#inspired by a lot of stuff ive seen recently

[catinasink]

theres nothing wrong with not wanting to be friends with someone or with anyone btw. theres nothing wrong with feeling icky whenever someone implies youre friends with someone youre not. theres nothing wrong with feeling icky about posts that say friendship is universal or that youre wrong for not feeling platonic love. theres nothing wrong with not feeling platonic love, or romantic love, or sexual love, or aesthetic attraction, or alterous attraction, or familial love, or any other type of attraction there is. theres nothing wrong with feeling icky about posts that say youre friends with someone when youre not. theres nothing wrong with feeling repulsed at the idea of being friends with someone. theres nothing wrong with being aplatonic.

[drdemonprince]

where do you get living space design/decor/etc inspiration? im pretty sure ive seen you mention that you used to never decorate or invest in a pleasing living space but you have been more recently. i am similar for reasons ive seen you mention, but also because of decision paralysis. i am about to be in my own apartment for the first time and i really want to try making the space pleasant and comfortable to be in but i dont really know where to start

Marta Rose of The Spiral Lab has some truly wonderful videos - I always learn a lot and feel affirmed in my own preferences, even as her taste and mine diverge a lot:

(she also has some great design stuff on The Spiral Lab substack).

I also like Nick Lewis:

beyond that, I follow a lot of vintage-focused interior design blogs on here -- 80s and 90s decor are so much more interesting to me than contemporary trends, and I love a midcentury warm industrial look as we know. I also try to pay a lot of attention to my surroundings -- I look in windows, browse vintage shops, try and really take in what works in a friend's place and what doesnt, all to try and develop a sense of my own taste.

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

I'm not a "ship" person whatsoever but I do scroll character tags on occasion and see quite a bit of Vox and Vel together as well as what seems to be a lot of what I'm assuming is female original character stuff. I've even seen some Charlie and Vox too. So it's out there, but unless you're scrolling through character tags I can see how it might be hard to find. Personally, I also block/filter a lot of the big "ship" tags so maybe that also makes it easier for me to stumble across this stuff that "slips" through since I don't know if those pairings have names.

I get your point though. I do think many are inclined to erase his bisexuality when it's convenient. Interestingly, they also erase Valentino's pansexuality too. The same with Husk as well, but I check his tag a lot less so who knows.

What disappoints me, and I know I'm about to come off as nit-picky right now lol, is the lack of research people put into their "sexuality" headcanons for the characters with reference to their different eras. When reading some of them, you'd think the idea of "gay rights" was a completely new and foreign topic that only emerged after the early 2000s. I get people want to go for the simplistic "repressed and doesn't know what being [insert identity here] is" for some of the older characters but that completely ignores a fascinating and rich tapestry of queer history that could create far more interesting (and still accurate) stories for the characters/their backgrounds. I would really encourage those who haven't already or are generally unfamiliar to dive into this history as it might inspire their character ideas while also educate them on the work, art, and activism our queer elders have contributed to the community we have today.

I think this may partially relate to character ages being under explored as well. While I've seen debate on what is canon/has been decanonized many of these characters, as far as we know, died in their late 30s and beyond. That's a lot of life to live and experience. While certainly many people throughout history (and even today) kept their sexuality hidden from the public due to culture, shame, and safety that doesn't mean there weren't many incredible private venues/spaces that could be utilized to explore those feelings/identities in secret.

I could go on and on about this but I've totally strayed from your original point (I'm sorry!) and I'm very tired haha. I just think there are multiple factors coming into play here with these character interpretations and, for me, the biggest missed opportunity is the lack of historical research. But end of the day people should have their fun! Just an observation.

Completely agree with this! I doubt my response will be as long since I just woke up but other characters doing certain things or not knowing about sexualities is interesting, it just seems like a lot of people think older people don’t want to explore any of that like it only just happened recently as you said. I like to joke about Angel being shocked about gay marriage and not knowing a bunch of current terms but thats about it. With him being in the mafia when he was alive makes it much more interesting as well, I’m pretty sure around his time the mafia was blackmailing men in gay bars but dont quote me on that I might be wrong.

Anyway for Husk and Valentino pan erasure I see that a bunch too. Not exactly erasure but just… ignoring it? Moreso erasure on Valentino’s end because Ive seen people get mad at people for shipping Valentino with a woman and was like “hes gay dont do that” no he isnt. Also dont ship Valentino with anyone for the love of god. But like people are super used to just making up headcanons that they dont bother to look up actual canon stuff. I know Hazbin isn’t the best but if you want canonically LGBTQ+ characters use what you have and add on later. Or headcanon a background character, thats what I did with Molly.

People are very focused on modern day queerness and forget that this stuffs been happening for decades and it’s a bit sad. Also I seem to have strayed from my own question as well?? Anyway ty for mentioning this! Its very interesting 🩷

[miss-mossball]

your style is very sweet looking and identifiable! i was wondering what inspires you? the poses and whatnot you draw for your doodles (particularly for the few recent sky cotl doodles ive seen you post on that blog) are very nice. idk how to word it! i just wanna know from where you draw your inspirations ☺️

Thank you so very much for the compliment!! It means a lot coming from you!! ;O; )// (ps id love to candle run with you sometime, I think thatd be fun)

I wanted to give this question some thought, because I really do love doing fun poses with my characters

Maybe it’s kinda weird, but when I think about posing characters, I think about dolls, and my lifelong obsession with super articulated dolls (bjd and the like). Obviously doll articulation is a lot better nowadays, but back then it was barbies with stiff legs and a bent arm, I’d get so excited if they could move their limbs in more ways than the usual. I’m not sure why. Maybe it was kind of a stim for me, but even imagining dolls with articulation makes me quite happy and always has. The poseability and hold-ability is very important to me.

How this translates to art is, my younger siblings and I werent really… allowed to do anything but draw and stay in the kitchen, especially as we got older. So naturally our dolls became words we could say, and most of all it was art we could make. In a way, my personal art has always been playing, so it makes sense that my love of articulation would translate over to my ocs

I used to write a lot of comics for us and we’d all animate stories into silly long gifs. It wasnt ever a question of if we could or if it was skillful, that was just how we played. It just came naturally and without much doubt, our skills built up over uhhh all our lives. (Not saying it was great, but it wasnt even a question of quality)

So I guess my inspiration is my inner child(ren), and I’m really happy that I have the skillsets that makes it so easy to make them happy.

I do commissions for a living too, and with every piece I can’t help but think that the commissioner probably wants the most of their character shown off as possible, so I need to pose in a pleasing way that struts their stuff. That has to get creative when you’ve done probably 500+ commissions =v=;

TLDR: i want to hold my characters like dolls and play with them, the end

[kings-highway]

If you remember them, would you feel like recommending some of the video essays you mentioned in the “resources for Paranormality” ask? I’m deeply obsessed with supernatural stuff rn and I’d love to watch them

unfortunately I wasnt able to track down so many. I know my most recent chapter for the Jorogumo was inspired by Nephis' video "The Most Dangerous Fantasy Creatures of All Time" but it was more of a entertainment/scary reading than an essay. but i think theres a 2nd part i havent seen yet so.

and unfortunately a lot of the time what i meant was that i'd be watching an unrelated video essay, and a creature/concept might have been brought up in conjuction to it. So tracking down exactly where they appear was... impossible. (I tried)

Not video essays, but the "Lore" podcast has been in my top 3 podcasts for years if you like true (or as verified as they can be) stories about absolutely incomprehensible or terribly dark things.

I honestly want to just sit here and list every video essay ive ever watched regardless of content but alas ill try and keep it relevant and leave it there.

[thewindencrestroyals]

New Header and Profile Picture of Her Majesty Queen Victoria II Through her Reign.

Her Majesty Queen Victoria II Through the years Starting with Her Majesty The First week of her Reign. Still in mourning of her late 'Papa' His Majesty King Edward III, She is usure about her Reign ahead and finding her footing as a Brand New Queen at the age of 21 whilst also dealing with the mental and physical toll of becoming 'The Queen of Windencrest'. The first years of Windecrests monarchs are vital, they are historically known to truly Make or Break a Monarch. Secondly we have Her Majesty as a more mature and confident Queen, comfortable in her Reign. She has been through a lot of trails and tribulations and has seen Great Monarchies fall around her. Her Majesty has remained strong and an icon of enourmous stability in times of global unrest such as wars and Revolts and made it through the hardest years of her Reign which have truly made Her Majesty, The Queen she is Today. Lasty we have Her Majesty in her current Era, an older woman but a strong and steadfast leader. Respectable, wise and knowleagable in the final years of her enourmously successful Reign. She is becoming ready to pass The Crown down to her Son HRH Albert, The Prince of Windenburg. She continues to be a beacon of stability and light for the great people of Windencrest and has earned her spot as 'The Longest Reigning Monarch in the World' and loved by all across The Globe coining her as ‘Queen Victoria The Great’.

Summary: this little photoshoot which i have redone to have the time accurate models is inspired by 'The Crown Season 6' poster of the 3 Queens throughout their reign. I wanted to sort of copycat it and not to blow my own trumpet but i think ive done pretty well lmao. i hope you enjoyed this little bit of lore and a little window into Her Majesties life! ive been having so much fun with this new tumblr recently however i may have to go on a hiatus a little bit, but fear not i will be active behind the scenes to answer questions and stuff. also how would you guys feel about me posting threads of just stories atm and when i can ill add in some photos for a visual reference because i have some stories already written out in my notes app on my phone and i think it wuld be pretty fun to share them for example 'The Diary of The Princess Victoria of Great Newcrest' which has a few entrys about her royal life as a princess before becoming Queen but also finding out she was going to become Queen at around 5 years old and meeting HM Prince Consort George for the first time and how their love came to be, i would also like to share their entire Royal Family Tree aswell which makes up of 23 Generations but also the sim models but maybe that can be something else i start. Anyways finally i hope youve enjoyed please like and reblog it helps me out so much :)

'God Save The Queen!'

[ink-the-artist]

I saw some of your tags on your recent reblogs, and it made me wonder what you tink of the recent outcry against "AI art" tools? With your tags, it sounds like you'd have different thoughts compared to what digital artists posting about it right now, and it got me kind of curious. No pressure to answer publically if you think you'll get flak for it - I'm just curious to hear your perspective because of those pieces you resurfaced.

I typed out a bit long thing about my own thoughts, but then realised that dumping that in your inbox would be a little unhinged. TL;DR - I'm neither here nor there. Selling the results is wrong, at present at least, but the tools themselves... ehhh? are they really??

That's the jist of it. If you'd like me to, I can elaborate with some of the play in 5 acts that I edited out. For context, I do art but I don't want to pursue a career in art in the current digital age, and I've worked on """AI""" (text to speech vocalisation) in the past but I'm not a staunch defender or anything, I just know some stuff about what "AI" is.

the outcry against ai art is because people are worried it'll take the place of actual artists and more recently because there have been a lot of artists whos art has been used in these ai programs databases without their permission or against their will (I think there's even a few instances where they used art from dead artists.) And I definitely agree with the outcry against that. I don't think ai generated art can meaningfully replace actual human art because art isn't just about creating images, ai cant replicate the self expression and communication and, well, humanity of human art, but I do think in the future it may take some jobs away from artists if an employer/company can get the same thing they want for free or cheap from an AI as they could with a human artist. there is also a real concern that ai images (not art this time but photographs) will become convincing enough in the future that it can lead to misinformation being created and spread incredibly easily.

I use Artbreeder mostly and sometimes Wombo and I use it to generate photos rather than art, I like using the shittier programs bc the stuff they generate is very uncanny which works great for horror art lol. I also don't just post the thing I generate on artbreeder, all my ai posts are heavily edited and I'm basically doing photomanipulation and collage somewhat, they genuinely take a lot of work and time. Ive been inspired by uncanny ai images for my own horror art for a good while (back when that "this image is meant to simulate a stroke" post/hoax was going around, which is how I learned about artbreeder, then called ganbreeder) before I started seeing ai "art" become a thing or neuralblender get popular. Im rly into the idea of horror that comes from something that looks familiar but not quite right and you cant quite figure out what you're looking at. I think you can see the ai influence in some of these,

I think ai is a great tool for artists that should be explored, and I personally haven't seen people object to that use of it, there's artists that use it to visualize their ideas before making the art themselves or use it to help come up with ideas for their art. but i don't think just generating an image and posting that is really art, there has to be some element of transformation from you.

[stilettomafiosas]

If you don't mind my asking; how did you develop your art style? I've been trying to work on developing my own style but I don't know where to even start. Your style seems so well developed, and I utterly adore it.

;w; its so kind of you to say so!! thank you!! I wish I could offer some insightful or exciting advice haha but I do have a short and a long answer!

the short answer: its the boring yet tried and true tip youll hear from everyone 😭😭 it all comes from a lot of practice over a lot of time!!

i kind of hate hearing that too because it seems dismissive BUT the practice isnt just drawing as much as possible, its also looking at art from other people, paying attention to the colors n shapes n composition around you, and at times just Thinking...

the long answer: style is ... hard to pinpoint! and in some ways, aiming to have your own very distinct style (and that being your main goal) can be restricting. focusing on that can keep you in a box of what's recognizable as Yours and hesitant to experiment or make changes. Ive seen some people who get hung up on making themselves a Brand draw no differently today than they did 10 years ago because they admit making changes or venturing into new subjects/styles "flop".... (and if your livelihood comes from selling art or merchandise and you rely on engagement to pay your bills thats another thing but as a hobby artist myself im talking more about a goal of just getting better at your craft in a way that makes you, personally, happy and satisfied and proud of it vs making what an audience wants to see and feeling rejected in pursuing other creative endeavors)

a lot of style development just progresses naturally over time as you absorb more art around you and train your mind to distinctly pick out what you like about other artwork and why. :] its all about the influence and how you incorporate that into your own work! so many of my artistic choices come from other artists, and the more you draw and the more you study other art, it becomes something thats a unique blend of You, even if not necessarily something immediately and strikingly unique that anyone could recognize as yours, its You cuz of the choices made in it and all the influences you enjoyed enough to pick up.

for me, it was pretty much doing studies + compiling an "inspiration/reference" folder (for doing studies) :3 ive been doing that since I was in elementary school and just drawing on loose leaf college ruled paper... I started out copying drawings in the funny papers we got on sundays, going to the library to get those "history of disney" kinda books that show a lot of cels or concept art, googling looney tunes screenshots to copy... it was So much copy, copy, copy. in my teen years it was shonen jump, i'd trace panels from naruto and one piece and shaman king, i'd freehand it, i'd redraw pages in my own way... and more recently ive kept it up with other interests (opening a catalog of model cars and filling sketchbook pages with car drawings... taking photos of cool scenery or bugs i see and blocking out the composition to figure out Why it looks appealing... going through an invertebrate zoology textbook and drawing creatures to understand their shapes/distinguishing features so i can anthropomorphize them in fun ways)

it might seem contradictory that spending a lot of time copying stuff leads to something thats your own but it does!! so much of art really does come from that internal library you build up, and building it up happens thru all that observation and exercising your hand to match up movements with the images in your head, and gaining experience + refining memory of how certain things are built or shaped or constructed. thats probably the number one tip i'd give to anyone who wants art advice... get a little sketchbook thats JUST for your eyes, and fill it totally up with stuff you copy. youll learn SO much and feel really refreshed for your own original works!

and if you feel discouraged, keep in mind that things tend to look better from an outside perspective! you see my art as having a developed style, and i very much appreciate that comment cuz to me, it's jumbled haha. i can draw the same character in very different ways in the same day... even the way i draw hands varies depending on what set of ocs I'm playing with. each of my stories presents some different artistic choices, and draws from a few different inspirations, so even if all the characters and the ways i draw them are recognizable as my art, they would still look a bit strange if they were all together because I have multiple "styles" ehehe

so in short, rock on with making art thats enjoyable for you and dont let an idealistic goal of a distinct style hinder you from having fun with the process & being proud of what you make. cuz honestly if you hold out waiting for the moment of realization that youve developed a style, you might never have that moment! not for lack of having anything distinct about your art, but just because its natural to be more critical and lost in the details of your own work than an audience would be. you likely already have aspects in your art that are recognizable as yours! consistency is good in some regards (like animation or comics) but dont be hesitant about trying things that are new or drastically different from your usual!

[geodetojoy]

ALRIGHTY i am no longer busy so heres my full thoughts on Newsies :DDD

tagging @royallygray and @mysteriouswolf if yall wanna read :D

ok this shit got LONG so the rest is under the cut

GOD where do I even start its beautiful its wonderful its emotional i love it so much

Ill try not to copy my intermission thoughts too much (if you havent seen those here they are)

Ok lets talk about the history of it. A quick google search says its based on a strike in 1899, and Roosevelt ran for presidency in 1901, so we'll just say the musical takes place in 1899 too (correct me if theres a different confirmed time).

During this time, work conditions are absolute shit, monopolies and trusts are on the rise, and the concept of a union has recently emerged. I really didnt need to say much of this bc its apparent in the musical, but i love historically accurate stuff so deal with it /lh

And in the musical we see the beginnings of Roosevelt's trust-busting and ideas of social equality that he acts on during his presidency (it also kinda ties into his environmentalism stuff a bit too!)

And after reading up a bit on the strike the musical was based on, a lot of the effects of the strike in the musical were historically accurate too! the newsboys could sell back papers they werent able to sell on the streets, but the price was unfortunately not yet lowered. (also, the names of the publishers in the show are historically accurate as well!!! makes my little history brain happy :DDD )

SO whats the point of all of my rambling here?

people make historical art all of the time. we see it in musicals like Annie, Hamilton, and so so many more. obviously this goes beyond musicals here, but since newsies is a musical ill try to stay with that topic.

anyway, we learn about history to learn from it. we see these past issues that our previous generations struggled with, in these art forms as to be easily digestible, and we discover their solutions. we get to see the humanity behind the issues and the conflicts they faced to overcome them. and ofc its not the only reason, but one reason these stories are told with art is to bring attention to them. people are way more likely to listen to music than study a historical textbook. so, they make it entertaining. they make relatable and lovable characters. they make people care about the show and subsequently the issue itself. all of this is to explain how and why things that happened in history are bad as to never repeat them again.

We see these topics of worker mistreatment, corrupt businesses, child labor, gender/sex inequality, and the class separation all brought to the spotlight in this show, and it does a damn good job of showing the pain and suffering they cause. the story of this show is incredible and so very important to learn about.

OK now onto the actual musical itself im done nerding out

ive done a lot of charater analysis already in that intermission post bUT WHO SAYS I CANT DO MORE HAHA

im saving jack for last bc theres so much to unpack there

KATHERINE MY LOVE <3333

Everything about her being a girlboss absolutely remains the same shes INCREDIBLE

and holy shit PULITZER'S HER DAD???? i love her even more. she directly ran away from an easy life to follow her own dreams and pursue her own passion from scratch. incredible. inspiring. mwah

i also just love her personality. shes so bubbly and happy and passionate and bright and optomistic shes the best <3

oh god crutchie. hes absolutely my favorite btw im sorry everyone else i adore him <33333

GOD his prison song actually killed me. im fully dead. deceased.

THE NEWSIES ARE SUCH A FAMILY GAHHH THEY LOVE EACH OTHER SO MUCH RAHHHH

the sheer ecstasy i felt when he came back and hit Snyder with his cane i could not stop stimming MY BOYYYY

the absolute definition of sunshine character. he sees everything as glass half full and wants just the brightest future he deserves the absolute world

and ik i talked about it earlier but i adore how they take such a neutral opinion about his leg. people give him shit for it, and his brother beat them to a pulp. its just a part of him and they love his whole being, so why would they not love that about him too?

Les only got better as the show went on. i thought he was a smartass before LMAOO

AND THE DATE BIT??? WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM???? AND IT JUST NEVER GETS BROUGHT UP AGAIN LMAO WHAT

i think the biggest change i felt towards a character was Davey

he grew on me soooooo much his character growth is everything to me

he went from trying to stay out of their business to teaching them what a union was to helping them start it to running it himself when jack ran off to convincing jack to come back when times got tough he is sooo important to the story

and to me. hes important to me <3

OH AND RACE

i saw people mention the name before but i didnt know which he was until they addressed him directly I LOVE THAT GUYYY

especially in king of new york hes got such a big personality what a silly guy

OK now for the guy the silly the mc jack

At the beginning he is entirely driven by both his love for his family and ofc his dream of living in Santa Fe, but atm hes just trying to get by so hes more focused on the newsies. but a boy can dream

then he gets all caught up in the strike business and only focuses on that for a while bc he wants to protect his boys

then shit goes south. they get essentially jumped, and crutchie gets hurt and arrested.

and he thinks, what was it all for? if he couldnt protect his brother (never living that down btw), whats the point of even trying to strike anymore

so he changes his focus back to santa fe. the one thing hes still got going for him.

and he gets confronted by katherine, les, and davey, and they knock some sense into him. stopping the strike isnt going to take away any of the harm done. the danger is expected, theres no way any of this could go down without some form of a casualty. so why not try to do something about it. the only way to make this situation better is to get back in the game and keep pushing for change.

and ofc the thing with katherine which ill talk abt a bit more later

in all of this, something in him changes. he dreamed of santa fe, a simpler life, one where he didnt have to worry about having to afford food and clothing for the next day.

but what he never considered was the loneliness. sure, he offered to bring crutchie and katherine with him, but hed be leaving behind so many more. and thats when he realized he never needed to get out, he just needed things to change a bit. and they did! because of the strike, living became so much more affordable. no it wasnt perfect, but it was enough to be safe and secure, just like he wanted. and he had his family beside him the whole time.

ill admit that before i sat and thought about it for a while, this ending was really unsatisfactory to me. i mean we got how many santa fe reprises? all for naught?

but in reality, santa fe would never be enough for him. hes just so used to this life surrounded by the people he cares most about and doing everything in his power to protect him, hed just be so bored, so understimulated, and hed just continue to yearn for more. that path of wanting would never come to a conclusion and hed live his life never truly being happy. so i really do thing he made the right choice in staying, because new york became his santa fe. he didnt need to seek it out, it came to him.

Ok now with him and katherine

ill start by saying i do really adore them. i feel like a lot of what im about to say might seem like i think otherwise, but i truly do think theyre very sweet

ok so every interaction of theirs in act one was. very uncomfortable to say the least. he honestly seemed really predatory at times and it just really felt like an old-timey romance where the girl doesnt know her worth so she flocks to any guy that shows interest in hr bc she thinks its her only purpose

now obviously that is NOT the truth, those were just my first impressions. Katherine is extremely capable of taking care of herself and deciding what is and isnt right for her, she likes jack purely because she can and does. she knows her worth and just likes him bc she likes him, no strings attached

i will say the first kiss kinda caught me off guard lmao. like i knew they were gonna be a thing but that is NOT how i expected that to go down. its likely just bc of my aroace-ness but i saw no sign of them actually getting together prior to that, aside from them being the main man and leading lady in the show so ofc they have to be together. i mean ig her reaction to him drawing her was a bit of a hint but still. ok maybe its just bc im demi. hadnt thought abt that until now. damn. is this a normal thing? maybe it is. maybe im being too harsh. idk lmao

anyway ill admit the kiss was successful in getting his attention and getting him to listen to her so ill give it that lmaoo but tbh i did tune a bit of their song out bc it started to make me a bit uncomfy but i did liste back to it later on. they really seem to have a healthy relationship where they both care about the other and know the other is strong enough on their own, they just both want to be a part of the other's life. its really sweet! theyre so supportive of each other!!! green flags all around!!!

the bit with him learning shes pulitzers daughter was really interesting to me. at first she tries to talk to him but he kinda brushes her off, but from then on he just kinda has full faith in her? i mean yeah he gets upset about it bc he thinks she lied to him, but i dont think he thought she had any ill intentions. that was a complicated sentence lmaoo damn. i think he really understood that she wanted to help, he was just caught up in a lot of Feelings and was afraid that she wasnt trustworthy despite him still trusting her. and then he let her explain and from then on they fully support the other and trust each other immensely

so yeah first impressions were a bit iffy but i think theyre very sweet <333

OK GOD CAN I GUSH ABOUT THE STAGE DESIGN FOR A BIT???? GAHHH

i mean the moving stairs and scaffolding arent new. i know this. but just the way they frame scenes with the scaffolding is stunning. the chase scenes??? dude. enthralling. the bits where theyre in the city and they have people just up their acting like civilians? SO cool. makes it incredibly more realistic and believable. and the way they projected images onto the curtain-like things they pulled down was extremely creative!!! like in theory its such a simple design. it was literally nothing more than the scaffolding and stairs, and a few tables and wagons and such in certain areas. but they did SO much with it it was hard to believe it took place on a stage. ofc the filming helps with that but still. the start felt like it was on the roof of the building bc of a combination of the lighting and the use of just one of the scaffolding pieces. and when theyre in buildings, the wall of scaffolding works really well as a backdrop!!! and i already talked about the city street scenes, it fits perfectly. god its so inspiring id love to be behind something like that one day

OK AND THE CHOREO??? the sheer ENDURANCE of these people HOLY I COULD NEVER. THE FLEXIBILITY? THEYRE ALL LITERAL GYMNASTS WTF ARE THESE FLIPS AND HANDSTANDS IM SORRY???? holy shit its all SOSOSO impressive

oh my god i havent even talked about the MUSIC yet

if i had to choose a favorite song, a, i would punch whoever told me that in the face, and b, i would simply combust bc i cant choose just one

my top three tho would have to be between king of new york, carrying the banner, and crutchies prison song (idk the name its not on spotify :'((((( ) in no particular order

i havent had them on repeat enough to have any memorized, but i did remember santa fe, carrying the banner, and the world will know from the last time i watched it and i belted along to all the parts i knew this music is so good at hyping me up I WANNA START A UNION

and oh my god katherines voice???? stunning. her song is sooooo good. her part in king of new york is incredible. i love her <3

jesus christ this post got out of control. im still not done lmaooo

ok one thing that really has nothing to do with the musical itself is just the fact that it reminded me of so many other musicals ive seen at specific parts, even some of the songs sound like others i know.

Santa Fe really reminds me of Maybe from Annie, both music-wise and lyric wise. i mean theyre both "i want" songs so it makes sense but i feel like they sound kinda similar too. honestly a lot of the music sounds like Annie, but maybe its just the types of instruments used and thats just how musicals sounded when they were made. i think they were made about the same time. *checks spotify* ok well the newsies i listen to was produced like 40 years after Annie so maybe that just a stylistic choice-

idk why but the beginning of watch what happens sounds like the intro to reginas speaking part in meet the plastics lmao-

oh and brooklyn's here has the same beat as the military from Seussical but thats just bc its a marching song lmao. its also the same beat as the spanish alphabet song my spanish teacher used to use!

ok and this one really doesnt make sense but something to believe in reminds me of the power in me from Twisted lmao- kinda similar message ig? and sound vaguely similar? but idk it really doesnt make too much sense

i should. i should sum it up. this is getting out of hand.

okay i love this musical sm. clearly. do you see how long this post is. i was missing out when i refused to listen to it previously. oh my god.

and for some reason it really makes me wanna go watch my favorite musical so im ending this here TO YOUTUBE I GOOOOO TY FOR READING IF YOU DID AND TY TO ROYAL FOR UNINTENTIONALLY PUSHING ME TO WATCH THIS HAVE A GREAT DAYYYY

[chirpins]

your vampire noah au has me hooked immediately, i had to come here and ask you questions after reading.

first things first, your half vampire tag. what exactly does that entail? it could mean anything. are there going to be other character's who are a vampire?

secondly, what are the other ships mentioned in the tags? are they going to be important enough to mention any time soon? or can we know them now.

thirdly, is this going to be based off of stakes? with its recent departure from the fandom, a lot of people are missing it. is there a reason you posted this when you did, so close to its deletion?

is fourthly a word?

fifthly, what does the soulmate tag mean? i've never seen it used in that way before.

sixthly (?), can you tell us anything about it? fun facts, i mean.

seventhly (i'm just winging it at this point), does noah being bitten on his ankle have any plot relevance to it? given that it wasn't on his neck?

that's all i can think of for now.

woaaah this is like .. one of the longest asks ive ever seen. sorry it took me so long to reply, i really had to think on how i would respond to this..!

well, lets start in order.. lets seeee..

mm i dont know if i can answer this in a way that isnt spoilery or holds plot relevance. sorry if that doesnt help ur curiosity, but rest assured it will be addressed in the fic itself so .. just stay tuned!

i dont see how it would be any spoilers to say this, so ill just come out and do so already! one of the main background ships is geoff/gwen/bridgette. they are just so cute to me, and id like to make it clear the three of them are all dating each other. there is also going to be eva/izzy, of course; and owen/izzy (izzy has two hands). another ship im entertaining the idea of is possibly duncan/dj? but neither of those two are going to have much relevance to the story. actually, funny story, this was supposed to be an alejandro/noah/heather fic, but i totally forgot to tag it as such. im debating on if i want to keep it that way afterall, or have it stay just alenoah.. i guess we'll see the further i write. there is some others but those are a bit spoilery so, stay tuned..!

uhh.. i feel like thats a very weird thing to ask? but, i guess you could say i was inspired after reading stakes? i began writing this last month (pictured below) so i wouldnt say i wrote and posted this just because stakes got deleted. actually, i wasnt going to post this fic at all until i had at least 5 chapters written for it, or all of it written, but i got too excited after finishing writing chapter 2 so.. teehee...

i THINK it is..!

teehee i cant saaay.. much. what i can say is it being 'non-typical' is important. its nothing like soul bounds themselves. how youd think of a soulmate 'au' is not what this is, nobody are soulmates. but .. well.. sooomething may happen. i will just say, it has something to do with vampire culture.

fun facts, huh..? mmm i really dont know.. tbh not even i think too deeply on this sort of thing.. i guess id say that noah has a lot of moles / freckles everywhere? so him having a bite mark wouldnt really raise suspicion, given that its just two puncture wounds. i dont know, im sorry! i guess ill have to think on this some more.. im sort of entertaining the idea that theres more to the universe than just vampires, if this helps. buut,.. i havent decided yet, teehee.

hmm, aside from me thinking itd be funny for him to have a mark on his leg? well... who knows!

anyway, thanks for caring so much to ask me stuff!

[spool-of-amoeba]

sticky note art from a while back.

ok time to rant about mlp:fim

i started binging it again recently & honestly. depression cured. ive felt better than ever recently; ive been more in touch with my hobbies & inspired & everything

im on season 4 & it’s better than i expected. people usually dont like the fact that twilight became a princess with wings & stuff, but i actually think that idea had a lot of potential. it mightve happened a bit too early considering the extreme stuff that goes on later, but overall season 4 is still really good.

ive skipped a few episodes this season which i dont normally do, but that’s mainly because i think ive seen this season the most because it aired a lot when i was younger.

but the good episodes are actually extremely good imo, especially the one with rarity & her sister.

im not usually a fan of a few of the cmc episodes, but i genuinely really like how they display the bonds between aj & applebloom + rarity & sweetiebell.

im not saying season 4 is the best season, but it’s better than i expected considering lauren faust left the show by this point (im pretty sure?) & the other things ive heard about it

overall this is a fun cute show with ponies that kinda cured my depressive state. some anxiety, too

oh yeah & about the art. a friend told me to doodle on a sticky note, so i did (they folded it into a crane !)

[aemerge]

i spent a lot of time off social media - most of the last year with a few exceptions and i am just recently coming back to it. there are a lot of reasons for that + this past few years (though *especially* this last year and a half being sober), ive had what feels like whole other lifetimes of experiences, and i felt further isolated because i didnt think i could identify with anyone and what is/was the point of posting anything. its a big part of why when i ever do post, i often stick to pictures or other NVC-type stuff and i dont share much written word.

once i did start tuning back into facebook and tiktok though, i realized how actually not alone i am in a lot of the ways that i think and other things i have been inspired to discover on my own - which maybe hasnt been the quickest way to learn and become a little wiser, though i believe that was my path for a reason.

it really started for me when i committed suicide in 2013 and woke up in a hospital 3 days later; i suppressed me seeings and feelings from then on with mostly alcohol and weed until my actions necessitated sobriety. but that was the beginning of true acceptance and beauty. finally i accepted meditation; discovered the "Gateway process" pioneered by Robert Monroe. ive filled dozens of notebooks this past year or two with words, crude sketches and drawings, a mishmash of multiple forms of communication and languages that most people might find illegible and non-understandable at best, others might see it all as completely insane. yet i continue to feel compelled to share some of it and knowing that there are others out there who see and think and feel as i do, my fear of judgement etc has still held me back. so here is me trying to get over that and begin sharing some of my... "personal occult art" and inner work, inspirations and realizations, visions of reality greater than the physical here and now... things like that. ways i process. and maybe no one will get anything out of my bad handwriting and crude art; im finally sharing for me and it feels like the part ive been missing to complete some of this and to stop holding on to it all, is just to let it go into the ether and let myself be seen for better or worse. i am more whole than i have ever been, whether perceived as crazy or not.

i will probably begin posting this stuff with as little additional context or explanation as possible. or maybe i will share with pieces of my story. i hope the FB compression allows for zooming and detail, theres a good amount of hidden stuff in here. often i start with writing and it just becomes something else...

so here's one i still reflect on often. i still find new insights and revelations in this as i do in so many journal pages and notebook entries that helps me keep and create new perspective. i believe this one started as a reflection on both what is between my wife and myself and what i desired to build and create there.

science, magic, spirituality; right, left, liberal "vs" conservative, etc... are all intersections of each other; made for each other. we should think about integrating them all. i will leave it at that.

love you.

[strwberri-milk]

What are some inspirations for your writing? And what resources would you suggest for new writers? (Ex: YouTubers, blogs, books, etc.)

P.S. I’m not exactly sure if you answer questions such like these, but if you do not, then you do not need to answer this or can clarify that because I haven’t seen you post stuff like this or post any rules on not asking questions(?).

And btw, I love your writing and I hope you have a good dayyy! 💖

i love when people ask me about me bc it makes me so happy to exist in peoples mind i just want to be Thought about i love answering questions about myself/my interests!! when i ws fourteen i wrote a whole fuckjing masterlist on how to write but its no longer releveant LMAOOo also i yap so much so this is all under a cut LMAOO

tldr: i totally suggest 1) listen to music you dont mind zoning out to 2) read a variety of books to develop style/voice 3) write things you want!! if youre intrigued/intersted by smth it makes it a lot better!!

also pls for the love of god use paragraph breaks istg i refuse to read anything that is One paragraph long. a smaller ick of mine is the refusal to pargraph break after dialouge bc idk it just makes me :( but its not that bad overall lolol

tbh the only thing i recc for new writers is reading!! im a strong believer that if youre a strong reader you can become a strong writer!! i wanna get back into traditionally published books/classics but the issue w doing an engl [literature] degree is i was reading ballparck 15-20 books/semester and it just got so exhausting that i struggle to get back into traditional publishing but im trying to get into it!!

if youre like jsut getting into reading i think starting at middle grade books is good bc theyve got a good variety and easy readability so theyre like. not as daunting. and also!! variety is so great!! i have REALLY strong opinions about some currently published authors but also ive never been really someone who's super into reading books bc its by a specific author bc i think you can accidentally end up trapped too bc authors have their quirks and its like. you might end up only writing in that fashion bc thats all youre reading so variety is good to diversify and find what you enjoy about writing!!

me personally i really like flowery words and descrptions!! i wanna evoke emotions and trigger associations through sentenes that are *just* long enough and evoke longing!! or horror!! i tend to gravitate towards fantasty/romance/psycohological horror/mystery so those are the books ive been reading in the last ten years but before that i stanned warrior cats and historical fiction so hard. more recently though i read exclusively xreaders sorry guys i need my escapisim but!! i definitely think bridgerton Changed something in me so i think i pulled some of my writing voice from there too!!

also!! music is a big part of my writing process - when i really wanna focus on put on more lowkey music - oohyo is a big reference for the general vibe when im listening to music to write. rn im going to be listening to a lot of hit me hard and soft bc that album (billie eilish) is a sound that i like (kinda haunting, bouncy idk). lana del rey, k r&b or rock/power ballads as well if im feeling it (rn im going back to utsup/maretu/other vocarock prods) - music just helps me hone in when im trying to write thousands of words on top of each other lolol

[aphnatasha]

LISTEN I've been wanting to make them as bjds for a year at least the urge is so strong it's grabbing my neck

Although in my case I want to do the designs I have of them and also I am determined to figure out how to design fat bjds cause I refuse to make my girl Mary thin 😤

I actually have no experience whatsoever with bjd making but I've been watching some videos and I might save to get a bunch of supplies 👀✨

Like part of the reason I'm so excited about it it's because it requires different skills – character design, hairstyling, painting, even sewing!!!! And idk it just brings me joy to be able to create something "out of thin air", so to speak

Okay rant's over wjfhejfhe I wish you happy holidays!!! ✨✨✨

BRO IVE BEEN WANTING TO DO BJD'S FOR AGES its only recently that i kinda want to make the sandersons sbndndndnd. i still wanna do the plushies first cuz im not super great with making things by hand and i dont have the materials to make bjd's of 'em yet. i do have some old dolls, but i get the feeling that if i try to work on them, theyre gonna get really badly messed up

initially i wanted to make the redesigns i have for some of my fave monster high characters so they look more monstery, mostly headmistress bloodgood cuz i am determined to make her look more like a dullahan cuz i have so many thoughts about that in particular and im a lil saddened they never really took that route, but its understandable cuz a) that'd probs take a lot of time to animate and b) dullhahan are actually really terrifying and i dont think they wanted to make her so scary that she'd frighten kids (i feel like if they did go that route, lil kid me wouldve fallen even harder for her than i already did and that is saying something sbdbdn)

i feel like you could probably use some kind of sculpting or modeling clay to add on to the dolls to make them fat, but idk what types of clay would work for that dbbdbd. like, ive seen so many people use clay to sculpt out horns or thicken and/or lengthen a doll's arms or legs, so i dont see why you couldnt do somwthing similar for mary

i swear its something about creating a 3 dimensional thing that feels so exciting and so intrinsicly human, if that makes sense? like, being able to make dolls and figurines and charms and stuff out of clay and puting it together onto something sturdy to make sure it doesnt fall to pieces, something people have done since forever and changed it over time with new materials to work with and new processes to use it just. idk if im maoing a lick of sense, i just woke up shdjdnnf

i dont really have much experience in the sculpting area, but i think thats what makes working with new mediums so much fun. just being able to mess around and learn firsthand what works and doesnt work and learning from that, using your old creations and inspiration for something new. thats part of the reason why i keep a lot of my sketches, even if theyre really old. i always wind up inspired by it, and i wind up recreating the thing with how i do art now, or i try to put it into a new medium i learned as a sort of testament to how much that thing meant to me

aahh, i rambled on too shdjjd. i really wanna make dolls of them now. maybe i should see if my community college has any sculpting classes, that way even if we dont quite learn to make human/human adjacent things, it might give me just the help i need to be able to do it

(⁠ﾉ⁠◕⁠ヮ⁠◕⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠*⁠.⁠✧ happy holidays!! ☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡*⁠.⁠✧

[windmills123]

intrigued by what u love most abt yume nikki

like what made u go "oh damn this game is SUCH A GAME"

if u kno what i mean?

im glad you asked. well... holy fuck, i could talk about yume nikki for hours!! but... if i had to summarize it down, heere are some points:

its yume nikki!!! such a unique and different game from anything ive seen, even with its fangames. well if you look back at the gaming scene in 2004, then something like an rpg maker game thats NOT an rpg and actually a weird surrealism thingy was kind of crazy. it does seem to be inspired by the mother series, which has a lot of weird artsy stuff and also lsd dream emulator, also a game where you walk in dreams, which is self explanatory. also it utilizes rpgmaker mechanics in SUCH mindblowing ways, it doesnt even feel like it was made with it. it flows VERY well for a 2004 indie game.

the atmosphere and theming is so awesome. the NPCs who are completely indifferent to you, the worlds all connectin g together, etc. also, the art and music is really charming in kind of a nostalgic way, the aztec inspirations for the npcs, all the different sights and how desolate and lonely it feels, yet kind of still comforting. you know?? like the dreamworld is an escapism for madotsuki, but she still cant escape the horrors of reality..............

3. every part of it is very mysterious. a whole intigue of the game for many people has been what the dreams are really about!! of course there is also the developer kikiyama, who theres practically 0 info on. even though obviously people should respect their privacy, people still wonder what happened or why the game never got finished. i hope they're well....

4. the fanbase of yume nikki is one of the most cool ones ive seen. its one of those old fandoms from back in the 2000s that never stopped going, like touhou.. you can find a lot of old short little animations of yume nikki. theres the big viewed ones, but also ive found really obscure ones with under a 1000 viws, which shows how much people cared about it. even though the game was seen as dark, they were often really wholesome. theres also yume nikki fansites from back then, and a lot of cool fanart. even though the fandom was fairly small, its kind of like a window to how different the internet used to be. now its even more popular with internet horror stuff being more noticed recently.

its just really kind of heartwarming that so many people connected with a short game about isolation and anxiety posted on some forum site back in 2004 by an unknown person, i think.

5. the fangames!!!!!!!! there are so many fangames for this game, all because people liked the idea so much, hundreds of them wanted to try making one. ynfgs are always really charming to play, however none of them compare to yume 2kki ( the big one). its the closest ive ever felt to going to another world in a video game, even more than yume nikki itself.

because so many people have worked on it, 2kki has an endless seeming amount of content which is pretty awesome. some people think its incoherent because of how big the game is, but it always made it feel more like a dream to me. especially like one you would have as a child, falling asleep while being driven home from a birthday party or something like htat. fun fact: 2kki got started in 2007, before the final yume nikki update, which means there is a chance kikiyama might have even played it, which is pretty crazy...

well, thats my rambling about my favorite things about yume niki! lol i think thats too much text, oops. well, high five if you actually read that................. <:,-]

[theloveinc]

not a vague post at all but it's interesting to see this conversation of ... fandom being dead or whatever bc... ive been on tumblr since 2011 and i've never seen such an interest boom as during the pandemic. and normally i chalk this new deadness up to us all going back to work/the fact i don't truly understand what fandom was like "back in the day" bc i was a teenager who mostly just read stuff.

but at the same time... i wonder, really how much has ACTUALLY changed and died and how many new things + expectations + functions have been created from this recent surge?

it's so interesting to me bc a couple months ago i reached out to an overwatch reader insert account i followed back in... 2016? maybe. and spoke to them just like i'd send anyone an ask, asking how they were, if they had any writing plans coming up and saying i missed them. and they never responded, which was fine honestly.... but what i found a little baffling was that they went on to say they still accepted requests? and still wanted to run their account the same way they did back in 2016????

(it truly felt so alien. i was like... we're people now!!! we talk to each other now!!!!!!!!!!!!)

and that isn't to say anything in particular, but i feel like things have changed since then... at the same this request system has spoiled some readers with the notion they can ask for what they want and receive it... seems like some writers have also been tainted by the expectation that people should like everything they post. it's hard to express, but it feels like one of those snakes that's eating itself ... wanting a certain amount of praise for doing things u "technically" enjoy doing.

which isn't to say it's reasonable to ignore fandom writers or demand things on the other hand (it's not)... but i guess a lot of functions here have changed now?

and tho fandom has always been alive and well, communities can def run their courses and get smaller and more........ dead, as shows progress or end or take hiatuses and interest wanes naturally....

and tho i don't remember the point i was trying to make, i just wonder how much of this is a natural decline that's being clung to irrationally. i miss having a large community too. fanfic writers deserve the utmost of praise for the care and dedication they put into their work. but setting urself up for disappointment... isn't anyone's fault. and blaming people for that isolates u from those you want supporting u. i have no idea.

-

you know, i feel so inadequate bc i have such a lack of long fics and have a really hard time writing them (tho i do, just ... slowly and silently). but this is why i like answering to asks so much, bc the words of others inspire me (even if i've gotten a bit burnt out from my persona). and if this isn't u... you know, u write ur own stuff by urself, great!

but i feel like... in turn, this community is now in a transition stage (because we went from a community where everyone was having fun / getting asks + praise... to one that's smaller, isn't as buoyant or forgiving), and is readjusting itself to fit the new needs of writers, those who want to write their own complex ideas and those who need interaction to do so... and the readers that make both things possible finding their new places.

idk but... i think we're all relearning how to do this. and that shouldn't be blamed on anyone, regardless of feelings.

thanks for reading all of this if u did!! no need to comment or anything. and whatever if u didn't i don't mind <3