#hope this helps! :)

[affxtional]

#

'ao3 needs a like and dislike button'

what you need, my algorithm-rotten minded friend, is a grip

[meatppie666]

hello!! i don’t remember if your asks are still open or not, but i’m the anon that asked about the composition tips a while ago :) they were super helpful and i’ve been applying them to my own work lately and i’ve been seeing a huge difference!! one thing i’d like to ask though is how do you get over worrying that all of your work is derivative? or how do you break from the habit of being heavily inspired from other peoples compositions? i just find it so difficult to make my own creative ideas for compositions lately and i don’t know why

aaa im so glad i was able to help 😭♥️

About worrying about my work being too "derivative", i think one thing is to try to dissect what makes the piece so great/why you like it so much. all art is derivative of each other to an extent, and it boils down to understanding how an artists work to learn from and going back to understanding the foundations of art and design in order to dissect it.

i also think gathering A LOT inspiration from different sources that are in similar vein, whether that'd be in color, comp, style, subject matter, etc, can help with this! it helps broaden your horizon, since sticking on one idea can get very uninspiring. here is an example below of my inspo board vs sketches for a class project

[romance-evil-aro]

"can i identify as aro even if-" you can do whatever you want forever👍

[butterflyscribbles]

Personal monkey snoot tips and tricks for interested parties!🧡💜

[geo-stigma]

This is called salvation through faith in Jesus Christ

[saszor]

hi!!! sorry if this is dumb, big fan of your how to draw burns tutorial ^w^ i was wondering if you had any tips for drawing chemical burns?? i've had a few minor chemical burns myself but i can't figure out how to consistently draw extensive chemical scarring :<

Hey! I've answered a very similar question somewhere in the comments to that post so I'll copy it here;

acidic burns tend to be much more severe and result in a lot more tissue loss than from a thermal burn of similar severity. So features like missing noses, eyes, ears, etc. are more common because it's corrosive. Skin also tends to be tighter and more shiny in acid burns than in thermal ones, but I don't know much about non-acidic burns unfortunately.

That'd generally be the biggest difference for acid burns vs thermal burns from what I've noticed. Here are some examples of how a chemical burn could (!) look like on the face area;

But as I said, I don't know much about other kinds of chemical burns and there might be stuff about alkaline ones that's completely different from anything I said here, so keep that in mind if that's what you're planning to draw

[draw-the-squad-like-this]

do you have any pictures to draw a “squad” that are a family? Preferably two adults and two kids?

I do have a #family tag I use sometimes, I also suggest searching through #children #4 people and #tall and short

Depending on WHAT the family is doing, here are a few that might help:

Anotha one. Anotha one. Anotha one

Anotha one. Anotha one. Anotha one

Anotha one. Anotha one. Anotha one

Anotha one. Anotha one. Anotha one.

Anotha one. Anotha one. Anotha one

[bynineb]

i really love your cavern of dreams illustrations! how did you get such a good texture on them? did you use an overlay or is it just baked into the brushes?

thank you! here's the process using paint.net, although i'm sure most any image editor can accomplish it

first, i start with a flat, digitally colored render.

then i add noise to give texture to the otherwise boring flat colors

next, i add a soft blur to make the outlines and noise less harsh. these two imperfections combined help give the illusion that it's been scanned and printed onto a piece of paper

finally, some color correction to make it pop!!!

[theriverbeyond]

how exactly is John lying (/about what) and is that the worst part of him and how explicit is it in the books? i often dont understand general/fandom characterizations of fictional characters and HtN is definitely not the book I paid the most attention in, so I just wanna see if I missed something wholly obvious

So John is a Lying Liar Who Lies, and I think the most damming evidence for the sheer enormity of it all is this bit in HtN, page 482:

Many of the things John says are like, him reflecting or discussing things only he has memory of, with no one left to dispute his version of events, and it's clear that he has long ago lost the "objective truth" of his own history--some of this is likely the side effect of being alive for ten thousand years, but a lot of it is probably due to the fact that he doesn't want anyone to know what actually happened. HtN p. 158:

John is talking to Harrow here, but to Me, he is also reassuring himself. He KNOWS that people would judge him for his actions, and alters the stories he tells accordingly. Nobody has to know. It happened, and he can't undo it, and they wouldn't understand. He's motivated to lie, he's capable of lying, and he himself has stated that he believes that there is no difference between the truth, and the truth he tells himself. Because he's God.

Anyway. re: "how explicit is it", a lot of the times where we know for sure John is telling an untruth, he isn't directly lying per say, but rather misrepresenting events to such an insidious extent that it is functionally the same as lying. Here is a short and incomplete list:

All the times Harrow begged him to protect her from G1deon the First, and John was like sorry I can't do that, when in fact JOHN was the one who ordered G1deon to attack Harrow

Changing the names of all his friends and not telling them what their previous names or personalities were (and if he didn't tell them that, it's very reasonable he may have kept other things from them as well)

Saying that the House of the First was killed by "rising sea levels" and a "massive nuclear fission chain reaction" when the Earth actually died because John initiated a nuclear standoff, and then set off a nuke. like yeah what he said was technically the truth, but it also served to paint an extremely different picture when compared to what we learn in NtN

In NtN, in the dream, John tells Harrow about the time he killed all those cops, and he mentions that when it happened he was like "I swear to God, I didn't know what I was doing" "I freaked out, it was an accident", "I made a mistake". and then like half a page later he tells Harrow "Come on love. Guys like me don't have accidents"

Saying he ate peanuts "discreetly", and "the once"

"is this the worst part of him" I think that is up to you, I really like the layers this adds to the story. So much of NtN is literally just John telling Harrow/the reader a story, and we know he misrepresents events and tells untruths and is motivated to protect his own image and no longer sees a difference between the truth and the truth he tells himself. So it's like... we are getting all this info about what happened pre-appocalypse/resurrection, but how much of it is REAL? How much of it is reliable? How much of it would match the story if anyone else was alive to tell their side? It is so interesting to me. It's like a hefty peanut butter filled kong, to me.

[lisholoz]

What are some comic books you recommend that have Jason and Slade in them?

My favourite is Arkham Knight Genesis for them. The arts gorgeous! Slades like Jason's personal attack dog it's great. What's more romantic than building a militia together to destroy your dad's city 😔🙏.

Jason wearing Slades clothes? Check

Jason as Slades boss? Check

Slade who knows who Jason is and is his only confidant as the Arkham Knight, seriously NOBODY else knows that Jason is the Knight not even Scarecrow who he's cooking his big plan up with.

Slade sticking his fingers in Jason's mouth immediately after meeting him? Check. Also the art is STUNNINGGGG

I mean COME ONNNNNNNN

There's also Tony S. Daniels Deathstroke run which is about 20 issues and ran from 2014-2016. Issues #16 and #17 have really fun Red Hood and Deathstroke content and the art is lovely! Issue #16 has the cursed Red Hood lips mask just a heads-up!!!! #17 he looks normal tho. Jason takes a contract on Deathstroke to beat him up for fun then immediately after his contract ends starts HELPING Slade during a firefight to the point his employers are like

"RED HOOD WHAT THE FUCK WE'RE PAYING YOU TO FIGHT HIM!!!! 🤬🤬🤬🤬"

And Jason while shooting at them is like

"Oh but I completed that job already. This is my free time 🥰"

There is another comic where they interact but I just am NOT strong enough to ready it because the art is so fucking ugly . It's DCeased: Unkillables #2.

I'm sorry there's not more I'm just insane about them ahsjdjdjdjd.

In Gotham Knights at the start of the game whenever you go out driving as Red Hood when the people of Gotham don't really know who he is they go

"Was that Deathstroke?!?"

There's also Batman: The Adventure Continues #14 but I haven't gotten my hands on that yet!

Also theres a Funko pop that EVERY Sladejay fan I know has 😂😂

Lastly this isn't canon but here is my contributions from Lego DC supervillains photo mode!!

Also this isn't official but comics Slade always says

"My word is my bond."

So I read waaaaaaaay to into this when I read Red Hood vs Anarky

That's all I've got!!!! Honestly the way they wrote Slades character in Knight vs Dragons is very Red Hood esque so definitely check that out too!

[no-psi-nan]

Disclaimer: Fanfiction is for fun times and it doesn't have to be "good" to exist and be shared!! Also just like all advice in the world YMMV (your mileage may vary) and the fact is that the best writing advice is whatever gets you writing!

STEP ONE of good characterization:

YOU ARE NOT THE CHARACTER. THE CHARACTER IS NOT YOU. STOP RELATING TO THE CHARACTER.

They do not think the way you think. They will not react the way you react. They don't have your morals, preferences, tastes, fashion sense, etc etc etc.

You are not the guy.

You must appreciate them as a separate person. Only once you have separated them from yourself in your heart can you start on the road to knowing your blorbo....

STEP TWO of good characterization:

When asking any question about the character at all, START FROM CANON.

If the exact answer is not in the canon, pick the CLOSEST scenario / fact / interaction, and work from there.

Example: Blorbo has never seen Glup Shitto held at gunpoint. But Blorbo was really angry when Glup Shitto's diary was stolen, and freaked out during another life or death situation.

Held at gunpoint is like 10x more fucked up than the diary so make Blorbo's like 10x angrier and similarly freaked out.

STEP THREE of good characterization:

For details that are not addressed at all in canon, use THEMES, GENRE, and CHARACTER ARCHETYPE/ROLE to create a believable rendition of the character.

Don't forget to include any quirks that significantly set them apart from similar characters when choosing these things btw.

Your BRILLIANT POWERFUL SCIENTIST may have dark polished hardwood furniture that speaks to sophistication but show her love of travel with tchotchkes from around the world.

Your ANGTSY MANPAIN MAN may choose military combat gear but wear pink socks because his daughter picked them out.

Your MANIC PIXIE DREAM GUY may love jogging with his cute dog in the park but reveals hints of a DARK PAST in his music playlist. And in the gun he keeps in his fanny pack.

Don't forget that other characters likely have their own knowledge and opinions of blorbo that you can draw from. If Glup Shitto is consistently wrong about blorbo and thinks blorbo is probably a good cook, make blorbo a bad cook. If Glup Shitto is blorbo's childhood best friend and used to play doll murder courthouse a lot, it's a good stretch to say that blorbo may have played doll murder courthouse as a child too, and this was something they did together.

STEP FOUR of good characterization:

DO A LITTLE RESEARCH!!

The character almost certainly hasn't taken the exact life path as you. If they are from a different area, look into cultural norms that may differ from yours.

No one is expecting you to be the foremost scholar on Japanese etiquette or British regional slang, but a little can go a long way.

People in places with socialized healthcare should not be worrying about medical bills, blorbos in tropical areas will not experience the seasons as much as you might, other cultures attitudes towards nudity/sex/drugs may be wildly different to yours.

IF you actually have relevant experience then feel free to use it in your fics. But don't forget that you are not the guy! Really think through how their perspective may differ even in the same situation.

STEP FIVE of good characterization:

PUT LOVE INTO IT AND HAVE FUN!!!

If you don't love Glup Shitto, don't write about them! If you're not having fun, hit the bricks!

Fanfiction is for HAVING A GOOD TIME and SHARING WITH OTHER FREAKS!!!!!!

Much love!! 💕

[boredth]

Can I ask, how do you get that speckled texture on your art pieces? (Example: the visual texture you see on John’s shoulder in you most recent vampire piece.)

I’ve seen it in various online works for year—I really just wish I knew if it was a layer effect or a certain type of brush?!

I like it because it adds texture to pieces that would otherwise be kind of flat and it is just driving me damn crazy not knowing what it’s called/where it originates in programs (effects vs brushes vs some kind of other visual texture).

(Another popular effect I *just* learned the name for after years is chromatic aberration! It was such a relief to have a theme for it—because knowing what they’re called if the first step to me figuring out how they work!)

Hi! I believe it's called grain / noise. I’m on Photoshop and here are two methods I typically use to add that grainy texture: 1. Using a noise layer - Make a new layer on top of everything (fill with 50% grey, set to Overlay) > Add noise filter (3%) > Add gaussian blur (0.2px). Check this out for more detailed steps. I used this method for that piece!

2. Using texture images - Find a texture image you like > set the image to Multiply, Overlay, Soft light or Hard light (depends on your image) > Adjust opacity and brightness accordingly.

[linterteatime]

Hiii I love your art style soo much its so pretty!! This has probably been asked before but I'd love to know how you go about choosing colours/ making colour palettes because thats something I personally struggle with doing <3

Hiiiii thank you! Okay so usually when i choose my own colours i just pick whatever i feel like looks nice so i don't really have a good explanation for that (yet) lmao, but! i also do this that i think works pretty well too:

which is basically just messing around with the layer filters/Blending Modes of the art programs until i get something that looks nice, not necessarily using the same ones i used here, but any that might work, also sometimes i choose whatever colours (not colour picking) and then do this same process to make them look better :P

[circlesuponcircles]

wait so a couple things (its fine if cant answer i understand)

love that sage has the white outlines for eyebrows like sasasap mira

so is mirabelle looping alongside siffrin? and thats why loop and siffrin looping stuff exists?

how did mirabelle get in the looping in the first place?

okay so essentially this au has two major differences. one is that for reasons outside of the change god's meddling the group learned of the proper wishing method earlier, and that they arrived to dormont much later than in the main game, leading to it being half frozen. the reason mirabelle is looping is because she made a wish for the power to protect vaugarde, which got mixed up with siffrin's wish, trapping her in the loop as well.

now, this WOULD have been it, just a world where theyre both looping and being guided by loop, if it wasn't for the second difference: the change god deciding that this was the perfect opportunity to create essentially a self insert mary sue oc to go in their favorite play, trapping loop in the star door room on the 3rd floor and taking their place as tutorial npc. their entire goal in this is so they can become best friends with mirabelle, because shes their favorite character. due to becoming human for this, over the course of the story they begin Experiencing human emotions (including immense guilt about the whole loop thing) :)

[housecow]

Omg! Congrats on 50lbs in 10 months! What's your secret? It feels like my partner has stuffed me practically every day since we met in Oct 2023, and I've only gained like 20-25lbs. I need to start seeing numbers like yours and fast! (P.S. Love your blog!❤️)

honestly, the majority of that weight gained came from december-january 2023/2024–i averaged about ~2k steps per day and managed at least 5k calories a day very often. i gained 20lbs in those two months.

the key seems to be inactivity. you can eat as much as you like but if you’re still moving around and putting those calories to use, you’re not gonna see significant gains… that being said—you’re playing with fire here and it’s NOT the healthiest way to gain. i could barely walk to class the next semester after gaining that way. enjoy your slow gain!! manage your mobility!! 20-25lbs is still quite a lot and you should be proud!!

also though. wg shakes :3 heavy cream, melted ice cream, mass gainer if you’d like, chocolate syrup, peanut butter or nutella, and cake mix. my go-to is usually just heavy cream, cake mix, ice cream, and chocolate milk. :))