve into the ground from embarrassment. “This won’t do seems like we need to separate the couple until the play is done.” He nods as if he has come up with a great plan. They both give each other an alarmed look as everyone else seems to understand what he meant perfectly. “Guys, what is going on?” Egashira questions doubtfully. It almost looks like everyone has an evil look- did something happen when they weren’t there? Did they all get possessed?

“Debrief over do your best everyone and remember important task today to keep them away from each other until the end. That’s it chop chop!” 

Did Sousuke just let out a giggle that asshole. 

And then they both were kept off of each other’s sight for the whole ordeal not even a peep. The strange thing is everything was back to normal as if nothing happened at all. Except Mika could swear she saw Shima and Mitsumi arguing a couple of times and Kanechika pitching in. Maybe she should text Mukai and ask what’s up cause this is too peculiar to let go. Then she hung her head in shame remembering their shenanigans honestly being with that idiot always brought a side of her that she never thought was possible. Plus since when did they both get so close that it was becoming unbearable to be apart? What stings her the most is the fact Kanechika of all people deemed them problem children it’s not like that guy can talk he’s a walking disaster of energy. And well, curiosity is killing her. 

Mukai at first was too flustered to think about the bizarreness of Sousuke’s smugness and every else’s strange behavior. As more time went on and they were serious about keeping them apart he started getting anxious. It’s not like they are always attached at the hip so why does this feel so different? Is it because she looked really good? He wants to see her in the costume again- just the thought of it sets his heart racing mile a minute. Woah, hold on Tsukasa calm down. The tail end of a distant conversation breaks him from the daze “Who do you think is going to win the bet?” Mitsumi’s hometown friend Tatchan's voice echoes. “Duh, it’s obvious something is going on between them but they don’t strike me as the bold types you know- so I vote for Shima” someone answers.

Wait what’s going on? “Hmm, I see what you mean but I vote for Kanechika, I can’t wait to see how this all pans out..hehe.” The rest of the conversation is droned out as Mukai gets his gears moving whatever this is it’s definitely about them both. That jerk Sousuke so that’s how it is huh, bring it on. 

Mika connects the dots as she receives info from him- so these morons are playing Cupid with us. Alright, dummies you don’t play with fire if you’re not ready to be burned. Here we come. 

They managed to put on a fantastic play. NOW that they are all back in the vicinity of each other backstage they could feel expecting eyes watching their every move. Just as planned they both don’t interact with each other at all. Mika chats with Mitsumi about the performance reviews and Mukai at Sousuke’s side as the girls swarm him. 

One by one everyone takes their leave to go explore the festival. Suddenly it’s just the two of them in the backroom all alone. They both sigh exaggeratedly coming closer to each other. “Oh my god, that was exhausting! I missed you.” Mika grabs his hands and looks up at him expectantly. Mukai’s breath catches “You did?” He unconsciously squeezes back at their joined hands making Mika shiver. That was oddly comforting but what was he doing she wonders. Pouting at that she asks, “What so you didn’t miss me at all?” He chuckles impulsively dragging her close and locking his hands behind her back “No, I really missed you annoying me.” 

What the hell was that? But the shock of his action is abruptly cut short by his sarcastic quip. “You..asshole,” she says lacking conviction or bite.

Two can play the game. Mika slowly drags her hands over his chest and gently cups his face. That elicits an audible gasp not only from the man himself but some hidden ones as well. Mika smirks as she just hit two mangoes with a single stone. 

Mukai’s breath was stolen a tightness enveloping him as a whole. Lightheadedness threatened his steady stance. Amazed by the sparks. Is this happening for real? Was the only coherent thought he could process. 

Lucky for him, Mika called out the morons that started the whole squib cutting short his frayed neurons' attempt to bask in the warmth. 

After receiving an ear full from her and Mukai’s disapproving gaze the group apologized for scheming behind their backs. Kanechika and Mitsumi at least had the decency to look sheepish. Sousuke seemed deep in thought fleeting his eyes from Egashira and him. 

“Wait does this mean you guys are dating?” A bold Tatchan questioned. Suddenly everyone's eyes are sparkling as if they were waiting for something. 

Mika shot daggers at the poor soul and he apologized immediately. “I don’t see how that’s any of y’all concern.” 

“No like how can you bet on us?” At that everyone looked at each other as if they knew something these two don’t. 

“Sorry, it’s just that the two of you were always in your bubble getting flirty with each other. It was kind of hard to focus on our work at times” Fumi answers. At that they both flush brightly- what in the world that’s not true is it. Those were just friendly banter or so they thought. 

The truth was their banters often devolved into flirting territory but neither of the goofballs knew they started doing it. 

Kanechika giggles and supplies unhelpfully that solving the mystery of their relationship almost became the prime focus of the group for a while. Which is why Shima came up with the bet in the first place. Mukai glares at him as hard as he can but that idiot just gives him a smug look in return. When did he start to get so involved with things going on around him? 

“Mitsumi, I didn’t expect this of you” Egashira pouts angrily at her friend. Flailing at the sudden shift in focus she apologizes for not taming Sousuke and Kanechika when they masterminded the plan. 

“Wait so who won the bet?” Someone asks and all hell breaks loose. 

Argh, I’ll deal with those airheads later Mika thinks grabbing her stuff checking if anyone noticed her, and dragging Mukai the hell out of there. 

Now in the crowd of the festival leaning against the wall for support, they both pant hard. Mukai questions breathily “Why…Why didwerun?” Mika raises a hand asking him to wait. 

“You think they’ll let us be without knowing who won?” She takes a deep breath and tries to compose herself. “Oh yeah that” 

Damn it Mukai can’t help the awkwardness seeping out of him. It’s not like we were getting close to each other with a romantic intention in the first place. It was because we could talk to each other freely that I started liking her. How am I going to explain what I did back there? Crap, what if we stop talking to each other because my crush makes it weird. 

“Hey..hey Mukai!” Sharp pain in his shoulder brings him back. “Ow, did you just punch me?” 

Mika shrugged at him smiling mischievously he wasn’t responding what was she supposed to do? “Well, let’s get going before they catch us.” 

Mika convinces him to go to the beach near Mitsumi’s house citing they won’t be caught there. She wonders if this will be their chance to talk about what happened. She has a pretty good idea of his feelings and it would be a lie if she said that didn’t make her happy. As Mika once put it for someone to see her wretchedness in plain sight and still like her was something of a hopeful delusion. Yet, the past years proved it to be not the case. She was changing in her friend's presence, or rather they have changed her perception of herself and everything radically. That ghastly narrative of what a supposedly bland person she is was shattered to pieces by Mistumi’s beaming support, Yuzuki’s playful jabs, and Makoto’s quiet approval. They have all brought light into her world filled with self-depreciation and made her feel worthy of their love. And Mukai. 

How could she not fall for him when he’s always been there calling out her flaws but also soothing her pain showing her she deserves to be liked for who she is. Everything seemed natural when they were together be it the sloppy awkwardness of their ribbing, or the bubbling irritation of being unable to hide their feelings in front of one another. 

Currently, they were walking down the shoreline letting their feet get drenched by the swaying waves. “Oh, I’d been wanting to tell you that Yukata looks great on you!” Mukai nods in acknowledgment.  

What is it with the sea and the sound of crashing waves it’s like they create a tranquil atmosphere. The earlier awkwardness faded away as comfortable silence replaced it. 

She understands although Mukai generally has a good read on everything- he has his own insecurities to fight against. Which is why-

 “Mukai..” He looks at her side profile the sunset in the background creating a hallow around her. She seems nervous cutely biting her lips “Can I use your first name?” 

It's like the world stops spinning momentarily, and Mukai’s mind camera captures the peachy blush illuminating her cheeks as she looks up at him in anticipation. Realization of the unspoken meaning and the gravity of what she is baring lay in front of him strikes at once. He looks at her stunned with a foolish grin- “Wha….” 

She ducks her head down- blushing hard “I… want to use your first name is that okay?” Not trusting his voice he nods vigorously. To onlookers, he must look crazy with that cheek-hurting grin on his face as the wind carries her voice to him softly.

“Tsukasa?” …looking a bit confused she tries again “Tsukasa..Tsukasa” Huffing a laugh she questions why it sounds so familiar on her tongue. 

That’s it he decides that is it. All previous worries melted away. 

Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought someone who pursued Sousuke would be the type of person he'd fall for. How hilarious that arguments and misunderstandings leading to a broken Valentine's confession brought us closer. He muses forever grateful for saying something that day if not he would’ve never met the endearing girl behind the gossipy facade. It’s almost fresh how observant and considerate she is of others like trying to bring him out of his shell but hiding it underneath friendly insults. Most of all he loves how brave she is for getting vulnerable and trusting him despite past rejections. 

He owes it to himself and her to be honest. 

She doesn’t notice him slowing down but jolts when a hand suddenly snakes around her wrists, sliding to slot their fingers together. 

Mukai meekly looks at her and turns away holding his neck- “So.. that means I get to call you Mika then?” 

She laughs cheerily "Would be stupid if you didn’t!” 

“Yeah!” He looks away again taking in the pink skies and the gentle evening breeze he couldn’t ask for a more romantic setting than this. 

“Mika, I really like you.” His gaze and smile softened at the varying emotions reflected on her face at the confession. 

Finally settling with something in-between relief and cheekiness- “Wah, took you long enough to say that out loud!” She playfully bumps his shoulder as they resume walking. 

“I like you too. Should we date?” She tilts her head coyly waiting for his reply. 

Ahh there she goes again, how is she.. “Nah, I’m good” he sassily moves to separate their hands. And a second later gets smacked with her bag. “Jerk..moron! Not funny” Scowling she continues to assault him. 

Cackling he pulled her into a hug as she continued to wiggle not amused with the joke. “Would love to I was obviously kidding” he rests his face on top of her head swaying them side-to-side. 

Mika buries into his chest twinkling. “You better be!” 

Bonus: Back at the festival Mitsumi was laying into Kanechika and Sousuke- while the latter had a nagging feeling his plan succeeded.  Here is the art that inspired the last part. This is just the first step they both obviously have a lot of insecurities to deal with Mika even more so. We still don’t know why Mukai is scared of girls or if that’s just a throw-away gag. I tried to make it as fluffy as possible and my hc is these two are really comfortable with skinship as they grow closer even as friends. That’s the kind of people I see them as. Also, about the first/last name changes with focus shifts, sorry if it confused anyone. I wanted to try something new.  Thanks for reading. Let me know what you all think!

[yours-the-author]

Hey, so...

Does anyone remember this post I made recently?

.

.

.

I made some art for it...

If you wanna see it...

Here it is:

I'M SO MAD AT MYSELF IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SURVIVING THE MANSION BUT I DIDN'T REALIZE UNTIL AFTER I FINISHED IT AAAGGH

...Aside from that little oopsie, though, I'm actually really proud of how the logo came out? I based the font off a style called "Micro 5 Charted". Thank goodness I was using graph paper!

I'm not sure if that Kanji is correct; Google Translate doesn't seem to like the word "oni" or "stick", especially together, so I spelled out the Romanji in the English box and then tried to copy the characters Google offered me as closely as possible. I think I'd be more surprised if I got the Kanji correct, honestly.

Henry Stickmin title screens usually have two different fonts for the verb and the noun, and I thought about trying to make "Mansion" look like an actual house, but that made my brain hurt to much to conceptualize, so I stuck with different colored fonts. Hmm, that clock sure is there. I wonder what it means gets hit by a bus

-----

Anyway, here's some theoretical scenarios of what the main gameplay would look like! This one stars General Hubert Galeforce and some other guy:

Option 1: Shoot

Result: The monster hears you move as soon as you pull your gun from its holster. No time to defend yourself.

FAILURE (DiE!)

Option 2: Backup

Result: Your radio refuses to work, even though it was just fine before you entered the mansion. The monster waits until you've realized this, then goes for your throat.

FAILURE (No one will hear your screams...)

Option 3: Time Out

Result: The monster does not hear you and goes into a separate room, out of sight and out of mind. Galeforce survives... for now. But what was that thing...?

-----

I don't know how feasible it would be, but I imagine this would be a cross between typical RPG Maker-styled games (pixels, speech boxes with pictures of the characters, moving around a set floor plan, puzzle solving, etc) and typical Henry Stickmin-styled game play (cutscenes, choices, possible interactivity [grabbing items/bios], the occasional quick time event, etc) (voice acting would be a stretch). Most of the gameplay, like exploring the mansion, puzzle solving, and running/fighting the monster, would be RPG style, and then occasionally switch into a cutscene that requires you to make a choice; usually with just one correct answer but possibly others that could result in diverging dialogue/interaction/paths/endings? Something to think about.

Anyway, Galeforce! Poor man has no idea what he almost walked into, haha. I experimented with perspective and limb placement here, which was exhausting but also a lot of fun! Dynamics are hard with stick figures, but considering that they're they only character medium I've ever been decent at, I made it work.

And the Oni... I tried to give it some sort of anatomy, but quickly realized that I do not have the skills to pay those bills. I opted for a more of a shadowy figure looking thing with a big smile instead (you can see some of the lines where I tried to make it have arms, I think). I opted for Ao Oni's purple-y blue color scheme verses HetaOni's gray alien look. Back in the day of fan made Ao Oni games, people would usually try to put their own unique spin on the Oni sprite, with HetaOni's being the most unique I ever saw (keep in mind, it was one of the few designs I ever saw, so there might be cooler ones out there, who knows). In theory, a game called Sutikku Oni would use a stick figure shaped monster, but with my current art skills, that would just look like a normal stick person with a big head (look! Geoffrey Plumb's cousin!). I think the less we see, the better; all good horror games know when to leave things to the imagination!

-----

I also made a second one, featuring my boy Dave Panpa!

...Dave, I'm so sorry... *MAKES HIM PEEP THE HORROR*

Option 1: Call for Help

Result: You call for help...

FAILURE (...but nobody came.)

Option 2: Run

Result: You tense your muscles in preparation to run. The monster is faster.

FAILURE (YoU... wOn'T... eScApE...!)

Option 3: Pretend to be a Piano

Result: Frozen with fear in front of the piano, it's all you can do to hope the monster thinks you're also a piano (a sopping wet piano, but still). It's deadly quiet. You can hardly breathe, and you're afraid to. The monster stares at you for an uncomfortably long time, before walking away, out of sight and out of mind. You stay still a little longer before collapsing to the ground. Dave Panpa survives... for now. How on Earth did that work? Or... did that thing let you live out of pity...?

-----

UGH the piano! Pianos are so hard to draw! Luckily, I had an almost head on reference that I was able to use for the first picture. For the above view shot, I had to do some wild guessing. The red stuff near Dave's head in the second picture is the red stuff he was referring to. Is it blood? Paint? Something else? Who knows! But as we all know, any self respecting Ao Oni fan game needs a piano puzzle!

I imagine Dave was dragged along for the ride when the Toppats decided to find the treasure of the mansion (or something to that degree), fully intending to leave him there to die if there was, in fact, a monster inside. Poor Dave... Maybe there could be an ending where amends are made? Or maybe not...

I mostly put the smile on the monster's shadow as a means of showing that, indeed, it is the monster, but now I'm wondering if the monster's mouth glows or something? Hot fires of Hell, delivered right to you! Can you beat the heat?

-----

Thank you all for coming to my fixation ramble that absolutely no one else except me finds interesting! Any thoughts before you go?

(A cricket chirps, then leaves because it's in the wrong conference room)

...Yeah, I figured.

[eteledhasanaxe]

Thinking about TAOM and what if roles of characters were swapped where they were from different source materials and it's driving me crazy

Albie - Anime

Giorgio - Disney Prince

Winn - Detective Dating Sim or somethin

Souske - Adventure Fantasy Show (or whatever Adventure Time is labeled as)

Then extra mentions being:

OC - The artist!

Pip - First Original Character

I really wanna do these but my artistic abilities end at drawing different styles

I had vivid ideas of them and their traits in my head at one point and I'm gonna write them down as best as I can

. . .

Albie! 👑 → 🗡️

Would probably have an outfit similar to Souske's, probably in some shades of light blue and not pink?

Two daggers mayhaps instead of a sword (she strikes me as a dagger girl idk)

Hair held up in a bun with like the chopstick holders if you've seen those

She can use her original voice or a dubbed version so everyone can understand her. She sounds a bit over-exaggerated and not in an epic way when she uses her dub voice so when she's monologuing, she uses her original voice because she wants to sound cool

. . .

Giorgio! 🔎 → 👑

Cool little prince outfit, dark brown + gold accents, maybe other dark colors too idk

I want him to have a little hair halo. Just a tiny swoop. Please I need thi

He still carries around a magnifying glass because c'mon, it's funny

. . .

Winn! 🧭 → 🔎

Still have a bear paw hat but it's like the hat thing Giorgio wears ig you know

She's got a similar color scheme to her og design but its a bit toned down in intensity? Less saturated

Always has a bag of mini cupcakes at the ready to snack on during investigations, they never seem to run out. Sort of like Ema Skye's Snackoos (kaa-tonk)

. . .

Sousuke! 🗡️ → 🧭

Adventure outfit scaled in purples and blues

Still has his headband but maybe with paw prints on the sides or something yk?

Has a cool adventure sword. He doesn't use it often but it's there

. . .

OC! 📘 → ✍️

Name would probably be Oliver or somethin? Basically all I can think of

. . .

Pip! ✍️ → 📘

Might still be called OC because. That makes sense I think

Grayscaled except for her hair, which is colored brown

Wields artist supplies, gotta keep some of that Pip in her!

. . .

... Hmm.

Note: this has been brewing in my head for a while. As is evident from the date of the draft

[mliter]

Charon "Trigger".

Trigger: Hmm... can I not eat it? Soldier 11: Right now? Trigger, are you joking?

Introduced as a lethal sniper from far away, Trigger is properly revealed to us in ZZZ's 1.6 update. She's a blind sniper that uses her senses to get around, and hit her shots.

Marred by tragedy, loss & survivors guilt, Trigger ends up shining as a character for me. A lot of thought went into her. And i mean a lot. For one, she is heavily tied to greek mythology. The name she walks around with, Charon. That's the name of the ferryman that transports souls over the river styx. See the theme? Many of her in-game skills & abilities follow this convention, this theme of the greek underworld. Her previous squad are all also named after places in greek mythology. Speaking of triggers, she's covered in them. Vinnis & Delilah like to point out that she's a character straight from Hideo Kojima. I see it lol.

A blind sniper is a wild enough concept as it is, but there's more to the character. For me, i personally like the thought that went into her design. A lot of ZZZ's characters are designed well, but Trigger is the most interesting to me.

There's a lot of cool details that can be found all over. For one, her mask covering her face. Since she's missing her eyes due to ether corruption, she wears a mask that assists her in combat and everyday life. The face is a very important tool when it comes to emoting, so being without it presented a challenge that the designers got over quickly.

The two lights you see on it are actually linked to her emotions. Each light corresponds to one. This is easily one of the coolest design details to come out of this years to me.

Topping this off, i'm a big fan of her shoes. The way they have sleeves, while also having irregular platforms makes for fun shapes! She looks like fun to draw. She also has a simple & satisfying color scheme.

Her gameplay is also designed around her themes. Unlike a majority of the cast, she's better off field. inflicting stun through her powerful passives. From far away.

Like a sniper.

As a character, with what she's been through, and how she's living now... She's a character you'd like to just like to get to know better. Her ties with the siblings, two characters who also have their own ties to greek mythology is also very interesting. Finding out she was one of their day 1's was the type of stuff that makes you go "ooooh..."

Trigger's a stellar character. And i hope to see more of her. Probably one of the most underrated and stellar creations from hoyoverse. Glad i experienced this.

[viccttt]

Well, Cassette so Cassette, I didn’t expect that you would like it to be honest, but now I have pride from its creation!

talk about its creation and then move on to other information about him.

Initially, I had another character: Cassette (CS-089), which was created last August. If it’s interesting, I’ll write about him later--

And already on September 9, CS-0101 was created.The motivation for this was the fact that I attended a concert for the first time, because before that I had also paid a share of interest to the classics and opera.

Let's talk about design

At first his design was modest, with not very detailed clothes like now--

But I found a middle ground.

After the design was created, I started thinking about color, which turned out to be a more difficult task. I settled on the most striking examples of the combination of red and blue. But the rest of the accessories are silver.

Let's talk about Cassette capabilities and why it has such an appearance

The design of the very first Cassette did not have arms up to the elbows, although the palms remained. The palms were black as oil, and they also had black smoke.

CS-0101 inherited the same. Although his hands remained, and an extra pair of hands were simply added to him.

But how do hands levitate?

The explanation is simpler than it seems . The magnets are located in the body of the Cassette so that the magnets in the hands are in contact, but do not touch each other, but are at a created distance that will help them have such an effect. Because of this, these hands cannot hold heavy things, and are rather created to defend themselves with claws.

According to the same scheme, he has a levitating head.

The cassette also has an electric guitar, which has pointed ends in its central part, as well as an additional function that is barely noticeable at first, with the desired combination, a circular saw blade, which is used in battles, will appear from the compartment located in the guitar.

The guitar itself has the ability to play at frequencies that can rupture eardrums or cause capillaries to burst.

Spikes on clothing also serve as protection, even on shoes.

I can add that with his brothers CS-089 and CS-0111, experiment CS-0101 communicate much more often than with the alliance. Because he is quite modest, and goes through the same socialization with other agents as he did before 089.

Hmm.. That's all that can I tell you about him now!

[iknowwhereyousleepatnight]

i want to just ask you all of the artist questions but if you don’t feel like answering all of them i’ll narrow it down to: 6, 7, 8, 11, and 22

6. favorite thing to draw?

hmm it's gotta be either L death note just like. in general. or like just characters w giant objects (cake, fork, pen, etc) giant objects are so fun lol

7. easiest thing for you to draw?

hmmm probably deserts. i just love doodling desserts like my notebooks are full of them bc i love doodling in class. mostly cakes or cupcakes but also stuff like ice cream, macarons, candy, etc i find them very fun + easy to draw and ive gotten good at it bc i never have a pencil on me ever so if im drawing them it's always one go w a pen

8. thing you struggle to draw?

i have a hard time w certain poses mostly stuff from back/top angles. oh and foreshortened figures i can foreshorten objects but figures is like wwhat the hell am i doing lol. and some character interactions i have a hard time getting certain interactions across (like kissing, certain angles for hugging, etc)

11. do you listen to anything while drawing?

yeah Always. typically music and sometimes a show (though i have a really bad habit of getting distracted when there's a show on lol) and sometimes an audiobook/podfic/text to speech of my school textbooks. mostly music though 👍

22. do you have a favorite color palette to work with?

yesssss i LOVE working with really bright colors like neons n shit rn im especially fond of white + black + bright red + bright blue + bright yellow but honestly i adore working w anything that can burn ur eyes. not that i get to do much of that as of late i've been trying to keep things sexy and spooky for october. oh but i also adore greyscale w red. greyscale w red is always a banger if i can't figure out a color scheme and it can't be neon then i like using greyscale w red a lot

for the artist ask game

[tamelee]

hi tamelee!

I'm here to ask for a little bit of advice if that's okay (: about a month ago I bought a Wacom drawing pad so I could start experimenting with digital art. artists like you here on tumblr have really inspired me to start making art. but I feel kinda.. lost. I've been mostly drawing naruto manga caps and I'm getting better but I guess I don't know where to go from here. coloring and shading scares me lol. I'm using clip studio paint and it's just a little.. intimidating. I feel discouraged, like I won't be able to do it. how did you do it tamelee? did you watch a lot of tutorials, or did you experiment until you figured things out? any advice you'd have for a beginner artist I'd really appreciate.

thank you veryvery much for your time ^^

Hi Nonee! 🧡 Sure!

Oh I think that’s a very good place to start. As well as drawing subjects you like ^^! Hmm, tbh I’ve just experimented a lot, but I don’t think my way of having done things was the most efficient. You might want to follow tutorials step by step? You can try coloring only with flat colors until you feel a bit more confident with that as well as cell-shading (toon-shading/non-realistic, like in anime) instead of rendering further as that can all be confusing at first. I personally never truly understood shading until I studied cell-shading and made my art a lot more readable. A lot of Anime uses this; 

You see how there is a base color, a darker color for shadows and highlights? (Sometimes not even highlights.) 

When you start to study it from existing work you’ll start to notice things like color always being in the same area of saturation and when you suddenly have a color that is way more saturated than the other it can look off. (See example.) But this is a guideline, not a rule. In your own art you can especially use saturation and brightness to help aid you to direct a viewer's focus and even tell a story.

I LOVE ‘How to train you dragon’ and ‘Kung Fu Panda’ for this because their coloring is so inspiring and if you truly want to learn from professionals... well those are the type of media to look for of course! I have an entire folder to inspire me just based on those.

Do you see how calculated those color combo’s are?!?! Here you see both analogous and complementary schemes and it is actually through looking at the things I like that I learned it >< The orangey colors stand out and are bright which helps you to focus on that area whereas the complimentary scheme is used to bring characters together.

If drawing Manga-caps is something you love to do, then maybe for coloring you can study screen-caps from Anime or even other animated films. I’d recommend to take it step by step, though I haven’t really applied it myself, from the video’s I’ve seen and artists I’ve followed it is always advised to have an art-goal that you can work toward. Maybe you first want to focus on lineart and then laying down a base color where the colors are harmonious and next would be cell-shading maybe and then you can start adding another light-source etc- eventually you can decide to create more depth or practice with monochromatic coloring, maybe even greyscale to learn values. But right away that can all sound a bit intimidating doesn't it? Find things that you like and then maybe you can open them in your program and just study. Find a brush you like, put on some music or a show on the background and for a moment play around with it without needing to create a finished piece. This is also how I learned how things like adjustment layers work or what all the different kinds of tools do. I have to agree with you, CSP is intimidating for me as well >< so this is kinda how I approach it as there are so many add-ons and additions within it but I try to only learn what I need for that moment so I don't overwhelm myself.  I definitely try to find video’s that can help me with creating Manga though! ^^ There are plenty!  It'll get easier eventually, you'll learn the program and you start to recognize placements for shadows and you will get a feel for the coloring- no worries 💪 Learning something new will always stay intimidating, every time I open up a new document I feel it too. It's not easy at all, but you kinda have to allow yourself to experiment and even make mistakes because practice is never perfect. I have some beginner tips written here- I hope any of this is somewhat helpful 🌷🫶

[sasoxichomoshi]

there's something so charming about hunter, but in a soothing way

it doesnt mean she cant be silly ofc, but her eyes reflect so much of her moods and personality

when she's with the eagle she looks calm and gentle and much of the expressions she makes are towards the eagle; when nimue gets the bird, when the godslayer stuns the eagle and got one of the flaps and at the end of the game when he corrupts the eagle completely there were always a close at her face to show us how worried hunter was towards her friend

it's as if the eagle highlights hunter in some way, cause if you think about it hunter is not really an important person; she's an outsider and a stranger, and eagle mother is there not only to push her forwards, but she also works like this excuse to develop what lies inside hunter - her feelings

the more i think about, like no human(oid) character in the pathless have a mouth, which is an interesting decision - may it be because the animator said "nuh uh i aint doing this" or because they had other intentions - having no mouth makes it harder to humanize a character cause to do so you work around facial expression mostly

for characters like the diver or the little guy from journey it works cause humanizing them is not the focus - they are vessels for the player to experience the message of the game, much like a blank page, but hunter is a more defined type of character, she's not only for the player to control; there are instance where she speaks for herself (literally), she reacts towards her environment (like when she groans when she hits the ground), it's a bit of "i exist in relation to others" kind of thing i dont even know if this explanations make sense

the thing is, if you gonna hide the mouth (and it's funny cause they got rid of the mouths but not of the speech), to deliver something believable you have to put extra attention in other places, like eyes (which is probably the reason why they made her eyes big, for emphasis) and corporal expression (i love all of hunter animations like ALL of them, the idles are so cool and my favorite has to be the climbing one HAVE YOU SEEN THAT CREATURE)

another aspect that locks my eyes on hunter is her color palette; she feels a bit like 60% red and 40% black which an almost dangerous distribution cause it gets near the boring looking too evenly palette, but i feel like this problem is partially solved by the color choice cause black and red is very iconic (but i see that this can be subjective, so take it with a grain of salt)

to give some examples: im typing from an nitro acer (black red palette), you can see cars with that bright red (+black of the tires), and i can name a few characters with red+black combination, like matoi ryuko from kill la kill, kaguya, that masochist from that cassino games school (she's iconic i will recognize but i wont lose my time googling it i dont wanna know details about that anime)

(also if i had to point a match for hunter from another media....... kikyo my beloved i fucking love you my gay awakening i kept watching inuyasha cause i wanted to see you on my screen omg)

but at the same time her color scheme puzzles me: what does it mean? usually color is used for storytelling or readability purposes

hunter red black contrasts very well against the greens/whites/oranges of the landscape, mostly bc it's highly saturated; but then you get to the boss fight and......

i know that the boss fights dont take as many screen time as exploration but considering that they are the action moment hmm idk the math aint mathing here

well what's about storytelling? a bit of the same problem shown on the above image; hunter shares the color scheme with the corrupted tall ones and godslayer which makes things even more confusing

(seriously am i stupid and didnt see the obvious hint everyone else saw and im just here staring at the walls idk)

that said i have come up with my own worms to explain this and it comes down to: it's not from the land/natural

godslayer and the corrupted tall ones shouldnt exist, they are not natural to this world and actually an evil twist of the reality; hunter not necessarily is corrupted, but is also not natural (from the island), she's an outsider, it's about this feeling of not-belonging

however in the end of the day the color choice is also about readability and keeping things cohesive; stretching the color palette of the entire game just to give hunter a different look would do more damage than helping, imagine changing to something not that far like a pink or yellow, things still would change drastically

in the end i still love hunter very much ma babegurl <3 sillly stupid<333 my dear blorbo<333 hope she finds a lot of hobbies <33333