#its being a less a person than you are a character

[deathbringer]

does anyone besides me ever get preoccupied with how mind chess and the magatama kind of serve as yet more wrightworth character foil ammunition?

like, mind chess on its face appears to be exactly what it is: treating people like a strategy game, getting to the truth not via warmth but via logic. of course it's miles edgeworth, who the papers used to label inhuman, doing this, right? except when you look at it for more than two fucking seconds you realize that there is so much actual heart in the correct paths to the truth that it's almost insane. the games punish you for being needlessly cruel and playing to demon prosecutor stereotype. miles isn't callously treating people like pawns--he's using the chess framework to make the erratic nature of humanity a little less baffling.

meanwhile phoenix wright is fully out here supernaturally intimidating people. i love him and i love the magatama as a mechanic but every indication seems to point to "breaking a lock = causing some form and degree of psychic distress." yeah there's catharsis in the mix too but even so, it can only happen after a relentless onslaught of damning evidence. phoenix is complicated and full of bitchy depths but it's a core trait that he cares deeply about the people around him, and about humanity as a whole, and people see that commitment to defending the good from--sorry--a mile away. so you'd think he'd be the one with an investigative mechanic that leaves so much room for delicately picking people apart.

(sure, phoenix isn't a chess guy, but maybe that art school background could have come in clutch? except trying to imagine that just doesn't work, because the magatama is also a big, bright indicator of his bond with the feys. and there's something else to be made, i think, of miles' chess set as a commonly-known and relatively impersonal iconography versus the magatama's deeply personal and relatively obscure symbolic meaning.)

idk it just makes me want to gnaw the drywall a little bit.

[cozymochi]

Okay gen question, how are you so good at anatomy? like I know its a mix of years of practice and experience. Mayhaps you can spare some tips on how ppl can improve theirs? Always looking forward to your works btw! Even the scribbles you think aren't decent are always such a nice treat to see <3

It being drilled into my system years ago in a drawing class specifically for that 😭 Then a character design class the next semester that added on top of it. BUT FOR CARTOONSSSSS (I have not accomplished anything in my life to utilize any of this.)

My main point of knowledge reference is this book though (OMG FREE INTERNET ARCHIVE PDF? Yes. Though I personally have a physical copy.) We didn’t really read the walls of text so much as just practiced the proportion stuff in the early pages ad-nauseam and some skeletons (not hyper detailed ones just making sure bones were where they should be). Tho admittedly I’ve been neglecting any studying. (This book came out in 1943 brrgh) DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I HAD TO DRAW THIS DIAGRAM? MORE THAN ANY PERSON SHOULD.

But hey, it works. I still sometimes end up referring back to it if I think I’m sucking (disclaimer: i think this often )

As far as I’ve come to know, how something looks visually doesn’t matter so much long as basic proportions are correct. Cuz even people without trained eyes for this sorta thing can recognize when something is proportionately wrong. Like, I guess on you know where everything is supposed to go, you can kinda do anything from there?? I think. It translated well when we were drawing real people who were not the “ideal” presented, and when moving to more stylized stuff with their own rules in a completely different course. So what if that leg doesnt look exactly like u think a leg looks anatomically— IS THE KNEE IN THE CORRECT SPOT? Yes? Then u did it.

Also that eyes are in the center of the face. Not the nose. JUMPSCARE!!!

Aaaa, this isn’t really an interesting answer. If I ever figured out better streaming outside if private discords I could probably make my points better rather than pulling a “here’s a textbook, figure it out” CUZ ITS LIKE. ITS OVERWHELMING WITHOUT A GUIDE AND 😭😭😭

I don’t know. I don’t think I have “anatomy” correct, just “proportions.” Cuz I wouldn’t be able to tell you what something is, just where something goes. Which… I think is a little more important and also a distinction I don’t really see anyone making in drawing.

Though, as much as I wanna be helpful in a more effective way, it’s really really really hard for me to articulate how anyone could improve theirs if I don’t know what the alleged problem areas are 😭 I find all this stuff to be case by case. I kind of do better if i can directly point things out and offer info from there instead of blank slate tips. If I ever figure out streaming outside of private discords it would probably be easier (literally doesnt own a functional up to date enough computer)

I guess focus less on “anatomy” and focus more on proportions since that does more of the heavy lifting? Unless ur a med student, then you probably should focus on anatomy

someone could die because you couldnt identify their coccyx

OKAY THATS IT THANKS AND SORRY

[blackberrybuds]

I don't want to call you out in the server but the stuff you post about in there is probably TMI. Nobody needs to hear about your bathroom problems it's gross. Also you projecting that onto characters like Kazutoshi and Nemoto is gross. It's something to maybe keep to yourself.

kamimura & nemoto Bathroom Issues headcanons for anon <3

kamimura

canonically has crohns so this one isnt a headcanon but teehee

he works pretty frequently and pretty far from home a lot of the time so he wears diapers because his anxiety makes having to worry about always being near a bathroom like 1000 times worse

lets be real hes a punk. he has probably shoplifted diapers more than once theyre just so damn expensive. how the hell is this guy gonna pay rent while paying like twenty-five bucks for a pack of diapers he'll go through in like a week

hasegawa keeps really good track of what he can and cant eat and looks over the menu at like every restaurant they go to in advance to make sure theres something kamimura can have that wont make him flare up

when kamimura is stuck in the bathroom for like hours at a time hasegawa will stay with him and hold his hand and keep him company

hasegawa gets super annoyed and confrontational whenever a business doesnt have accessible washrooms and its the only time kamimura ever sees him get worked up and start complaining to managers

wears diapers in the killing game which is the only reason he was able to manage being completely cut off from the bathrooms at night in chapter one

eventually ended up getting a stoma bag, was super nervous at first but it ended up being way less stressful and now he decks it out in cool stoma bag covers

wears so many layers because he's still shy about the bag and doesnt want anyone noticing it

genki

woah this one is canon too? hes canonically incontinent? crazy!!

started needing diapers around the middle of the crispr experiments after his digestive tract stopped working properly

dannake handles all his changes and is super super super careful with them because of how fragile is skin is, she's always very on-top of when he needs a change and keeps them on a very cohesive schedule

suga isn't allowed to change genki because genki asked him not to (canon) but he'll still do things like run out to the store to get things for dannake or make sure nobody bothers dannake and genki while she's changing him

genki is really bad at reading his own body signals now and will usually just get really worked up and upset when he needs a change without being able to properly articulate why, dannake and suga have both gotten super good at reading those signs though

genki was still semi-lucid when he started needing diapers and was really upset and embarrassed about it, dannake tried to normalize it for him by just talking about it super casually whenever it came up (because shes a very blunt person as we know) and it honestly sort of helped

also theyre both my best friends and we talk about diapers together all the time sorry anon we're all disabled and best friends and we hate u

[hop-drop-and-scop]

I'll say this as someone who was raised muslim and was surrounded solely by other muslim people my entire life.

I know multiple women who don't wear the hijab but are devout muslims, and I know plenty of women who do wear the hijab but don't actually give a toss about adhering to religious doctrine in their daily lives. They don't do their daily prayers, they don't read the Quran often if at all, they don't concern themselves with studying Islamic teachings, let alone following them, etc. I wore a hijab all throughout middle school - high school, and you'd be hard pressed to find someone less muslim.

In my experience, most of these women still choose to wear the hijab because they're just used to it. They grew up wearing it and don't want to take it off. For some, it's lost its religious connotations and becomes everyday wear or a fashion statement. Is that offensive? I don't think so. Some might argue that it is, but that doesn't erase the fact that there are people in the world who are like this.

Muslim people aren't a monolith. They aren't all by-the-book religious. Muslims who contradict their own religious doctrine because they don't know, or don't care, are more common than you think. I keep hearing people, either pointing to the fact that Basira drinks alcohol and was a cop when they try to argue that Basira can't possibly be muslim.

I myself don't even headcanon her as a "religious muslim." I always headcanon her as being raised muslim and following the traditions expected of her, but she herself doesn't follow religious teachings nor partakes in religious activities outside of the ones that have become a habit to her. She's effectively a "cultural muslim." I always imagined that she still wears the hijab and celebrates eid because that's just how she grew up.

I feel iffy whenever I hear people who aren't muslim nor were they raised muslim try to argue that headcanoning Basira as muslim is "offensive" because she isn't the picture-perfect example of a muslim person.

I don't understand why fictional depictions of other religions like Christianity or Judaism get to have more leeway with how they portray a character who is Christian or Jewish. A Christian character gets to be as devout or as irreverent as they like. There's more diversity in how a Christian or Jewish character's relationship to their religion is depicted. I get that nowadays, in the west, they're trying to undo depictions of harmful muslim stereotypes that were especially prevalent in 2000s - 2010s media, but it's come to the point where it lowkey feels like over-compensating. Heaven forbid a piece of media or fanwork depicts muslim characters as anything but goodie-two-shoes, doctrine-abiding individuals, and islam as anything but a completely un-problematic religion. For one, it's just not true? Neither of them are, and I'm tired of people becoming defensive when a muslim character is depicted as being irreverent towards Islamic beliefs or genuine (and I want to stress *genuine*) depictions of muslim characters leaving the religion because it has caused them harm.

I feel that to not depict different people's religious expression as well as their individual relationship to their faith is a failure in representation. Let "bad Muslims" exist for christ's sake. Muslims who are born into a religion they don't actually care for exist. Muslims who don't embody their religious doctrine because they were never taught it exist. Muslims who pick and choose what parts of their religion they practice while leaving the rest exist! Muslim people who don't fit into the perception of what a Muslim ought to be aren't any less Muslim.

Honestly, it reminds me of how queer representation in popular media nowadays is very sanitized. I get that it's in order to combat harmful stereotypes said about queer people in the past. And I definitely think there is a place for this type of representation (for both queer rep and muslim rep), but it shouldn't be the only type representation deemed acceptable.

TL;DR: There's people irl who wear hijabs but aren't religious, and that's ok. Wearing a hijab does not a muslim character make. Muslim characters who contradict their religious doctrine are not inherently harmful because people irl are like that sometimes, cut them some slack, and it is harmful to imply that their (people irl) religious expression is bad actually.

Hijabi basira really makes no sense to me, it feels like the fandom just wanted to force representation onto the characters. Basira actively does things all the time that contradict islamic beliefs and it low-key feels a bit disrespectful, the hijab isn't just cultural wear, it's a religious symbol/garment.

(I'm not muslim for reference)

🗣️

yeahh i've never understood hijabi basira either . - deceit

[vveakfish]

something something Kon brain worms something something Miley Cyrus music

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

More MDZS and Hollow Knight! The cool bugs I found in my backyard have started to unionize.

Part 1 - Part 3

[ganondoodle]

sometimes i wish i was one of those artist that make people go "this is a PAINTING???" or "with WHAT programm/medium???" but its just not what i can do or find fun :/

[mllemaenad]

Eh. I think it's a bit more complicated than that, because it's less about "characters" in general and more a "character" specifically.

Isabela has been in a lot of Dragon Age, but she was really only a main character in Dragon Age 2. And ohhhhhh is that relevant.

First, its Act 1 quest was about the Deep Roads Expedition: a treasure-hunting business venture that ended with a very dangerous ancient artefact being sold to the absolute worst person possible – the already paranoid and power-hungry Knight-Commander of the local band of religious fanatics. The latest game is still dealing with the fallout of that expedition. That bloody idol is still in play, even if we're calling it a knife now.

Second, its Act 2 quest was about the attempted military conquest of the city by a foreign army that had been trapped there for years because they were honour bound to locate a lost artefact ... which Isabela herself stole from them. A lot of people die in that quest, and one possible outcome is that Isabela herself gets handed over to the aggressors for forced religious re-education (although she always escapes). Its consequences are less far reaching, but personally devastating for Isabela.

Third, the companions in the Dragon Age games interact with one another through cut scenes and banter, and in Dragon Age 2 it's clear that Isabela and Merrill are close. Merrill's whole storyline revolves around her dedication to uncovering and restoring her people's lost history. It's vital to who she is – there's one scene I'm thinking of where Merrill has made the mistake of gambling away a trinket she really values, and Isabela returns it to her. Isabela can be pragmatic, even selfish on occasion, but she's loyal to her friends.

So if you tell me that Isabela, as the admiral of the Lords of Fortune has a board posted with her four unbreakable rules of treasure hunting:

Don't touch anything that glows red or whispers to you. Even if it is crusted with rubies. Just don't. Trust me on this.

If the Qunari say it's theirs, let them have it. It is not worth the bother.

If you touch anything from an elven ruin, I will let Merrill do blood magic on you. I'm serious. She looks sweet but she's wicked with a knife.

Anything else is fair salvage. Sell to the highest bidder and shout the first round of drinks.

... Well then. Then I will laugh my head off and say that sounds pretty solid, for Isabela's life experiences. Good to see she's not repeating past mistakes. But instead of doing any of that, they wrote a line that both sounds like it came from a company brochure and sounds like it couldn't possibly be true.

I have run this conversation over in my mind a dozen times, and I frankly do not understand how this could be true. Anything valuable is also highly likely to be "cultural": because it is beautiful and considered art, because it is rare, because it is made with valuable materials, because it is of historical significance; perhaps even because it is unknown – finding evidence of a lost expedition or settlement attempt that you thought left nothing behind would be valuable, even if you didn't know you wanted it before you found it. Even ancient graffiti can be valuable to a scholar.

There are probably items that are common enough that it's not a huge deal – an excess of very common household pottery, maybe – but that also wouldn't really count as treasure, now would it.

And okay: the Qunari can pay to get their stuff back, and the Lords have a policy not to overcharge. I'm not sure that's exactly ethical, but they're pirates! I'm not expecting them to be ethical. Isabela not wanting to piss of the Qunari more than necessary makes sense.

But ... I mean ... the old elvish ruins are ... old and forgotten because their civilisations fell, to Tevinter, and later to Orlais. It is genuinely going to be difficult to trace ownership of something very old to a specific Dalish clan, say, but I don't think that makes selling off their stuff better. Especially since we know the clans haul around a small number of cherished artefacts that they were able to save, so I think we can say with reasonable confidence a) they want all of it and b) they don't have the sort of resources to pay for it that the Qunari do.

I'm not sure how to read this, yet. Maybe this is something we explore with Taash later. But as a starting point ... I'd like to argue a bit more about what this means.

[tytoalbatross]

god damn i do not post often but can i talk about intentionality for a second?? one second please

i'm gonna be talking about bg3 but this really applies to any fandom space. people will, surface-level, agree that a Black character is not getting enough content compared to their white counterparts because it's. obvious . take wyll, who is several hours behind on voiced lines compared to other origins despite being one of the original five (before they added karlach and whiteified her too but that's another post). it's hard to deny cold hard facts

but then instead of engaging in content that uplifts Black characters and creators, they'll go right back to pumping out more and more content of just their white faves. on its own, it's not actively harmful, but here's what the implication is, whether they acknowledge it or not: yes wyll has less in-game content, yes his writing didn't get the attention it deserved, therefore i don't like him as much. it only perpetuates wyll's lack of content by contributing to his sidelining in fandom spaces

what i would love for fans who claim to be allies to do is to step out of the comfort zone of their initial favorites (which can, in fact, be biased!) and start pursuing content centering Black characters with intentionality. like all things, anti-racism (actively pushing back against racism rather than simply "Not Being Racist") takes practice and effort. you can't really agree with us that wyll needs more content, then in the same breath say that it's because of that that he's not interesting to you . the point was right in front of you doing a jig and you still missed it

[moeblob]

Rey, who is in my very biased opinion, one of the funniest "girls" I have because she's just a guy, truly. Like Rey is just short for Reynold because he was recruited by a a goddess to help the hero she selected and the hero is conveniently Reynold's younger brother. So he agrees to help under the condition that the goddess gives him a female body for the other world. She's like "really odd flex but whatever" and gives him a female form and he's like "you know. I can't really blame anyone but myself for not specifying 'please don't turn me into a Lisa Frank personification'."

[rewritingcanon]

no girl tell us what you think about jegulily!! im so here for it (tone is weird but I mean that genuinely, I don't ship them so I'm not here to be weird)

dw bae ur tone is fine ! (i’ve been waiting for an ask like this 💀) i think jegulily is... yeah its…. like usually as long as its legal idgaf as long as shippers portray their characters right but regulus fans are literally incapable 😭🙏 WHY WOULD U PAIR A MUGGLEBORN AND A BLOOD SUPREMACIST IM SO DONE WITH DIS FANDOMMMM!! that actually goes for a lot of lily ships like bartylily as well (no clue where that came from either but it’s equally as stupid lmfao).

and jegulily just feels like shoving in lily because people feel bad for ditching her, or shoving in regulus because some people like jily and jegulus and want them (for some reason) to coincide even though it makes zeroooo sense for it to. like, idk if i said this with jegulus before (i yap sm on this account i forget what i say), but like it, jegulily can be done well if a realistic dynamic is taken into account, but the marauders fandom is allergic to nuance and so just chalks up everything regulus does and believes to his neglectful homelife. hes not all-bad, sure, i do feel bad for him, but im nowhere close to shipping him with a woman whos part of the people hes trying to eradicate, or with her man who purposefully went against all pureblood tradition (which is such a large part of james’ character— he is a pureblood that chooses to be seperate from that culture hellooooo plz wake uppppp).

marauders fandom has a chronic “i can fix him” mentality when it comes to wizard neo nazis, i have never understood it. but thats a topic for another day.

jegulily should be filled with envy, toxicity and prejudice stop nerfing it to be some fluffy feel-good polyamorous stable marriage where they raise harry together. yall are looking over the potential. this ship has blood and guts in it plz act like it or else idk what to say 😭 if it doesnt end with at least one of them getting murdered i dont want it.

[mejomonster]

I love T'Pol, I just wish certain ppl in charge had not used her character for certain things

[p2ii]

I feel like there's something to be said about the way fandom will treat characters who's trauma they can personally relate to Vs characters who they cant

[toxifoxx]

truly at the end of the day its all about receiving validation

[waywardsalt]

with my phantom hourglass replay, there are two things i noticed;

a possible theme you could glean from the game is action vs inaction, and i think it's especially prevalent before you even leave mercay the first time, with oshus frequently urging link to not go after the ghost ship, then to just wait until the broken bridge is fixed, and seems reluctant at every turn while link and ciela are more than eager to go and do something about this problem, and the people of mercay in general talking about things and their problems but never seeming to act on their fears or desires, as well as the mention that due to the ghost ship, very very few people are still sailing around, while linebeck is one of the only people we see in the game actively going after the ghost ship and still sailing around. i might make a longer post just talking more about the action vs inaction in phantom hourglass but i just noticed it a bit and thought it was a bit of an interesting sort of theme you could find in the game.

linebeck moves so fucking much. i think he moves more than any npc in the rest of the game. not just in his intro cutscene where he is very animated, just in how much he moves when just standing in his little idle post, it's damn near distracting when the camera is focused on him, he moves a lot. i don't think i've really acknowledged how much he moves, and it really gives the impression that he's antsy or eager to get going, both of which fit him pretty well with how he acts.

[bonestrouslingbones]

btw one of the things i want to do when i really rap up atbb for real is spontaneously get the energy at will to do actual updated fullbodies of the main 4 since now i actually have the ability to draw them the way they look in my head & have the skills to put some more variety in their shapes. basically i wanna