#i think his design is FUN at it’s core but it looses all it’s charm when his face is pretty. idk. idk

[mavlotov]

bashing eustass kidd w hammers and willing his design to be charming

[alvfr]

Trust

Pairing: Loki x F!Reader

Prompt: Y for Yolo (Public Sex), requested by Anon

Rating: Explicit. 18+, minors DNI

Words: 7.2K

Includes: Semi-public sex. Shieldmaiden!Reader. PiV (unprotected). Fingering. Some exhibitionism, some overstim.

A/N: Takes place before Thor 1, when Loki was a bit more innocent. A hint of feelings, but mostly smut. Cross-posted to AO3, link in my masterlist. Enjoy ❤

Trust

Some people said Loki Odinson had a tongue of silver. An innate charm and ability to get his way. Volstagg teased him about it, but the moniker didn’t come entirely unearned. There had been many times where Loki had talked his way out of trouble — or as had happened lately — into your breeches.

It was Freya’s blessing he wanted to keep this thing as secret as you. No one in your little troop of warriors would ever let you live it down if they found out he had talked you into this.

No one ever came up here, he said. Private and secluded, he said. More private than either of your chambers, he said. And the wind carried the noise away so you wouldn’t need to be quiet. All things he’d said to convince you to join him on one of the higher balconies.

“Loki,” you almost hissed, withdrawing slightly from the heavy make-out session where he had you pinned up against a column. He took advantage of your new position and latched his mouth onto the soft parts of your throat instead. There were plenty of reasons to call him Silvertongue, you thought hazily, but forced your eyes open to glare at him. “Loki, I can see all of fucking Asgard from here!”

“And they,” he didn’t even stop layering kisses on your neck, but now his hands joined in on the fun where he groped the few available inches of your waist below the thick leather bodice you wore, “can’t see us.”

“Are you sure about that?”

He finally straightened up to look at you, forcing you to tilt your head back to keep him in focus and making your heart beat uncomfortably fast by the intensity of his stare. Bright eyes giving you their full attention and his lips pulled up in a small smirk — like he was thinking of a joke and not about to share. His normally thin lips now plump and wet from the heavy kisses, and his lithely muscled chest moving in tune with his slightly hard breaths. Even if there weren’t any feelings involved in this — because there weren’t — there was no escaping the fact that the youngest prince was as handsome as he was clever.

“Don’t tell me you’ve lost your nerve, Shieldmaiden,” he said and squeezed the available flesh on your hips almost in affection. The movement pulled you into him where something hot and hard rubbed against the upper edge of your breeches. His eyebrow lifted on the same side where his lip remained pulled up in semi-amusement. “I thought we were in agreement.”

He wasn’t taunting you. In fact, his voice was smooth as the marble of the balcony, but it felt like a challenge. That was probably how all of this had started in the first place when you thought about it. A trap disguised as a challenge, one he knew you’d never back down from. It should have angered you, but right now it only made you slicker within the confines of your underclothes and your nipples tightened against the molded cups of hardened leather, separated by the rough cloth of your tunic. He knew you and he’d wanted you, so he figured out how to get you. And now he had you.

“There is no one here,” Loki murmured, probably interpreting your thoughtful silence for what it was — a desire to be persuaded. He bent his head down to nip gently at your throat again. Never hard enough to leave marks somehow, but hard enough that you felt them. “I thought it’d be more comfortable than rutting like animals behind the mead hall.”

The vibration from his lips on your sensitive skin had your body humming in tune. You dropped your head back against the column, closing your eyes briefly. “You thought a marble balcony would be more comfortable?”

“At least it doesn’t smell like horse shit.”

You couldn’t help but laugh at that and felt him smile against the curve of your neck. “I don’t know, I think it gave a specific ambiance.”

“Mm,” he murmured in mock agreement and moved his mouth lower, deftly pulling loose the strings keeping the neckline of your tunic decent and exposing more skin. “And there’s light here.”

Rolling your eyes, trying to conceal how good his tongue felt slipping over your collar bone, you muttered: “Yes, it usually is outside in the middle of the day.”

“Well, forgive me,” Loki moved up again, caging you in and making you feel tiny in a way no one else ever had, “for wanting to see you for once.”

He accompanied his words by pulling the open ends of your tunic apart, exposing the swell of your breasts to the midday sun. Maybe the light was another part that made you nervous. This arrangement you had — hurried and desperate groping on top of hay bales after returning from a quest, usually after having too much mead or if Volstagg got sufficiently under Loki’s skin so he again needed to get under yours — didn’t seem fit for daylight.

As handsome as he was, it bordered on too much to see the glint in his eye — never letting you doubt that he was watching you watching him in turn. Your breath hitched when Loki, not dropping his eyes down even a fraction, ran a finger along the edge where your leather bodice cupped your breasts. Goosebumps trailed in his wake that had nothing to do with temperature and your nippled stiffened further. You wondered if he would be able to see them from his angle, and the thought sent zings of excitement into your core.

“Tell me if you changed your mind,” Loki drawled, dipping the finger a bit lower and running it back so it whispered over the upper edge of your nipples. A teasing and fleeting touch that had your spine curving to get more. His voice never wavered, eyes still glittering in the sunlight, but this was the Loki you knew best. The dangerous Loki, who watched and listened and schemed while the rest of you just fought blindly and readily. Your tongue felt heavy in your mouth, unable to speak when he leaned against the side of your head. Breath hot in the shell of your ear as he whispered: “Shieldmaiden.”

A challenge, but by now your slick underclothes and your stubborn mind were in agreement. With a huff, you grabbed one of the latches by his hip and pulled him closer. “Make it fast.”

The smile stretching over his lips infuriated you so much you kissed him only to make it disappear. It didn’t, but he kissed back as best he could while you both worked to get sufficiently out of your clothes to scratch that itch. An itch you hadn’t known before Loki first propositioned you, and now made it hard to focus with him nearby. Neither were wearing full armor and as intricate as the Asgardian fashion design went, certain practicalities were still maintained and it made things infinitely easier.

This was more how you knew it, you thought, while Loki forced his hand into your open breeches, dipping straight into your wet core. Desperate and hurried, without the need for all this talking. A hard finger rubbed in between your folds, working its way up to where you needed him the most. His taller frame had you pinned against the column; his heavy breaths echoed over your skin while you struggled to undo the bindings of his trousers.

“Oh fuck me,” you moaned and bit down a louder sound. Loki took pride in your pleasure and now two of his fingers circled your clit that steadily swelled with arousal. You already had your hand over his hard erection, and palmed it through the supple leather, knowing his size and how good he’d feel inside of you in a bit.

“That is the plan.” Loki didn’t even sound smug, just that same even tone, and only his nostrils flared slightly to give any indication at how your hand clumsily rubbed his length. His brows furrowed and he flicked your clit harder, while you pressed into the cool marble behind you. “The wind carries sound away, Shieldmaiden. Let me hear you, no one else will.”

“There’s-” You inhaled sharply when he made a particularly harsh swipe, sending shockwaves of pleasure to your outer limbs. “There’s guards not even twenty feet below us.”

This upper balcony overlooked the vast rows of the golden patios adorning the entire side of the palace. Maybe Loki was right and this one was left alone — possibly reserved for the royal family now that you considered it — but the heavily armored guards trawled every other possible vantage point. Never mind that Asgard hadn’t faced attackers in centuries — Odin might have grown fat, but never careless.

Another hard gasp when Loki shifted his hand to slip two long, elegant fingers inside of you. A tight fit, no matter how many times he’d done it, and you gasped at the intrusion mixed with the overwhelming sensation. Your cunt burned now, throbbing and needy, while your rationality detached from your brain.

“Don’t,” he warned, penetrating you equally hard with his stare, “let your mind wander now. I see you biting your tongue when you want to mewl, Shieldmaiden, don’t hold back. Not here, not with me.”

The heel of his hand ground against your clit and you writhed against the column, fully at his mercy and mind blanking with ecstasy. “The guards-”

“Won’t hear a thing over the wind.” Loki licked his lips, staring at your heaving chest, then back to focus at your widened eyes. “Do you trust me?”

Your first instinct was to laugh with a whole-hearted ‘No!’, but an edge to his voice drowned yours in your throat. The things he was doing with his hand, thrusting two fingers sloppily into your wet cunt, made it hard to breathe, let alone think clearly. Did you trust him? You shouldn’t. And yet...

“I trust you.”

The handsome smile stretching over his face — handsome and dangerous — quickened your heart again, but then he pressed his lips against yours for a deep kiss while his fingers positively danced over your clit. The warm taste of his tongue and the hard edge of his teeth nipping your bottom lip made your head swim. Your knees trembled, all thoughts of how this would look should someone come wandering to this part of the balcony gone from your mind. Nothing in focus except the burning ache in your clit where he continued to rub and rub and rub-

His wet lips shimmered across yours when he spoke. “Let me hear you.”

You stared at him with pleading eyes. The occasions to fornicate without an unsuspecting audience nearby had been few and far between in your life. Either quick and messy thrusts near the campsite or muffled grinding at your chambers where the walls seemed paper-thin despite being made of stone. At this point, biting down your moans had become second nature, but Loki’s eyes narrowed.

“Oh fuck,” you breath out, more a grunt than anything more enticing when he shoved the two fingers back into your dripping wet sex. He had long arms, but you were still on your toes to give him better access. The reward came in his fingers curling, rubbing against that blasted spot inside your channel that made your eyes cross. “Loki, what-”

“Let,” his thumb swiped across your clit, “me,” the two fingers inside pumped steadily, “hear you.”

He massaged that particular spot again and your legs would have squeezed together if his knee hadn’t shoved in to keep them apart.

At this point, you didn’t even care about the guards. The sounds stuck in your throat, so many years of training hindering anything louder than your hard breaths. You quivered in his grip, no longer paying any attention to the hardness in his trousers, and realized you would have collapsed if he hadn’t held you upright.

“Loki, I-”

Words failed you again and you momentarily hated how whiny you sounded. The wind might have drowned out most sounds, but you swore you heard the wet squelches from his fingering louder than your own heartbeat. He had learned since this started where to touch you. How to make your clit scream after his touch and how to rub it until your wet cunt clamped around nothing, desperate for something to fill it.

“Oh Freya’s tits,” you swore softly, leaning into his slim body, caring less about anything else by each passing stroke of his fingers. “Gods, yes, plea-”

Loki’s silver tongue ran along the curve of your ear, his fingers never stilling on your tight bundle of nerves, and you trembled all over. His voice raised every hair on your body, although you weren’t sure if it was in a good way or not. He only said one word, but it rushed a new flood of wetness around his fingers.

“God.”

Too far gone to argue or think clearly, you just nodded and tried to keep breathing. The wave — the roaring gale of sheer bliss — rose inside of you, stoked higher every passing second and every passing swipe of his fingers. A moan rose from your chest, but was instinctively bit down before it reached past your lips.

With a growling sound of frustration, Loki tore his hand from your cunt and the sudden loss left you dizzy.

“What-”

His hand glistened and left smears on the front of his own trousers where he completed the work you had started to get himself free. You caught the briefest glimpse of a thatch of smooth black hair and his veined heavy cock before he spun you around.

“Since you insist on remaining quiet,” he said with his mouth near your ear while manhandling you like you were some dainty elfling instead of a battle-forged warrior, “we might as well take full advantage.”

It was easy to forget how strong Loki was, especially when you usually saw him next to his beefcake of a brother. Even without the gleaming biceps on display, Loki still had this functional strength that took you by surprise even now. Long, lean muscles that you knew on a rational level could lift you easily — as he had done behind the mead hall at times — but quickened your breath every time he did so. Like now, where he steered you to face the spectacular view of Asgard with him directly behind you. Despite his strength, his hand skated over your back with only the faintest hint of pressure to have you lean forward. You did, still reeling from the loss of his hand in the first place, and braced yourself on the tall marble parapet.

Next thing you knew, he pushed your tunic up to your waist and yanked your open breeches down so the aforementioned wind caressed the naked flesh of your buttocks. Not just the wind — Loki’s hand also massaged you appreciatively, kneading the supple flesh and spreading your cheeks. It spread your swollen nether lips too, where the wind cooled your glistening parts that his fingers had teased open and ready.

Staring wide-eyed into nothing, you thought you heard the sounds of him stroking himself. He had large hands and a large cock — one that reached far beyond your comfort level when shoved down your throat — and you suddenly realized that you hadn’t seen him either in daylight. Rubbed it, sucked it, and fucked it, but never seen it.

It made you arch your back and peer over your shoulder, too curious for your own good. God. That was exactly what he looked like. A god. All his clothes intact save from the open fly where his pale, strong cock protruded a few inches before disappearing into his moving fist. The hint of a deep pink head, smeared with pearly white pre-cum. His eyes were glued to you where you were on full display, legs spread as far as they went with your breeches gathered somewhere around knee height.

“Gorgeous,” he mumbled, where his hand went faster over his cock. Your cunt throbbed while your heart jumped as he looked up, that tell-tale smirk back on his lips when he had caught you looking at him. Still a hint of something softer in his eyes when he dipped his fingers between your folds again, as if gauging your wetness. “Are you ready?”

Your eyelashes fluttered down when the soft pad of his finger circled your clit. It somehow made him look godlier where he stood, proud and tall outlined against the marble backdrop. Mouth dry, you nodded, too far gone to be embarrassed by how you pushed against his finger. The teasing had reached an excruciating level where it burned from your clit and up to a tight ball in your lower stomach.

With a close-lipped smile, Loki’s gaze dropped to between your legs again and his eyelids drooped down a bit. Your neck strained from watching him at the awkward angle, but you couldn’t help it. Everything you saw made you wetter and more eager for him. The sunlight bouncing off his sleek black hair, the carved contours of his throat muscles flexing when he swallowed, and the thick head of his cock that now disappeared from view before you felt it separate your folds instead.

“Fuck,” you moaned, still under your breath, and caught the satisfied curl to Loki’s lips before you fell forward to support yourself on the tall balustrade. There was no way to spread your legs further, but you tried to bend so your hips pushed backward and gave him more room. The sound of Loki’s hardened breaths sent tingles up your spine, but when his cock pushed deeper inside you didn’t hear anything anymore. The round curve of his head poked into your heat, before he pulled back, spreading your essence around and driving in again. Always careful, always mindful of your reactions, using his demanding grip on your hips to move you back and forth.

“You are,” Loki murmured and his hands shifted to spread your cheeks again, probably giving him the view of your swollen cunt speared by his cock, “absolutely stunning. Who would have known what an exquisite quim you were hiding underneath that armor?”

The compliment had you burning hotter than being fully exposed like this. At least you could glare at the long stretches of Asgardian architecture instead of facing his infuriating smirk. Infuriating and handsome smirk. Gorgeous. Stunning. Exquisite. Not words you normally heard about yourself. They were soft words, painting a picture that didn’t fit with your image. Silvertongue, you reminded yourself, knowing Loki treated talking like a game to be won.

“I thought I said to make it fast,” you bit out over your shoulder, headstrong as always even with half of Loki’s cock buried in your wet channel. “Ah — fuck!”

It was now all of Loki’s cock buried in you.

He’d pushed forward with a sharp thrust so his balls slapped against your clit with an embarrassingly wet sound. Fingers biting into your hips like yours tried to carve their way into the marble parapet, he held himself there. All the way inside. Just on the slight verge of being too big. Too thick, too long, too something to possibly fit inside. Yet he did and you ground your teeth together, now not wanting to give him the satisfaction of hearing your so-called mewls because he felt fucking good.

“Very well,” Loki said somewhere behind you, his voice breaking even if he tried to sound nonchalant. He had to feel how you clamped down on him, still tight no matter how wet he’d made you. You fucking hoped he felt it because your vision almost blurred while your sex rejoiced at being so thoroughly stuffed. “Have it your way then, Shieldmaiden.”

You tried to breathe, but the next hard thrust he made had you seeing stars. The glittering rooftops of Asgard blurred and stretched, like a personal replica of the Bifrost, while Loki fucked you into oblivion. Breasts jerking forward inside your bodice, threatening to spill over the edge where your tunic hung more open than closed, while your cunt tried to swallow his cock whole.

At least his unforgiving pace left little space for conversation, and you heard the sharp breaths that you knew meant he hissed through his teeth at every hard push forward with his hips. Large hands pulled you back to meet him, meaning every single stroke hit that soft spot inside of you that made your legs shake.

Eyes closed, mouth hanging open, you felt the wave build again. That deep and hard pleasure from his cock sliding into you over and over again, continuing the work his fingers had started. Eyes rolling back, it was sheer luck you happened to open them just when you did.

“Loki, stop, stop,” you hissed under your breath, holding a hand back blindly to make him pause. “Guards.”

A handful of them, moving on the patio below you, the sun glinting off their heavy helmets. You swallowed a groan when Loki pushed back in — your cunt well open and inviting for him by now — and felt his breath shimmer across your neck as he leaned forward to look. His tall frame bent over yours, covering you completely while his hands landed on the parapet.

“What are you worried about?” he murmured directly into your ear, the smoothness of his voice gliding straight down into your core. Fully lodged inside of you, he ground against your backside so you felt the clasps on his trousers push into your skin. The heat from his breath felt like dragonfire, and you didn’t have the forethought to push back when he maneuvered you closer to the parapet. “You’re not making any sounds.”

Gods, he felt good. His cock carving out your cunt, like no lover ever had before. You still tried to think, to keep your wits somewhat. “If they look up—”

“They’ll see your pretty face,” Loki whispered and his teeth grazed your earlobe. “And nothing more.”

Of course your treacherous mind wandered. If the guards happened to glance up, would they be able to tell what was happening? From your face alone, maybe? From the sheen of sweat on your cheeks or the heat burning in your eyes? Surely they’d see the movement, how every firm push from Loki jolted you forward and had your mouth dropping open even if you tried to bite your jaw shut?

“They won’t be able to tell,” Loki snaked his hand forward and around your waist, “that this honorable Shieldmaiden is getting her cunt stuffed full of royal cock.”

The words dropped like iron weights into your soul. Loki rarely swore — never had a need for it — and you tightened involuntarily by how elegant he still made it sound. And the bastard caught on.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” His thrusts gained strength again, but he didn’t pull back too far, still whispering straight into your soul. “For them to see you like this? See you gasping for air and biting your tongue?”

His fingers found your clit and he drew tight circles around it. You writhed, not sure where to push or pull, wanting more and less at the same time.

“See beyond the armor,” you squeezed your eyes shut when he bucked forward and hit that blasted spot again, “and the jokes,” another wet sound when his balls slapped against your spread cunt, “and the stubborn pride?”

“Loki,” you whispered, staring at the guards that made no indication of hearing what was happening above them. You told yourself you were watching for signs of movement. Of anyone on the cusp of glancing up at the pair of you. That you weren’t looking because Loki’s words only stoked a fire ignited by your own thoughts. That you weren’t looking because you wanted them to look.

The slap of skin against skin, the thundering heartbeat in your chest, the wet squelches from Loki’s fingers on your clit — it sounded louder than Fossegrim’s violin in the echoes of his cave. How could they not hear you? How could they not realize that you were getting fucked within an inch of your life by the youngest Odinson less than twenty feet away?

Loki’s raw voice continued, each syllable slotted into place with meticulous precision. “What would they think if they saw their beloved Shieldmaiden bent over and fucked like some common whore?”

His words shouldn’t have made you wetter. On a rational level, you knew that, and yet they seemed to tease your burning clit with the same intensity as his fingers. The thrill of doing something so outrageous and indecent so close to guards who would salute you on the battlefield had your inner walls tighten around Loki’s irresistibly hard cock.

Their helmets were designed to withstand heavy blows. Clunky and inelegant for the wearers — they wouldn’t glance up without reason. You knew that, but the risk was still there. That one of them might want to stretch his neck. Or break regulations to scratch his scalp, sweaty and hot from wearing the golden bucket for so long. The risk that now had you pushing back to meet Loki’s strokes, rocking your hips to get more of his fingers on your clit. Harder, faster — you wanted him, more of him.

Almost flush against Loki’s chest where he rutted into you, you weren’t sure which heartbeat belonged to who. Whose breath burned its way into your lungs. Or whose head turned first to claim the other one’s lips in a wet, sloppy kiss.

But you definitely knew it was Loki’s hands trailing up the hard edge of your bodice and shoving it down below your breasts. Your nipples tightened in the sudden onrush of fresh air and you stifled a gasp at the full exposure. Indecent. Improper. Half-naked with your tits jerking forward with each of Loki’s hard thrusts. A far cry from the decorated warrior you were.

Not sure where to look — eyes for some reason glued at the guards’ helmets below — you knew you should ask him to stop. Ask him to move back so you weren’t halfway hanging over the parapet like this. Ask him to-

Ask him-

Something.

“Fuck, Loki,” you gasped. His long arms circled around you, one hand back in your sopping wet cunt and the other groping your breasts, tugging and tweaking each nipple in turn. “If they-”

“If they what?” His voice had turned less hard; a murmur into your neck. “See these?” He pinched one of your nipples, working you so quickly up against that edge that would have you pulse around his cock. “They should thank Freya for her blessings then, for throwing them a glimpse of paradise. Or they should curse her name, for how they will never get the image out of their head for as long as they live. Can you imagine? All those guards stroking their cocks to the memory of your naked tits? Spilling into their own hands while wishing — praying — that it would be onto your breasts?”

“F-fuck,” you moaned, arching your back to push your breasts into Loki’s hard hands and your ass into his groin. The lewd sounds of your fucking drowned out all else, while his other hand continued with the ruthless stimulation of your clit. “Fuck me, Loki, fuck-”

“In front of the guards?” Loki hissed, a frantic edge to his voice, his mouth open in a slit while he panted over the curve of your throat. “You’d like that? How about I take you down in the throne room? On your hands and knees, like an animal with the whole court watching your cunt take my cock? I’ll fuck you in front of the whole Asgardian army if you’d like. Have you ride my cock, jumping up and down until your knees give in and I have to take over? Using you like I’d use my hand before?”

Gods, you were close. Mind lost in a haze of lust and debauchery, you didn’t know where to focus. The tug of your nipples, the intense burn in your clit, the wet rub of his hard length against your inner walls. Or his voice. His beautiful, smooth voice whispering nothing but filth in your ear, filling your mind with images forbidden and forsakenly arousing. At this point, you’d agree to anything. You’d let him fuck you on Odin’s throne if he asked right now. On top of Odin, so your tits would jiggle into the old man’s face while Loki fucked you recklessly.

Anything, as long as he kept pushing you further and further against that sweet, sweet climax that would wreck your entire body.

“Let me hear you,” Loki whispered then and you allowed a slight whimper past your lips. “Let me hear your sweet voice, Shieldmaiden. I’ll ask for nothing else and give you all you want if you stop holding back.”

“Loki,” you moaned in a voice so unlike your own. Needy and wanton, strained from your awkward angled neck where you tried to turn your head to kiss him again. “Gods, Loki, I-”

He crushed his lips onto yours, so inelegant and hurried it didn’t feel like him for a second. Then his lips pushed yours open, slipping his tongue inside to dance next to yours, and it was him. All him. His taste and his heat and his beautiful mouth kissing yours. The thrusts lost the steady rhythm, the hand on your breast now moved down to your waist while his fingers on your clit never paused. Not once, not even when the kiss ended and you stared at him over your shoulder, trying to see all of him you could. Beautiful, beautiful Loki.

His skin shone with sweat, bright eyes wide open and focused on you. Spit smeared around his mouth, for once open and hard instead of smirking at some private joke.

“Loki.”

“There you go,” he murmured and trailed his fingers harder over your clit to the point where your knees buckled. “Say my name. Like that. Let me hear you.”

“Loki.”

“Beautiful, beautiful maiden.” He sounded less coherent than you, some part in the back of your mind noting the vast difference between ‘maiden’ and ‘common whore’. “My gorgeous Shieldmaiden, please let me hear you. Let me hear what this does to you. For once, let me-”

The heavy door to the upper balcony flew open with a bang.

There wasn’t enough time to hide — for fuck’s sake, your breeches were still hooked around your knees — but just as one of the many housemaids of the palace poked her head through the door, a slight ripple enveloped you and Loki.

Not able to breathe, you froze solid with Loki halfway inside of you. An illusion. He’d cast an illusion to cover you. He’d done it enough times on the battlefield for you to recognize the way the air seemed to buckle a bit around you, like watching the world through uneven glass. It came in handy for an ambush or when you were simply outnumbered, needing time to regroup. You had never appreciated his skills as much as now. A simple beheading sounded more welcome than getting caught like this.

Neither moved while the maid stepped onto the balcony, a broom in her hands as she started to sweep.She started to sweep.

Fucking sweep.

No one ever came up here, he’d said. Private and secluded, he’d said. More private than either of your chambers, he’d said.

“Loki,” you whispered so low you barely heard it yourself, praying to anyone who would listen that the blasted wind really did cover most of the sounds up here. “Lok-”

“Sh, sh. Don’t move.”

Easy for him to say, you wanted to scream. He wasn’t the one half-naked and stuffed full of cock. Tits out, cunt bared, and your face flushed with wanton lust. You had been so fucking close too and your body bemoaned the sudden drop, urging you to move your hips to get back up. You clenched without intending to and heard his slight hiss that sent chills down your spine.

“Tell me the illusion will hold.”

“It’ll hold.”

You stared at the older maid who scuttled around, humming under her breath and apparently oblivious to your presence. “Are you lying?”

“It’ll hold.” His voice had moved closer to your ear and your stomach dropped when you felt him buck slowly into you. “Trust me.”

“Don’t you fucking da-”

“Shh.”

“I swear if we get caught, I’ll disemb-”

“Quiet, or we will get caught.”

With excruciating slow and controlled movements — so slow you could feel every vein rub against your spongy insides — he continued fucking you.

Fucked you in full display of a clueless maid who swept the large balcony without a care in the world. Without seeing how Loki Odinson had you squirming in his grip. Back arched, held up by a strong arm around your midriff, you bit your lip to remain quiet. He felt so fucking good, so good you felt dumb. Cockdumb? Was that a term? It felt appropriate, and you were so wet you could feel your own juices run down your leg, dripping onto your undergarments.

“She’s coming closer.”

The ripples in the air in front of you didn’t budge and for once, Loki’s tone sounded reassuring. “She can’t see us.”

“Can she hear us?”

He nipped the side of your throat while the head of his cock brushed against the deepest parts of you. “If I say yes?”

“Lok, I swea-”

He shushed you again and you felt the bastard smile against your skin. “If you’re worried, just be quiet.”

You had never been the one for magic and had no idea how much of Loki’s focus it took to keep the illusion intact. You could hardly stand from the intense pleasure spinning through your limbs, yet he somehow could keep fucking you while concealing you from the approaching maid with her broom. A broom that swept steadily over the marble floor, and you suddenly realized that you were invisible and not incorporeal.

Loki must have realized the same based on how he slowed down to a halt. His whisper edged its way to your conscious mind: “Do you trust me?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Move with me.”

“Gods, Loki, I’ll get you for this.”

“Move.”

The maid was still ten feet away when Loki pulled you backward. The ripple followed you, this small bubble of just you and him and raw heat, and the maid did not even glance up. Loki fell back over one of the benches lining the inner part of the parapet and you fell on top of him. Spearing you thoroughly so you felt a small sharp pain on your inner parts. The swear died in your throat because Loki grabbed the underside of your thighs and tilted you back to lay against his chest and continued to fuck you.

“Have you lost your mind? Are you compl-”

“Will you have me stop?” he hissed in your ear, voice more ragged than ever before. “When you are dripping around me, hot and tight like the underside of a blacksmith’s forge? When I can feel your heartbeat through my cock? Shieldmaiden, you’re gripping me so hard, I don’t think I have a choice.”

“Just pull out or something.” Your protest sounded weak in your own ears. “Wait until she’s gone.”

“Do you really want that?”

“No.”

“Do you want me to stop?”

“No.”

He made a dark sound, but not displeased. “Your stubbornness will be the death of me, I’m sure. Lay back, maiden.”

His words rained on your skin like molten lava while you tried to fight the rising tidal wave of your approaching climax. You felt so good, so right, so beyond caring about the maid or the guards or anything beyond the delicious stretch of your sex. “But the illusion...”

“I think-”

A small gasp choked away in your chest when Loki spread your legs on top of him, giving the unwitting maid a show she couldn’t see. It was less about the public display of your swollen sex, and more to give him better access again.

“-that I have proved my abilities to do several things at once before.”

He held you up with that surprising strength, one hand on each thigh where you were nearly folded in half, knees pushed up to your shoulders. You almost went cross-eyed when he started making good of his promise to bounce you up and down on his cock. No one had ever made you feel small like he did. Tiny and weightless, even if you heard his hard breaths at what it cost him. Every snap of his hips upward should have roused the maid’s suspicion, but the illusion somehow held. Even with Loki working your insides to a frenzy, it held.

At a certain point, you stopped caring again. The maid seemed as inconsequential as the guards below where nothing mattered except Loki inside of you.

Your toes curled at the sensation of him dragging across your inner walls. His hot breath on your neck, his strong hands on your thighs, and that point he hit with each thrust upward that dislodged that block in your throat. You could feel it building alongside your rapidly approaching climax. The sounds he had asked for. It was not a sound the wind could ever hope to overpower.

“Loki, please, wait-” You babbled and moaned in a mixture of incoherent breaths. “Wait, wait, wait.”

“The illusion will hold, Shieldmaiden. She’ll be gone soon before I spill my seed, I am not that far gone yet.”

“It’s not- it’s not that.” Your voice low and tight, just like your cunt where you tried to squeeze more of him inside. “Loki, it’s me, I’m close, I can’t- I can’t hold- I-”

Loki shifted under you, staring at the maid moving towards the door at a leisurely pace. “A little longer, she’s almost gone.”

“I can’t-”

He stilled his thrusts and dropped you down so you sat in his lap. “Ten seconds, my b-”

“I can’t,” you moaned and found footing on the marble to move on your own. Sliding his cock in and out of you with abandon. “I can’t stop.” You wanted him so much. You needed to come now. You needed him, now. “Loki-”

“Shhh.” A newfound panic in Loki’s voice, and if you had paid attention, you would have seen the ripple in the air thinning out momentarily. The maid had her back turned on you where she headed for the balcony doors. “Oh hells. Wait, please-”

But you were so close and he felt so good. It rose and rose inside of you, this wave — this avalanche — of pure hot-white bliss, getting closer each time your ass slammed against his groin. You leaned back against his chest, pushing your breasts out, and rode him hard as you would a warhorse. Like a valkyrie on their proud steeds.

The scream that had built inside your chest along with your climax bubbled up to your throat now, threatening to spill. You were beyond caring about anything else, just impaling yourself over and over again, letting him hit every sweet spot inside of you.

And you would have screamed when the wave loosened — when the climax whipped into your body like a thunderstorm — if Loki hadn’t clamped his hand over your mouth at the same second. You still screamed, but the sound drowned in his strong hand, muted into nothing by the wind.

The balcony door swung shut — a sound barely registering through your foggy mind — and Loki’s illusion rippled before it snapped. While you still rocked your hips to prolong the wave of pleasure filling every particle of your being, you felt Loki’s deep groan in his chest as he joined you. Felt his seed spill deep into your pulsing sex while you rode out your own peak, whimpering against Loki’s hand, grinding against his chest.

Everything tingled and he twitched and spasmed inside you where string after string of thick white semen filled you up. It seemed to never stop, but eventually, it did. You slumped back against Loki’s chest, going up and down with each hard breath, and he gently removed his hand from your mouth to allow you to gulp down air. It helped somewhat, but you were so lightheaded the world spun circles around you, and you realized there were tears perched in your eyes from the intensity of it all.

His softening cock dislodged — leaving you thoroughly empty — while he moved you around so you could rest your cheek on his shoulder. He held you tight, rubbing your arm and thighs to help you down from whatever ethereal plane you had reached.

Finally you returned to this world and took in all the minor details. Breeches around your knees, bodice below your breasts, and covered in sweat and fluids. A mess, through and through, and your heart raced all over again at the multiple close calls.

“One day,” Loki murmured and tipped your head his way so he could place a gentle kiss on your raw lips, “I will learn all the sounds you can make.” He gave you a wide smile, tainted by exhaustion. “Shieldmaiden.”

It took some focus to find your voice, and you still sounded more breathless than fierce despite your best efforts. “Maybe not in a way we risk traumatizing the palace staff?”

He let out a low laugh, a comfortable sound despite the predicament of your clothing and appearance. “I swear, my beautiful warrior, I have never seen anyone up here before.”

“You still knew the guards were down below.”

“The wind-”

“You fuck off with that wind, Loki Liesmith.” You cupped his cheek with your palm and stared at his bright eyes. “Don’t think your Silver Tongue can talk you out of this one. We nearly got caught and when I catch my breath, I’ll break your jaw for it.”

And there was that infuriating and handsome smirk again. He swallowed, covering your hand with his own so he could bring it to his mouth where he placed a kiss in your palm. “You are in luck, Shieldmaiden.”

A warning sign, but you ignored it for now. “How so?”

“I just noticed there is a lock on that balcony door.”

Another warning sign.

“So when I find the key that fits,” he whispered in your ear, voice smooth as silk again, “I can use this tongue to both win your forgiveness,” you shivered when he ran the hot tip of his tongue down the curve your throat, “and learn all the sounds you can make.”

Some people said Loki Odinson had a tongue of silver. An innate charm and ability to get his way.

You were starting to think they had a point.

—

A/N: First time writing for Loki, so feedback appreciated - feel free to send me a message on anon if you’re shy. Remember to reblog if you like it ❤

[tyrantisterror]

The ATOM Create a Kaiju Contest 3-D: Entry Roundup

You’ve been patiently waiting for the results of the ATOM Create a Kaiju Contest 3-D, and now... you have to wait a bit longer, but at least you’ve got an entry roundup with lots of sketches and a good bit of feedback for all the entrants!  My goal is to get the finalists illustrated in a week or two, and after that, the grand prize winner will be announced.  But, for now, the official entry roundup!  After the cut:

I should note that while I sketched these in the order they were submitted, my scanner saved the documents with random names, so they’re a bit jumbled.  You know, just in case you’re like me and would get confused noticing that it’s almost in chronological order but with some entries jumbled around.

@bugcthulhu’s Obsideban was designed as a counterpart to Rohobaron - the Black King to Rohobaron’s Red King, if you will.  Or, well, Black Queen in this case, as Obsideban also takes her personality from the “delinquent girl” archetype in Japanese media.  Bug’s designs always ooze personality, and I had a lot of fun translating this big, gnarly retrosaur into my own style.

@toothlessloveshiccup‘s Argonox is the first - but far from the last - monster in this breakdown that brings in a bit of fantasy influence to ATOM’s roster.  A golden-fleeced ram with a vicious streak, this sheep is both treasure and dragon at once.  And while it wasn’t written in the monster’s profile, given the Yamaneon-rich nature of its wool, Argonox might be able to replicate the healing power of the golden fleece too!  A very fun mammalian kaiju and excellent entry.

@highly-radioactive-nerd submitted Gunmetal Jeeves, a robot butler who can gigantomax temporarily create a holographic/hard light version of himself to fight kaiju.  That detail was a late revision added to the entry before the contest’s deadline, made after the creator realized that ATOM allows for some truly ludicrous bullshit, which is something everyone should exploit when making entries for this in my opinion.  Also, this is a robot butler who can size shift.  Revel in its awesome absurdity!

Ultranerd submitted Rajasaurus, a dimetrodon-like synapsid kaiju with electric powers.  His origin specifies that the electric powers are a result of the volatile nature of the Yamaneon deposits he mutated under, which is an interesting idea.  That’s another theme that cropped up a lot in this contest’s entries, actually - people really wanted to play with what Yamaneon can do.

Case in point, @polygonfighter’s Yamaneolith takes the Monolith Monsters homage at the heart of Yamaneon even more apparent.  I like the implication that there is a second mineral-based lifeform at the root of this Yamaneon cluster’s anomalous behavior - a parasite, perhaps?  It brings up some interesting possibilities.

@ariccio50 submitted Kukulkuzana, and damn is this a cool spin on the body plan of my martians.  I made a few changes here and there (splitting its tail into two is probably the biggest one), but tried to keep true to the original design, because holy hell is it gorgeous.  The idea that this is a mountain-dwelling creature is really intriguing to me, as it looks like a sea creature, but at the same time, that flexible and low-slung build WOULD work pretty well in mountains, and it’s just the right mix of plausible weirdness that makes for a fun alien design.

@akitymh submitted Aramzados, a Venusian monster that’s basically an organic hot rod car.  I like the idea of organic machinery being the gimmick for Venusian kaiju, and Aramzado’s does it subtly enough to not feel like that gimmick is the sole thing going for it.  I especially love this monster’s stange, apparently mouth-less blade-beaked face.

@virovac submitted Rurzar and Zar Rider, a Beyonder kaiju and mecha (respecitvely) that were both modified and repurposed by humans reverse engineering Beyonder technology to make, like, a motorcycle-saurus essentially.  It is a delightfully absurd concept, and a very, very detailed one (13 pages of description).  There’s a dark undercurrent beneath the sillyness, though, as this pair show that humanity might still be following the same path as the Beyonders before them.

@dinosaurana brings us Krangor, a humanoid monstrosity of living kelp!  The goal here was to create a Jack Kirby-esque monster dude, complete with the gibberish name and all.  He’s also made out of kelp, which feels very classic 1950′s monster-y despite me not being able to think of any monsters that were explicitly made of kelp.  I love him.

@kiryuthechimera submitted Genkakurah, a psychic retrosaur with some draconic features.  Though his substantial powerset is probably the biggest distinguishing feature of this kaiju (given that most ATOM kaiju pretty much have the same standard powers), what really draws me to him is that reptilian pseudo-beard.  It’s just a fun detail!

@glarnboudin submits Tiratola, and see, there’s that fantasy influence again!  Even more explicitly dragon-y than Kraydi, Tiratola still manages to toe the line between sci-fi and fantasy enough to fit ATOM as is while still cementing its ties to my own slice of fantasy fiction.  Man it’s good I’m doing a Midgaheim book next, huh?

@dragonzzilla submitted Scuttlebutt/Argonautilus, a hermit crab kaiju who lives in/with a hollowed out mecha.  That’s a twist I can’t recall ever hearing before, and the idea of a kaiju and a mecha having an equal partnership that doesn’t involve one being grafted to the other is really intriguing to me.  A very unique concept!

@evolutionsvoid submitted Fleagor, an enormous flea who has no idea what to do with itself now that there’s no creature large enough for it to parasitize.  I love that concept - it takes the core idea of the giant bug kaiju archetype (i.e. unsettling the audience by showing how terrifying small, “insignificant” creatures would be if our sizes were reversed) and really turns it on its head.  The name also plays on the Universal Monsters, who were a huge part of 1950′s pop culture thanks to their movies being re-released in that era, so all and all this one is very on brand for ATOM!

@skarmorysilver submitted Lilacorn, another entry that plays up that Midgaheim/ATOM connection.  Reinterpreting the mythological unicorn as an Cenozoic wooly rhinoceros-inspired monster gives it a very unique look, both in ATOM and in the general world of unicorns, and she has a bad-girl with a heart of gold personality to boot!

dracosaurus-rex submitted Florasaura, a two-headed plant/retrosaur hybrid monster.  I love me some plant monsters, I love me some retrosaurs, and I love me some rhyming the word “flora” with other words that contain similar vowell sounds, so this one has me written all over it!

@downtofragglerock submitted Sauroguana, a delightfully odd flying retrosaur.  There’s a great deal of charm to the original illustration that this sketch doesn’t quite capture - it’s a deceptively simple design with a lot of personality in it, and with those unique leg-wings it really doesn’t need a whole lot of frills to stand out.

Draxi submitted Brakan, an unimpressive burrowing retrosaur kaiju whose mastery of illusions allows it to convince other kaiju it’s actually a big, super-powerful badass that’s the ultimate fighter in the universe.  It’s a delightful parody of the concept of a fan self-insert god-mode character, with a really fun story built into it to boot!

@quinnred submitted O.N.I.A.C., a mysterious cocooned kaiju whose chrysalis has been turned into an organic computer of sorts by the people studying it, and seems to possess a fairly advanced intelligence for a kaiju.  It’s a really bizarre and ominous idea, with built in intrigue given how vague its nature is.  Is it just a kaijufied butterfly/moth who got stuck mid transformation?  A relative of the Mothmanuds?  Something else, perhaps equally alien?  Good story potential here.

shadyserpent submitted Vespilitor, a bat/retrosaur hybrid made by the nefarious Spooks Organization.  A mercurial prankster whose tendency to stir up trouble never crosses the line into maliciousness, he’s the kind of monster who would make a great foil to a lot of ATOM’s cast.  I’d especially like to see him in a prank off with Ahuul - it’d be like Bugs Bunny fighting Daffy Duck, but on a kaiju scale.

@multiversefan submitted the Yamaneon King, a nomadic kaiju whose refusal to settle down causes problems as he stirs up trouble at kaiju sanctuaries all over the globe by showing up unannounced and stirring up the locals.  He was basically designed to be a monster that the kaiju sanctuary initiative would struggle to deal with, which is a good idea for a post-ATOM Volume 2 story conflict.

Sir K submitted Jadeera, a kirin kaiju that can actually forcibly convert most of its body to Yamaneon to enter a dormant, statue-like state in a loose homage to King Shisa.  Though the fantasy elements are far more present than I usually prefer for ATOM kaiju, I think it should be noted they’re pushed that far for a purpose - a theme in Jadeera’s entry, which continues where its creator left off with their submission to the previous ATOM create a kaiju contest (Yokaigon), is that the world of kaiju is more complicated and challenging than many are willing to accept, which is a theme in ATOM itself.  Yokaigon’s more supernatural/occult powers are based on the ghost parascience of my setting, which ATOM has delved into a bit (Pathogen being the big example), so it’s not as out of left field as some might think.

@cerothenull​ brings us our final entry (unless some got lost thanks to tumblr’s shitty tagging system), the flying spider Naeranti.  She’s a kaiju spider who uses silk to make complicate hot-air balloons, more or less, and that’s just delightful.  ATOM could always use more spider-monsters, and with a really unique gimmick backing up a wonderfully distinct look, Naeranti is sure to stand out among her fellow giant arachnids.

Well, that’s the roundup!  In a week (or two, depending on how much my hand cramps) we’ll have the five finalists, and sometime after that, the grand prize winner!

[theglguidetowebcomics]

Full review: Girly

What’s Pink, insane, NSFW, hilarious, and somehow heartwarming at points? This comic is a ride and a half, and I’m genuinely surprised more people haven’t heard of this one… I’ve been wanting to talk about this one for a WHILE. 

So let’s talk about the elephant in this room… Because I think it just ate someone’s couch. 

Slightly NSFW review with spoilers below.

Girly, by Jackie Lesnick was a webcomic that ran between 2003 and 2010, (and really has some of those early webcomic hallmarks). Its monochromatic pink, vertical, with a poppy early cartoon feel. It’s also listed as a romantic comedy, which is… correct, but cuts a whole lot of what makes this comic good, short. 

This review was always going to be one of the 4 I really struggled with. And not just because I lost it the first time without a back up in a code glitch, got distracted by a pandemic, then procrastinated my way to finally making a second version in my new backup folder… No, well also yes but no. This was a comic I read when I was younger (and should NOT have read  when I was younger), and have always had a soft spot for. I’ll admit as much as this comic has its flaws or weird moments or just weirdness in general, its one of the few comics I’ve found myself rereading in its entirety more than once. And no matter how much I know it's coming, find myself sobbing, uncontrollably, at the final panel. There’s surprisingly a lot of heart in this comic, and a whole lot of honesty in just the direction the author took this weird little thing. But, first let me take of those rose tinted glasses as much as I can… (actually that might not work too well with a pink comic seriously whats with all these early 2000s lesbian comics being PINK?). And give this old comic a look and a bit of a dust. but , first...

Sex.

Getting to the point - page 3 of “Girly”

Girly is a NSFW comic. It’s not shy about it either. It hits the audience (and the main character) over the head with it literally in the first pages. It has sex positive characters, a sex positive world, some characters with… sex powers almost, and Dildos, a whole lot of dildos. Some even with smiley faces on them. It’s a pretty unavoidable part of the comic that makes up a large core of it’s humour and is baked into its wacky world. So if that’s not your thing, and it’s not really skippable in this case, you won’t like this comic.

But, if you’re alright with that part of it this might just be a hidden gem. Moving on.

Art

Artwork is always interesting in webcomics. They’re usually one man shows, have a weird niche / strong influences, and or usually go on massive journeys as the art improves. Girly is no different here. 

Girly starts out rough. Some poses are wonky and its a bit scratchy. Technically speaking it has a few issues, which is fine. Its a free webcomic, from the 2000s that didn't copy and paste faces. (Won’t name names, you know who you are). You can’t be too harsh on a free comic, though.

However, what the art style does, even early on is set the style and feel of the comic. Anime inspired faces, bold outlines, and blocky silhouettes that were really popular with 90’s and 2000s cartoons. It has a newspaper, manga comedy strip vertical style, too. It fits the style of story well as a poppy wacky story. It's the perfect art style it could take.

Its rough in the beginning, but moves on from its scratchy days, to loose pen brush, to finally a polished free hand poppy style. It gets more technically advanced as it goes along, but it keeps its core style throughout. It’s fun, a little unhinged, and just pares perfectly.

The one issue I have with the art is it comes off as a bit cramped. It certainly matches the energy of the story, but it also feels like it doesn't let the characters have any breathing room in the frame. It comes off as squashed, and can make some character poses hard to read. That’s the only complaint I can find though. The issue even fixes itself later in the story, but just very very close to the end. It looks great there, but the majority of the comic is a little cramped. Still that’s just a small complaint.

Nitpicking here but some panels need a lil more room

This a humour comic foremost. It's the biggest part of what makes Girly specifically Girly.

Humour

The humour is mostly wacky nonsense, playing off its insane characters, physics defying world, everything being dialed up to 11. It also works a lot like satire, poking at what influences it, and playing with cinematic expectations. The first page has Otra shooting someone into space on a rocket because they annoyed them, the first “adventure” the character’s go on is stealing everyone’s pants because they couldn’t find anything else to do. Then there’s the kidnapping adventures, knight trials, and slice of life shenanigans that happen. All of it as wacky as the last. I haven’t really found any other lesbian comics like it. Its not everyone’s tastes, but it is certainly unique.

If you’re into a willy wonka tunnel of over the top characters and plots, you’ll like Girly.

Characters

Girl is a LONG comic, it ran for 7 years. The art evolved, the story writing, jokes, and themes along with it. It was originally meant to run for only 50 strips... and it ended up with 764. 

so, there’s a lot to unpack.

Firstly, the premise of the story is somewhat simple. It focuses on Otra. The kinda straight man to the entire universe. She starts out almost depressed, out of place, and bored of the wacky inhabitants of her world. Until one of those wacky residents smacks her over the head with a giant dildo and won’t leave her alone for the next 7 years of run time. 

What follows is the sullen Otra being pulled around by the always cheery and zany nonsensical Winter as the sidekick for bizarre adventures. Otra’s depressive grounded view keeps the bizarreness funny, while Winter cuts through her negative attitude and causes a lot of the over the top plot. Leaving Otra to warm up to the world, and Winter to get less reckless as they balance eachother out. It’s a fun dynamic, and works as an emotional core of the story. No matter how weird the plot and rules of the world are, their relationship keeps the story somewhat focused and rewarding to see develop.

An example of bold wacky character designs from even early on

The comic isn’t just about them, though. As an ensemble comic there's plenty of side characters that go through arcs and beats as well. From el chubacabre, the man that woman find so irresistible that they sleep with him as soon as they see him; detective Clapjaw the street wise detective who is very bad at his job; Officer Hipbone and police guy from the cute P D; captain fist the ever popular bad at his job superhero who gets all the credit; the news reporter obsessed with captain fist; the woman with babies; Steak;  the elephants that just… appear and eat buildings; among many many others. A lot of whom also have nicely written character arcs and depth in later chapters. Many of the character however are simple and remain simple, which isn’t a bad thing. For such a large cast, having a diverse range of strange characters with strong identities and looks even if a bit simple stops it from getting bogged down. It strikes a good balance. Plus there’s plenty enough of characters with more depth later on. 

 All the character’s are insane, and over the top in a way that really sets up the world they live in and how it works... as dysfunctional as it is. There’s something very Cartoon Network about all the characters, but with some wider influences. something about  dumb characters, with very specific goals and quirks that work on their own physics to feed into the high energy insanity of the world. Its entertaining to read, and leads to a weirdly charming feel of the comic. 

Story and plot

For the bit people actually want to know about. What is it about?

Just a little bit of influences...

For the style itself the comic comes off as a mix between early 2000s slice of life-y anime, 2000s cartoon Network, and a dose of 2000s webcomic sarcastic action/adventure flare. It definitely has one of the most pronounced styles that I’ve seen, and even if it's very much a webcomic of it’s time it also goes a bit beyond that into something that feels personal to the author and honest. Its a batshit comic. But, it wears its influences on it’s sleeve and really plays with tropes and ideas the author found engaging at the time. It somehow comes off as refreshing in just how willing it is to go weird or niche for no other reason but because it wants to. It's what I appreciate most about the comic. It’s honest.

The overarching story of the comic is without a doubt about Otra and winter growing together as people. But with a comic that’s run for 7 years a little bit more happens in the journey, at least you hope it would. Girly runs on chapters, 15 in total (with 15 having sub chapters due to being the story’s climax), and each one of those chapters follows a different plot or adventure with Otra’s and Winter’s developing relationship gluing them together. 

The plots themselves are wild and vary a bit in quality. But for a long comic that’s understandable and expected. They go from solving elephant problems, super villains, body swapping, fantasy parodies, and all sorts of strange things. Sometimes a few plots drag and a few character arcs feel a bit bland. It still manages to be entertaining all the way through though. The plots themselves work to get the character’s to play off each other and explore the strange world it takes place in. Exploring evil teddy bears, or an entire town devoted to cheap gags. No matter what, all the plots work in fleshing out the world and pushing character’s out of their comfort zone or forcing them to change. There are some that are less fun than others, but none of them manage to be boring or useless. Which for a long comic such as this, is quite an achievement.

Conclusion

Girly is a hidden gem, Its an insane sex positive comic. A loose style and even looser physics. It’s bold and unabashedly itself. But, at its core it's about the love story of Winter, the wacky insane woman needing to slow down and open up, and Otra, a sullen woman who’s deemed herself only worthy of being on the outskirts of society. It’s two people growing together in a world that’s up to its ears in care bears, sentient dildos, earth shattering cloning, and jabs at 2000’s paste it comics. And somehow it all sticks together.

The characters resonated, at least with me, which may be the nostalgia talking. But by the end of the comic I can’t help but  think back on how long it took them to get there. The bits that made me laugh (a lot of them), the stupid parts, and the character’s arcs, as over the top they could be at times.  It may not everyone’s cup of tea. But it has a lot of heart at its core. (If you get past all the dildos). 

For all it’s flaws and weird bits. I still find myself going back to Girly. 

Maybe now, some more people will too.

[drawlfoy]

The Sound of...Magic? (don’t hate me)

pairing: draco x nanny!reader

warnings: i was considering making it a little nsfw but then i remembered my grandkids might find this blog one day and i’ve gotta play nice. mentions of death (if you couldn’t already tell from the request). this part is gonna be a little sad so if you’re a crier i’d bring some tissues--i recommend the kirkland signature brand, a great bang for your buck. (not sponsored but if you’re reading this kirkland signature, i’m up for the challenge). also mentions of alcohol abuse

special thanks to @ihavebeenahurricane for sending the request!

summary/request:  Draco x Reader request! Draco hires reader as a nanny after his wife dies and slowly falls for the nanny who’s a halfblood from America trying to find herself 😍

a/n: i’m going to take the whole “slowly falls” wording from the prompt and RUN with it! if you haven’t already guessed, i’m a giant fan of longer stories. i love this prompt (and i’m getting major sound of music vibes from it, which is the ultimate summer musical to me) and i’m going to milk it for all it’s worth. the first few parts will be dedicated to fleshing out the characters and setting the stage for what’s to come, so buckle up bitches, we’re going for a multichapter ride. you decided to read stuff from a slow burn fanatic, so this is on you :P

FINAL a/n: in all seriousness, i’m going to twist the canon a little bit. in this au, draco’s wife dies when scorpius is much younger for the purpose of the whole nanny aspect. i apologize if this doesn’t follow the canonical universe to a T--i’m just here to have fun and flex my writing muscles! i apologize for any sloppy mistakes i may have made writing this. i never had a chance to proofread and i have a lot of writing to do now that requests are coming in! i promise to come back and edit.

music recommendation: i recommend listening to peer pressure and row from the soundtrack of the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. i listened to it while writing this. it’ll make you cry. even if my writing doesn’t, the music will by itself.

enough of my blabber. thanks to anyone who read my incoherent 11pm babblings. onto the story--specifically Draco’s backstory!

word count: 1,304

Draco Malfoy owed everything to Astoria Greengrass. After the Second Wizarding World War, he felt as though he had nothing left. The social structure and core values he was raised under were suddenly ripped out from under his feet. It wasn’t that he was born with hatred of the impure--he just didn’t know any other way. The mark on his arm only made the transition into life after the war more difficult--the hours and hours of wizard trials he had to endure were nearly as painful as being under Voldemort’s constant supervision. Seeing the eyes of so many he had grown up with glare at them from the crowds, admitting that he betrayed them...it was a test beyond anything he had known before.

And yet, by some spontaneous miracle, his charges were dropped. His father, Lucius, was given a life sentence in Azkaban, and his mother, Narcissa, was on house arrest for four years. Potter ended up testifying for him, stating that he refused to identify him when he was brought to the manor even though it was obvious it was him. It was very likely that Draco had saved the Order in that one instance of bravery, and the Ministry decided that the act was enough to prove Draco’s innocence. 

Saying goodbye to his father was difficult, but Draco always held a bit of resentment towards him. If it weren’t for his father, he would never have been forced to bear the mark. He’d miss Lucius dearly, but there was a silver lining--Draco would never have to witness another raging alcoholic fit towards his sweet mother. The conflicting feelings that plagued him when Lucius blew up at the two of them, throwing various objects and causing carnage around his house, and then immediately following it up with promises of gifts and love would no longer be around. Draco, in a sense, was never freer. 

He had always known of Astoria. While she’d been two years below him, she often hung around her older sister, Daphne, whenever Slytherin common room parties took place. Of course, he never saw much of her during the war when she was evacuated from Hogwarts, but he had taken note of the slight brunette with light green eyes. 

It was only during one of Narcissa’s dinner parties, when he was 20, that he noticed just extraordinarily light green they were. He remembered thinking that with her eyes, she would never have to bother with jewelry--all the sparkles in the world were already carried in her eyes. 

They had spoken that night in the balcony, outside of his room. She’d confessed just how afraid she was about the new wizarding world and how she thought no one would accept her. Draco had gently picked up her hand, tracing the delicate knuckles in fingers.

He’d told her that she’d always have him. She’d blushed, a magnificent rose, and Draco couldn’t help himself. Before he knew it, her lips were pressed to his,their eyes had fluttered shut, and his hand had snaked its way around her tiny waist. In that moment, Draco began to feel like a person again--a whole, loving person, with love, and love, and...love. 

Their wedding hadn’t been the most extravagant of weddings, a fact that a younger Draco would’ve been shocked at but a wiser one adored. Astoria had looked stunning in her pale green gown--an escape from tradition, Draco had thought fondly--and had her dark hair loose and wavy around her shoulders. Draco had worn a dark green suit with a boutiienniere JKFKLFjkl;f charmed to sparkle silver pinned to his lapel.

It was just enough to be a true Slytherin wedding.

Narcissa, Daphne, Blaise, and Zabini had attended. With both of her parents deceased, Astoria had been nervous at first, but Narcissa had taken her in with open arms and welcomed her as her own.

It had been a tough couple of years after the marriage. After complaints of fatigue and chronic migraines that not even the strongest of potions could cure, his beloved Astoria was diagnosed with a blood curse. When Draco asked the healer how long she had, the healer simply shook his head and responded, “Just enjoy the time you have.”

Astoria had taught him to be open-minded to the new world, designating every Friday night as a “Muggle Date Night”, much to his initial chagrin. She dragged him to countless attractions--bowling alleys, movie theaters, old thrift stores, their local IKEA, even the quaint café on 42nd. The latter was his favorite. Astoria would always order her coffee black and discreetly charm it to her taste while Draco would simply settle for a scone and some tea. The pair would look out into the city nightlife, picking out interesting people and making up their life stories. Muggles weren’t so bad anymore. 

The day that Draco figured out he was going to be a father was the one of the best days of his life, only second to the day he married the very person who was mothering his child. They had both burst into tears when the pregnancy indicator potion turned a deep blue, informing the couple that they were having a boy. 

Muggle Date Nights began to happen less and less often as Draco worked harder hours at the Ministry to attempt to prepare for the new addition. With Lucius behind bars, the majority of his family fortune had been seized, and as a result, Draco was forced to work to support both his mother and his wife until they were able to join the workforce themselves.

Arguments, when they came, were brutal. Neither of them ever raised their voices, but Astoria cried and stated the truth, which was infinitely more painful. She told him how he was never home and how her time was ticking. She reminded him that their child was going to be motherless and that her husband was going to be wifeless very soon.  Draco reminded her that it was either his work or eviction from their manor, to which she stated, “screw the manor. I want you.”

But of course he didn’t listen, He wanted his son to have the best life possible, and in some immature part of his lizard brain, he believed that the blood curse would go away if he just worked hard enough. Everything always happened for him if he worked at it enough. That’s just how the world worked.

Scorpius came into the world in the dead of winter, very fitting for the tragedy about to come. Astoria cradled him in her arms once, and then passed them to Draco,

“I think I need to go now,” she said wistfully, looking out the window of the hospital wing into the cloud of black outside. 

“Whatever do you mean, darling?” Draco asked, amusement in his voice. 

She must be very intoxicated on those pain potions he remembered thinking to himself. 

But then the healers began rushing in, one by one, each yelling her name and preparing random concoctions Draco had never even heard of in even his most advanced potion courses. Her once golden skin turned pale and her light green eyes, once sparkling with Slytherin pride, were beginning to dull. 

“Draco, my love,” she croaked, reaching one frail hand out to grasp at his own, “You must give him the time you were unable to give to me.”

“But I love you!” Draco sounded more like a child than his own baby did, crying in the corner in his cradle. 

“And I you.”

Just like that, it was over. She had lost the battle, and Draco had lost the war.

Tears began clouding his vision as he looked back and forth from his baby to his now deceased wife.

He never expected his first day of being a father to go like this. 

[sterling-silvers]

Artists I’d Like to see Draw for Particular Seasons of Power Rangers II

I had so much fun with the first time, I decided to do a second one; this time with a mixture of series I love (like Wild Force) and with series I was less than lukewarm about (like Operation: Overdrive and Megaforce). 1. Wild Force – Jen Bartel

If you’ve ever seen Bartel’s work, she always seems to capture a certain kind of mysticism with her line work and forms in harmony with her cascade of colors; it has a nice paletted spectrum, feel to it. Hence, she ideal for Wild Force because this series constantly worked themes of mother nature, earth power, and animism with the Wild Zords, Princess Shayla, Animarium, and the animal crystals. 

The single reference that really solidified her as my choice for Wild Force (one of my personal favorite seasons of Power Rangers) was her guest art appearance in Black Panther #6 (2018). The way she was able to proficiently encapsulate the Afro-futurism (and mysticism) Wakandan visuals made Wild Force seem like a natural transition for her illustrations to lend their talents to.

2. Jungle Fury – Afu Chan

In truth, I have not seen that much of Jungle Fury. It was right after the abysmal season that was Overdrive – the season that, had it not been for the Retro Rangers, I would have quit Power Rangers all together – and unfortunately, it got the after affects of my disdain from that season. That being said, from the clips and scenes I have seen from the show, it really does go all in with the martial arts and wire fu, which I appreciate; it was a nice amalgamation of Super Sentai and Wushu films filmed and retooled for an American audience. 

It is because of these core traits of the show, that I think Afu Chan’s art would do major justice for Jungle Fury. If I had to describe Afu’s style, it’s like a more refined and intense version of Dan Hipp’s and it is because of these stronger traits that Afu is able to display that the action drawn really enthralls me to the page.

 Afu seems to know just the right panels to draw that the reader is able to weave a story of what happened before while also keeping the pace of the flowing rather nicely; the super moves, like the Rhino Blade Slash, I think Afu would truly sensationalize to great effect.  

I definitely think that Afu Chan’s designs would sync really well with the Jungle Fury Wolf Ranger and Jungle Fury Rhino Ranger, respectively, as well.

 3. Operation: Overdrive – Stefano Caselli

As aforementioned, I did not like Operation: Overdrive. Nonetheless, I still saw the POTENTIAL it had as series and potential is a horrible thing to waste. The characters and story elements were there for this to be good season but, it seemed to consistently abyss itself instead of apex. The more niche theme of global treasure hunting for the Corona Aurora and the weapons that all had an excavation factor to it were great elements that allowed it to differentiate itself from its predecessors. Another noteworthy thing about the series is its more blatantly metallic components to the Ranger suits. 

Stefano Caselli is good fit for this series of Rangers because his art work is no stranger to depicting technology (he constantly manages to give those more metallic and chromatic pieces of tech a nice sheen to them) and he is great at capturing the different, dynamic locales the Earth has to offer.

 4.  Megaforce – Juann Cabal

As stated just above, the worst thing to waste is potential and BOY, did Megaforce waste a multitude of it. This was supposed to be THE legacy series; a culmination of generations of Power Rangers being able to be used and siphoned to momentous effect in creative and exceptional ways unlike any we’ve seen before – and instead, we got less than superficial development, Zord sized plot holes, and outlines of core characters and arcs. That being said, the POTENTIAL is still there and a competent writer can quell, rectify, and invigorate the heap of loose ends and neglected prospective that was Megaforce and Super Megaforce. I can think of no better artist to illustrate this task than Juann Cabal who is more than capable to exhibiting massive splash pages filled with characters that each carry their own individuality to them.

Honestly, it his more like a lay up because of how uniform most the Ranger suits are. While I despise Orion’s Super Megaforce Gold Battlizer (it is very much is an atrocity for those with functional eyes) the spectacle that is the Legendary Final Strike, Shooting Rangers, and Slashing Rangers makes having to see the suit more than worth it.

5. Dino Charge – Francis Manapul

For me, Dino Charge never got a past a surface level enjoyment and couldn’t really say why. The actors playing the Rangers were giving their all in terms of acting but, they still felt like pastiches of other characters that I’d grown familiar with in the Ranger lore. One of the only breakaways for me was Sir Ivan. I think the real reason I could never get into was because of the fact we got Heckyl turning into the Talon Ranger or, the Talon Ranger in general – the series just seemed incomplete without him. Nevertheless, still did have fun with it (even with the blatant toy commercial moments) and I think Francis Manapul’s work is ideal with his perfect balance of smooth linework and bright, bold yet charming color palette. 

What it would really look forward to is if he was able to capture the chomp effects that come from morphing. Also, if this series DID happen, they absolutely HAVE TO BRING IN THE DARK (TALON) RANGER. So far, in Beyond the Grid, issue #35 has been my personal favorite issue and it stars Heckyl with a fantastic back story of how he became a Ranger.

[doktorpeace]

My “Top 5″ Games Of The Year:

Okay so before we get into the meat of this I want to clarify the way these posts will be formatted. I’m just going to be giving my general thoughts on these games, there’s not going to be a huge amount of organization but I’ll probably loosely break them down into a few different aspects. These won’t be spoiler free either, so keep that in mind while reading. Also this is a top 5 list of games I played for the first time this year, not games that necessarily came out this year. So without any more preamble this begins my Top 5 games of the year list!

#5 - Psychonauts

This is a game that already gets a lot of love. I think, like Earthbound, it’s the kind of game basically everyone knows is supposed to be good, it’s a cult classic with a way bigger following now than what it had when it first came out. It’s got a unique look and pushes against the trends of games at the time, being a very traditional 3D Platformer in terms of gameplay with a fairly cute (comparatively) art direction in a time where the video games industry was going through what I would consider its teenage years, full of edgy, pointlessly gritty games as the next big thing. Also it’s about kids with psychic powers, I swear there’s something about that concept that gets people absolutely hog wild for games. In truth I didn’t play this game out of any great personal drive to, I only did it to try and get a little closer to my friend @spitblaze who dearly loves it but it really did surprise me. Psychonauts is something special, it truly surprised me at just how fun and well aged it was, and it really genuinely deserves the praise it gets and the dedicated fans it has. It’s got a great amount of polish, charm, and a unique identity in the landscape of games even today.  Psychonauts follows a boy named Raz (short for Razputin) as he tries to become one of the titular Psychonauts by breaking into a summer camp which trains kids as PSI Cadets to hone their innate psychic powers. This setup and the opening sequence to go with it feels a lot like a Saturday morning cartoon to me and that’s just fine. I think it sets the tone for the game very well because this game excellently straddles the line between being funny and cartoony while also handling mental illness with the gravitas it deserves, which I’ll get into a little more later. For now I wanna talk about the gameplay and honestly I think Psychonaut’s level design and mechanics have aged extremely well. Double Fine studios really understood to a tee what makes a good 3D platformer. Raz controls comfortably, moving at a pace that feels snappy for the world he’s in but not so fast that it dissuades the player from exploration or opens up too much in the way of cheese strategies that disregard the level design. The game also has a nice and consistent feeling of progression which is based on how willing you are to engage with the game. The more you actually play the collectathon side of this platformer the more skills Raz gets access to, most of which are consistently useful and all of which are required for finishing the game to 100% completion. As far as I remember the player is handed all of the upgrades which are absolutely needed to finish the game but honestly it’s a much more dry experience which involves actively avoiding playing the game as intended to not get at least a bit of these optional goodies. The player starts the game solely with basic movement options, you can move around at a standard pace and you have a double jump. While the double jump physics feel a little awkward at first and take some getting used to that doesn’t feel like it’s due to a lack of polish but rather as an intentional design. Raz becomes a lot more floaty during his second jump, giving players a lot of time to line up and comfortably land their jumps over longer distances. This caught me off guard at first but over time I came to appreciate it, since the level design is actually planned around this, I only wish it didn’t break your midair momentum if you do it out of a full speed run.  Over time the player will also gain access to both a slow fall upgrade and a speed enhancement upgrade, which are mandatorily earned only about a third of the way into the game. The game from here on actively makes use of these powers with bigger environments and more vertical spaces built into the levels. These powers all coalesce into a comprehensive and fun amount of mobility for Raz and makes just moving him around fun, which is a hallmark of any good 3D platformer in my opinion. Even if you don’t enjoy it as much as me the hub area has a fast transit system so it’s not really an issue. Aside from mobility options the player will also gain access to a variety of combat enhancements both through mandatory events and through optional interactions. The player starts the game with a standard 3 hit combo, but gains access to a reliable ranged attack, a ground pound-esc move with a big shockwave hitbox, the ability to pick up and launch objects from a distance, and more. Raz’s combat moveset by the end feels varied enough to justify how much combat there is in the game, but seeing as almost all of the combat upgrades are optional most encounters are not designed with them in mind, which is a missed opportunity. The amount of combat in the game is one trend from the era I wish Psychonauts had avoided, but for the most part enemy mooks are easy enough to dispatch and take very little time, or are entirely avoidable so it’s not really an issue. In terms of all of the upgrades, mobility and combat, Psychonauts is a little slow to open up, but it’s not a super long game, so slow by its standards is still not much time at all. One thing that Psychonauts absolutely falls flat on though are its boss fights. There’s almost one per level across about a dozen levels and they’re all bad. All of them, none of them are any good. One of the last ones, with El Odio, is passable I guess, but I wish they had focused more on platforming gauntlets like they do with the boss fight against Raz’s dad than on literal actual fights. That platforming section is tense, its timer is just long enough to get you though, and it really feels like a good test of the player’s relevant capabilities WAY more than any of the boss fights do. Some of them do implement one of the psychic powers into them in a fun or unique way, like the battle with the Scoutmaster in The Milkman Conspiracy but that still doesn’t make the boss fight itself good. The level design in general masterfully takes advantage of the game’s core concept of entering people’s psyches to help them with mental illnesses and traumas they have. Every single level has a completely unique and immediately identifiable aesthetic and most of them have unique ways of engaging with the level in order to complete it. While a few of levels are simply ‘get to the end’ those are definitely in the minority. One level is a loose kind of ‘Who Dun It’, one is a puzzle where you have to get a stage play to work correctly, one is a marksmanship course, and one is a giant board game. None of these concepts distract from the core collectathon gameplay, and almost every level has a portion that is just a pure platforming obstacle course so as to not stray too far from why players are here. The game’s ability to mix themes of people’s mindsets and in some cases mental illnesses or traumas with level themeing and gameplay mechanics is, frankly, astounding, and it pulls it all off without making the mentally ill into something scary or to be feared. They’re all sympathetic, good people who have just gone through something that has shaped their lives for the negative. I cannot say enough how well this game blends its gameplay genre with its story themes to make some extremely memorable and fun levels. If you like 3D platformers you really owe it to yourself to get Psychonauts just to experience these levels, they’re that good. The game also understands good and well how to deal with collectibles. There’s enough varieties to feel meaty and they all serve a purpose so nothing feels pointless. They also run the gambit from very well hidden to literally just along the main path so some progression is natural but players who want that extra challenge can really go for it, though even at its hardest Psychonauts is not a hard game at all. The only drawback to its understanding of collectathon elements are that some of the Imagination Figments, the most basic collectible, are either VERY hard to see thanks to their coloration relative to the environment they’re in, most notably in Waterloo World, or that they travel along set paths through an area, but oftentimes those paths literally include portions of being out of bounds. This means players playing through normally literally might never see some of the figments up for collection without just standing around an area waiting to see if a figment comes out of a wall or the floor. Them moving isn’t an issue, but them clipping out of bounds is. This is an extremely minor issue overall since there is a good excess of figments compared to what the player needs to unlock and even upgrade all of the powers but it’s still worth mentioning. Graphically Psychonauts was aged even at its time of release, coming out 3 years after Wind Waker for example and after the entirety of the Jak and Daxter trilogy, but I think it hasn’t aged too much more in the 13 years since then. The character designs vary between charming and intentionally really ugly (and I’m talking like a sin against humanity how ugly they are BOBBY) but because they’re all stylized and, again, very much like a saturday morning cartoon they’ve aged reasonably well compared to games with more realistic art styles of the time. The environments and textures are all still reasonably nice to look at as well, in fact some are quite striking visually, specifically Miguel’s mind, Black Velvetopia. That stage looks amazing.  The sound design is pretty good. Sound effects are punchy and all feel unique, getting across the right kind of feeling. Not much to say on it other than that it’s good. The soundtrack also does its job quite nicely. I wouldn’t call any of it good listening music, like I don’t have it on my blog playlist or anything but they all do a good job setting their stage’s tone and not being annoying. Lastly I wanna talk about the writing, it’s something this game gets a lot of praise for and rightly so. This game is witty, it’s funny, and it’s charming. I’d say it’s got a lot of heart but that makes it sound more deep and emotional than it really is. At its core Psychonauts is a silly game about silly characters and it had me laugh a good number of times through the game; this game has a good sense of humor that has aged very well. There’s a lot of cutely tucked away dialogue too, a surprising amount in fact depending on certain interactions that aren’t always straightforward to discover and I always felt fairly rewarded with funny dialogue for poking and prodding at the characters and environmental set pieces. Raz is a charming and likable main character, he’s sarcastic like a lot of male leads are but in a way that’s very believable for his age he never felt dislikable or like an unnecessary jerk and that’s important for a character of his personality type. The game also does a good job giving its major characters just enough depth and implicit characterization to keep them interesting and feeling fairly fleshed out even with only a little dialogue. This is greatly helped by the Memories you can collect which give you slideshows of events which the shaped the characters in who they are, what caused their minds to look this way, and in some cases what caused their neurodivergence. It’s another great way the game manages to tie all of its elements back into the central theme. Really, really good writing overall, very deserving of praise imo. While the main plot isn’t very complex or really anything super special it’s still cute and worth following through. Honestly the only thing I didn’t like was Raz and Lili’s relationship. They don’t have much screen time together so it’s a bit weird, but I guess that’s also kind of true to form for childhood crushes so, whatever. In closing, I really loved Psychonauts, it’s an extremely fun game to play that has aged well in just about every way except visually. It takes extreme care in making sure the player’s experience is varied, fun, and consistently all tied together to the core theme of the game, human psychology, to give every last aspect a good through line for players to rationalize everything by. Psychonauts is a stellar example of a 3D platformer that even modern games can stand to learn from. Be it from a writing, level design, or game feel perspective, Psychonauts has almost everything down extremely well. This game really, truly deserves the longstanding praise it receives and I cannot implore you enough to give it a shot if you love this genre or just want to try something new. If you’re the kind of person who avoids things that often get praise or are ‘cult classics’ because you assume it’s just a bunch of nostalgia addled people way overhyping a childhood favorite you’re doing a disservice to yourself to avoid this game. It’s like, $3 on Steam and any computer can run it. Please, get Psychonauts and just have a good time.

[frederator-studios]

Tiya Zhong: The Frederator Interview

Tiya Zhong, known to the interweb as Addictiya, is an animator, illustrator, designer and doll artist still brushing off glitter from her graduation just a few weeks ago. Her final film as a student of Sheridan College’s Animation program, “Lost, Stolen, Dropped,” is an autobiography of her daily struggle. It is also among the most relatable, inspired and squishy 2 minutes of animation I’ve seen in a good long while. Enjoy the short above, then read on for Tiya’s journey from schoolgirl doodling in her textbooks to professional artist!

Did you always want to be an animator or artist?

I discovered my passion for drawing when I was 4 years old, and I have always loved doodling figures on my textbooks, reading comics, and watching animation. When I was little, I never thought about becoming an artist - I just thought it would be fun if I could draw forever. In high school, I wanted to be a comic artist, but I became fascinated with making characters come to life. Animation was even more vivid than comics, which is why I chose to major in it.

How did you decide to move from China to Canada to attend Sheridan?

I grew up in China, so at first I planned to attend a university in Beijing that features the best animation program in China. In an extra-curricular art school where I was studying to pass the university’s entrance exam, I met a substitute teacher who'd studied abroad. Talking with him made me realize how many opportunities and great artists are out there. That’s when I started to research animation schools in North America, and got to know Sheridan.

What did you like best about studying at Sheridan?

I learned a lot at Sheridan. The school has great, experienced teachers. But I learned the most from my peers, who are all amazing artists. Being in that group gave me no choice but to improve. What I enjoyed most is how free the environment is, compared to the one I’d been in. I also had a lot more resources at my disposal. Being at Sheridan really helped me discover my own art style.

Did you work any jobs during your time in college?

Since high school, I have always worked on stuff for conventions: things like zines, charms, and commissions. During college I actively kept my eyes on the industry and started to take freelance jobs. I’ve done character illustrations for games, art for a published illustration tutorial, design work, and more commissions, mostly with Chinese companies. I think it’s really important for artists to have at least some experience working with partners or employers before finishing school.

What are your favorite techniques, considering you've worked in both 2d and stop-motion? And those are just the two I know for sure!

Yes, I’ve done a little bit of 3D for assignments, but so far I’ve only worked in 2D and stop motion. I love both techniques equally! They are two different forms of art and each has stunning aspects. I love how free 2D can be, and how much you can play with crazy distortions, squash and stretch. I also love the process of crafting puppets and sets and being able to hold them in my hand.

What inspires you and your work the most?

Japanese anime definitely influences my work. They are my childhood and what made me keep the pencil in my hand! In the process of creating, I also look for references in many forms: live action movies, fashion, short films, photography. Anything related to art.

Is there anything that comes up in your work over and over?

I built my interest in life drawing while studying at Sheridan. Now, emphasizing the beauty and curls of human bodies has become a core part of my drawings.

How was the experience of creating "Quarters" in a team of 9 animators? 

Creating “Quarters” with 8 other amazing artists was a really great experience! It was our first try, but there were no conflicts and everything went smoothly. Everyone pitched an idea for the film and we voted for the ‘four neighbors’ idea, which became “Quarters”. I worked on layout designs, prop and sets fabrication, shooting area setups, animation, and some post-production color corrections. We spread the work pretty much equally to everyone, so that we could all gain experience in every stage of creating a stop motion film.

What inspired you to create "Lost, Stolen, Dropped"?

I had two other ideas for my final film before “Lost, Stolen, Dropped,” but they didn’t feel authentic to me. Personally, I prefer telling stories on subjects that I’m knowledgeable about, or have experienced myself. So one month into my 4th year, I gave up my first idea and all the storyboards I’d done for it. I thought, “What subject am I really familiar with? Is there anything that I know better than anyone else?” At the same time, I lost my brand new Cintiq pro pen. Not long before then I had lost my wallet. Aaaand my portable hard drive. My roommate commented that losing things is my everyday life. That’s what inspired me - I am really good at losing things! So I decided to make a film about that.

Love it. Do you often pull from your own life in your stories?

Actually, I can trace it back all the way to primary school! I used to draw comics as my diaries. With four panels comics, I’d record anything that happened in my life that I found fun. By the end of grade 7, I had a whole sketchbook of my personal life. I only showed it to my closest friends.

What were the biggest changes you made to "Lost, Stolen, Dropped" while working on the film? What were the biggest challenges?

I made a big change in the story. At the end of the first version, I made lots of copies of the main character, which came from all the different scenarios or timelines. They all appeared in her messy room, staring at her and guiding her to find her phone. That ending had a very dark and absurd feeling to it. The problem was, in order to explain that story and deliver the right feeling, the film would need to be a lot longer. And so, too much work for me. In the end, I changed lots of things and compressed the storyboard so I could finish it.

What do you plan to do now that you've graduated? Sorry to ask that question, I know it's the worst for new grads, haha.

Haha, I was so lost on this before, but now I kind of have a blueprint! The very first thing I want to do is find a job that I like, start saving, and get my PR (permanent residency) here in Canada, which is very realistic. I'll use my savings to go to grad school or take online classes: anything to improve my skills and broaden my perspective. Eventually, I want to work on personal projects without having to worry about financial issues.

Do you have a favorite cartoon, film, or artist?

Different films have been my favorite at different times in my life... I just love work that has great stories or strong emotions. I can’t really pick one film as my favorite, but Masaaki Yuasa is definitely one of my favorite directors! What I admire most about his films is how the abstract parts serve the expressive storytelling, and the drawings are always loose. That’s what I need to learn!

What's your biggest dream?

My biggest dream used to be becoming a zoologist! That was when I was 8. Now, my dream is to connect with great artists and studios over the world. To learn from them, work on fun projects, live a happy, healthy life, and occasionally go on vacations so that I can work on my other hobbies!

What are your hobbies outside of animation?

I’m interested in a wide range of things! Biking, gym exercise, photography, choreography, sculpting, sewing, leathercraft. But my greatest interest, outside of animation, is dolls and puppets! I love all kinds of dolls and toys. Different doll artists always make dolls with different characteristics, and that self-expression element is what appeals to me. I want to be able to create my own porcelain or resin doll one day. I am working hard toward that goal! ❀

Follow Addictiya on Instagram

Thank you for the interview Tiya! Love your work and am so looking forward to seeing what you do next. Enjoy home and your summer vacation pre-Adulting, you’ve earned the heck out of it!

- Cooper ❀

[grandnincompoop]

Fire Emblem, Design Philosophy, and My Quarrels

Let's harken back to 2001 and the release of Super Smash Brothers Melee. I had an N64 and a Gameboy, so I was familiar with most of the characters. You had Mario and Fox and Samus- I had either played their game or learned about them from the original Super Smash Brothers. I didn't really know you could just go on the internet and look up how to unlock all of the characters when the game came out, and even when I did, we would just look up how to get Mew in the original Pokemon. Nor did I have a Nintendo Power subscription. I had one issue- 2003's Issue 173, probably because it had Star Wars on the cover. So in the daunting quest of trying to discover how to unlock every character, you meet Marth and Roy. As with most of the non-Japanese world, I was left wondering who these two sword guys were. I was 9, so obviously I wasn't in the market for importing untranslated Famicon games. My curiosity wasn't satiated until 2003 with the release of Fire Emblem on the Game Boy Advanced, but I was immediately infatuated.

The Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade is a highly linear game. This was an age long before sprawling open worlds were commonplace in every RPG or shooter. You merely progressed from quest to quest, accumulating an ever growing roaster with each mission. Except for the three missions that include Arenas, there's no way to deviate from the progression of game's 37 chapters. The experience points you can gain are limited, and honestly the game is stronger for that. As much fun as I had grinding Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced, such as the time I trapped a high level Malboro with a cycle of sleep/attack/heal, it diminished from the thrill I experienced with Fire Emblem with its terrifying combat where every critical hit mattered. Simplicity and transparency are core to the experience. Almost like a board game, the game takes a narrow concept- in this case rock-paper-scissors, the adds some elaboration to it to make it flow into a fantasy world of mages and magical creatures. There are stats like strength and defense, and you have health and there's a grid you move on and there's a percentile to hit, all of which are visible to the player. That's about it and the game was better for it.

 The core elements could easily be fitted to a pen and paper experience which is what brought me to believe that the game had a Bottom Up development. I was introduced to this term by Mark Rosewater, the head designer of Magic: the Gathering, who describes it, along with its developmental opposite (Top Down), as "Top Down is subject matter based. I want to capture the subject matter. Bottom Up is mechanical based. There's a tool I want to make use of. How can I best make use of that tool." Not to insult the subject matter of Fire Emblem, but it, like its combat system, isn't complicated. They're collections of sometimes loosely related stories of a prince having to fight some evil in a world with dragons, drakes, wizards, EVIL wizards, undead/possessed/ etc etc. You could play them for their narrative, but most people I know and have read play it for the combat and support system (hold on, I'll get back to that in a moment). Looking at interviews with  Shouzou Kaga, the original creator of the series, his initial intent was to create a "roleplaying simulation", which he describes as

 "A strategy game. But strategy games typically are kind of “hardcore” and dry. (laughs) You only care about winning or losing the battle, and there’s no space for the player to empathize with the characters or story.

I love strategy games like that too, but I also love RPGs. By adding RPG elements, I wanted to create a game where the player could get more emotionally invested in what’s happening. Conversely, one of the drawbacks of RPGs is that there’s always just a single protagonist. Thus, to a certain extent, you can only experience the linear story that the game creator has prepared for you.

I wanted to create a game where the story and game will develop differently for each player depending on the units they use. Thus I added the strategy elements and arrived at this hybrid system."

 This idea doesn't seem to fit exactly into either of MaRo's definitions. Concept isn't exactly subject matter, usually a story or pre-established setting, nor is it strictly mechanical based, although it's definitely closer to that. If we looked at a chart from a 2007 article on Gamasutra titled "Game Design Cognition: The Bottom-Up and Top-Down Approaches:

 We see that beginning at a concept is part of the Top-Down process. So I guess my research proved I was wrong with my assertion when taking a developmental process from a relatively simple process, making a card with rules, and applying it to a highly complicated one, creating a video game.

 The concept is a fascinating one, however, playing with ideas that a modern genre, the grand strategy game, has to tackle with mindboggling amount of complexity. Since the plot is designed to introduce you to the menagerie of personalities they've designed, the writings is. . . charming, but not patricianly nuanced. By no means is the game the pinnacle of writing in interactive narratives. The characters personalities attached to a colorful aesthetic, almost comparable to what Blizzard's Overwatch did in making such a wide spectrum of characters that at least one should be appealing to even the most surly of fans. You'll have a female caviler who is a tom boy or a timed knight who, despite his bulking armor, commonly goes unnoticed. They're archetypes, not fully realized characters like you'll find in more traditionally RPGs with tomes of backstory and goals.  Overwatch and Fire Emblem develop their characters in the same manner- mid-combat dialog. Fire Emblem's greatest development (and what makes it stand out among the other strategy role playing games) is the Support System. Sure, it's fluff, but it evokes the feeling that there was a world before you arrived. Fire Emblems Awakenings main character, Chrom, will reminisce the past with his sister, another solider in your army. Except she can permanently die, unlike the Valhalla fantasy that is Overwatch where they we return to their friends to the next bout. Kaga always intended for your unit's looming mortality to cause shifts in how you view the narrative. "I wanted to make a strategy game that was more dramatic, something where you would really be able to feel the pain and struggle of the characters. That’s why characters can’t be revived once they’re killed, to impart a sense of gravity and seriousness. In turn, I think the result is that the more love you have for your characters, the more rewarding the game is." X-Com, a highly popular western SRPG for MS-DOS that came out four years later, attempted this with randomly generated names, nationalities, and looks for its characters. But unless you're willing to really lose yourself in the game and make your own narrative for the characters, their deaths will only have an impact in the loss of your highest level sniper, not the archer who was currently flirting with your barbarian. The game could create emersion through its characters and their deaths, but instead it becomes what I believe is the bane of  the series. There's a universe where each battle is like a chess match, where you must maliciously strategize your moves so take the least amount of causalities and each critical hit will either make or ruin your day. But we don’t live in that universe. Instead we're plagued with problems twofold: the prevalence of a dominate strategy and the existence of the reset button.  

 "A dominant strategy, in the context of game design, is something that emerges due to game imbalance. A clear example of dominant strategy would be "blocking the opponent from getting three in a row", in Tic-Tac-Toe."

 Fire Emblem is amazingly easy to get into and play, although maybe not to master. Unless you count the tactic I commonly refer to as the "death blob". It's like creating a delicious candy with a hard exterior and gooey center. Looking at another game for a second, Final Fantasy Tactics, you'll send your warriors and knights forward to pick off the prime targets while your mages and archers mop up. (Of course, there's another strategy where you carefully positioning yourself defensively into one corner, but they have means of combating this by starting you on the low ground to make you fight your way to high ground.) You can afford to have one or two units fall in combat because it'll only be moments before the healer arrives to mend any major injuries. It allows for the type of aggressive playstyle the computer utilizes against you, creating "drama". Fire Emblem is the antithesis. Dave Riley of the Fast Karate for the Gentlemen podcast and occasional game reviewer for Anime News Network says about action, "Most of the game is a creeping, careful crawl that moves the entire army in an ironclad block three spaces at a time. Movements are so fraught, and battles so carefully measured, that when the tide turns in your favor it's hard know what to do with the power." Usually your objective is to rid the map of foes that don't tend to move until you've moved past a certain threshold within their vacinity. As such, you'll surround your weaker characters, the mages, archers, the ones you're just now getting to leveling up, with those that have heavier armor or are higher in level. Then you move slowly across the map. And I mean agonizingly slow. Unless there is some sort of pressure on you, like a timed mission or some character you can interact with before the enemy overtakes them, it's three squares at the time for you. They've tried to counter this in some ways by having enemy units spawn behind you if you're taking too long, but that just leads to the second problem. Allowing the units to pair up to increase stats in Awakening was a good solution, but it showed to be highly overpowered when combined with the stats gained from the support system.

The second problem has coexisted with the game since inception. Instead of having gameplay be a carefully planned chess match (similar to the newly released Into the Breach which rewards sticking with failed "timelines" and even has a continent function to undo one turn per mission), we play the game like a speedrunner, resetting innumerous times in leu of missed attacks and unfortunate critical hits until we have such an intense knowledge of the map that we could perform it to lull us to bed. By adding Casual Mode in later games they've done some work to rectify this, and while the game might be more fun to play without having to turn off the console for the nth time, we loses Kaga's initial intent. In a joint interview with Hironobu Sakaguchi, he admits to Kaga that "when I die, I always reset". Even the creator of Final Fantasy has become victim to this pitfall! Kaga notes that "it’s not a big problem if some of your characters die in Fire Emblem; I want each player to create their own unique story. Don’t get caught up trying to get a “perfect ending.” Have fun!" But we just can’t because we have to see how the almost insignificant side dialog between the dark mage and pegasus knight will turn out. Will they become friends? We'll never know if we don't reset because an unexpected arrow saw an end to the purpled haired rider.

 The problem has exasperated even further with adding generations to the games. Awakening saw those cute support conversations to their apex by having them result in children, but not just any children- super soldiers of your own siring. Instead of being something cute you do on the side, a treat if you will, they added mechanics to the system. Depending on the abilities known by the parents and the hidden stat progressions (a thorn in the side of the wonderful transparency of the game), the child might be an unkillable machine of death that gets to move twice after reaping another soul all while regaining any  lost health. Fire Emblem has always had Uber characters. There's always the gallant knight, advisor to the lordling at the beginning of your adventure! (who is there solely to suck all the experience that should be going to anyone else) Then there's the  sweet young lad who starts as the weakest possible unit, needing to be babied for dozens of hours until they've shown their true colors as the harbinger of all lives, capable of taking down armies alone. But the child rearing aspect of the later games really irks me. It makes the game feel like it's become an anime character breeding simulator, where instead of letting love naturally develop on the battlefield as it has, you have to comb through wikias to see what the best combination for a certain child is. For a game that has forgone the grinding experience, it surely got lost in not remembering what made it so great to begin with in its transparency.

 There are aspects of Fire Emblem that reflect actual war. Every character is such: an individual with hopes, dreams, and interests. Taking a little time to get to know them leaves you with a sense of loss when they're lost in a pillar of flame from some nameless enemy mage. These games could be so much more with a little more finesse. The series has gone on for decades now, and this has caused the games to roll up increasing more systems until it has reached the point now that it is hard to see the game for what it once was. The concessions you have to make are never "there's no way I can do this without sacrificing someone for the noble cause" like the newly released Battletech RPG throws at you; the concessions are "time to waste a little more time and reset the game again." I believe the game I want to make can come- they just have to do a little more resetting.

[coolbloggerthings]

27 top character design tips

Character design can be a tricky beast to tackle in animation world. Creating your own character from scratch involves a lot of creative thinking. Although many of the classic characters familiar to us all through cartoons, movies and advertising look straightforward, a lot of skill and effort will have gone into making them so effective.

From Mickey Mouse's famous three-fingered hands – drawn to save production time when he was first developed for animations in the 1920s – to the elegant simplicity of Homer Simpson, character design has always been about keeping it simple.

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But aside from clean lines and easily readable features, what else do you need to consider for your character design? There's knowing what to exaggerate and what to play down, what to add to give a hint of background and depth, and what to do to develop personality.

And then there's the matter of the technicalities of how to draw your character design. If it's going to be used in motion or as part of a comic strip, you'll need to make sure it works from any angle (easier said than done, as this unsettling top-down view of Mickey Mouse proves).

For this article, we asked a range of leading artists and illustrators their advice on creating memorable, unique character designs. Many of these tips come from Pictoplasma, an annual character design festival in Berlin.

01. Don't lose the magic

Make sure you don't polish all the charm from your characters [Image: Laurie Rowan]

Many character designers will start their project with a sketch. And most agree designers agree this is often where the essence of the character is captured. So when you're working up your design, make sure you don't lose that magic.

"I try to stick to my original drawing style, because the instinct is to try and clean it up," says Laurie Rowan. "I don't like to feel like I've created by characters; I like to feel like I've kind of just encountered them."

"When starting out on your character design, don’t get caught up in the details," says Pernille Ørum. "Decide what you’re trying to communicate, then create loose sketches with movement, acting and flow. As soon as you start to tighten up the drawing, you’ll automatically lose some of the dynamic, so it’s important to have as much life in the early stages as possible. Movement is all but impossible to add later, so make sure it’s in the initial sketch."

02. Step away from the reference material

While inspiration needs to come from somewhere, the aim is to create something original. So Robert Wallace – known as Parallel Teeth – suggests not having the reference material right in front of you as you work.

"If you look at something and then you try and hazily remember it in your mind, that's when you end up making something new, rather than a pastiche of something," he says. Above you can see Wallace's new take on well-known festive figures, created for a Hong Kong department store.

03. Research other characters

For guidance, it can be helpful to try and deconstruct why certain character designs work and why some don't. There's no shortage of research material to be found, with illustrated characters appearing everywhere: on TV commercials, cereal boxes, shop signs, stickers on fruit, animations on mobile phones, and more. Study these character designs and think about what makes some successful and what in particular you like about them.

"When you work with characters you need to be inspired," advises Ørum, "and you can do this through research. Your mind is a visual library that you can fill up. Try to notice people around you – how they walk, their gestures, how they dress – and use that in your design."

04. ... but also look elsewhere

It's also a good idea to look beyond character designs when hunting for inspiration. "I like birds' mating rituals a lot," laughs Rowan. The odd movements can spark unique character behaviour.

"When I begin a project, I often start with the feeling I want to evoke," he adds. The process begins with the designer taking videos of himself as a reference, trying to capture something of the character idea's movement or posture.

Other inspirations include ceramics – an organic texture and muted colour palette stop his work feeling too clinical – and folk costumes.

05. Don't lose sight of the original idea

Sea of Solitude is an upcoming game by Jo-Mei studio [Image: Jo-Mei]

It's easy to subconsciously let our favourite designs influence us. Cornelia Geppert, CEO of indie games studio Jo-Mei, is a huge fan of The Last Guardian, with its unique aesthetic and great video game character designs.

At one point one of her team members had to say to her that their Sea of Solitude design was looking a little too similar to The Last Guardian. She looked back at her initial artworks, and it brought back the feeling she had when creating them. The project shifted back on track.

06. Exaggerate

Exaggerating the defining features of your character design will help it appear larger than life. Exaggerated features will also help viewers to identify the character's key qualities. Exaggeration is key in cartoon caricatures and helps emphasise certain personality traits. If your character is strong, don't just give it normal-sized bulging arms, soup them up so that they're five times as big as they should be.

The technique of exaggeration can be applied to characteristics, too. Anna Mantzaris' hilarious Enough film (above) shows everyday characters in mundane situations, doing the things we've all dreamed of doing on a bad day. "I think it's fun with animation that you can push things further, and people will still accept it as real," she says. "With live action it would look absurd. You can also push the emotion further."

07. Decide who your character design is aimed at

Nathan Jurevicius' Scarygirl features in games and a graphic novel [Image: Nathan Jurevicius]

Think about your audience. Character designs aimed at young children, for example, are typically designed around basic shapes and bright colours. If you're working for a client, the character's target audience is usually predetermined, as Aussie artist Nathan Jurevicius explains.

"Commissioned character designs are usually more restrictive but no less creative. Clients have specific needs but also want me to do my 'thing'. Usually, I'll break down the core features and personality. For example, if the eyes are important then I'll focus the whole design around the face, making this the key feature that stands out."

08. Make your character distinctive

Whether an animator is creating a monkey, robot or monster, you can guarantee there are going to be a hundred other similar creations out there. Your character design needs to be strong and interesting in a visual sense to get people's attention.

When devising The Simpsons, Matt Groening knew he had to offer the viewers something different. He reckoned that when viewers were flicking through TV channels and came across the show, the characters' unusually bright yellow skin colour would grab their attention.

09. Create clear silhouettes

A silhouette helps you understand the character's gesture [image: Pernille Ørum]

Another good way to make your character distinct and improve its pose, says Ørum, is to turn it into a silhouette. "Then you can see how the character ‘reads’ and if you need to make the gesture more clear. Do you understand the emotion of the character and see the line of action? Can things be simplified? Try not to overlap everything, and keep the limbs separate."

07. Develop a line of action

A line of action is the backbone of a character drawing [Image: Pernille Ørum]

One key aspect to consider when creating a character design is the line of action. This is what defines the direction of your character, as well as being a useful narrative tool and bringing a feeling of movement.

"Try to bring the line of action all the way out to the extremities," says Ørum. "A ballet dancer is a good example: they emphasise the line from the tips of their toes to the tips of their fingers. The line of action is also easier to see in creatures with fewer limbs, which is why mermaids are an ideal subject for developing a strong line of action."

08. Make it personal

Geppert's Sea of Solitude video game is an exploration of her experiences of loneliness. Intensely personal though it may be, the game hit a chord with audiences when it was previewed at E3 earlier in the year, because it deals with an experience that is so universal yet still strangely taboo.

"The best art is based on personal experiences. People can relate better if it's based on the truth," says Geppert. "It's not a made-up story, even though it's based in a fantastical setting."

09. Find the posture first

Posture can say a lot about a character [Image: Félicie Haymoz/Wes Anderson]

Félicie Haymoz has worked with Wes Anderson on both of his animated features: Fantastic Mr Fox and Isle of Dogs. When embarking on a new character design, Haymoz likes to start by finding the individual's posture. This element can start the ball rolling on the whole feel of the personality. "I try to capture the stance of the character. Are they hunched over, or are they sitting straight and proud?" She also notes the face is important to get right.

Read more of Haymoz's film character tips here.

10. Consider line quality

Straight and curved lines are read by your eyes at different speeds [image: Pernille Ørum]

The drawn lines of which your character design is composed can go some way to describing it. Thick, even, soft and round lines may suggest an approachable, cute character, whereas sharp, scratchy and uneven lines might point to an uneasy and erratic character.

Ørum recommends balancing straight and curved lines. "Straight lines and curves gives your character design a rhythm. A straight line (or a simple line) leads the eye quickly, while a curved (or detailed line) slows down the eye.'

It's also worth considering the balance between stretch and compression. "Even a neutral pose can lead the eye by applying these two approaches, resulting in an effective character design," says Ørum.

11. Use a joke structure

Rowan grew a name for himself by sharing humorous clips of his characters on Instagram, and went on to work on projects for Disney, the BBC and MTV, and earned himself a BAFTA award and nomination in the process. However, it was his less successful years doing standup comedy that provided inspiration for his trademark character animations.

"It's through standup I learned brevity. It's kind of a joke structure," he explains. Knowing how to frame the clip comes from past failures and successes on stage: "You very quickly learn how to hit certain points," he laughs.

12. Keep it simple

As well as knowing when to exaggerate, Ørum is also keen to highlight the importance of simplicity. "I always try to communicate the designs with the fewest lines possible. It doesn’t mean that work hasn’t been put into creating the volume, placement and design of the character, but I try to simplify as much as possible and only put down the lines and colours that conveys the necessary information."

13. Consider all the angles

Hilda needed to work from all angles to appear in a comic strip [Image: Luke Pearson/Flying Eye Books]

Depending on what you have planned for your character design, you might need to work out what it will look like from all angles. A seemingly flat character can take on a whole new persona when seen from the side if, for example, it has a massive beer belly.

In the Character Design Crash Course workshop at Pictoplasma 2019, Jurevicius and Rilla Alexander asked attendees to sketch their character in poses held by other attendees, life drawing style.

And if you're going to turn it into a comic strip, a la Luke Pearson's Hilda, it'll need to not only make sense from all angles, but look good too.

"How to draw Hilda from behind without her hair swallowing her silhouette", how to draw her beret from above; a long and drawn out battle with how her nose should look… these were all issues Pearson had to deal with when creating his character. The problems all ultimately led to design solutions.

14. Build it in 3D

If your character is going to exist within a 3D world, as an animation or even as a toy, working out its height, weight and physical shape is all important. Alternatively, go one step further and create a model.

"Even if you're not someone who works in 3D, you can learn a lot by converting your character into three dimensions," says Alexander. It's a key part of the process the students follow at the Pictoplasma Academy.

15. Choose colours carefully

Complementary colours create a pleasing balance [image: Pernille Ørum]

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Colours can help communicate a character's personality. Typically, dark colours such as black, purples and greys depict baddies with malevolent intentions.

Light colours such as white, blues, pinks and yellows express innocence and purity. Comic-book reds, yellows and blues might go some way to giving hero qualities to a character design.

"To choose effective colours, it’s important to understand the basic rules of colour," explains Ørum. "Become familiar with the primary, secondary and tertiary colours, as well as monochromatic and complementary colours. One technique for generating an effective colour palette is to chose two complementary colours and work with them in a monochromatic colour scheme."

"You’ll create balance because complementary colours create dynamism, while monochrome colours invoke feelings of calm. You could also try a tertiary colour scheme, which adds a third colour (for example, violet, orange and green), and then work with monochromatic versions of those colours, but it demands more planning and skill for it to work well. If you’re new to colour, try and keep it simple."

To read more on this, see our post on colour theory.

16. Don't forget the hair

Shape, divide and hairline are the secrets to drawing good hair [image: Pernille Ørum]

"Some years ago I went from hating drawing hair to loving it," Ørum. "Previously, I used to view working out all the details and directions of the hair as a tedious endeavour. Now I think of it more as a large, organic shape, which like a flag in the wind indicates and emphasises the movement of the character or its surroundings.

"Start by creating a large shape and divide it into shorter sections, while thinking about where the hair is parted and where the hairline is. Every line should help to define the volume, shape and direction of the hair."

17. Add accessories

Props and clothing can help to emphasise character traits and their background. For example, scruffy clothes can be used for poor characters, and lots of diamonds and bling for tasteless rich ones. Accessories can also be more literal extensions of your character's personality, such as a parrot on a pirate's shoulder or a maggot in a ghoul's skull.

[transgamerthoughts]

Final Fantasy XV: Thoughts and Ramblings

I’ve just finished a more detailed playthrough of Final Fantasy XV. There’s plenty to talk about but today is strange and my mind is scattered so I thought it best to keep things loose. It worked for Infinite Warfare. My general takeaway is that I like Final Fantasy XV more than I should. It is a broken, shattered game but one that managed to win me over in spite of itself.

THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS POST

1. Let’s start positive here. FFXV has one of my favorite game worlds and settings in a long time. This is impressive given how surprisingly little of it we really explore in detail. There’s essentially two major cities in this game, with a handful of minor locations. Whereas other Final Fantasy games are globe trotting affairs, FFXV remains relatively local until the latter end of the game. 

By this point, you’re no longer dealing with an open world design however. For all intents and purposes, FFXV’s largest gameplay chuck takes place within the nation of Lucis and its various regions. The map isn’t dense with things to do but strong art direction and environment design gives ever location an air of believability that most games do not manage. It isn’t on the same level as The Witcher 3 but FF XV is chasing after the great Western open worlds and does so admirably. The world is fun to be in and feels steeped in a larger history and lore that feels suitably epic and magical.

2. The core cast of characters are enjoyable and memorable as well. The four party members banter and have clearly developing relationships. It adds a lot to the experience. There are weak links in the chain; Gladio tends to be far less personable than we are meant to believe and Ignis’ traits remain fairly static until a major bit of action in the plot physically handicaps him. These are minor complaints considering how well the group dynamics flow. By the end of the game, the four protagonists feel like true brothers.

The secondary cast is pretty fun as well. Iris is a charming and likable character who honestly should have accompanied the party longer than she did. Aranea makes for a memorable rival turned frenemy, and while we don’t get to spend too much time with Cor Leonis, his gravitas served the initial parts of the game very well. 

On top of this, we have one of the most memorable antagonists in the series history. Ardyn is charismatic, intelligent, watchable, and when the times demand it, he can become truly sinister. There are the subtle hints of true depth for this character; he feels complicated and worn. The plot fails to investigate his highly interesting history but he still manages to make an impression. I’ve not had this fun with a Final Fantasy villain in a long time.

3. A lot of these characters draw strength from strong vocal performances and animations. Ray Chase gives a shockingly good turn as Noctis, a character who starts petty and fairly unlikable grows into a commanding presence. Darin De Paul gives an outstanding turn as Ardyn, oozing charm while slipping into more sinister vocal ranges when needed. 

One of the best performances in the game actually comes from Robbie Daymond as Prompto. He brings a wonderful energy to the chipper gunslinger but also imbues him with a raw sense of vulnerability. The voce work merges well with quality animations. In particular, there’s a moment where Luna tells Ardyn that redemption is in his reach if he were to choose it and the facial animation manages to communicate an astounding range of thoughts and emotions within around five seconds. It’s great and shows how important the interplay between multiple disciplines are when creating digital performances.

4. Combat can be frustrating but I found that there’s a nice sense of push and pull to the entire affair. It’s not as technique heavy as Episode Duscae implied. Instead, the challenge is finding times to maintain your offensive actions and your defensive dodging stance. With larger groups of enemies, you will get tossed around from time to time and it can be frustrating. But after a while, you’ll find yourself slipping through guards to deliver big hits, performing strong combination attacks with your bros, and warping around the battlefield to perform deadly, magical acrobatics.

5. The game starts with an amazingly interesting core conceit that I think gets squandered. The road trip angle is given a new weight when Cor makes it clear that for Noctis to succeed against the empire, he needs to reclaim the power of the past kings of Lucis. Awesome. That sounds like a neat quest set up. But the game only has Noctis recover a few of these relics during the plot, sometimes without intending to. This then gives way to communion with the various gods around the world.

It would have been a perfectly acceptable and desirable plot to have Noctis seek out the power of kings and gods with the Empire hounding him along the way only for Ardyn to betray everyone near the latter half. In fact, that structure seems fundamentally etched into the structure of the game as an open world experience. And yet, the game abandons the quest for the king’s power, makes it unclear why Noctis is even seeking the gods (or rather, if they are seeking him), and the game totally abandons the Empire. 

The best example of this is Ravus. He’s the commander of Imperial forces, a skill swordsman, Luna’s brother, someone with a personal (if misplaced) grudge on the kingdom of Lucis, and all around bad dude. He was even in Kingsglaive. In FF XV, you encounter him once before he is blamed for the disastrous events in Altissia, turned into a daemon offscreen by Ardyn, and killed in one of the game’s most lack luster bossfights. This is frankly unacceptable from a series that managed to make me give a shit about villains as minor Scarlet and fuckin’ Heidegger but Ravus is basically Beatrix by way of Char Aznable and he’s completely misused. It’s downright sinful.

Similarly, the Emperor has a single scene. If the game took time to build him up, we might have had a betrayal as memorable as Kefka’s when Ardyn usurps power and tosses the realms into chaos. No such luck here. We also only see Minister Verstael for a single cutscene but this is the dude who runs the empire’s weapons program and manufactures MTs using knowledge gained from Ardyn. He’s also, technically, Prompto’s father. There’s loads of potential here that is also wasted because the game hits ludicrous speed after Altissia and never slows the fuck down. As the result, I feel like I’m missing a significant portion of the game.

6. In keeping with the botched story elements, we have the biggest missed opportunity when Ardyn basically creates and eternal night that lasts ten whole years. The world is plunged into chaos, daemons reign supreme, humanity is hiding in a few final bastions of resistance against the hordes. And yet, when we awake into the World of Ruin, we’re not given a new variation of the game map to explore. Instead, we get an expositional dump by Talcott before easily reuniting with out companions.

Yet, in the intervening ten years, a lot of stuff has happened. Ignis has become a badass blind warrior, Aranea has gone from Imperial mercenary to champion of the people with an entire army at her command, Iris, working alongside Cor, has become so awesome that she’s known as “Iris the Demonslayer,” and Talcott, the young boy we knew from years before, has become a veteran hunter in his own right.

Why do I not see the characters again? Imagine if I woke in the World of Ruin with only Gladio to greet me, ever faithful for years as guardian of the Crystal. Talcott joins us as a temporary guest character as we journey from settlement to settlement, helping restore order while also reuniting with our friends. We could help Cindy in a brief story sequence that reunites us with Prompto, we could encounter Aranea and Ignis as they search ancient ruins for information of how to defeat Ardyn, we could reinforce Cor and Iris at Gladio’s request in a battle against daemons attacking Lestallum.

 The set up is right there in the background but instead, we get an exposition dump, no satisfying reunion scene with the gang, and we’re able to immediately head to Insomnia to fight Ardyn. If the first half of the game is missing the Empire, the latter half of the game is missing basically everything.

8. In spite of these obvious oversights and missteps, the ending made me cry. It’s well done. I even think it could have been more dramatic. As it stands, Noctis gives up his life for the people of the world and the fates of his best bros feel ambiguous. I think they should have doubled down even harder on the heartbreak here and showed their last stand. If this is a game about gradually assuming responsibility, that needs to extend to the other protagonists in order to be thematically complete. 

I also think that while Ardyn should have died, there was no need to have the strange moment with him in the spirit realm. If we had someone gotten to understand Arydn’s past in more detail, perhaps during the time Noctis spends in the crystal, it would have been enough to land the final blow on him and wish him peace in the next life. The ending is good but I can’t help thinking it ought to have been great.

9. I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think this game needed a codex. The world is full of amazingly interesting history that I’d gladly read about. Imagine walking into a dungeon and walking away with ancient lore you discovered on old tablets or spending time in Altissia with some type of tour guide and getting a beefier codex for it. As stated, the world is amazingly interesting. Lestallum is a city run by women, Titan is holding up a perpetually falling comet in the middle of Duscae, the Empire and Lucis had major wars, the tombs of old kings litter the land. This is interesting stuff I want to know more about

Say what you will about how FF XIII made the codex necessary to understanding I actually know the religion in that world and the cosmology. In FF XV, I still don’t quite understand what an Oracle is and that’s literally the profession of one of the (ostensibly) most important characters in the game.

10. Speaking of Luna, she suffers from the same issue as her brother; we don’t get to spend time with her. Occasionally, we see flashes to her life and her side journey but this is a powerful character. Instead, she is relegated largely to the sidelines until Altissia, where we reunite with her just long enough for Ardyn to kill her.  

Luna is a  prophet, mage, and priestess who can stare down literal gods and heal magical blight. FF XV could have easily given us moments where we play as here or structured itself such that we actually get worthwhile perspective cuts to what she was doing for much of the story. It would have made her death actually mean something.

11. This game has one of the best soundtracks of the series. It is a powerhouse and Yoko Shimomura nails just about every track. Shimomura has always done very well with strings and piano. Here, that strength aptly bridges the gap between the more realistic aspects of the setting with the fantasy. I don’t have an in depth analysis here. It’s just very good. 

In general, the biggest issue with FFXV is that is is fractured. The open world is great, if lacking in variety. But I forgive that because of how enrapturing it is. The characters are wonderful but the plot misuses them or ignores them constantly. I genuinely like this game but I know that a better scenario designer could have gotten something much more coherent. That’s the biggest problem; this game just falls apart by the end and even if it manages to hit a strong emotional climax, you’re let with the overwhelming feeling that while it was a good time, it could have been genuinely great. 

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27 top character design tips

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27 top character design tips

Character design can be a tricky beast to tackle. Creating your own character from scratch involves a lot of creative thinking. Although many of the classic characters familiar to us all through cartoons, movies and ad look straightforward, a lot of skill and attempt will have gone into building them so effective.

From Mickey Mouse& apos; s famous three-fingered hands- drawn to save production time when he was first developed for animations in the 1920 s- to the elegant simplicity of Homer Simpson, character design has always been about maintaining it simple.

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But aside from clean lines and easily readable features, what else do you need to consider for your character design? There& apos; s knowing what to exaggerate and what to play down, what to add to give a hint of background and depth, and what to do to develop personality.

And then there& apos; s the matter of the technicalities of how to draw your character design. If it& apos; s going to be used in motion or as part of a cartoon strip, you& apos; ll need to make sure it works from any slant( easier said than done, as this unsettling top-down view of Mickey Mouse demonstrates ).

For this article, we asked a range of leading artists and illustrators their advice on making memorable, unique character designs. Many of these tips come from Pictoplasma, an annual character design celebration in Berlin.

01. Don& apos; t lose the magic

Make sure you don’t polish all the charm from your characters[ Image: Laurie Rowan]

Many character designers will start their project with a sketch. And most agree decorators agree this is often where the essence of the character is captured. So when you& apos; re work up your design, make sure you don& apos; t lose that magic.

“I try to stick to my original depict style, because the instinct is to try and clean it up, ” says Laurie Rowan. “I don& apos; t like to feel like I& apos; ve created by characters; I like to feel like I& apos; ve kind of only encountered them.”

“When starting out on your character design, don’t get caught up in the details, ” says Pernille Orum. “Decide what you’re trying to communicate, then create loose sketches with movement, acting and flow. As soon as you start to tighten up the drawing, you’ll automatically lose some of the dynamic, so it’s important to have as much life in the early stages as possible. Movement is all but impossible to add later, so make sure it’s in the initial sketch.”

02. Step away from the reference material

While inspiration needs to come from somewhere, the aim is to create something original. So Robert Wallace- known as Parallel Teeth– suggests not having the reference material right in front of you as you work.

“If you look at something and then you try and hazily remember it in your intellect, that& apos; s when you end up inducing something new, rather than a pastiche of something, ” he says. Above you can see Wallace& apos; s new take on well-known festive figures, created for a Hong Kong department store.

03. Research other characters

For guidance, it can be helpful to try and deconstruct why certain character designs run and why some don& apos; t. There& apos; s no famine of research material to be found, with illustrated characters appearing everywhere: on TV commercials, cereal boxes, store signs, stickers on fruit, animations on mobile phones, and more. Study these character designs and think about what induces some successful and what in particular you like about them.

“When you work with characters you need to be inspired, ” advises Orum, “and you can do this through research. Your mind is a visual library that you can fill up. Try to notice people around you- how they stroll, their gestures, how they dress- and use that in your design.”

04. … but also look elsewhere

It& apos; s also a good notion to look beyond character designs when hunting for inspiration. “I like birds& apos; mating rituals a lot, ” chuckles Rowan. The odd movements can spark unique character behaviour.

“When I begin a project, I often start with the feeling I want to evoke, ” he adds. The process begins with the designer taking videos of himself as a reference, trying to capture something of the character idea& apos; s movement or posture.

Other inspirations include ceramics- an organic texture and muted colour palette stop his work feeling too clinical- and folk costumes.

05. Don& apos; t lose sight of the fact the original notion

Sea of Solitude is an upcoming game by Jo-Mei studio[ Image: Jo-Mei]

It& apos; s easy to subconsciously let our favourite designs influence us. Cornelia Geppert, CEO of indie games studio Jo-Mei, is a huge fan of The Last Guardian, with its unique aesthetic and great video game character designs.

At one point one of her team members had to say to her that their Sea of Solitude design was looking a little too similar to The Last Guardian. She appeared back at her initial artworks, and it brought back the feeling she had when creating them. The project changed back on track.

06. Exaggerate

Exaggerating the defining features of your character design will help it appear larger than life. Exaggerated features will also help spectators to identify the character& apos; s key qualities. Exaggeration is key in cartoon caricatures and helps emphasise certain personality traits. If your character is strong, don& apos; t only dedicate it normal-sized bulging limbs, soup them up so that they& apos; re five times as big as they should be.

The technique of exaggeration can be applied to characteristics, too. Anna Mantzaris& apos; hilarious Enough film( above) presents everyday characters in mundane situations, doing the things we& apos; ve all dreamed of doing on a bad day. “I think it& apos; s fun with animation that you can push things further, and people will still accept it as real, ” she says. “With live action it would look absurd. You can also push the emotion further.”

07. Decide who your character design is aimed at

Nathan Jurevicius’ Scarygirl features in games and a graphic fiction[ Image: Nathan Jurevicius]

Think about your audience. Character designs aimed at young children, for example, are typically designed around basic shapes and bright colours. If you& apos; re working for a client, the character& apos; s target audience is usually predetermined, as Aussie artist Nathan Jurevicius explains.

“Commissioned character designs are usually more restrictive but no less creative. Clients have specific needs but also want me to do my& apos; thing& apos ;. Usually, I& apos; ll break down the core features and personality. For example, if the eyes are important then I& apos; ll focus the whole design around the face, making this the key feature that stands out.”

08. Make your character distinctive

Matt Groening used yellow to construct The Simpsons characters stand out from the crowd

Whether you& apos; re creating a monkey, robot or monster, you can guarantee there are going to be a hundred other similar creations out there. Your character design needs to be strong and interesting in a visual sense to get people& apos; s attention.

When devising The Simpsons, Matt Groening knew he had to offer the spectators something different. He has pointed out that when viewers were flicking through Tv channels and came across the show, the characters& apos; remarkably bright yellow skin colour would grab their attention.

09. Create clear silhouettes

A silhouette helps you understand the character’s gesture[ image: Pernille Orum]

Another good way to make your character distinct and improve its pose, says Orum, is to turn it into a silhouette. “Then you can see how the character’ reads’ and if you need to stimulate the gesture more clear. Do you understand the emotion of the character and see the line of action? Can things be simplified? Try not to overlap everything, and keep the limbs separate.”

07. Develop a line of action

A line of action is the backbone of a character drawing[ Image: Pernille Orum]

One key aspect to consider when creating a character design is the line of action. This is what defines the direction of your character, as well as being a useful narrative tool and bringing a feeling of movement.

“Try to bring the line of action all the way out to the extremities, ” says Orum. “A ballet dancer is a good example: they emphasise the line from the tips of their toes to the tips of their fingers. The line of action is also easier to see in beings with fewer extremities, which is why mermaids are an ideal subject for developing a strong line of action.”

08. Make it personal

Geppert& apos; s Sea of Solitude video game is an exploration of her experiences of loneliness. Intensely personal though it may be, the game made a chord with audiences when it was previewed at E3 earlier in the year, because it deals with an experience that is so universal yet still strangely taboo.

“The best art is based on personal experiences. People can relate better if it& apos; s based on the truth, ” says Geppert. “It& apos; s not a made-up story, even though it& apos; s based in a fantastical setting.”

09. Find the posture first

Posture can say a lot about a character[ Image: Felicie Haymoz/ Wes Anderson]

Felicie Haymoz has worked with Wes Anderson on both of his animated features: Fantastic Mr Fox and Isle of Dogs. When embarking on a new character design, Haymoz likes to start by finding the individual& apos; s posture. This element can start the ball rolling on the whole feel of the personality. “I try to capture the stance of the character. Are they hunched over, or are they sitting straight-out and proud? ” She also notes the face is important to get right.

Read more of Haymoz& apos; s film character tips-off here.

10. Consider line quality

Straight and curved lines are read by your eyes at different velocities[ image: Pernille Orum]

The drawn lines of which your character design is composed can go some style to describing him. Thick, even, soft and round lines may suggest an approachable, cute character, whereas sharp, scratchy and uneven lines might point to an uneasy and erratic character.

Orum recommends balancing straight and curved lines. “Straight lines and curves gives your character design a rhythm. A straight line( or a simple line) leads the eye rapidly, while a curved( or detailed line) slows down the eye .& apos ;P TAGEND

It& apos; s also worth considering the balance between stretch and compressing. “Even a neutral pose can lead the eye by applying these two approaches, resulting in an effective character design, ” says Orum.

11. Use a joke structure

Rowan grew a name for himself by sharing humorous clips of his characters on Instagram, and went on to work on projects for Disney, the BBC and MTV, and earned himself a BAFTA award and nomination in the process. However, it was his less successful years doing standup comedy that provided inspiration for his trademark character animations.

“It& apos; s through standup I learned brevity. It& apos; s kind of a joke structure, ” he explains. Knowing how to frame the clip comes from past failures and successes on stage: “You very quickly learn how to hit certain phases, ” he chuckles.

12. Keep it simple

As well as knowing when to exaggerate, Orum is also keen to highlight the importance of simplicity. “I always try to communicate the designs with the fewest lines possible. It doesn’t mean that work hasn’t been put into creating the volume, placement and design of the character, but I try to simplify as much as possible and only put down the lines and colours that gives the necessary information.”

13. Consider all the angles

Hilda needed to work from all slants to appear in a cartoon strip[ Image: Luke Pearson/ Flying Eye Books]

Depending on what you have planned for your character design, you might need to work out what it will look like from all angles. A seemingly flat character can take on a whole new persona when seen from the side if, for example, it has a massive beer belly.

In the Character Design Crash Course workshop at Pictoplasma 2019, Jurevicius and Rilla Alexander asked attendees to sketch their character in poses held under other attendees, life depict style.

And if you& apos; re going to turn it into a comic strip, a la Luke Pearson& apos; s Hilda, it& apos; ll need to not only make sense from all slants, but seem good too.

“How to draw Hilda from behind without her hair swallowing her silhouette”, how to draw her beret from above; a long and drawn out battle with how her nose should look … these were all issues Pearson had to deal with when creating his character. The problems all ultimately led to design solutions.

14. Build it in 3D

If your character is going to exist within a 3D world, as an animation or even as a plaything, working out its height, weight and physical shape is all important. Alternatively, go one step further and create a model.

“Even if you& apos; re not someone who works in 3D, you can learn a lot by converting your character into three dimensions, ” says Alexander. It& apos; s a key part of the process the students follow at the Pictoplasma Academy.

15. Choose colours carefully

Complementary colourings create a pleasing balance[ image: Pernille Orum]

Colours can help communicate a character& apos; s personality. Typically, dark colours such as black, purples and grays illustrate baddies with malevolent aims.

Light colourings such as white, blues, pinks and yellows express innocence and purity. Comic-book reds, yellows and blues might run some style to devoting hero qualities to a character design.

“To choose effective colours, it’s important to understand the basic rules of colour, ” explains Orum. “Become familiar with the primary, secondary and tertiary colours, as well as monochromatic and complementary colours. One technique for generate an effective colour palette is to chose two complementary colours and work with them in a monochromatic colour scheme.”

“You’ll create balance because complementary colourings create dynamism, while monochrome colourings invoke feelings of pacify. You could also try a tertiary colour scheme, which adds a third colouring( for example, violet, orange and green ), and then work with monochromatic versions of those colours, but it demands more scheming and skill for it to work well. If you’re new to colour, try and keep it simple.”

To read more on this, insure our post on colour theory.

16. Don& apos; t forget the hair

Shape, divide and hairline are the secrets to drawing good hair[ image: Pernille Orum]

“Some years ago I went from detesting depict hair to loving it, ” Orum. “Previously, I used to view working out all the details and directions of the hair as a tedious attempt. Now I think of it more as a large, organic shape, which like a flag in the wind indicates and emphasises the movement of the character or its surroundings.

“Start by creating a large shape and divide it into shorter segments, while thinking about where the hair is parted and where the hairline is. Every line should help to define the volume, shape and direction of the hair.”

17. Add accessories

Props and clothing can help to emphasise character traits and their background. For instance, scruffy clothes can be used for poor characters, and lots of diamonds and bling for tasteless rich ones. Accessories can also be more literal extensions of your character& apos; s personality, such as a parrot on a pirate& apos; s shoulder or a maggot in a ghoul& apos; s skull.

30 inspiring examples of 3D art

Next page: More top character design tips…

18. Focus on facial expression

Facial expression is key to a character’s personality, as Tex Avery’s Droopy demonstrates

Expressions showing a character& apos; s range of emotions and illustrating its ups and downs will further flesh out your character. Depending on its personality, a figure& apos; s emotions might be muted and wry or explosive and wildly exaggerated.

“When you know the basics of depicting a face, play with the expression of the character, ” says Orum. “Use a mirror to read your own face and notice the subtle changes. Push and pull the eyebrows to show emotion. Avoid giving the face symmetry. The mouth will always prefers a side and it gives life to the drawing. And give the head a tilt to add nuance.”

Classic examples of exaggerated expressions can be found in the work of the legendary Tex Avery: the eyes of his Wild Wolf character often pop out of its head when it& apos; s aroused. Another example of how expressions communicate motions is deadpan Droopy, who barely registers any sort of emotion at all.

19. Give your character objectives

The driving force behind a character& apos; s personality is what it wants to achieve. This missing& apos; something& apos;- be it riches, a girlfriend or solving a mystery- can help to create the dramatic thrusting behind the narratives and adventures your character gets up to. Often the incompleteness or flaws in a character design are what make it interesting.

20. Build up a back tale

A scene can help reveal the identity of your character[ image: Pernille Orum]

If you& apos; re prepare the way for your character design to exist within comics and animations, then developing its back story is important. Where it comes from, how it came to exist and any life-changing events it has experienced are going to help back up the solidity of, and subsequent notion in, your character. Sometimes the telling of a character& apos; s back tale can be more interesting than the character& apos; s present adventures.

“If you’re experiencing problems when attempting to nail the essence of a character, try thinking of them in a certain situation, ” Orum advises. “Use the narrative to think about your character’s emotions before tackling the design, and add the details afterwards. Defining the scene is the best help when staring at a blank piece of paper, and it stimulates the process more fun, too! “

21. Remember it& apos; s not all about the face

Yukai Du utilizes hands to covey feeling[ image: Yukai Du]

Yukai Du is not what you& apos ;d call a typical character designer: none of her work features faces. Instead, her body part of choice is the hands. Having observe she wasn& apos; t good at capturing specific feelings within a facial expression, she turned to a different body proportion: the hands. “Hands are very expressive. You can tell a lot of tales with hands, and do it in a very subtle way, ” she says. Hands became her way of telling stories.

22. Make your character design flexible

Having decent software and materials to work with is useful, but not essential, when it comes to bringing your character to life. A lot of amazing characters were successfully designed years ago when no one had personal computers and Photoshop CC was just a dream.

If you character is really strong, you should be able to capture it with merely a pen and paper. Or, as Sune Ehlers sets it: “The character should still be able to work with a stick dipped in mud and described on asphalt.”

Top Photoshop tutorials 23. Get feedback from others

Show people your creations and ask them what they believe. Don’t just ask whether they like them or not. Instead, see if they can pick up the personalities and traits of your characters. Find who you think is the suitable or ideal audience for your work and get feedback specifically from them about it.

24. Make it honest

John Bond recently created a storybook based on his Mini Rabbit character[ Image: John Bond]

“A lot of my commercial project come out of my personal work. That& apos; s why I try to attain my personal work so honest to what I like. I think it comes through to the viewer that I& apos; m not just ticking boxes, ” says John Bond. The illustrator recently launched his debut picture book, NOT LOST, based on his Mini Rabbit character design.

25. Create the right environment

In the same way that you create a history for your character, you need to create an environment for it to help further cement believability in your creation. The world in which the character lives and interacts should in some way make sense to who the character is and what it gets up to.

26. Fine-tune your figure

Question each element of your creation, especially things such as its facial features. The slightest alteration can have a great consequence on how your character is perceived.

Illustrator Neil McFarland advises: “Think about the meaning of the word& apos; character& apos ;. You& apos; re supposed to breathe life into these things, construct them appealing and give them the magical that will allow people to imagine what they& apos; re like to meet and how they might move.”

27. Don& apos; t be afraid to make changes

Hilda in 2012( left) and 2016( right)[ Images: Luke Pearson/ Flying Eye Books]

Hilda has changed over the years, from volume to book, but Pearson explains that no one has pulled him up on it. “I like to think it entails the design is strong enough to withstand being pulled in all these different directions, ” he says.

This article contains content that was originally published in Computer Arts and ImagineFX magazine. Subscribe to our design publications here.

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