#if not then I'll just show the sketches and describe the idea

[chocolatelard]

planning a small comic with a crazy idea 👀 hopefully i'll see it through to the end

[literallyjusttoa]

Finally got around to doing this, here are some rough sketches of my idea of how Lester looks each book! Some books are more different than others, like I don't think much changed between books 1 and 2, but I had fun doing this! Look under the cut for some notes about things I added for each design.

Book 1: Not much changes from how he's described in the books. All of the clothes he borrowed from Percy are a bit too big for him, but the flannel he borrowed from Will fits pretty well, only being slightly too long (I think Will has like, an inch over Lester)

Book 2: Basically the same as book 1 Lester. He keeps the flannel Will gave him, but it gets pretty beat up over the course of this book so he has to switch it out before book 3 :(. Hair is just a lil bit longer, and he gets clothes that fit a bit better. Headcanon time bc if Rick won't give me substantial Thalia and Apollo interaction I'll make it myself: Thalia gives Lester archer's gloves at the end of TDP, which he wears for the rest of the series. He didn't even think to wear gloves bc as a god he wouldn't need them, but Thalia noticed his beat up to shit hands at the Waystation and went "bestie... bestie no...." and gave him a pair.

Book 3: Will's flannel has been swapped for a big coat and Lester get his iconic pink camo pants. His hair is long enough to start getting weighed down a bit, and also way messier bc he's been in the labyrinth for like a month. The beat up sneakers he was wearing in books 1 & 2 get replaced with much more reasonable boots. Eyebrow scar shows up, a reminder from one of the many concussions this poor man has suffered. Also another HC time! Georgie gives Lester a little handkerchief that he wears for the rest of the series (I was gonna use Paolo's handkerchief, but Lester canonically gives that back so boo)

Book 4: The Lester looks like shit book /j. His hair is now long enough that he should really be doing something with it but he is not. He has a zip up hoodie now to cover up all his fun purple veins. Just more beat up in general honestly. Also I hc that Apollo actually lost some weight here (both bc he wasn't really eating well before getting to New Rome bc of stress/grief, and bc he got really sick and continued to not eat well while that was happening) But it obviously doesn't do anything to help his self-esteem or mood in this book. Kind've a visual way of being like "the superificial flaws Apollo clung to in the first book weren't the real issue, he was just hyperfixating on them to distract himself from what he was really upset about, so when the superficial issues get solved he doesn't even notice bc he's grown enough as a character to cut the bullshit and focus on what's really bothering him." or idk something like that. I like to contrast this with a hc I've mentioned before about the time between books 4 and 5, which is that the physical flaws Apollo whined about in book 1 (i.e. the acne and his weight) get "worse" throughout the road trip from California to New York, but Apollo truly just does not care that much about that shit anymore and that's why it doesn't come up in the narration.

Book 5: Final Lester! It's been over a month since the last book so I'm taking liberties and saying Lester's hair is long enough to pull up now bc I want him to be able to do that goddammit. Final outfit is borrowed from Percy again, so that's why it's so big. He also has a pendant that Lavinia gave to him bc they're besties. Also I forgot to mention it, but his shoulders are slightly broader here (and have been getting broader throughout the series) bc he's been working those muscles so much with the constant archery.

Also I didn't draw his quiver bc honestly I forgor, but I like to imagine he's been getting little pins and bobs from a lot of his friends that he's been sticking on his quiver strap. A few examples that come to mind are:

Kayla: A classic hot topic pin with a sun with sunglasses on it.

Leo: A pin made of scrap metal with the alchemical symbol for fire carved in.

Agave: Pinned a clover to Apollo's quiver for good luck. It didn't stay on there long, but it was the thought that counted.

Hazel: A piece of citrine decorated with metal cords.

Lavinia: Another classic hot topic pin, this one is heart shaped and has a picture of Hatsune Miku on it.

Jason: One of the monopoly houses he'd been using to mark the positions for the temples. A lot of the little houses had fallen off the diorama during the car crash at the beginning of TTT. The night after, Apollo asked Reyna if he could make sure the diorama was fixed. Reyna agreed, and he put it back together based on what he remembered. He spent an hour or so gluing on houses and hotels for Mars, Somnus, Fons, Salus, and on and on, until he got to the last one. A red hotel meant to show where the temple of Apollo would go. Apollo poked a little hole in it, and fastened it to his quiver with a bobby pin. It's nestled close to where the strap meets the quiver itself, so it's less likely to fly off.

Meg: Pinned a rose petal to his quiver right before he went to fight Python. It lasted for even less time than Agave's clover did, but again, it was the thought that counted.

[dead-dolphins]

Hidden Gems: Fics That Deserve More Love!

Dear reader, I've been super excited about this idea lately: sharing short fics that deserve way more love and attention! And what better way to do that than here on my blog, along with a custom-made cover as a gift to the author? I really want to celebrate these hidden gems and help them shine, so starting this Saturday (and hopefully every Saturday after that), I'll be featuring one of these amazing fics with a beautiful cover for the author. I never usually ask this, but if you could reblog, I’d absolutely love it! Not only would it help the fic get more eyes on it, but it would also be a sweet way to send the cover directly to the author as a little surprise. Let's spread the love and show these talented writers how much their work is appreciated! Thanks so much for being a part of this! 💖

This Saturday fic and opening fic of this new section is...

First Love / Late Spring by @suckerforgothkasa

Summary: When Eren's eyes have failed him, he relies on Mikasa to describe to him the beautiful scenery they're currently having a picnic in War Veteran Eren and Caretaker Mikasa AU Tags: picnic date | Blind Eren | caretaker mikasa | Fluff | slight mention of suicide | Mikasa is eren's eyes | just a cute sketch | picnic on the tree hill | THEY ARE SO CUTE UGH | soft eremika | Modern AU | Mikasa loves to tuck flowers behind Eren's ea | rwar veteran eren

Ro's comment:

This fic offers such a fresh and heartfelt take on Eren as a war veteran; it’s truly unique! I love how his experiences shape him, adding depth and vulnerability to his character. The relationship with his caretaker is especially full of warmth and support, giving the story a tender dynamic. It’s a beautiful exploration of healing, both emotionally and physically. The originality here really shines, and I’d love to see more of this version of Eren. It’s clear there’s so much potential for growth and connection, and I’m excited for what’s next!

I thought some of you might enjoy this, so here it is in case you missed it! Please show some love and, of course, leave kudos for the author—it’s such a beautiful story. And kudos to the author for this! Wishing you all the best in your writing journey!

READ HERE

[kindredspiritsandgoodomens]

"Even memory is an act of imagination, you never tell the same story twice, not even to yourself" ~ Michael Burkard

This quote showed up on my dash and reminded me of The Rashomon Job and how interesting I find it that many people can watch the episode and walk away with the impression that we've been told the 'correct' or 'true' version of what happened that night, specifically by Nate.

And I get why. The team certainly lets him have the last word, and structurally we are used to the 'Nate's Eye View' dénouement being the point where we see a complex web of events finally make sense as a designed structure. But the multiple thefts of the dagger weren't part of a unified whole arranged by Nate, or by anyone - so maybe we should approach the usual conceit of revealing the scheme as seen through the eyes of the mastermind rather differently in this episode.

As an audience, we depend on Nate's ability to pull off the impossible just as much as the team do, and even though we (and the team) may roll our eyes at his god complex it's important for our continued investment that we (and they) manage to almost believe he's Just That Good. But the tell that his version of this particular story is not entirely without colour is that it's all just a little too neat.

When the storytelling starts, Nate's delighted. The minute he realises he can scoop them all, and even retroactively be the mastermind who puts it all together, he's just pleased as punch. "Why don't you all come over and I'll tell you what really happened." He says. You know, like a liar.

The first thing of note about Nate's Version is that he never went into the party, but still takes it upon himself to give them an authoritative reconstructed version of what went down based entirely on his own sense of how it would have happened, based on his understanding of the team and his assumptions about their behaviour. Naturally in Nate's Version Eliot and Sophie don't flirt even a little. Naturally in Nate's version it's going to be Eliot who takes Sophie's adulterated champagne glass, intended for Hardison, from Parker's tray, despite nobody else having specified anything about this detail (Eliot - the gastronome - wouldn't remember spitting out foul tasting champagne? Sophie wouldn't have noticed a key part of her plan going awry?). But this way it fits it all together like one of his plans, so naturally it's all going to be nice and neat.

Not content with imagining the entirety of the party sequence, he also entirely constructs a conversation between Coswell and the securty guard locked in the store room. Based on Nate's own description of his movements there's simply no way for him to know what went down in that room. We know from Parker that Coswell made his way into the vents, and we know how he got the climbing equipment, but would the Coswell of Nate's Version really go climbing into ducts? It's neat, but it's thin.

Coswell is really where we have to question the neutrality and authority of Nate's version the most. Not only because - even if we allow that IYS jackass Nate Ford did in fact perceive this security guy (probably most security guys) as an ineffectual irritant - he's clearly reacting to Sophie's contemporary jibe about Coswell's potentially superior intelligence by making the man a buffoon in his retelling. But, also, because believing him about Coswell's buffoonery requires us to accept that Parker, Eliot, Hardison and Sophie all massively overestimated an opponent on a job. Is that really plausible? Even if we allow for a percentage of exaggeration because they're thieves swapping stories in a bar, it doesn't add up. Hardison and Parker, who were young and mostly there for clout, maybe. Eliot and Sophie? No.

When they describe Coswell as brusque, efficient, and suspicious - and they corroborate each other, we should be very wary of Nate's entirely re-written character sketch of the man. Especially the idea that his behaviour could all be explained because he had a crush on Sophie. Sophie Devereaux - who can pick a mark's weakness of a driving license photo - not notice when the head of museum security has a crush on her? Not bloody likely.

Everything Nate remembers Coswell as actually saying could just as easily have been said by the version of Coswell the others describe. For instance, "I don't know much about gold but I know it's not meant to do that." Could be silly - could be sardonic. Nate thinks he's an irritating pleb, so it's recounted as silly. But even in Nate's Version Coswell makes a good point about the dealer running. Again, it's neat, but it's thin.

As for the idea that the dagger fell from a vent directly into his hand? Well, as Hardison says, nobody's that lucky. Nate's showboating. He's embellishing and neatening his recounting of his own (biased) recollections just as much as the others, and he's doing it to reinforce his team's (and maybe his own) perception of him as slightly beyond the laws of chance, reason, and even physics. This episode is also one of the last times he denies that he's a thief - a tell if ever there was one.

Eliot and Sophie both express reservations, but they let him have it, because on some level they know that they need him to be that lucky. The whole house of cards only stays up if Nate really is That Good.

Plus, of course, none of the team's versions are without colour - and they all know it. Firstly, all perception is shaped by biases. So Sophie remembers different details than Eliot or Parker, because they look at the world differently and prioritise different kinds of contextual awareness, reasoning, and value judgements. Secondly, and more importantly, they're not just remembering and recounting what happened that night - they're all thieves telling stories to other thieves, to friends they want to wind up (the accents getting worse and worse, Sophie saying Coswell was maybe even smarter than Nate), impress (Hardison being the centre of female attention, Sophie getting a round of applause), or correct (Eliot and Sophie both claiming the other was the one doing all the flirting, when if we take Hardison's word...) But their descriptions of the sequence of events all line up reasonably well.

Ultimately they're all right about parts of it. Nate's probably right about Coswell being ineffectual by IYS standards. Sophie's probably right about his personality. Hardison's probably right about Eliot and Sophie flirting outrageously. Parker's probably right about her encounter with Coswell in the vents (she's not going to misremember vents). But we, the audience, don't see the One True Version of what happened that night.

That's why it's so nice when the episode ends with them all going to steal the dagger, properly, together. Because that's where the truth is. The truth that they're all thieves, telling stories in a bar. Even Nate. But when they're stealing things together they can defy the laws of chance, reason, and even physics. That's where they'll really see and understand each other, and that's what matters.

[ziorre]

✨Commission info✨

I'm ready, I'm rested, I'm refreshed! And I'm completely charged to take care of your new ideas and characters!! Especially for this, I'm trying to expand the ways to bring your characters to life so that you can see them and be convinsed that they exist! I truly believe that every character is awesome and original and deserves to be shown with their own story! And I'll try to help you with this in a way that is more convenient for you! You just pick one below ;)

✨ PRICES:

- SEMI-REALISTIC STYLE (for the cases, when you want it looks more real without much stylizing)

- USUAL STYLE (for the cases, when you don’t mind it looks more stylized and a lil sketchy)

- STORYBOARD (for the cases, when you want to tell a story and don't mind to do this in very sketchy stile)

(this is a new way to tell your story in several frames. It'll look like still frames from a video, where you can show the dynamics of the scene and insert replicas in the form of subtitles. The form and type of storyboards can be redesigned. Keep in mind that frames will look very sketchy and with visible inaccuracy! DM me for more details ;))

Aaand...

👀COMING SOON!!!👀 - 3D MODEL OF YOUR CHARACTER

* you can find more examples on my page by commission tag and more examples of storyboards by rita diaz tag ** a helpful post describing a right order for your refs

✨ DEADLINES:  After you DM me with a brief description of your idea, I’ll tell you the approximate date when I’ll be able to proceed with your commission   !!!!Always warn me in advance if I need to draw art by a certain deadline!!!

✨ PAYMENT:  What: USD or RUB When: full pre-payment (when you sent me the email and we approved the art idea) Where: Boosty (russian platform, supports payment via PayPal)

✨ THE PROCESS: You write to me in private messages on Tumblr, briefly tell me your idea of our future art, what style and what slot you want (full body / half body / bust). Then I give you my email address and you send me an email (with your Tumblr name as the topic please) with all necessary references (your character's face claim, their pose, clothes, background etc.). You describe the idea of the art in details, where it takes place, and other things that I need to know so that I can base the sketch on all that info, because after you approve the sketch, I don’t change art much in the further stages of the work, just some details. I send you the payment link on my Boosty page. Send you the sketch. After you confirm that you like the sketch, I finish the work and send it on your email😊

✨ OTHER:  - I don’t correct the art after you approved the finished version.  - I don’t copy other artist’s work or poses from their work.  - I publish every commission on my social media, if you don’t want it to be published, just let me know.  - If you’re not sure about art idea, I can suggest you 4 sketches with different poses/concepts/angles for extra $20 and you pick the one you like the most.  - For significant corrections or a lot of small ones at any stage of work, an additional fee may be charged (this doesn’t apply to some small adjustments or details witch I missed). There are 3 free changes at the each stages of the work (sketch, finished version), further - $2-$5.

___________________________________

And of course I can't skip to say a huge thank you to those who commissioned and continue commissioning art from me! It means a lot! For real! This is not only material support, but also moral one, saying that I’m not wasting my time and energy in vain, that I’m moving in the right direction, that people like what I do! I can't tell how inspiring it is!! 300 commissions! I’ve never imagined that one day I would draw so many art for others! Just.. wow!! Thank you again so much for trusting me bringing to life your ideas! I truly appreciate it!😌

____________________________________

I think this is it, right? If you have any questions, feel free to DM me ;)  

I’ll be VERY grateful for your reblogs!! ❤❤❤❤❤❤ (and thank you very much for this in advance, it helps me A LOOOOOOOOOT, I see each and every one of them! You’re the best!!!) Thanks for your attention! Have a good day =)

[magentagalaxies]

Kids in the Archive: Episode 4

it's been a while, but thanks to the influx of new-old kids in the hall scripts i got from bruce's storage last summer and the fact that i already finished all my homework for this week i'm happy to present a new episode of Kids in the Archive! for those unfamiliar, kids in the archive is my show in which i focus on one individual kids in the hall sketch and give you a behind-the-scenes comparison of script and screen

Previous Episodes: Episode 1 - armada finale ("do we make it?") Episode 2 - fran & gordon: the vacation Episode 3 - comfortable

for our return to the archives, i'll be covering the S1E16 classic "Is He?"

this sketch is one of my favorites from season one, and one of my favorite cathy and kathi sketches altogether. i'd cite this as one of the many examples of kith being ahead of its time with regards to gay humor - i've shown this sketch to other gen z's who had no idea "is he (limps wrist)" goes back further than online memes. as a queer-comedy-history nerd i already knew about the gesture's origin, but i still was taken aback by how all these jokes feel completely timeless

The Handwritten Notes

overall, this sketch is fairly faithful to the script i received, so there aren't quite as many "alternate version" moments to showcase. however, this script does have the interesting quirk of having handwritten changes to it that don't follow the version in the tv show. other scripts in my collection have this, and i'm fairly sure these notes were made for adapting the sketch to a live show or tour. the photo above selects the walkout music as "9 to 5", and sets the scene in a break room with coffee and donuts rather than at their desks. this might be an easier setup for a live show with more limited sets, and build in time for the fan reaction to seeing favorite characters return

unfortunately the version of "tour of duty" on youtube was taken down, so i can't now compare these notes to the version in that tour recording. i do remember that i liked that version less. while i enjoyed the wordplay and euphemisms on their own, i felt they slowed down the flow of an already good sketch and distracted from the existing punchline. none of these euphemisms are present in this sketch, but there is one handwritten edit that i think weakens the writing

The "Improv"

in my previous episode, i cleared up the misconception that comfortable featured a fully improvised exchange. kids in the hall rarely improvised full dialogue on-air, even if they used it at some stage in their writing process. however, there are still small "improvised" elements to these performances that show the performers putting their own spin on the established structure. in "comfortable", it was scott replacing the "da da da da" song with "hava nagila" (for some reason, we may never know). in the case of the cathys, this improv often comes from trailed off sentences

most instances of kathi's giggle aren't specified, but during the stage direction "bruce just giggles like a ninny" scott improvises some sentence fragments to cover for kathi's awkwardness

The Ending

as i previously mentioned, there's no big difference between the script i received and the sketch that made it to air. it's a mostly faithful transcript of all the dialogue that was spoken, with some written descriptions of actions that take place. i feel like i'm just describing what any script is at this point

overall, i enjoy having "is he?" in my collection, not because it presents an alternate reality with different casting and whole other scenes like some of my scripts, but because of the indescribable feeling of having the script this favorite sketch of mine was made from. every wonderful part of this sketch started out as just words on a page, and was built upon to create something truly special. again, i could be describing any script, but damn it i love "is he?"

as always, i hope you enjoyed this episode of "kids in the archive" and be sure to stay tuned for the next one (which will hopefully be coming out much sooner this time). if you have a specific sketch you'd like to see a script-to-screen comparison for let me know and if i have it i'll make an episode and tag you in it.

[annawayne]

Heeeello Anna! :3 I'm back to pester you in the inbox!

You may not have seen this, but this artist ask game... I've got questions for you!

1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 14, 15, 21, 34, 35

(ahahaha... That's a lot.... Ahaha.... Welp ....?)

But! No hurries, and I'm sorry if this eats at your precious time but I'd be happy to hear you talk more about your art! (Can never get enough tbh :3)

Hope you're doing a bit better now, Anna, please take care and you're loved!

Oh, Moon T^T

Hello, and you're right, I didn't even see this artist ask game (maybe, some time ago, so I don't even remember...), and thank you so much for thinking about me and for asking all this stuff T_T I have a lot of fun answering it, and it really distracted me from everything else going on in life since last weeks are quite difficult. But I'll be fine, and thank you for all of these questions, I appreciate you and your attention so much!

1 what medium do you use most (if applicable, what software)?

As I'm drawing now digitally, so I draw in Adobe Photoshop. I'm familiar with this software since my early teens, so it's very comfortable for me :D

When I was drawing traditionally, I primarily worked with pencils. I tried watercolour a few times, too. I have a very soft spot for oil - and I hope to develop this one day, too.

3 your favorite piece(s)?

Oh, what a question... I guess, for now, these ones:

4 piece you wish got more love?

All of them :D

I guess, these ones:

5 how would you describe your art style?

(I really want to joke and just refer to 21 question but well, let's take it seriously :D)

I guess, I can call it "cinematic poetry" - there's a very long way to go to really match the title, but this is what I aim for.

6 favorite thing to draw?

Oh, good question, Moon! As for the sketch stage, I really love to draw clothes, and when it comes to the stage of rendering - faces (primarily, eyes and hair, but I love the whole process and always try to improve my face renders skills...) and backgrounds!

8 thing you struggle to draw?

I think, when it comes to the rendering - HANDS. I think, my sketches of hands are not bad, but when I render them, oh boi, here comes the struggle. As a result, it seems fine, I suppose, but it's always a product of a lot of swearing and redrawing :D

14 whats your favorite thing about drawing?

Telling stories though different dimension. I like to combine in drawing both cinematography and literature, and it sounds a bit funny, because it's two different art directions, but still, I want to tell stories though a lot of things which combine these arts: details, emotions, lighting, and as if when you look at the art - you can hear all the vivid noises around the characters of life going one around and of characters themselves speaking, but then, as if they were caught in a moment, and then, I try to show this moment in my drawings. Or, when it's more of conceptual art, it also can tell a story, but differently - not like a frozen mundane life moment, but rather like a whole story behind it, and instead of these frozen ordinary life moments where the story is also told, here, the story told through not so evident details, starting from the pose to the colour palette itself.

I know I have a long way to go with it, but this is what I'm trying to improve and this is what I always aimed for.

15 least favorite thing about drawing?

Hm, very good question, to be honest. I thought about it for a while, since I can't really grasp if I can name such thing, but I think that it's both good and bad thing - that it's a lifetime commitment, that you should accept that you will study the whole life. From one side, it's wonderful and it's the whole fascinating journey, on the other hand - it can be really frustrating and draining not to be able to transfer your ideas from your head into the actual image, and while a lot of artists realize it, it doesn't make it easier to get disappointed sometimes. So, I would say, it's both good and bad thing, and how we look at it - depends on us :D

21 what do you think your artstyle would taste like?

I won't lie, this question sent me into a great reflection, and then I ended up questioning my art style in general, ha-ha-ha... But alright, hm, I think, croissant with orange jam? Don't ask. Just... Croissant. That's it.

34 whats something you still like from your old art?

Oh... Hm, I think from the beginning, they had great composition. I try to improve it now, of course, but I guess it was from the beginning a very great composition and "camera" shot. So this, this for sure!

35 if you had one piece of advice to give your younger artist self, what would it be?

Come, and do it, you're much stronger and braver than you think you are. It counts for many things, to be honest, and not only art, but yes, I would just hug my past self and tell myself that you're much more than you think you are.

Thank you so much, Moon, for all of it - for these questions, for your thoughts to ask me this in the first place and for your interest and support T_T It's priceless, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

P.s. I learned with this post that the post has a limited amount of images you can add... I didn't know we could add only 10 images... Woah...

[clambuoyance]

Every time I see your art its like I can feel just how much you enjoy making it.

It has a lightness to it, like you're having fun and it's kinda infectious, so I get really happy too when I see it.

Oh I should probably throw a question in here: I love when you post a bunch of sketches all at once, do you plan your doodles ahead of time or do they just come naturally to you as you draw?

AAAH thank you so much! You wouldn't be the first person to describe my art as having a sort of "infectious" joy and it makes me really happy that it's what people think of when they see my art. I really do have fun making it which is why I think I've been able to avoid major art block for the most part or dwelling too much on the fact that I have a hard time getting finished pieces out sometimes

As for your question, I'll try my best to see if I can explain it lol. I guess the "planning" mostly consists of me getting inspired by something (usually a song) and it instilling a certain emotion or vibe in me that i then start to itch to capture in a visual art form.

Sometimes I'll be given a really vague blurry image in my head and go with that and decide to sketch it out with my hands to help me see that vision in my head clearly and I'll make a lot of changes etc etc ("that arm position didn't work" "let me try a different expression" "maybe the angle should be more dramatic"). Or sometimes if I want a clearer picture before I start drawing I'll listen to the song on repeat (and/or walk around in circles) until that Picture becomes less and less blurry and almost...tangible? Perfect 20/20 clarity happens very rarely tho and everytime it does I'm convinced something possessed me (and even then I still make changes on the fly) Sorry I'm explaining this so badly ToT i wish i could just show u my brain

If my mind was a library you would see stacks upon stacks of ideas I've held onto for years...some since 2016...but yeah I also tend to be spontaneous with it and draw a bunch of sketches at once before even "finishing" one --but at least it's out of my head and somewhere in the world!! And one day I'll probably go back and color it or whatever or remember I should post a collection of relevant doodles somewhere

Also one last thing maybe worth mentioning is that over the years my imagination was able to become clearer and my ability to draw what I see in my head also improved! As if the gap between worlds got smaller in a way--and this only happened because of how long I've been drawing that I've been able to build an arsenal of poses and expressions rules and have an easier time drawing. Which helped me be more spontaneous

One thing I do hope for is that I can at least sit through a few hours of learning to do bigger and neater composed pieces with backgrounds...so I can start doodling them more too lol

[dynamic-k]

You said Vic's birthday was shortly after he got arrested. Did Alan, Chosen, Dark and/or Second do something special to celebrate this? Did anyone do something for his birthday???

Please say yes-

Also, is Ballista still pixilated in Super Sticks??

Like- are all the mercenaries appearing like they are in canon? Primal is crayony-pencily like, Ballista is pixils, Agent has sunglasses, and Hazard is a walking bathroom sign???

I'm trying to imagine it in Super Sticks and my mind is drawing a blank.

Best wishes, because it's been less than 24 hours since I said have a great day,

-R

No no, I said before he was arrested. While he was still running Rocket Corp.

O w O' I sorta had the idea of making a Bonus Feature at one point but... It was a pretty boring birthday as he was mostly alone and didn't tell anyone it was his birthday.

And his relationship with Primal was still rocky and Ballista was in jail and Agent and Hazard were both living elsewhere and didn't know if they should make a visit or not, though I think they would end up sending a card or something at least. They'd celebrated Vic's birthday previously, so they know it was the day which it was.

Super Sticks is definitely an ambiguous design, I'll say that much. You ever watch anime and sometimes the style randomly changes and everyone is a short chibi-like character before it goes back to the more complex normal design?

Something like that happens in Super Sticks...? Like, Second can both be seen as the young kid he is with human features like hair and ears and such, and he has a 2-inch in circumference orange circle under his left eye/above his left cheek. And he can also be seen as "orange hollowhead stick figure" and the story describes him as such.

A weird, back and forthing happens, I suppose. Call it my way of saying, everyone's fanart is lovely. U v U

Ballista is... in a similar boat, I would say. He is pixellated like in canon for the most part, and yet not at other times? I dunno, I don't think I ever had a clear picture or envisionment of him in my head before, I... just write. XD

Primal, I have a much clearer depiction of, however. Her shape is that of a tall woman with broad shoulders and long hair restrained in a ponytail. Her skin color is scribbly and moving, as in canon, and her eyes have white coupled with the same tone of brown as her skin. Hair is also the same brown, and she typically wears tan-colored attire or another brown shade though typically much lighter than herself.

HAZARD!! HE ACTUALLY IS SPECIAL in the designs regard, because he- nsnjdecrkwnevj! I made a little sketch actually- hwfkjvkewv

I- You're not allowed to see my horrible sketch right now- wjrekvnkwjenbkweacv

Okay. Compromise.

I uhh

A month or so ago, I showed my embarrassingly horrible sketch to my brother Keegan, and helped describe Hazard, and he drew me something a whole lot better. That, I'll show.

His eyes are a nice golden color, and he wears grey plaid.

There is a more human version and then a stick version.

I consider SuperSticks!Hazard to be very muscular, easy on the eyes, and he has a certain mysterious charisma due to his lack of speaking for the most part.

I love my little artist siblings, hehe

:3

Thank you for the ask!!

[princevontwix]

(warning, LOONGG late night rambling post)

ok, so you know about Yume Nikki Online? that really good online multiplayer hub hosting both the original game and a collection of fangames? i feel like that idea could apply really well to OFF and its fangames too! and i got the perfect name for it, OFFline.

i imagine it can go with a similar premise of YNO but just allow people to talk and gather around in OFF-related games. but i see a lot of potential for OFFline to include some kind of PvP-dedicated fangame, which I'll call Engage. which, with how many ideas i have for it, might be best to not make in EasyRPG.

the basic idea i have in mind is that there's a central hub where people can just chat and hang out which has three divisions:

Versus

Team Battle

Arcade, subdivided into Campaign and Endless.

what all of these modes have in common is a shopkeeper. it'll probably be better to make them an original character, but basically, for Versus and Team Battle, at the beginning of a match, you're given a set amount of credits to purchase from a list of items, weapons, and armor. for consistency's sake, i think its best that certain items are locked for certain characters only (say, no one else can use weapons and armor for Home characters), but healing and damage items are fair play for all.

whoever hosts a room will be able to dictate which select fangame they'd wish to fight in (as in, which cast of characters both users must use), OR decide that anything goes and both users are free to make the party of their dreams (its also here that they'd be free to select which battle theme plays).

Versus mode is between two players, who have full control of their own parties. while Team Battle is a 4v4, where each player will have control over their selected party member.

as for Arcade, its basically just singleplayer fun; the intent is that with the large amount of enemies and bosses from the multitude of fangames present, it will bring something different each time via randomizer. Campaign i would describe as being similar to Smash 3DS's Classic Mode, where you're given 3 branching paths with varying difficulties. the more difficult ones you beat, the more credits you earn, where you can make a pitstop before each boss to stack up (with zodiac orbs being pricier). referring to the sketch above, yellow cubes are enemy encounters, red cubes are bosses, and purple is for the end-game boss (the final boss from the og game/fangame, if applicable). i figured that every 3rd or 4th encounter being a boss will help prevent the gameplay from being monotonous beatdowns of regular enemies. you'll get choices for enemies and bosses, but there's only one endgame boss and that's random each time.

and lastly, Endless mode is just that. this time, you're given a larger supply of credits to use and once you enter the first round, there's no going back. each round will supply a minute amount of health or energy items to use, but will progressively get more difficult. my hope here is that it isn't just more enemies each round, but for it to sometimes bring fewer but beefier enemies, and maybe even a miniboss. you progress through each round by clicking on the individual cube labeled with the appropriate number. i figured like this it'd be more reasonable to fit within RPG2k3's limits but at this point it would be bloated so oh well. and of course, once you die, it ends. a public leaderboard will be on display to show the top 10 players and their scores.

now to get the obvious out of the way, online functionality with this many features would be difficult, if not impossible, to implement. as such, i would not be opposed to taking an approach similar to the UT fangame Don't Forget, where OFFline will be developed on an engine like Gamemaker and attempt to re-create RPG2k3's vibe and the individual games being hosted, along with Engage. the problem with the latter is that i think its more realistic to just let EasyRPG do all the work in porting the fangames like YNO, rather than recreate each one in a more modern engine. but at the same time, that would be the only feasible way of having any of these planned features to work without any fuckups. of course, i suppose a workaround to having multiplayer work in RPG2k3 would be to have a Parsec session or something similar, but that'd only be a solution for Versus mode at best. it would definitely not work for Team mode and might conflict with general offline.

in fact, the idea of OFFline might take some mad wizardry to even make it work, and i wouldn't be surprised if it barely works. making it in EasyRPG and using 2k3 as the basis vs. making it in a modern engine is the double-edged sword of this whole hypothetical. i'd love for something like this to happen, but i imagine it would be too much work to not only develop, but to keep the servers online for an otherwise niche fanbase. still, i cant shake away how much potential and fun this could be.

with that said, rambling is now over!

[furiousofpanda]

I have two animation ideas stuck in my had for the past few days so imma describe em and maybe I'll do a sketch animation for one of em

The worst part is half of me is like "cannonically this would not" and the other half is just like "fuck you let them kiss" so anyways

Both of them would be Infected/Casper & Lampert animatics, that are both like, they vaguely feel for eachother but like, it's just an odd dream.

The song follows infected getting in he elevator, and then before the beat drop it shows him kinda starting to faint as it cuts to pov. Once the beat drop it enters a dream sequence where infected is stuck in a sea of untextured water, the sky covered in Folly eyes and Lampert shining in he distance. Bro swims and reaches out where it cuts again to reality where infected is attached to an IV bag in some sort of hospital bed with Lampert by his side

Basically it's just boiled down to infected's parasite gets worse and Folly takes advantage. Hurt comfort type of stuff

ANYWAYS

Second one

This on is less thought out as every time I hear it and think about it, the details are fuzzy for most of the song so I'd probably do it near the end of the song. I'm not explaining it though cause I'd rather you listen to the song and figure it out yourself

Basically it's boiled down to Lampert dreaming with one sided feelings and waking up afterwards

I thought maybe doing am animation collab but that's a lot of work and I'm a nobody with no animator friends lmfao

I hate this so much but I love it equally

[cqtlatte]

could you post about your thought process for your art? i always love the colors you choose!! and the themes n composition always are AMAZING AAAA

a lot of the time it's p much head empty swirly painting HAHA but I'll ramble below!

Honestly sometimes I have an immediate idea/theme in mind and I just play around a lot when I'm sketching, and other times it kind of just evolves while painting. I remember with the Yoimiya Pyro flamenco piece came around when I asked my Twitter followers which Genshin girl they wanted to see next, and I got a LOT of Yoimiya requests. And literally it went like this LOL

I have a couple of other sketches I could pull out but I'd have to find them...

It actually wasn't supposed to be a flamenco dress in the beginning, more like a mermaid tail style dress?? But while I was sketching I thought to myself,, yo... this would actually make a sick flamenco dress! So I started to look up tons of flamenco photos for reference to make it look accurate. :)

---

As for my coloring thought process, analogous colors are my best friend! (colors that sit side by side on the color wheel) I like to choose one color that all the other colors will revolve around. Kind of like how for my previous commission, the client asked for a cherry blossom theme. As you can see in the sketches I offered, almost all of the pieces have the same cherry blossom color, but different colors revolving around them.

If you take an eyedropper and drag it across, you'll see the colors change along the color wheel. That's what analogous colors are! They're pretty great for tricking the eye too ;) The grass from the sketch may look like a blue-ish teal with all the colors surrounding it, but it actually does fall under blue! (I made a little video to show this but it won't upload for some reason, so I put it on Drive!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zYFu2MTvwOY8KsLzWsa7oyCLz03x4H7d/view?usp=sharing )

__________

I guess if I were to describe my thought process from a technical standpoint, I like to capture moments (as if the piece were photography or a page in a picture book) and movement (the swirls and other patterned lines blending into the composition. )??

obligatory link to an earlier ask for a deeper look into the work process itself (although it may not be relevant)

Hopefully this is helpful anon!!

[cinematicnomad]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

tagged by @zainclaw and @andavs 🥰🥰🥰

How many works do you have on ao3? 39 apparently

What's your total ao3 word count? 288,797 words

What fandoms do you write for? actively right now? nothing really lol. haven't published a fic since 2022. but i guess you could say 911 and teen wolf given some random WIPs in my drafts. also i randomly started jotting down some notes for a stranger things steve/eddie fic that will probably never be written.

Top five fics by kudos 01. take my hand (take my everything) (buddie) 02. taste your beating heart (sterek) 03. so show me (family) (buddie) 04. you never said a word (sterek) 05. be careful (my darling) (buddie)

Do you respond to comments? yes, always! i usually try to wait until i have a dozen or so, which can sometimes take a bit of time, but eventually i respond to it all.

What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? i have a sterek drabble called and i fell heavy into your arms (688 words) that is basically derek seeing stiles die and then immediately letting himself be killed

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? most of them?? not sure i can think of one specifically that was happier than the others.

Do you get hate on fics? ah, i almost said no, but then i remembered that for my fic taste your beating heart every now and then i'll get scott fans who think the fic should be tagged as "bad friend scott mccall" even though he's NOT a bad friend in the fic, it's just a nuanced view of their changing relationship. like, that fic is about 3 main things that include: stiles and derek getting together, solving the main mystery, and stiles and scott's friendship maturing to a place where they can love each other and still be brothers without thinking they need to be in the same pack!! like it's FUNDAMENTAL.

anyway, i had one reader who i think quit the fic halfway through bc i gently pushed back on their rage comment insulting derek and stiles for a fight that takes place with scott. the reader left an angry reply to my response, which they then deleted before i could even look at it, and then never commented on the fic again even though they'd been commenting on the fic since chapter 1.

Do you write smut? no not really. i don't know why i'm so bad at writing sex, but i am very bad at writing sex.

Craziest crossover i have no crossovers

Have you ever had a fic stolen? not that i know of??

Have you ever had a fic translated? yes, someone translated my mike/harvey suits fic trembling hands into russian all the way back in 2013.

Have you ever cowritten a fic before? i have not!

All time favourite ship? to write? to read? no idea, so i refuse to answer.

What's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will? i've got a sterek idea that's an AU of the netflix show virgin river. i had a pretty brief outline that i sketched out some, and even started writing a little, but it never went anywhere. i did create an AU gifset for it and every now and then when people start reblogging it i think about going back to try and write it.

What are your writing strengths? i think i'm good at realistic dialogue? but i don't know. i haven't written in a while so i'm not feeling super great about my writing at this very moment.

What are your writing weaknesses? i suck at setting a scene. and conveying a complex emotion. also i feel like i get v bogged down in what characters are physically doing or whatever and i try to describe it and it just detracts from the story over all. yikes ok i'm feeling worse about my writing than i thought lol

Thoughts on dialogue in another language? if the context is there to understand what's being said, great. otherwise, just adding context to the dialogue tag (he said in french, in german, etc) works. personally i'd prefer not to scroll back and forth between the fic and the notes to figure out what's being said.

First fandom you wrote in? harry potter. on the site quizilla back in the year of our lord 2005 lol. i started off writing like. a harry/oc fic lol where the protagonist was the classic american exchange student who had her own prophecy. truly mortifying!!

Favorite fic you've written? i have a soft spot for taste your beating heart bc it was the first long fic i ever completed and it took me 7 fucking years to write it. but i think my favorite is actually finding our way (back home) which i really think captured everything i was aiming to do. will i ever be able to do that again??? who fucking knows. probably not. on the more self-indulgent side, i really really love the margaret buckley character study i wrote called so far from who i was.

tagging!! @woodchoc-magnum, @crazyassmurdererwall, @tattooedsiren, @machtaholic, @catdadeddie, @tripleaxeldiaz, @valleydean, @thisapplepielife, and anyone else who wants to do this.

[askfallenroyalty]

Here's some more deleted scene panels that never made it in

sorry there's no captions, there's just too many panels to describe and i'm tired. hopefully i'll have the energy/rememebr to do so tomorrow ):

IM REALLY SAD THIS ONE DIDN'T GET IN. I even drew asriel shutting flowey in a box for this joke to work. There was going to be a visual gag of it being a "soap" box. Haha.

Asgore was originally going to tell Asriel to think of something nice to get his mind off of his panic attack.

Which, while funny, took away the feeling of intense panic the audience and asriel should have been feeling at the time. It just didn't fit the pacing/mood. It also showed that -well, i don't know if this is a legitimate grounding technique or if it'd be read as "its ok just think happy thoughts <3 then ur panic attack would end" which... is not.... how that works. Even if it was only to give Asriel a moment of respite, it's shown as effective until Asgore brings up a bad memory. So. bad comic sequence.

more stuff under the cut

I had a really, really hard time balancing the tone of the scene that is currently happening in the redraw. it's why i'm so behind in my drawings, so i'm only now sketching the next couple month's updates.

This chapter has gone through SO MANY changes. I feel that comes with it being the first chapter to completely diverge from the original tumblr version.

Asriel was originally going to have a very on-the-nose nightmare about Flowey feeling excluded from the family and fearing drowning. Now, the whole darkness/water metaphor for suicidal depression will be introduced when that stuff starts to come into play in chapter 4...

i mean, just to really hammer home how much i had to delete for this: i actually did sketch out the original tumblr version here. I had it all ready before chapter 2 began posting. But as I was finishing the color for the warship section I realized, shoot, I don't wanna repeat it.

When I first made the tumblr version, i was getting burnt out and the characters just became so much... meaner? rude? to each other. some bickering or annoyance is fine but I have a bad habit of going overboard. That's something I hope to correct in the rewrite -and focus more on less drama and more wholesome/loving moments.

(note the above scene is shown not in full. its jumping around a bit)

Even tho I was mostly keeping chapter the same the first time I sketched it for the redraw, I added this scene. The idea was that when the house was on fire, Frisk would of ran off to the right of the house to where you can see Old Home.

There, even tho Frisk can't verbally talk, the two have a nice heart-to-heart. Chara remember Frisk has [spoilers] issues. Chara was going to own up to their bad behavior.

Now well, hm. Chara's got a lot of shit going on. Frisk of course has forgiven them (like they do for everyone in the underground -_- oh frisk...) and it's going to be something that's addressed down the road. for now, they've held hands, and shown solidarity for each other. As kids, they're going to goof around and be buddies and not let the cruddy stuff chara did earlier matter. things are so much less of a big deal when you're a kid.

[ridl]

Ahh, i missed the last one!

How ‘bout 12, 13, 21, 24, and 28 for the artist ask meme?

lol, no worries. thanks for the ask velvet!! answers under the cut

12. describe your process while drawing

I put music/background noise on (very important), gather a bunch of references (half ends up being just emotional support tbh lol, especially when i reuse a file), and... just start drawing lineart ig? I don't really sketch? 😭 so i just adjust the lineart as i go. Usually the whole figure of a character first, then clothes on a new layer. Once lineart is done i cry internally and go thru the agonizing process of coloring (which feels like blindly trying to find my way thru dense fog), thinking it absolutely sucks until i'm finally done and suddenly decide "eh. it looks fine" or "actually, this is pretty good!" lol.

13. talk about a wip you like!

It's keqing the adepti's favorite with ganyu, morax and cloud retainer in the background. It's supposed to be a little dramatic lol, showing her as a passionate and skilled mortal right at the front, supported by some of the most powerful beings of liyue. So yknow, a cool pose and hopefully good enough composition (how do i fit all those creatures in there? we will see!). I put it on hold for gq birthday art bc it has a deadline, but i'm excited to go back to it later. I got more ideas i'm excited abt, but they don't count as wips yet ig lol, only existing as notes in my word doc for now.

21. what do you think your artstyle would taste like?

Hmm, i thought of halva. Sweet but a little weird strong taste ig (bc it's made of sesame, it has nuts too), pretty dense, kinda crunchy and crumbly, and with coarse texture. Feels niche among the sweets here tbh lol, not exactly everyone's favorite or first choice of sweets.

24. whats a compliment about your art that has always stuck with you?

I think one of them has to be this:

because that's exactly how i'm trying to draw ganqing, even tho my artstyle is obviously pretty simplistic 😅 So idk how they even managed to see it in my art, but i'm glad!

I'm also glad when someone says my art is "unique" or they like the shapes!

28. whats a piece you would like to redraw at some point?

I think there's 2 big ones rn, and i actually already started redrawing both of them. Not sure when i'll finish, that's currently 4 wips. The difference in how i drew the faces back then vs those new wips is pretty funny, especially in the iceskating drawing. I'm... excited to draw them better now lol!

(small screenshots bc i'm too embarrassed to post full size rn)

[thatoneadhdseabunny]

Meet My OC! (Part Four)

For most of her outfits, she had Yellow as her main color, but I had tons of ideas for her, and lmk if you all want to see what these outfits looked like, I sketched a lot of ‘em, but for now, I'll just kind of describe what each one looked like.

PS: Some did change, some probably will change in the future :)

Pheonix Drop High S1/S2- Obviously, at school, she had her uniform, but she’d add little friendship bracelets to her wrist for each friend she made. (Though she didn’t give everyone the matching friendship bracelets until later, the first one to receive one being Aphmau.)

But outside of school, she tended to wear a brown oversized hoodie with black leggings. White headphones sat around her neck if they weren’t sitting atop her head. She wore white high tops, hand embroidered with little sunflowers on them. They weren’t good by any means, but they were handmade, and she loved them to death.🌻🌻🌻

Falcon Claw University- Her freshman year is rough, mentally and physically, so she just walks around in a black hoodie and some cut off shorts with rips in them. Her feet still clad in those sunflower shoes, though they don’t fit her anymore. You’d never guess she majored in fashion design.💛💛💛

Mystreet- A combination of her outfits for the last few years: The yellow hoodie from high school, though she usually perfers it unzipped now showing off a little sunflower motif on a white slightly cropped T-shirt. She always wears her cutoffs that somehow still fit from college, and will usually be seen in flip flops, and her nails are almost always painted a pretty green, so she can fidget when she needs to, and stop biting her nails like Aaron keeps telling her.

Love~Love Paradise- Kawaii~Chan insisted she pick a two piece. She should’ve listened to her gut. This season, she draws more attention to herself, in a pastel yellow halter Bikini with a white bottom skirt, also seen in flip flops. She’s also constantly wishing she could find a cover up. Although, she does tend to have Garroth’s arm around her shoulder… maybe that’ll warm her up.

Lover's Lane- It was a terrible choice on her part. She should’ve gone with KC and Katelyn. But she’s never been known for being smart. So as she sits, hiding in her room, trying to find a new pair of shoes, to match her of the shoulder yellow sweater and the white skirt that she tends to wear. Her Sunflower ones have been out of commission for a while now. Maybe she should get some new shoes at Mall Day?

Emerald Secret- Wears jeans with one of Garroth’s old sweaters and a white scarf, though said scarf doesn’t stay white for much longer.

Starlight- She finds a blue slightly cropped halter top to wear over her black bikini and she tends to pair it with a pair of dark blue denim shorts and she totally stole her flip flops from Melissa (don’t tell her though.)

When Angel's Fall- She wears Garroth’s Jacket from high school. He gave it to her two years back when she’d come over for a Frozen marathon, and she wears it whenever she’s stressed. She wears it over a pair of white shorts and a black tank top. She misses the good old days when she didn’t have to worry about how durable her outfit was.

[New!]

One Last Time- She has one of Garroth’s old T-shirts, or even jackets on at all times. With everyone still healing from when Angel’s fall, I don’t know what she’s supposed since [Redacted] would change everything for her.

{Side Rant- Tbh. I have yet to put any thought into this one, because season 7 is actually coming? And I'm excited about this, because (FINALLY !!!!!!!!!) I am a normal human being.]