#in which I struggle to incorporate a background

[heyclickadee]

“Where’s Tech?”

“Outside. Something about aiwhas and a comm recorder—”

“What about aiwhas?”

“I…think he said they might talk.”

I sort of have a headcanon Tech’s interest in sounds, recording, and language started when he was pretty young, and that it started because he had some trouble communicating and being understood. Wanting to connect ended up naturally leading into curiosity about how everything else tried to communicate.

[milkoomi]

₊˚⊹ ᰔ a guide to getting better sleep ᝰ.ᐟ

getting the right amount of sleep every night is key to getting your physical health in check and keeping your own mental and emotional state balanced! i used to struggle with severe insomnia a few years ago, so i’m going to share some tips that helped me get a good night’s rest!

let’s begin !!

ᝰ.ᐟ create a solid nightly routine

for me, my nightly routine starts between 5-6pm! so you can begin to create your nightly routine by finding that start time for yourself!

your nightly routine can include a multitude of things! whether it’s having dinner, showering, doing your nightly skincare, doing some end-of-the-day journaling; your nightly routine can be anything that helps you unwind from the day.

my nightly routine:

5-6pm: get home from work, change out of work uniform, & have dinner — within this time i’ll also spend time with my family/loved ones! i try to stay off of my phone, but there are nights where i’m having dinner and i’ll be scrolling through social media or watching a youtube video!

6-7pm: shower, dental hygiene, nighttime skincare — this is my time to pamper myself, to cleanse myself from the stresses from my day (& ofc literally cleanse myself). i’ll have a podcast playing in the background or i’ll put on a playlist of songs that make me feel good!

7-9pm: prime time “me-time” — at this point in my night, after i’ve showered and stuff, i use this time to either continue listening to podcasts or i’ll have another one of my fav youtubers playing in the background! i also incorporate time to journal and follow up with doing something that makes me happy whether that be playing a video game, entertaining myself with youtube, or coming on here & writing a new blog post!

9-10pm: bed time — i always make sure i’m physically in bed between these times just so i can allow my body to begin to fully relax. i get really cozy in bed, getting all tucked in under my covers, and i’ll make sure my lights are either dimmed or off! my goal every night is to be asleep by 10-10:30pm!

of course, your routine will look different than mine, but feel free to take some inspiration from this! figure out what works best for you and your schedule! once you have that routine set in stone, it’ll be easier to train your mind and body to get to bed at a better time and get yourself used to sleeping at a more reasonable time!

ᝰ.ᐟ no phone usage an hour before bed time

when you’re already in bed, getting ready to fall asleep, try to stay off your phone! the more time you spend mindlessly scrolling through your phone, the more that time starts to slip away from you and soon enough you’ll be up past midnight. staying away from your phone before going to sleep will allow your mind and body to start signaling that feeling of “it’s time to go to sleep”.

being on your phone right before you fall asleep just keeps your mind going and will cause you stay awake for much longer than you need to be! let your mind rest!

luckily, with iphones, you can create different focus modes other than just having your ‘do not disturb’ on! i created a focus mode titled ‘bed time’ that is scheduled to start at 9pm & end at 7am (which is usually when i wake up). i have the mode made so that my homescreen pages don’t include the page where all my social media is at so that i’m not tempted to scroll through any of my socials! i also made sure that my ‘bed time’ mode does not allow any notifications from anyone or anything to prevent myself from getting distracted at night when i’m trying to go to sleep!

ᝰ.ᐟ create the perfect sleeping environment

going to sleep can be hard if it’s too silent/noisy, too dark/bright, too cold/hot; so it’s important to make your sleeping environment the most ideal to you! turn on a fan for white noise or if you need it to be a bit cooler in your room, set a timer on your tv and have it lowered to the lowest volume, turn off all the lights— just do whatever you feel is best for making sure you sleep comfortably throughout the night!

for me, i have my tv on & i’ll set the timer on it because i still need some light source (because honestly i’m afraid of the dark lol) and i need some sound while i sleep! i make sure my tv’s brightness is dimmed because too much light is too distracting for me. i also prefer my room to be colder at night so i can cozy up more into my blankets! doing all of that to create the perfect sleeping environment has helped me get much better sleep at night!

𝜗𝜚 final notes 𝜗𝜚

creating a good sleep schedule and maintaining it can be a battle, but getting good sleep will help you in so many ways! getting enough sleep is one of the best forms of self care, and if practicing better self care is one of your goals for this new year, then please start by working on your sleep schedule and getting better sleep!

live and love, babes.

sincerely, juno ⭑.ᐟ

[lemonlimestar]

she needs to fight!!! here’s my redesign for anita :)

i felt like something was lacking in her costume and i wanted to take a stab at redesigning her so! here she is!

explanation will be under the cut :]

when i started this redesign, i knew i wanted to incorporate her cultural background a lot more. she is implied (i don’t believe they outright specify it) to practice specifically haitian voodou & both of my parents practice african traditional religions. so, i talked to my dad about different ways to connect that to her costume and he brought up west african masquerades.

i was sent many, many videos (thank u dad 🫡) of masquerades as well as celebrations of junkanoo, which is a festival that started in north america rooted in west african festival traditions & they both have bright colors & masks that i felt really lent itself to the empress costume

i knew i wanted to keep her general silhouette, but i tweaked it to better suit the masquerade & festival costumes e.g. her glove and boot cuffs being flipped.

the stripes were a common aspect, and i based the masks more on junkanoo than masquerades just because of the important meanings behind masquerading that i am not qualified to apply to a dc comics characters ajhdjsja. i also made her under armor a lot more yellow to have less people confuse it as her skin? which i’ve seen a few times.

speaking of, now onto her actual appearance. i think anita has a very cute design, but like many non-white comic characters , it is a bit of a struggle. but! that’s an easy fix.

first, i gave her knotless french curl braids, bc all the black vigilantes i draw have to have protective hairstyles apparently lmao. but also it’s a nice mix of the braids she wears in yj sometimes and her usual hair. yippee

(+ i just made her empress hair a wig, bc it’s very much more convenient & plays into the festival costume aspect)

and, finally, i made her skin tone a lot deeper bc, especially compared to her white teammates, her skin is super gray 😭 which is common for a lot of brown comic characters unfortunately. i could’ve just made her og skintone more saturated but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ it’s a free country.

and that’s a wrap :^) ty to anyone who actually sat through my rambling! if anything came off unclear i’ve open to questions about it. bring back anita fite 2k24

[crimsoncold]

Jonsa Fairytale AU (True Love's Kiss) by @crimsoncold

If you must mourn, my love Mourn with the moon and the stars up above If you must mourn Don't do it alone

...

If you must die, sweetheart Die knowing your life was my life's best part If you must die Remember your life

-Keaton Henson, You

For a while l've been considering doing a Fairytale inspired jonsa AU but was never able to make up my mind in terms of which specific fairytale I wanted to base my art piece around (i could of course just do multiple ones but with already so many WIPs i didn't want to plan to add several more into my art rotation) so unable to make a decision I set the idea aside to work on other more concrete art ideas.

Then of course I saw the prompts for the Jonsa Valentine 2025 event, and it really did seem like the world itself was encouraging me to make a fairytale jonsa art piece.

This time I chose to avoid basing it on one specific fairytale and instead considered more general fairytale tropes that are found across many tales when I was brainstorming ideas on what I would make for this prompt.

In the end I decided to use the trope of True Love's Kiss (i.e. A kiss imbued with it's own sort of magic, able to break a curse, or even bring someone back from literal death) both because I thought it would be visually interesting and because I felt it would incorporate several elements of asoiaf/got canon.

(i.e. both the inherent romanticism of Jon and Sansa's personalities and storylines as well as specific events like Jon's tragic "death" and his later resurrection as well as the likely possibility of Sansa being the girl in grey fleeing north to be reunited with her "brother")

As for the related quote, I had been struggling to pick one as most of my possible choices, while admittedly poignant and romantic, felt very specific to either Jon or to Sansa in this art piece rather than being about the two of them together, so I'm actually really pleased with my final choice (lyrics from Keaton Henson's song You) as it feels like it had segments that represent the differing perspectives/wishes of both Jon and Sansa in this scenario.

I was pushing hard to have this finished in time (with the event being about a month a way when I first started this) and even though it ended up taking me a lot more time than I had hoped, I am happy with my decision to make two versions of this artwork as i feel the most satisfying element and impactful part of this fairytale trope is in the profound transformation it can create, and to do this justice I really felt I needed a before and after version of Sansa's Kiss being what brings Jon back from the dead.

Anyway thats about all the background info I'd like to dump on you about this piece so l'll end this on a thank you; specifically thank you to anyone who found, liked, or shared this piece and/or bothered to read my rambling thoughts about making this, as well as a thank you to everyone in this fandom who arranged and/or participated in this event!

Being part of a small but so dedicated fandom is just the sort of thing that makes me happy when everything else around me starts to feel harsh and distressing. I hope you all have a wonderful day and that everyone feels inspired to keep making and sharing all sorts of art and creative pieces for this fandom- it seems a very small thing in the scope of everything happening in the world and our lives but its still something that brings some much needed joy that I think many (especially myself) greatly value while also forgetting or struggling to actually find a way to adequately express our appreciation... so this is just my attempt to say thank you all for making this little slice of fandom so wonderful!

-Crimson Cold

[haveihitanerve]

Priscillas Final Petal Commentary because one of you lovely children requested i do more of my comments and this was the first video i came across anyway-

(ok i came back afterwards and like good gods its a lot so umm, yeah if you dont care, dont click more bc its a lot to scroll past otherwise)

Luke giggling from the get go at Tom struggling to understand the word Petal

Tom getting the audience to agree the title is pretty good- meanwhile AJ and Luke making eye contact like 👀 you gonna be Priscilla or??? And then AJ nodding. So im pretty sure Luke was just like “you're gonna be her” 

Luke zoning in to Tom’s speech to give a laugh and then immediately moving on to contemplate- meanwhile sam has been dissociating for like a few minutes already- looking to the cosmos for inspiration

All three background boys immediately tensing up when tom says applause bc the scene is starting- are they about to battle over who gets to be Priscilla???? We shall see…

Oh Sam made it there first but AJ was crawling so he's obvi the young girl- and Luke lost he has to stay seated :(

Tom’s little half chuckle at AJ’s “mummy” a split second before it registers with Luke that Sam is, in fact, not AJ’s mummy and cackling

AJ needing to physically touch Sam to be like “that's my bad dude” while grinning

Aj’s weird laugh at “just as cute as you” and then not letting the mummy thing drop bc ofc not why would he XD

“Wide girlish hips” Sam building himself to be the mother lovely lovely pre-planning

“Its a buttercup” beat of surprise because wow Sam didn't expect AJ to know a flower type

Luke’s neck stretch when Sam says “they’re magical” like oh really sam, are they?

“No could you tell… me” idk why he stuttered over that but very interesting and it got a luke laugh and AJ smile so no complaints

Aj complicating things as always, love our confused king

“....” AJ contemplating how he’s about to say this while still being a child.. “.... its magic” Luke and Tom losing it quietly in the background

The way Tom and Luke genuinely look when he holds up the NONEXISTENT FAKE FLOWER TO SEE IF SAM LIKES BUTTER

Also idk if it was intentional or not- but if Sam really is lactose intolerant, AJ just casually knows that he doesn't like butter and actually incorporated it in which is really cute actually- anyway-

“Or a- sandwich!” yes brilliant counter Aj, no one butters a sandwich-genius!

“I spent a lot of time making sure this garden looks lovely” as much as I appreciate the thought sam- hes already picked the flower. Its dead. it doesn't matter what AJ does to it now- its important to the plot moving on..

Aj once again trying to think of something clever to say- “why are you being weird?” nailed it!

“Ey-ey priscilla” yes tom, thats exactly how a mother speaks to her child in this- idk victorian era 

“Is that my mummy this time?” just checking for the scene

Sam once again pointing out story flaws rapid quick- “no time for flowers” “why do you have me?” Luke laughing at it as always- also Tom i saw the flower movement- good stagecraft

Tom contemplating murder. “Because we don't have time.” 

“Not anymore” very nice setting the tone for a plot i can feel it…

“Not.     anymore.” yes it was necessary a second time… 

Those english degrees coming in clutch “ivories tinkling” 

AJ loves being a child character because it means he can ask questions to stuff he doesn't know in the scene lol

“When you get an elephant.” brilliant way to speak to a child again Tom, 10/10 mother

“And when you kill it reaaaallly good.” brilliant- got Luke to clap laugh, lovely

Sam working on stagecraft, good good

“Awww. No.” 

“Can i take this?” “My pen?” for once its not AJ’s fault that the story breaks for a second! victory!

“Her stagecraft is remarkably weak.” oooohhhh shots fired

Tom tensing up like he’s about to jump back into the scene at that second to restore his honor

Yay luke made it into a scene!

Aj’s almost spit take- dude ur the main character you don't get breaks cmon!

Ok but seriously- they were all just going to sit there and watch luke sit in a chair on stage by himself and deliver a monologue or smth??? Like tom is completely at ease, hand propped on his leg watching him, sam is chilling, and aj is drinking- not one of them wanted to join/help him in the scene???? Anyway-

“Um.. da-du-de-” Luke cuts him off- Aj: oh thank god-

For a dude renowned for his lack of skill for remembering names he certainly picks very dangerous ones i gotta say

Luke attempting to make it easier for him. Helga

Luke's massive grin making Tom laugh- bc seriously what does that mean- “sense of familiarity with my students' with the creepiest smile??? Luke what-

“Four hours straight” gorgeous- we got a sam laugh

Why does luke look at the camera like he's in the office???

Luke is struggling to maintain the accent but its good, its good, you got this

“Perhaps selling her body” oooh were gonna have to rewind four times to see everyones reaction- number one- sam laughs loud in shock and surprise and then crosses his legs and covers his mouth- luke i sense a disciplinary meeting in your future- number two- AJ claps a hand over his mouth like a victorian widow learning shocking news(my personal fav of Aj’s laugh tendencies) number three- Tom actually laughs at that- mouth open in surprise, and we get a delightful little “oh wow” look/grin and number four- luke knows the words before they exit his mouth and he is enjoying it- recovers wildly quickly but that's our out of pocket king

“What’d you mean “selling her body”” oh now AJ is using his child question asking for evil hehehehe

And luke shutting it down.. Sigh

“Don't change my name.” oh AJ you were so close!!!

Tom’s mounting amusement as Luke says “jingle bells” 

“Sometimes when im sad I tear off a petal” Tom laughing at the audacity but also- aj- thats terrifying- tf- imagine a little girl looks at you, pulls a flower out of her pocket, and rips off a petal. Like god damn im having nightmares ok-

“WHY ARE YOU SAD HELGA!” um- his name is priscilla, ur helga, also- also terrifying thanks

“No- i-im having a really good time.” uhuh yeah. Me too :) *afraid*

Idk if AJ actually forgot or just wanted to be annoying but how do you forget jingle bells-

“Darling.” *shuffle shuffle* “hi :)” oh sam is afraid- that smile- tom is gonna get him back for the stagecraft comment now, i can feel it. Ohhh sam can too

“Such a shame we couldn't send her to boarding school the old fashioned way.” “..??” “paying for it.” thats actually brilliant- im stealing that for everyday use-

While Tom is speaking about Priscillas talent- AJ watching from the corner with his tongue in his cheek- just waiting for his musical talent to be insulted lol(also very attractive look gotta say-)

“Earl of saxony.” idk why this made luke laugh but its such a delight to see him slowly spiral into heavier laughter

Also- he snaps out of it so fast- immediately joins the scene- brilliant

AJ amused because Luke’s getting yelled at and not him

Poor luke cant even sit down because theyd still come after him lmaoo

“I hope your kid dies of tuberculosis” damn! Again, stealing that

The really awkward Tom reach forward to put his hand on Sam’s shoulder kills me every time. Especially because his arm flexes like a beat before he does it- should i, should i not- before going for it lol

“Garden.” oh rumpled has some feelings he’d like resolved…

“We used to go through strolls…” “we did used to go through strolls, i cant go through any more of them.” This entire scene kills me so much i adore it yes Tom, preach. Sam always gives everyone else so much shit- uno reverse baby!!! XD

Luke and AJ loosing their minds is also my life blood

Sam confused as to how its wrong- but wants to correct “You didn't let me finish.” 

Tom put his entire cunt into that leg cross and perch of his fingers against his chin, slay king

“We used to go through strolls through the orchard.” Oh- now tom seizes the opportunity to do some stage craft just to add extra salt on the wound-

Tom’s disappointed head shake as Luke and AJ explode with laughter is my everything

Sam’s angry rant of “is that not correct?? No- no- no- because you've got two english degrees” idk but the fact that he just knows that so quickly is everything to me

AJ and Tom are enjoying this far too much- both arching forward to listen because they're little shits :)

“It is both incorrect and Im busy on my stagecraft right now so-” (ok to anyone who is just as confused as sam- the correct terminology would be “we used to go for strolls” not through or “we went on strolls” etc etc)

“Darling borrow my newspaper.” Oooh sam I see you- trying to mess with Tom’s stagecraft make him seem like its so poor he’s “reading newspaper” when hes clearing eating… smth, idk but very clever, very clever

Also- pointing it out- firstly its probably because they know the other person would never let it go- but secondly, they're so dedicated and such good actors to their craft that Sam literally reaches over and removes the nonexistent newspaper off the nonexistent food- idk it just makes me happy. Also they do it so well

‘WHOS STAGECRAFT IS WEAK NOW DARLI-” yes tom, get your revenge lol

“...doesn't it?” oh yes sam, create a new plot point and then require Tom to expand upon it and create the actual story. Brilliant thinking and a dick move but its so funny

Shit eating grin the whole time too

“It. does.” tom said calmly

“Why are you laughing at me now, i cant fire you.” lol tom never change

Ok Tom didn't like Sam’s interruption so now he's changing the plot and making it a horror story- we love, we love

Aj’s hand covering mouth laughter again, love it sm

“That should be quite obvious. The fact that were having to discuss it at all is inane and foolish” ok so tom is still not over the stagecraft comment- got it

Luke's laughter from backstage- still not sitting down because hes afraid

“This is the prettiest i ever saw her.” SAM HES STILL MAD ABOUT STAGECRAFT NO- “WOW.” aaand there it is. ofc tom is now an ally of the dead wife just to spite sam lmaooo

“A girl like me-” AJ’s hand laugh again <333

“Selling your body.” smooth tom, smooth

“No more violence” veryyy smooth sam

“That bitch.” he had to- also, Tom, where’d the cigarette come from- when’d you light it- stagecraft people!!!

“I lit this cigarette on a candle.” ah- there it is “what wonderful stagecraft-” and AJ ends it because otherwise they’d keep it up forever i just know. Entertaining- but not very helpful to the story sadly lol

Luke pointing out the flaws, “which is a region in germany, despite half the workforce being english and the other german” slay king slay

Excellent stagecraft AJ, 10/10 of opening the window

Excellent voice acting, all around- Sam’s… owl hooting thats the one, perfect- and Tom’s really creepy “come to the garden” is top notch- so thats why he was so insulted on… Annabelle's behalf- he is her

“Buttercup im a little bit scared” why is he talking to the flower now- this wasn't in the trailer-

“But ill use you to- *breaks* shine a light- *laughs* so i can see*grinning*” everyone breaks and its beautiful

Wholly shit- AJ understanding immediately and perfectly that Sam standing up and going “fwoosh” was him pretending to be the owl and not being confused like “tf are you doing” is such good subtle accuracy and just shows how long they’ve been together and- i need to calm down 

“Strange mound by a tree” subtle aj, very subtle

Oh!- oh!- oh, nope Luke, sorry, Tom beat you to it again. Damn. now he gets to be the dead wife- not you. (as much as you want to be sam’s lover- who said that?)

Pointing the flower like its a glock… very nice stagecraft aj, wonderfully done

“I cant see, I don't have my buttercup with me” brilliant work luke, smashing really- call back and humor, all in one five stars 👏

AJ being taller than sam- randomly standing now also, instead of kneeling like before, Priscilla had a random growth spurt- anyway- and not making a single effort to even pretend be shorter for the crying scene gives me life

AJ DOING BETTER MATH THAN SAM!!! YAY!!!

“Why are you speaking in the third person?” good recovery sam, now the attentions back on AJ

“What will really happen?” “you'll become lactose intolerant.” AJ side eyeing Tom, currently sitting with the audience like, “you sure? Thats all thatll happen?” 

Whoever was sitting in the audience and did a dramatic inhale when Sam went “and you'll break the c-” i love you

“You were going to say break the curse.” AJ's so proud he managed to piece that one together

“No thats not- no!” AJ let himself come out a lil- sweety, baby, you're supposed to be a three foot tall little girl, not a six foot tall man, he is towering over Sam, thats not how Priscilla works- moving on

“Y'know before i was a groundskeeper here…” “oh boy.” yeah aj, you regret tempting him now

Assassin was the last thing on my bingo card of things i thought sam would say but ok

“I feel like this is above my paygrade.” so now luke is trying to weasel out of a scene instead of into it… hmmm

“Im part of the yorkshire reserves.” idk what kinda inside joke this is, but it took luke out, dude literally did a disappointed tom dad head shake and covered his whole face with only one hand, goodness sam

“You say ‘would you like a nice cup o’ tea?’... and then you stab ‘em.” Sam i love you, never change

“When i went over to that buttercup… nest.” Ig AJ doesn't know the name for flowerbed but okay(even tho im pretty sure he said it earlier but wtv) Luke’s laugh literally gave me chills, firstly it was delayed, secondly its the deepest its ever been and just like-wow

“I have a real mum!” “no!... no.. no.” so i guess everyone is taking their cues from Tom and repeating things more than once to highlight the importance. Also Aj barely holding back a smile is so cute- especially since Sam can smile at him bc hes not facing the audience

And luke loosing his mind to laughter again, always a classic

“Uh i went scottish there-” just amusing to me

“But luckily im also a wizard.” very very very smooth sailing sam, classically done, nice way to round out the story

Luke loosing his mind, AJ almost breaking on stage, and we cant see Tom but im pretty sure hes losing it as well

“Magic!” I just adore every time AJ says magic in his little girl voice, its so precious

“Leave it. Or I’ll bleed you.” well thats a threat if i've ever heard one oh my gods- AJ looks terrified

“I will protect you with the best stagecraft you've ever seen.” Ahh good ol tom with the one liners who breaks everybody

(sam and aj leaning against each other with their laugh ahdtbdjhfgtgewbsdc- too cute<33)

“Don't bitch out on me” -luke moved too fast, AJ broke before he was sitting back down XD

“What are you sinking about?” ok idk if Luke knows or not, but thats a common german meme, im not gonna write it all down rn but no one laughed so im assuming he doesn't know, anyway made me chuckle, moving on

Sam losing his mind at “i called you helga” as he should

TOM HOPPING ON STAGE FROM WHERE HES SITTING IN THE AUDIENCE TO JOIN THE SHOW- i cant with this man seriously XD

“With you two bvitches!” you tell 'em Aj(also yes the v is intentional, he said with with pizzazz and thats what the v adds)

“I don't like music it sounds the same!” as a person who pursues music- y'know what ill let it lie nvmind

“You always make me playing fffff-fucking jingle bells” y'know what its understandable now, carry on,

“Whos annabelle.” ok screw this audience- no one gasped dramatically or ooohhhhed- HE JUST REVEALED A MAJOR PLOT POINT GUYS SHOW SOME EMOTION- i need to calm down

Ok Tom chuckled in the audience and its redemption enough for me- he even moved his shoulders with laughter- ok im back in it

Sam’s forced smile at “rumple told me” is so iconic he did that so well omg-

“GET PLUCKING!” might be the scariest thing i've ever heard- but it was accompanied by a lovely luke laugh so its balanced

“She was not… well.” “OH. WOW” tom can be offended on his own behalf this time

“She was cruel, she was cold… and her stagecraft was terrible.” YES SAM- SNAP SNAP- SLAY DIVA YESSSS

Also everyone breaking on stage is lovely, always love the shared laughs

“I will accept two of those three criticisms.” how gracious tom

Complaining about past skits/productions, sam is just airing out all his grievances i love them so much omg-

Luke literally folding from laughter

“Well if you bury all your women..” Sam’s hand snapped up so fast. “One. I've only buried one.” ☝️

AJ SINGING!!! YESSSS

The utter chaos in this scene is the best thing in the world, all four of them on stage at once is always a treat

… is tom sucking Luke’s soul out of his body through his face using his hand? I have so many questions...

…why did it make him snap his own neck????

Why are they harmonizing?!?!?!

Sam literally she hates you because you always insult her stagecraft and when she digs her way out of hell the first thing you do is insult her stagecraft??? I mean, it is, admittedly, confusing stagecraft… but THATS NOT THE POINT!

“Oh i don't like this at all!” nor do i sam… nor do i… *the writer is horrified… and very amused*

THEY KILLED SAM?!?!?!?!?!?! 

Also AJ casually successfully mouthing every word Tom says is insane skill and very well done

“Mummy…” ok.. And aj takes the most terrifying person crown again…

“Piano lesson.” yeah im sensing a lot of pent up anger…

"Plinky plonky. Every day.” sounds like a legitimate reason, but if she thinks plinky plonky is the sound a piano makes then i understand why shes in lessons-

Also- aj successfully made tom crack a smile on stage, well done

Also aj- made eye contact with luke off stage and made him fold again

“You look different.” Ok but Tom’s hand raised and like, little crimp is so totally a mom move his stagecraft is excellent-

“Have you had your-*stutters* first period?” now thats class A humor, and im so glad it broke aj and sam

AND IT MADE LUKE DO DISAPPOINTED DAD HEAD SHAKE AND HAND OVER FACE. good work tom

“Is it a light, medium or heavy flow?” y'know what im so fucking glad he knows what those all are, and i know the others do too, love them all truly

Tom having to run back and forth as both mothers… ahhhh i love when they play two interacting characters its so funny

“Get out of my daughter” careful word choice tom… yep- sams exploding with laughter, luke is dying, and even AJ is blinking at you in concern(tbf tom immediately regretted it, but it was worth the laughs)

“Mummy help!” “can you clarify which one you're talking to?” Tom never change, i love you. “Im talking to my mummy!” im assuming he means the one thats not possessing him, and honestly thats so cute, aj knows what the people want, and the people want priscilla to love her adopted/found family?? Mother- anyway keep watching to see..

… what is it with them breaking Tom’s fingers??? 

… did sam just “rumple” charge his wand by like..  Loading it like a shotgun??? stagecraft…

Oh ok they're two separate things…

The slow mo i adore these idiots omg-

“You're only making our bond stronger-” before he even finished AJ is pulling closer again, damn to have that instinctual friendship is insane

AJ SINGING!!!!

“Shut the fuck up” aj hes trying to further the plot- shhhh

Quick thinking Luke- Priscilla, Queen of the Dessert, real song, totally real, good good great, you could've said literally anything else, but ok

Tom switching to the adoptive mother because thats the one who really knows her is honestly so sweet- my heart

Sam getting to shoot Tom is always great. Working out their anger in a calm, reasonable manner

“Wow.” tom is really milking these wows huh

“I mean she did raise you.” Tom just cause he doesn't know the word “biological mother” doesn't mean- y'know what whatever- Aj i understand what you mean- you're a good daughter !

“No don't fuck with me like that okay?” yes aj! Fight back(casually drops the girl voice to become AJ to actually yell at Tom, ugh i love him)

“Ill be seeing you… ill be seeing youuuu” again with the repetitions goodness

“Byebye.” damn it tom he almost made it without breaking!

“AND SCENE!” From both Sam and Luke. perfect ending. 

Tom finally rejoining the stage and exiting the audience

Anyway thats all, thanks for reading this entire like book worth of comments, lots to say and lots of it is meaningless but anyway hope it added a dash more humor to their brilliance and yeah… my thoughts 🙂

@dawn-speckled you said you wanted my thoughts and damn do i have a lot of them lol, anyway hope it brought you some joy:)

[ohsoconfused]

transschizospec if you haven't already?

TRANSSCHIZOSPEC TIPS 𖦹

i am also transschizospec!!

i will separate this into categories: delusions, hallucinations, behaviors, emotions, and thinking

keep in mind these are all just symptoms and not every schizospec person experiences them all!! most probably dont experience all of them!!

delusions:

- a delusions is simply a fixed belief that doesnt change despite contradicting evidence. let your imagination run wild and then just gaslight yourself. eventually youll believe it.

- if you need more guidance, some common delusions are grandiose delusions (which i experienced), paranoid, erotomaniac (parasocial), somatic, and many more you can google.

- paranoia is very very common!! incorporate it!!

- look at the “how the delulu girls“ trend on tiktok!!

- whether or not you choose to talk to people about your delusion is up to you

hallucinations:

- honestly, make them up to gaslight yourself and/or manifest them

- draw whatever comes to mind and tell yourself its your hallucinations

- get sleep deprived!!

-watch things that make you anxious!!

- listen for small background noises and tell yourself its a hallucination

behaviors:

- periods of catatonia!! catatonia is a state where someone is awake but not responding to other people or maybe their environment. it may occur in the form of repetitive odd gestures, holding strange positions, mimicking others, or not moving at all. not every schizospec person experiences catatonia!!!!

- disorganized speech!! this is pretty much just word salads but with whatever and also with some garbled speech so ill make an example of this one no thank you i dont have the free time for that but yournrnnn you cna ask ted..if you wnt because hes to contamnnated to do that (but do that while talking)

- do repetitive movements and do things in patterns

- be impulsive

- schizophrenics tend to socially isolate

- be disorganized!! wear mismatch clothes (thats a thing with schizophrenics), have a messy room, etc.

emotions:

- apathy is common among schizophrenics and interestingly enough, so are heightened emotions!! sometimes just not react to things and SOMETIMES REALLY REACT!!

- anxiety is also very common

- paranoia!! what if everyone can read your mind? what if they know youre a terrible person? there are people watching you. where are they?

- inappropriate emotional responses!! such as laughing when something bad happens or crying over something really small. this ties in with heightened emotions.

thinking:

- disorganized thoughts!! this is pretty much just word salads but with whatever and also with some garbled speech so ill make an example of this one no thank you i dont have the free time for that but yournrnnn you cna ask ted..if you wnt because hes to contamnnated to do that (but do that while talking)

- memory issues!!

- inability to process social cues!! that means not getting the hint when someone is talking to you or not getting the hint someone needs to be comforted, for example.

- attention deficit!! struggle to focus on things and zone out a lot

[a-roguish-gambit]

Behold, the Brotherhood of Mutants for my turn of the century au!

You can tell I had the most fun with pietro and wanda’s designs. They are based more on upperclass wear of the time. Sadly, there was no punk going on, but you can see that in rebellion Wanda has bobbed her hair, which was incredibly controversial before the year 1920.

I based the outfits of the brotherhood boys on some different working class designs. Lance has some factory gear to help protect him from his own power. You have probably noticed that they don’t really have super suits or armor at this point in time that’s because a lot of it has not been invented yet or is almost exclusively used by military. Spandex will not be a thing for a couple more decades, and most non natural fibers right now are dangerously flammable, so they are mostly wearing clothing that suits them rather than super suits. also, you will notice that yes some of the characters have visible injuries, especially todd. They grew up in the 1900s which was an especially difficult time to be an orphaned child. This is part why they all end up being willing to stay with mystique and Irene, who have set up a “shelter for wayward boys” which in actuality is a way for them to train children for magneto (will design him later having trouble figuring out how to incorporate his helmet lol). It’s free room and board with food so they don’t have to worry about any exploitative jobs at this point in time. And all they have to do is go on missions for her which is somehow significantly safer than an up to code factory floor. being former Street kids, or in Fred’s case, a former sideshow act, they have already been a bit embittered to the world, especially to the X-Men kids who they see as highly privileged, even though several of them came from similar backgrounds of poverty, struggle, and familial loss, someone was just willing to reach out a hand to them before mystique.

Both Irene and mystique are faking being widows, living together in part of a way to claim the estate as their own, but also as an excuse to hide their relationship. The brotherhood kids could honestly care less about this thankfully because they’re loyal if you feed them, and they’ll never leave because well they need the food…mystique is not sure if that last part is good or not but its comforting to know their secret is safe with these kids. Shes still not a great caretaker for them but at least they have a roof over their head, fresh clothing, and 3 square meals a day, which is more than what they had.

[shysublimecoffee]

Look this is just an opinion not a fact don't get into such a tussle over a stanger opinion on a book of all things which are meant for entertainment. How I view this doesn't effect you nor do you take it as fact in fact youre free to disagree don't care.

It fucking says a lot about Shen Jiu as a character and the fandom as a whole in fanfics when the majority of them make him in fanfics having a better turn around in his life is always when a respected man is attached to hip usually( Liu Qingge) or acts as a voucher for people to even see him past his shell or his lies about the true reason he goes to the brothel goes out the window because otherwise he's a liar, a no-good and lecher and scum villain and because he's so emotional and volatile people do not respect him as a peakleader at all. He doesn't have a voice like it's telling me he's so female-coded cause ladies knows how dangerous people giving character assassination at your person could do tons of damage to your future prospects in future life and honestly I really like even though the ficwriters don't outright say it cause it subtle how majority every man and person in his life have taken away his autonomy and I find the most egregious example SY not actually giving a fuck about the person of the body he's inhabited and him not emoting at all when he saw the OG being abused and still validating LBG like if even the modern man from another era doesn't give a shit either someone who has to have sensible morals in society and even he doesn't care . This dynamic reflects a lot how society often undermines individuals who don't fit its norms, stripping them of their autonomy and dignity. SJ's struggle for respect and recognition in the story mirrors real-world issues of power and validation.

Everyone prefers SY. I'm not going to act as if I'm better though in real-life same I'd like him more too but his martial siblings barley tried. If they dislike him whatevs, but you guys are not at all suspicious about the 180 change in behavior how the kid he used to hurt and abuse is now being loved and pampered wtf??? Don't you guys owe him that much to investigate.

They could have tried to dig deeper aside from the one time they test him for possession but they didn't because they prefer the new and improved him". It actually so telling how the author chose someone of such a rich and idle pampered background to be transmigrated to the villain who's origin the very opposite of that and yet seemingly integrated himself better and incorporate better relationship with them then SJ.

The cultivation world, as well as the characters within it, reflect deep-seated classist attitudes. SJ's rough background and survival tactics make him an outsider, whereas SY, coming from a more privileged background, can navigate and be accepted more easily.

What does that actually say exactly that someone of a better background get along with the peaklords but not SJ because with our SJ he's a fighter and biter, he plays dirty to win in their eyes, he a lecher every inconceivable things is literally placed onto him just based on their perception of him. Is it that unconsciously they could tell SJ is not of of them or am I looking to deep haha??? The cultivation world is very classist is not news to anyone and that being the exploration in MXTX next book and how WWX background being how he literally met his end because of it says an actually lot how she took the things from this story and incorporate it into her next book.

The entire story had me retrospectively think hard how SJ voice is silent and yet to me at least he stills haunts the narrative because of it then when you get to the reveal about his backstory it makes you fucking think of him as an actual person and not just an object as a vehicle for the main character to just insert himself in because no matter the nature of a person it stills their body.

Like i've seen some fans even reflect this saying it not his fault that he transmigrated or he deserved it's technically his body and that he's a better person than SJ. At first, I agreed but then I took some time to process this. I don't care about SJ actions and his nature if it at the expense of his fucking body. SY can live for many many years but he's not SQQ unless he reincarnated like Airplane like it makes me want to me want to debates about transmigration. SY is his own person an adult with memories he has his own thoughts and feelings so when he transmigrated he took over the manual controls but that doesn't mean he's actually SQQ because he's not he's a pampered millennial.

In Otome Isekai (OI) stories, the original souls often face bad endings, while the transmigrators, who are modern characters inhabiting and thriving in these disliked bodies, desperately try to avoid such fates. They manage to charm the original male leads and are so focused on changing the story's trajectory that they can't accept its original path. This comparison to OI highlights how these characters' actions mirror Shen Yuan's (SY) predicament. The original person's identity and struggles are dismissed for the sake of the new character's journey, leading to the erasure of the original identity.

I don't vibe much with Shen Yuan because he seems very indifferent. The world revolves around him and his bias, much like many other transmigration novels where the MCs are similar. I find it hard to connect with a MC whose actions, even bold, lack a genuine foundation with other characters because they continue to see them not as people but character roles they're supposed to fulfill. He does everything to save himself, not from the sincere intention. His reaction to the death of GXY was cold af.

I don't like transmigration stories for this reason. They're often treated more as reader-inserts for fix-it fanfiction. We rarely learn about the characters' past lives, so we end up thinking of them as the person they transmigrated into, rather than who they were before. All we know of before was he was cyber-bullying and harassing the author and a troll so an asshole, basically.

If you guys don't know about OtomeIsekai basically we have bunch of modern day Koreans jumping into european white women bodies and inhabiting their bodies and living vicariously through them basically wish-fufillment bullshit trash . 9/10 nobody notices because this is a person who is widely disliked and despised and because no-one cared for the OG soul it easier to just go under the radar hell even the MC don't give a shit to so we have another MC that become so beloved in the eyes of the ML and how she bewitched everyone into loving her.

Transmigration is literal horror. " His Present" a short story I read from novel-updates where it literally based on this very concept where his loved ones preferred the imposter ugh made me bawl.

It makes me think about transmigration. Does it truly matter if the person who took over lived much longer than the original soul does that make them "THEM" ? I actually do appreciate SJ backstory being added but like now with transmigration just popping off on internet novels where the concept is everywhere where the original soul is discarded and the new one is celebrated, kinda adds a layer of tragedy and ethical dilemma to the narrative. It questions the validity of the new identity and the consequences of such an erasure. I'm always biased for the OG souls maybe that why a lot of SJ fics make him the character who is most suppressed by his role as scum villain succeed in making him heard to be listened to and mattered.

Imma nap lol this rant was loooong!!!

[radioactive-dragons]

How 2 win a fest skin contest on dragon neopets

Hi! So I've seen some discussion on fest skin contests, mostly about how some people just keep winning. I'm not here to discuss about whether anything should be done about that, or whether that's unfair. I'm here to share some tips for people who struggle to get any fest win or honorable mention in.

Some background info: I've won a decent amount of contests so far. I don't win nearly every single time I enter a contest, but I do at least manage to land an honorable mention most of the time at this point. So take this post with a grain of salt, I'm not perfect, nor the best, just here to share what I've noticed from my festival winners as well as others.

So here we go!

Tip 1: Stay in theme

A lot of entries I see don't quite fit the idea of the flight that staff is looking for. Stick with the flight's general theme. For light that tends to be the color yellow, orbs and ancient Greece inspired ruins.

Some flights have very broad themes. Like water ranging from deep sea horrors to sandy shores, or nature both having a feral, wild aesthetic as well as a tropical, flowery one. But other flights, like wind and light, have a more narrow theme.

I've talked with some other skin artists about specific contest entries in the past, that we really wished would win, but doubted they ever would. Not because the art wasn't interesting, but because they fell outside the general themes we see in that flight. Sometimes we're surprised, and they win anyways, though!

Tip 2: study the masters

We're in our 12th festival cycle, which means there's 11 previous years to look through. This is a really valuable resource. Go through the previous years, especially the more recent ones, and take a look at what the previous winning entries were. You'll probably spot some common themes for each flight, as well as specific elements that reoccur in each fest again and again.

Whenever I sit down to make a contest entry, I look at the previous few years. Both to gather inspiration but also to study them. I don't just look at these skins, I pick apart their art style, the composition, the themes that they've used. And then I go ahead and bring my own spin on it.

Tip 3: Make it yours

Okay, yes, I know I just spent a while talking about staying on theme and referencing existing winners, but hear me out. Most of the winning entries I see (as well as most of my own fest winners) manage to walk the tight line between staying on theme as well as adding their own creative twist to it.

This is the part where I'm going to share some of my own examples, since I think some of mine show what I mean pretty well.

Solarium (brightshine 2019) | Starwood Monarch (starfall 2022) | C.A.C.T.U.S. (thundercrack 2022)

These ones still stay relatively in theme, but they also incorporate some of my own twists in it. Solarium's idea was a window to the sky, surrounded by gilded sundial-esque elements. Starwood Monarch is a pink arcane crystal butterfly. And C.A.C.T.U.S. is... well, cybernetic cacti tied into the dragon with some thunder clouds.

None of these are a carbon copy of the flight's themes, but instead incorporate the flight's themes into another concept altogether. Sundial sky, arcane butterfly, robot cacti.

And you can go pretty wild with this in some scenarios.

Fast as the Wind (mistral 2022) | Sunlit Streams (brightshine 2024)

Both of these incorporate something you really wouldn't expect from its flight. Cheetahs and koi fish respectively. I'm actually really surprised Sunlit Streams won since I felt it strayed too far away from light's general theming.

Fun fact, for C.A.C.T.U.S. and fast as the wind I actually came up with the name first, then based a skin around that name. I don't always do it but it's nice to get a cohesive package.

Tip 4: Keep it readable

A common thing I see in festival winners are that it's really easy to tell what they depict at an immediate first glance. A lot of entries that otherwise would be really good candidates fall victim to one of the following pitfalls.

They don't tint the lines and shadows

They don't have any line art separating objects from the dragon

They use a very soft brush for things that should appear more solid

Number 3 I see a lot with artists who are rather novel at (digital) art in general. This isn't a bad thing, but it does make the overall picture blurred and difficult to read.

For number 2, the fix is mostly to add clearer separation between the dragon and the object. The dragon base is a gray, but lighter and darker dragons exist. Having no (or very unnoticeable) lineart will make any very light color blend in with lighter dragons!

As for number 1... please tint your lines and shadows. Often they can be a noticeable deal lighter than what the default PSD has them as. Set your lines to multiply also, to make life less hard on yourself.

This means your art doesn't have to be perfect to win. My first two festival winners make me die inside every time I look at them.

Twilight Oracle (brightshine 2016) | Cinderleaves (flameforgers 2016)

I could list a bunch of reasons as to why I think these aren't too great, the shading being just one of them. But hey, they still won. And that's likely because they still follow these four principles at their core.

Bonus tip: have fun!

It's real cliche to throw this one in, but I mean it. If you're solely making fest entries to win, then not making it into the selection feels incredibly awful. It's art after all, draw what you love to draw. This is just my two cents on how to improve your chances at winning a contest.

I hope this isn't an unreadable wall of text and that someone actually got something out of this, thanks for reading!

[mysteryanimator]

Since I'm more rambly/analysis-driven on Tumblr, I'll drop this here and extrapolate! I won't be too structured in this because this is just thoughts coming out of the brain haha

The top row I Want to Live Animatic / the bottom row Journey Out of Eden Animatic! Both fan-animatics I've made!

I'm being super genuine when I say I did not realize that the time of these releases was BOTH on the 20th. Honestly, it makes comparing and contrasting my improvements REALLY FUN.

While there are aspects of Journey Out of Eden that could be greatly improved (that last kiss section I know how to make better, I see the vision on how to rework it), my compositions are way less flat! Greatly helps with 3D backgrounds in all honesty. I still default to my comfort compositions HAHA however, I definitely utilize them more effectively than before! I have considered writing a breakdown on it since its wildly way more focused on the technical aspects of composition stuff, but I'm abstaining from it (watch me take that back because this mini breakdown was really fun and good to keep up mentally)

Also now I'm properly employing lighting as a more direct way to have additional storytelling which is really fun! I know lighting isn't mapped out this extensively in storyboards unless it's very important BUT I really really enjoy seeing how lighting can be used as an additional framing device in other media so I'm using it an absurd amount!

Finally started properly using the rule of thirds and that makes a world of a difference! It divides the screen into thirds horizontally and vertically and acts as a guideline of where to place things! I was told once it wasn't that important by a teacher much earlier in the years I was taking art more seriously. The biggest lie ever. I started incorporating it for God Help the Outcasts Animatic and I haven't looked back. While I do break it here and there, it's a very good baseline sculpting out the look of a shot!

Always room to get better but hey I've made some tremendous progress in this month alone which is very neat to see a timeline of it per week! Since my studio work was absolved last year I push to improve my stuff in my own time!

Side tangent, insane to think I did that DURING uni, funnily enough, I learned/improved more in the studio rather than in uni and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

Since it's only just me disciplining my workflow, I struggle a lot with seeing improvement. Being able to compare and contrast something from then and now has been very helpful!

Again, will admit that I am embarrassed about sharing this stuff since it bares so much of me, though I can't help but admit it is very cool to see my progression in live time as if I'm a science experiment or something LOL

[sohkrates]

Art and Deleted Time

I came to a recent revelation recently. Honestly it's something I've known for a while, but it became crystalized in my mind as I was struggling to put together a concept cover for my vampire TTRPG Blood & Tears.

Art requires a lot of deleted time.

Let me show you.

This was my initial idea for the cover. An ornamental border made up of a heart at the top, the comedy and tragedy masks to the left and right, and a vampire mouth at the bottom.

So I brought that into Affinity and found some creative commons reference images I could use. It's about at this point I thought it would be cool if I could make it look like blood was flowing from the heart up top and draining down through the border forming the masks, and eventually terminating within the open vampire mouth at the bottom.

But it's about here that the idea was getting away from me. I didn't have long to put this together and I wasn't sure if I had the skill to pull this off. I was trying to do a lot here, as well as the gold foil symbol that I wanted to incorporate somehow, which represents the conservative authoritarian faction of vampires in the game.

But I liked what I had done with the heart. It looked cool. Hell, it looked cool just by itself, what if... What if I just...

More importantly I liked it. It looked done. So I just cleaned it up a bit. Added some decay to the title and grime to the background.

I do still like the flowers and vines growing from the arteries but I also like how simple this is.

And this is where we can see, or rather not see, all this deleted time. Looking at this cover you would never tell that I had a much more maximalist vision. That this came out of hours and hours and trying and failing to make something completely different work.

Anyway. I'm real happy with this. And the other work I'm doing with Blood & Tears. It'll be launching on Kickstarter on February 1st, a Saturday, which terrifies me, but I've come a long way. And it's nice to see that and recognize it some times.

[beffalumps]

hi there! recent art school grad here and i was wondering if u have any tips on learning color + approaching backgrounds? even though i learned a lot, i still find myself struggling with these focuses, especially colors as i never had a class that really taught me that. thanks so much 💗 your work is so lovely

First off, congrats on graduating!! Backgrounds and colors have always been the hardest for me lol tbh I still struggle a lot with colors especially, so please take everything I say with a grain of salt!

Using adjustment layers helps me a lot (especially color balance to make things more unified or complementary).

Another thing that I think has REALLY helped me with color overall is actually switching between color and grayscale.

In photoshop I set up a custom proof profile and then am able to switch back and forth by using the hotkey Ctrl + Y. This helps me check my values which, I've found if you have solid values, colors tend to work so much better even if you don't know much about what you're doing lol. Another way to do this is making a solid black layer on top of all your color layers and setting the blending mode to "Color". Then you can toggle that on and off to look at the values.

One last thing I've played with re: colors is finding a reference that has the colors I like and "crystalizing" it and color picking a palette from that.

This can be super helpful if you're having a hard time visualizing or coming up with a color palette!

As for backgrounds, they became a lot easier for me when I started looking at them like their own character. Thinking about the story I'm trying to tell, adding little details that I think would add to that or be fun and fun ways for the character to interact with it.

That and doing value sketches/just a bunch of really quick and sloppy experiments. 9 times out of 10, they don't work out, but sometimes they spark something that turns into something fun and workable!

This has gotten really long for someone that really just bs's their way through every piece, but I will say one thing that was a big game changer for me (in my personal opinion, who knows if other people think so lmao) and it's just incorporating aerial perspective. Making things a bit more blue tinted (or whatever the sky color is) and lighter as they recede into the background. Has made a huge difference for me when it comes to creating depth!

I really don't know if any of this is helpful because to be 100% honest, most of my illustrations are just product of trial and error lol. But practicing and making a lot of really bad scribbles have (I think) helped me the most, so yeah my biggest advice with anything is just look at lots of art, just draw and don't worry if it looks bad because tbh, it probably will at first. But you'll get better!

@tamberella Has a ton of amazing free resources and brushes, so if you haven't checked out their stuff, definitely do so!

@iniro also has some really nice tutorials on color (and other topics) available so I'd also recommend looking at those too!

But yeah, sorry for going on about my hair-brained process, I hope at least some of this was helpful!

[highfantasy-soul]

Katara: NATLA Edition - Waterbending

In the Netflix show, Katara's main teacher was the world - she observed, she learned the spiritual side of bending from Aang (and a little from Jet), and she learned from opponents she fought (including Pakku)

This is SHOWING Uncle Iroh's lesson to Zuko in Bitter Work (book 2) about learning as much as you can from everywhere even if they aren't directly doing your own style of bending. By learning about everyone's cultures/styles/philosophies of the world, then you have a more rounded view of the world and can incorporate new things into your own bending.

I think an important distinction people are missing when they compare LA and animated Katara is that in the animated series, we see Katara WATERBEND more, but in the live action, we see her PRACTICING waterbending more.

In the animated series, she's already doing very useful things with her waterbending (lifting a fish, throwing water and freezing it, breaking apart an iceberg with her anger, pulling down a bank of snow,  lifting a whole wave of water, pushing and pulling a wave, pulling water from Aang's lungs, pushing the water while she's in it to get to shore faster, lifting water from a river to freeze as a block on a guy's head, lifting and maneuvering water in the air) before she ever even gets a hint of training. She just 'naturally' knows how to do all that through her own trial and error - no advice from Aang about the spirituality of bending, no training from the scroll, and no using moves she's seen other benders do just making it water.

The only times we see animated Katara training is in The Waterbending Scroll episode - which is the entire point of the episode - and in the trio of episodes up in the NWT - again, the whole point of her arc in those episodes. Everything else, she's done on her own and there's no moments of her training during the other episodes, she just waterbends.

In the live action, we see Katara constantly practicing, even when she's just in the background of a scene or traveling from place to place - she's ALWAYS practicing her stances or playing with water to get better.

In the live action, Katara is struggling with ALL of waterbending, not just the technical aspect of it - because bending is a highly spiritual practice where you have to be in the right mindset to do successfully. We see every single step of Katara's waterbending practice journey - from not even being able to lift a globe of water to holding her own against a master.

We get to see the process of bending from start to finish which really fleshes out the magic of the world in an organic way while providing one of our leads with more depth that ties them to the themes of the world and of their own culture and how the oppression of the Fire Nation affects her mental state.

In the animated show, we hear Katara talk about how losing her mother hurt her, yet we really only see the fallout of that trauma, not her inner turmoil over it. We see her taking on a 'motherly' role in the community and with Sokka, we see her anger at the firebenders, we see how she's had to grow up too fast and just wants to be a kid, but the actual death of her mother and its affect on her isn't shown.

I like how the live action specifically shows how Katara's mother's death affects HER - she doesn’t just share the story to connect with others, it's not just the 'reason' she acts the way she does, it's not just something that impacts her relationships with others: if no one else in the world existed for Katara to interact with, Katara would still have a journey to go on surrounding Kya's death.

In the LA, the fact that her mother was killed by a firebender looking for HER - and she tries to save her mother using her waterbending and it doesn't work because she isn't strong enough yet, directly affects Katara herself independent of anyone else. That trauma keeps her from being able to waterbend easily like she does in the animated show and it's one of her main arcs: the arc to learn waterbending isn't just a technical journey for her like it is in the animated show, it's emotional too.

Generational trauma due to horrific violence is shown both in external issues to grapple with as well as internal ones our characters have to face alone.

I really like how the live action broke down Katara's waterbending and we got to see the 'less flashy' aspects of it. She's not constantly doing huge and impactful moves, she's steadily growing in power and confidence one small step at a time. She doesn't do it alone - she has so many teachers who help her along the way with both the physical and mental aspect of bending and to me, her progression in power is much more clear in the live action than it is in the animated show.

[fatigue-d]

My early Christmas gift 🎁 :

CHRISTMAS LETTER

Ship : Yukierre ( Yuki X Pierre ) and Charlos ( Charles X Carlos ) in background

Tag : Fluff

Word : around 2000 words

-------------------------------------------------

Yuki scanned the 'thing' in front of him with fear and curiosity. There were no other words to describe what looked like a pile of biscuits straight out of a Ketamine workshop. The smell of burning made the Japanese man cough as he opened the windows, sending a quick apology to his neighbours who would have to smell this filth on New Year's Eve.

Now it was time to look for the culprit of this culinary crime, so he chose not to throw the biscuits away despite the nauseating smell, and went to investigate. The first thing he found was Charles gazing lovingly at his partner, Carlos, dancing to the applause and laughter of the other guests. The Monegasque wasn't the most skilful with a whip or a knife, but he knew how to manage a minimum, he wasn't at his boyfriend's level, but as the days and months went by, his level had increased significantly.

Nevertheless, Charles had never tried his hand at pastry-making, and where Carlos excelled, Charles excelled, golf being a perfect example of that. The Spaniard could pride himself on having made some magnificent swings, while his companion struggled to hit the ball, dropping it three quarters of the time into the water, which made him wonder whether he should become a diver instead of a pilot. So the question arose, and Yuki was definitely not known for his tact.

"Charles? Did you bring us biscuits? It's nice, but it was definitely not necessary. Asked Yuki, pointing to the experiment that boasts the name of edible food.

- Oh, that! It was already here when Carlos and I came, we hesitated to throw it out but we kept it here because of the note next to it.

Yuki frowned at the Francophone's explanation, there had been no words when he'd seen the pile of 'defective' biscuits, perhaps he hadn't been paying enough attention? Or looked carefully enough? He thanked the older man for his answer and went to check the kitchen again, looking for the overcooked biscuits.

After having to greet at least five people to get to his favourite room in the house, he was surprised to discover that the pile had disappeared! He would have said good riddance, but with it, the paper that had intrigued him had also magically evaporated.

So he resumed his little investigation, this time in search of the mysterious thief or gourmet, although he doubted it very much, who had stolen a note that was surely intended for him. After all, everyone knew that the kitchen was Yuki's territory, and those who had forgotten must have remembered to their cost. Daniel sometimes stroked his head, remembering the blows he'd received from the Japanese when he'd let his greed do the talking on New Year's Eve last year. It had amused the crowd, but it had also made it clear that if anyone entered this sacred place without the Asian's permission, they would receive his wrath or worse.

The only one who was guaranteed never to receive any physical punishment was Pierre, the Frenchman who enjoyed immunity thanks to his status as, and I quote: "Boyfriend of the paddock's favourite gremlin". This made more than one person smile, especially Pierre who enjoyed his privilege as he saw fit, having fun annoying the Asian while he was cooking, distracting him either by showing him videos while he had to watch the dough, or by incorporating new ingredients himself. Luckily Yuki was a real chef, the Asian redoubling his ingenuity to hide his partner's blunders, often making his dishes even more succulent. Definitely, the duo worked like clockwork.

Well, not necessarily, or at least not any more, given the Frenchman's smile of both laughter and regret as he ventured into his partner's realm. His eyes averted, he placed the object of the Asian's covetousness in front of him, embarrassment showing on his face. In the end, Yuki didn't need to make any enquiries, the source came to him, perhaps he had such a force of attraction that problems were solved as soon as he knew they existed. He'd talk to Lance about it, I'm sure he'd understand.

"So? Did you make his biscuits? he asked, looking frankly unconvinced by his boyfriend's cooking skills.

- It was supposed to be a surprise, but Esteban's just tasted them, and he's throwing up in the toilet right now. So I thought I'd take them out quickly before you discover them. Explained the Frenchman with a slightly proud smile. Definitely, anything that could make the life of his French colleague more miserable was beneficial to him.

- Don't try to cook on your own again! You're wasting ingredients for nothing. exclaimed Yuki, Pierre's face breaking down at his boyfriend's remark.

- Come on Yuki! I wanted to please you! I even wrote you a little note! Pierre defended himself, taking the Japanese man in his arms and quickly stealing a kiss. Yuki let out a quick insult in his native tongue and his cheeks flushed at the chestnut's amorous gesture.

The Japanese man, finally overcome by his partner's murmurs of love, took the pretty decorated Christmas card from the older man's hands. The many drawings on it surprised him as he opened it, seeing his initials and Pierre's, his name in Japanese and a whole bunch of other terribly useless but endearing scribbles, which framed his boyfriend's message.

"Dear Yuki,

It's been 3 years since we celebrated our Christmas together, I would have told you that it's only the food that has embellished these moments with you, but you surely know that there are many other things.

Here's a non-exhaustive list:

• Your little mumbles in Japanese when you're angry or thinking

• Your habit of talking while you sleep (you've already confessed to me 4 times like that)

•Your cheeks that turn red as soon as it's less than 5 degrees.

•Your addiction to fry chicken

• Your Christmas jumpers that are too big (I've bought you a new one, by the way, look on our bed)

•Decorating the tree is becoming a competition with you

•Your long phone calls with your family, while you cry because you can't see your nieces (there's something waiting for you there with the jumper)

•Your fear of Father Christmas (it's just because he's bigger than you, admit it)

•Your collection of collector's snowballs.

And many more, but I don't have the space to write them all down.

Every holiday I spend with you makes me want to celebrate Christmas every day, just to see your excitement over the presents and the look of pride on your face when you see someone enjoying yours.

I hope we can all celebrate together.

Pierre, your beloved boyfriend

To my favourite elf."

Yuki felt tears fall down her cheeks, her vision blurring as a result. His boyfriend was sometimes stupid, even very stupid, but he loved him and it was during these moments that he remembered him the most.

"Me too.... He whispered as he leaned his head against the chest of the man he liked to call his soul mate, he'd never tell him, it would give him too much of a headache.

The Frenchman's heart quickened at his boyfriend's words, he hadn't expected him to cry, Pierre wasn't the best at comforting. But his arms would always be there to support him, whether in moments of joy or sadness, after all it was his duty as his boyfriend. And he would never fail in this task. Because Yuki deserved it, he deserved this tenderness and this love, and the Japanese man had to realise this sooner or later, because the Frenchman would remind him of it for the rest of his life.

- Is that all? I expected more, given everything I've written. Pierre commented with an amused smile, a lack felt deep inside him as he felt the youngest leave his arms.

- I've already complimented your shopping list enough! replied Yuki, trying to sound annoyed, the tears in the corner of his eyes making him lose all credibility.

Pierre laughed at his words, his hand taking the younger man's, leading them towards their bedroom where a gift wrapped on their bed was waiting, the Frenchman's apprehension growing as he saw Yuki quickly tear open the gift packet, his eyes lit up with curiosity.

These were soon extinguished by the tasteless garment in front of him. A picture of a shrinking man with the phrase "I love my PETIT-ami* " and the usual Christmas motifs in the background. He changed his jumper, however, putting on the new one, which was once again too big for him. He was sure that Pierre was now deliberately bringing back one size larger, but he was giving him the benefit of the doubt, after all he had taken the time to write him a letter.

While he was putting on his top, he saw some plane tickets at the bottom of the gift packet. Pierre had prepared a trip for them? But there were far too many, the date on the tickets had expired, and the destination was Italy. And just as he was about to question his boyfriend, the latter covered his eyes with his hands, whispering to him to turn round and wait a few seconds. Yuki hesitated to bite him, Pierre deserved to be bitten for the jumper, and was about to do so when Pierre took his hands away from his eyes, letting him see several people in front of him shouting "Suprise! ".

His vision finally clear, he recognised his niece running into his arms, her expression shocked as he turned towards Pierre who was smiling lovingly at him. The amazement in his eyes as he heard his family talking to him.

"It's not thanks to me, it's thanks to them. Pierre whispered, pointing to his nieces as he left to let Yuki enjoy her time with her family.

- Your Prince Charming took us on a tour of Italy! exclaimed the youngest.

- How did he do that?

He'd often complained to Pierre about not being able to see his nieces because of the time difference, or even the shopping schedules that never coincided with their school holidays.

- He called Mum on 3 November to talk about our trip. It took a while, but we managed! explained the taller of the two.

Yuki had felt hurt when Pierre hadn't wanted to spend the night with him after the victory, but that was to prepare his Christmas surprise.

The hours passed like that, his family and friends mingling under the mistletoe, the smell of gingerbread and the fir tree towering above them. Finally came the time to say goodbye, his close friends returning home while some of his family stayed in the many guest rooms.

And as he cradled his youngest niece, he spotted Pierre admiring them from the corner of the door. He finally finished his story over the snores of the youngest, and joined the one he could now call 'mine'.

The two whispered a sweet phrase to each other, close to falling into Orpheus's arms.

"Joyeux Noël Yuki"

" メリークリスマス Pierre"

End.

---------------

* Petit-ami = boyfriend in french and literally " Little friend ".

* Joyeux Noël = Merry Christmas, same for Yuki.

I'm reluctant to write another little one-shot like this, I had to do it for the Yukierre because I love this ship and it doesn't get enough attention. I hope you enjoyed it.

[elisaintime]

Woah, I must have missed something, why are people jumping down your throat?

From what I can gather at this point, it seems like they feel like anyone who likes Anne Rice herself and the books better than the show=automatically racist. Even if they ALSO enjoy the show and support the race change of the characters and all the racial conversation the show incorporated into its adaptation.

Personally, I think it does a disservice to the fandom to assume that the only reason one could like the books over the show is because of racist reasons. Anne's books speak to so many people in so many ways, especially those who have ever felt like outcasts or apart from mainstream society, and many fans have extremely personal connections to the books for a huge variety of reasons.

Like I said in my videos, I was excited and intrigued to see this AU version of the story (I love AUs!) but my complaints with the writing of the episodes mostly came back to when the show was trying to stick TOO MUCH to the books.... Because the show was really making its own thing with its own versions of the characters and all these new ideas, but then suddenly it would shove in a scene/dialogue straight out of the books which would contradict or make no sense with everything else the show had already worked to set up with the new direction it was taking itself.

Critiquing sloppy/weak writing does not mean I or any other fan who feels the same is doing it for racist reasons. Much of my criticism was about how the scripts changed Lestat's character to make him so much worse than he was in the books (which would be fine, it's their story, whatever--except the show runners told us over and over again that the whole reason Louis was doing a second interview was so that this time we could see the real version of Lestat and how Louis felt about him instead of the mean, insulting version he gave in the first interview). There was a lot promised by the showrunners about what their adaptation would be like that was not delivered ("closer to the books than the 1994 movie," "true to the spirit of Anne Rice" etc). The entire reason I made my videos was to evaluate how well the show measured up to those promises.

Worse than making Lestat so irredeemable, the way the first season ended in a way that made so many fans believe that Louis might have been lying about everything didn't sit well with me at all--it's a harmful stereotype to make the black man a liar, especially when it comes to abuse. I know the "the DV didn't actually happen and black Louis was lying or mind controlled by his evil non-white boyfriend" became a running fan theory, but I personally don't believe it one bit. But I can see why so many fans do--again, sloppy/weak writing on the show's part.

Like I said in my video, the only thing Louis actually lied about in ep7 (and he was lying to himself, not deliberately lying to Daniel) was the depth of his love for Lestat at the end. And that's entirely canon for Louis to deceive himself about--admitting how much he truly loves Lestat always came hard for him. I personally don't think it's going to turn out that anything Louis told us in season 1 was a lie. I think the show would have revealed that at the end of the season, not waited another season (or two or three) to reveal that. And the theme of season 2's promotional material has all been about memory, not honesty. I don't think Louis could mistakenly remember getting dropped from a mile in the sky and the months/years of recovery afterward, so I personally think all those memories were real.

The first three episodes of season 1 made Louis's struggle with race its primary focus, and the series description began with how Louis was chafing at society as a black man. But then from episode 4 on, the focus of the show shifted entirely. Obviously racism still existed in Louis's world, but the show pushed it all entirely to the background with little things, like segregation on the bus, and we saw the characters quietly taking in stride, not making any plot out of it. Suddenly all of Louis's character-driving moments weren't about that anymore and we were in a whole new story, when his battle against racism had been the entire theme of the first three episodes. This was something I noticed and pointed out in my videos--I didn't say it was a bad thing (after all, seeing people be racist to Louis on screen, while "realistic," isn't exactly fun for anyone, and we'd already seen plenty), but I did think the sudden dramatic shift in story focus weakened the show's themes and throughline.

Again this comes down to writing, and the premise/script was written by white people. I think they could have done much better with much more non-white involvement on the writing level. I think the show could have been stronger with some more care taken to create consistency and smoother transitions between episodes (like when they take Claudia out to feed in episode 4, suddenly all the race riots are gone, when everything was on fire 2 hours ago). It's common for shows to have each episode written by a different person, even though they all collaborate in a writer's room, but to me it felt like the show lacked efficient script supervision to make sure all the scripts flowed into each other without any contradictions or inconsistency.

When I talked about these things in my videos, when I said I would have liked the show to do better with the way it missed the mark sometimes in handling racial aspects (even though other parts I commended as being great), and the way I critiqued the inconsistencies and contradictions, some people took that to mean I hated the show entirely. The point of my videos was to see how well the show measured up to Rolin Jones's promises that it was so faithful and respectful to the spirit of the books and that all he wanted to do was honor Anne's work. I know the books back and forth, enjoy having a ND hyperfixation that gives me near-encyclopedic knowledge of the texts and Anne as an author. So people ask me questions about them all the time, especially in comparison to the adaptations. Who better to make videos evaluating how well the show measured up to RJ's promises and claims of faithfulness? But some people took me comparing the show to the books to mean I thought it was a bad thing that they weren't the same, and I hated the show entirely for not being the same as Anne wrote it, and therefore that meant I (and anyone else who loves the books) was racist 🤷

[starlingstalk]

Your color is SO lovely would you mind if i asked for some tips on how you render and choose your colors 😭?

Thank you !! <3 I usually go in with base colors and focus on getting the values I want first. Then I work with color correction layers and gradient maps! For characters/objects/scenes that have rlly tricky, similar values or I just want to be rlly quick, I sometimes start of with grayscale (did smth similar for the blades).

Gradient maps are rlly rlly useful for when I want to make color palettes that oppose each other in a way seem more coherent or just pull a color palette together either way. You can see me struggling with doing that after I used that first gradient map (teal-pastel green-light orange-white) that totally washed out the purple, because it was between orange and green value wise and got pulled towards grey.

Another thing love doing is trying to reuse colors over and over again throughout the painting. So when you have a rlly strong color in one area only, I try and incorporate it in the rest of the drawing subtly to tie it in better. Underpaintings are a big thing as well. I draw over things; esp in backgrounds that‘d usually be one color, so all the colors still shine through a little bit. I do use that more for drawings that are more painterly tho. If you want that, dramatic underpaintings are the best thing ever! Have smth with lots of green to paint? RED UNDERPAINTINGGGG

I also am constantly thinking ‚where can I somehow put in a complimentary constrast‘ bcs those are heaven sent when it comes to nuance in color. Warm skintones/light pulls to green in the shadows and you don‘t even have to use green to convey that. Desaturation is my best friend. Though it‘s important to not that different complimentary colors will have different quantities in terms of visual value. Green and Red are on the same level in terms of color quantity, which makes them easy to shade with; whereas it‘s more difficult to shade blue/purple colors with orange/yellow. I could talk about colors forever ahhhhhhhhhh

Maybe the speedpaint helps! I‘m ramblingggg :OO

(I swear I typed out this whole essay and tumblr just didn‘t let me post it so now I had to write it again D:)