#love hate relationship with my artstyle lately

[tobylovesick]

This is how ive always pictured cartman in my head and tonight i finally decided to actually draw him ^^

( open images for better quality ! )

[guaxinimraccoon]

15A (Stefan specifically) and 19B

(answering those before everyone forgets I was doing that ask game lol)

15A - After meeting someone of a different size, how has your character's opinion on giants/tinies changed?

Stefan had two completely different experiences regarding humans. The first one made him hate them for good and only confirmed all the fears and supersticions taught at the Colony about avoiding humans. He dared to trust one and lost his wings and the ability to fly on his own forever.

But then he met Alex, someone who he learned to trust and that eventually became his best friend... before he knew the truth. When Stefan reported Alex as a human to the Conlony's authorities, he was taken mostly by the betrayal than anything else, feeding his alrealdy hatred for humans even more. But after they all drifted apart when Alex was forced to leave, he couldn't help but feel very conflicted.

If humans are unable to have empathy for their smaller counterparts, then why one was so willing to sacrifice so much for them? Why would he take the risks to have a family with one of them if not for genuine love? Why would one willingly put himself in danger to help them?

He feels very conflicted, but is hesitant to admit that his opinion on humans has changed. Although, even if he hates to acknowledged it, Stefan truly misses Alex.

19B - Do you have a favorite g/t writer/artist on tumblr?

AAAAAA I can only choose one??

Ok for writers I really really like @fireflywritesgt writing for The Art of Love and War, is a genuinely good story and honestly one of the best I've ever read in general, not only in the g/t community. Not only the relationship between the main characters develops in a very satisfying way, but it's so cool for us to have a g/t period romance story! Such a creative and challeging concept to work with and they do it marvelously

I also enjoy so much @tinyundercover's pepper and felix love story, I've never seen the soulmates trope being so developed before, is such a angsty and fluffy concept at the same time and I think she does it very well!

And I can't possibly not talk about @narrans, they have many many incredible g/t stories and is so creative. I've been binged their work lately and I'm planning on reading all of their stories. My favourite has to be A Tall and Small Collection, the development of extreme distrust into a genuine friendship is so well done that makes me wanna dwell on it all day

AS FOR ARTISTS I'm gonna have to mention @territorial-utopia and @bonkalore, I've been following them since I joined the g/t community here on tumblr and they had a massive impact in my artstyle to this day, their works are incredible and deserve all the love

Honestly I could spend here all day talking about the amazing artists this community has and all the ones I cherish, but I don't wanna creep out in the notifs of half of the tumblr g/t community lol

[ryuichirou]

Azul×Idia headcanons... hand em over, I wanna hear them all, every single one

(You're artsyle is so scrumptious it's not even funny❤❤❤❤❤❤)

Dear Anon! Sorry for the late reply. I am very happy you like my artstyle, and I am especially happy that you like Azul/Idia. They are our first twst ship, they are actually the first twst ship that we’ve written headcanons about, and our first post with them was almost a year ago?? That’s a long time, but I still feel like we just fell in love with these two lol

Just in case, here are some previous posts with hcs about them:

The very first one

Some more headcanons (+the ones about the Marriage AU)

The one with octo!Azul

The one about the overblot versions of these two

There are also some about Idia and the OctaTrio, but you can find all of them in the according tag (“headcanons”), so I won’t link them here.

As you can see, we have a lot to say about them lol, but it’s been a while since our last hc post about them, so I’ll give you some new ones! God I hope they’re new… I hate it when I accidentally repeat myself lol

They are an odd couple because both are allergic to sincerity and have a hard time opening up to each other. It’s almost like they’re afraid that if they say something honest and romantic, the other one is going to laugh at him. And to be honest, Azul is worse at it than Idia. Like, Idia’s initial reaction would be laugh it off and say that Azul is cringe (as a defense mechanism), but he would actually appreciate it a lot and maybe even open up in return. Azul, however, is absolutely terrified of being rejected for his feelings and sometimes has a hard time reacting to Idia’s own sincere moments. But he’s slowly getting better, I guess.

Despite that, Azul is actually quite romantic sometimes. If he falls asleep in Idia’s room, he clings to him, his long limbs, his warm hair. He is actually quite needy when he lets his guard down. But Idia learned not to comment on that, because Azul instantly gets embarrassed and super pissed off and sometimes even bites him :( Ouch

They actually argue quite often. And god forbid if they argue about something that can’t easily get googled and prove one of them wrong, because this petty argument is going to last for ages. Sometimes it ends up being an arousing thing for them, but Idia always comments on how much of a cliché it is to yell at each other and then make out passionately.

Their sex life used to be super awkward at the very beginning of their relationship, because they are basically a combo of a socially inept hikki guy whose kinks and preferences are super far detached from a real human life, and a merman who didn’t have legs or human reproductive organs only 3 years ago. So they weren’t even super into sex at first, it’s just too much mental and physical work, too awkward and embarrassing. That being said, they did have their early horny moments when they got really carried away and way too into touching each other.

After they’ve been together for some time though, sex is going to become less stressful, at least for Azul. He learns very fast, and he is obsessed with getting better, so Idia is going to be overwhelmed and fucked in all the right places at the same time lol But they still have these vibes of two awkward but horny nerds sometimes.

There are periods during which they don’t have sex at all, and barely even have any romantic interactions. During these one might even think that they’re just friends, since they seem to be very neutral in the ways they interact and talk about games and stuff. Idia doesn’t mind it, but it’s a bit wild even to him sometimes how not interested in sex Azul actually is…because when Azul is aroused, it seems like sex is the most important thing in his life lol I guess this is an animal within him.

They aren’t really into bdsm, but they’re one of those couples who fall into the d/s dynamics naturally sometimes for some reason. Mostly because Idia is very bratty with Azul and likes to tease him, and sometimes Azul gets pissed off and reacts in a very dominating and overwhelming way, and then all of a sudden things happen… Let’s just say that Idia got spanked more than one time.

[kaleen-art]

Lupin Zero Sucks (Clickbait)

Spoilers. Duh.

Lupin Zero is a 2022-23 6 episode miniseries following the adventures of Lupin III and Daisuke Jigen as teenagers. I watched the full series recently. It’s very rare I watch a show and am both in awe and also disappointed. Here are my thoughts:

Chapter 1: Aesthetic

Lupin III Part 1 is my favorite Part. It’s where I think the characterizations are at their best and the A-Production episodes with the involvement of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata are some of the best Lupin adventures to this day (not a big fan of Osumi’s “deep and emotional” episodes, will make another essay about this probably). Zero takes a lot of influence from Part 1 and I love it. The music is on point and matches with the very late 60s-early 70s stylings of the first series. The animation and expressiveness is also on point. The artstyle is always distinctive and it’s amazing how they were able to translate the artstyle of the original series into a digital era when I felt like previous attempts (see: digital Part 1 art, Return of Pycal (sorry Shmeepy)) failed. I hate the filter applied over the series though. Besides it just muddying up very nicely done backgrounds and artwork, it also makes the whole series feel like a TikTok “edit”. It’s gross. But at least everything else about the series’s aesthetic is strong enough that this is only a minor nitpick.

Chapter 2: Lupin and Jigen

The best part of Lupin Zero is definitely the relationship between Lupin and Jigen. Jigen is a stone-cold criminal with experience to his name at the start of the series and Lupin is (though he wouldn’t admit it) a rookie crook. Both have exactly what the other one needs. Lupin gives Jigen the love Jigen seemingly gets from nobody else, and Jigen provides Lupin with a partner in crime. Their dynamic as the show goes on, especially prominent in Episode 4 (The Best One) and Episode 5 (Had the great scene between them) is great and the highlight of Zero. The gay vibes are strong on this one and I’m pretty sure this is the part of the show the writers wanted to do the most. Like I said earlier, the show ties in with Part 1 very nicely and the Lupin-Jigen dynamic is no exception. I love Part 1 Jigen so it’s no wonder why Zero Jigen is also great. I like when he Has Fun and Smiles I wish they let him do that in Part 2 and the new stuff.

Chapter 3: Lupin and his legacy

I really like how they executed Lupin’s relationship with his family. Lupin (the Third) and Arsene Lupin both want him to become a thief, but Lupin the Third wants to forge his own path instead of adhering to his grandpa’s expectations. Meanwhile, Lupin II wants Lupin to follow the “straight and narrow”. I think this show not only speaks to the feelings of teenagers of every generation, but especially the generation growing up in the 50s and 60s who would become adults in the 70s. Speaking as a teenager who is in the Gen Z generation I understand how it is to feel the weight of the previous generations and their expectations for you, but I also know this was an especially prevalent issue amongst the youth of the mid 20th century, and I think Lupin in Zero really represents that. At the end of the show, he is able to forge his own path and later becomes the Lupin we know and love, resolving this generational conflict. This is another aspect done great in Zero.

Chapter 4: Lupin and Yoko

Fuck Yoko. She ruins the show. This isn’t a joke.

Yoko is… I think? Lupin’s love interest? “But isn’t that Jigen-” THAT’S WHAT I’M SAYING! The show felt the incessant need to add a female lead so they could have boobies on screen. The problem is it’s really gross in Zero. Yoko is an adult ass woman flirting with Lupin the 13 year old and it’s very groomy. In the first episode she even sings about forbidden love (with someone younger than her) to Lupin and Jigen. She contributes close to nothing to the show up until Episodes 5 and 6 (a two-parter). In those episodes, she has a plot with this guy named Gaucho who is like, the villain, and like… She loves him but she also loves Lupin, and it gets really convoluted and dumb. If it seems like I don’t care, it’s because I don’t. 

At the end of the show Gaucho dies and Yoko is in a life-or-death situation, so she decides to kill herself to die with Gaucho. She does this in front of two children, one of whom she is fully aware that he's in love with her. This is a character we are meant to feel sad about when she dies.

She's a total creep and throws me out of the show whenever she's on-screen. I feel like if she didn’t show any interest in Lupin besides an innocent friendship, and Lupin just fell in love with her anyway, that would be significantly better. As is, she gets way too flirtatious with someone literally less than half her age for me to give a fuck when she dies.

I think if they really needed her to be in the show (she does not need to be there) they should’ve removed her and Lupin’s “romance” entirely and instead tried to parallel Lupin and Jigen’s romance plot with her and Gaucho, showing how she and Gaucho are like a bad version of the two. That, in my opinion, would’ve worked a lot better.

Chapter 4: Too Much, Too Little

My biggest problem with Lupin Zero is it tries to cram too much into 6 episodes. If it had just stuck with Lupin and Jigen’s relationship blossoming + Lupin vs. his family, it would’ve been killer, but the stuff with Yoko as well as the final two episodes’ weird war-government plot just muddies up a great idea. It leaves me disappointed because I think Lupin Zero had so much potential but it was ruined by the writers forcing in ideas that detract from the themes already present instead of adding to them. 

Conclusion

Overall, is Lupin Zero worth a watch?

I mean it’s only 6 episodes, you might as well if you like Part 1 or Lupin x Jigen or anything of that sort.

But do I think it’s as great as people have said it is?

God, no. It’s messy and I think overall it’s a 6 or 7 out of 10. 7.5 on a good day.

Good but nothing remarkable. But if this kind of show is what Lupin III series…es went forward with? I wouldn’t be mad, not one bit.

Anyway don't forget to like and subscribe for more bad takes, ok bye see you when I remember I have a tumblr again

[vertebrae-entertainment]

23.01.24 - Environments

Hey y'all, happy new year! Things were pretty much busy from the get-go for us, so we haven't had time to post a proper update. But now we're here, and here's whats up!

This is a reference picture my partner took for me on one of our trips to my hometown of Stavanger, Norway a couple of years back. Stavanger has been a great influence of multiple of my games, mostly due to a love-hate relationship, complicated nostalgia and pride. Its a gorgeous town with lovely nature and bustling culture, but it is also full of rich jerks and elon-pilled right-wingers. Thats what the oil industry will do to you!

Anyway, thats neither here nor there- i think anywhere you grow up, you have a complicated relationship with.

If you've been peeking at our discord (hey, come hang out with us!) lately, you might have noticed that i've been posting a bunch of mockups for environment art and i thought i could give y'all an insight into how important dirt is to me!!

Environments have been on the backburner for a long time for me, mostly because im not an environment artist and i am pretty intimidated by the task ahead. My task is: portray post-apocalyptic Norwegian society and nature, and make it so that Fangst wont be mistaken for just any other game. It needs to be both unique and also very deliberately reflect real world locations. That's no small task!

But i've made some visual breakthroughs lately, and that has made me able to grasp the task much easier. Its been in the art recipe for this project all along, the key words being impressionism, brutalism, texture! The trick was combining it in the right way.

Here is a mockup i posted earlier this month. The angled texture on the rocks is strongly inspired by brutalist concrete sculptures, with a thick outline to show the player what is and is not a platform. Overlaid is a real-world picture my partner took of some algae and plant growth on rocks close to the sea.

The background is impressionist, clearly distancing it from the lens and 'player space' by taking on a different artstyle. We have mentioned earlier that we're inspired by the work of Munch, and have earlier tried to replicate the sun from this piece in-game.

The characters are also modernist, but in a different sense- taking inspiration from the UPA revival movement most famously seen in early 2000s cartoons such as Dexters Laboratory and Samurai Jack. I suppose this could make them a third, separate layer of modernist art!

Right now some aspects don't fit as cleanly into the formula- plant life is proving tricky, and remains semi-realistically styled. UI is deliberately made to look like real-world objects, because i think it helps it stand out against the other layers. Readability is my primary concern right now, i have a tendency to soup that away in the hunt for exciting art direction.

Next time, i'll be talking about a whole separate beast again- architecture. Nothing is more norwegian to me than dingy little wooden houses along a coastline, so you bet your ass im putting effort into it! But also, GLOBAL GAME JAM IS COMING UP- so i might also talk about that :3 We'll see.

Have a good one! -Hauk

[tsundere-selfship]

hey y’all! quick announcement for the people still keeping up with my blog.

Sorry for not posting nearly as frequently as I used to. Selfshipping has become much more of a personal thing for me and lately I’ve been taking a deep dive into my own romantic attraction (leave it to Shade Barrow himself to cause me to question my levels of attraction to real ass people.) I’m just suddenly less comfortable talking about my f/os to people I don’t know well. It’s like disclosing the details of a personal relationship, if that makes sense. Though I suppose the feeling has been slowly developing, as long-time followers have noticed my diminishing comfort with talking about,,, well, everything.

Not only that, but selfship tumblr just feels like a hostile community. No one is going to like hearing it, but it needs to be said. I’ve seen blogs going around saying it’s a “red flag” to not have a carrd, as if every selfshipper on this platform is required to provide a little self-character sheet for everyone to look at. I get it, it’s nice to get to know people, but no one owes you their personal information. I’ve seen people get judged for having a “proshipper artstyle.” What the hell does a person’s artstyle have to do with anything? It all just feels more like we’re trying to debate whose better than the other rather than celebrating our love for our f/os. If someone spends more time posting baseless discourse than they do discussing their actual selfships, I can’t help but feel like they’ve missed the point of the community greatly. We all want to be liked and accepted by others, but this is an admittedly awful way to do it.

I once got hate anons and “cancelled” for selfshipping with a minor, when I was also a minor. The character was a year younger than me. I’ve seen people have harassment campaigns run against them for accusations with zero evidence behind them. I have been judged, stalked, and downright harassed by people years and years older than me, and for what? For something I didn’t even do? Based on a hunch? Based on something someone I’ve never met said about me? Believe me, I’ve seen the rumors. Never once had anyone asked me if they were true.

Worst of all, I’ve just watched mutuals, for lack of a better term, fall out of love with selfshipping. There’s nothing wrong with not wanting to selfship anymore, but. I miss my friends. I can’t help but feel like I’m not supposed to be here anymore. After all, everyone I had a close relationship with is gone. Deleted their blog, stopped posting, etc.

It was fun while it lasted, while I had a large following, but maybe it’s time for me to start over.

[radchocoart]

AI ART is bad but also helpful?

First off, I am totally 100% against the concept of AI art. Just like NFTs, people are just misusing something that could’ve been really helpful but instead is stealing & profit. 

Lately, I have been using anime AI art for my studies & found good results! The lighting and the color techniques are simple enough for me to recreate in my own program (autodesk sketchbook for the shit!) and it’s been really fun so far! I've been learning a lot of new techniques likeee:

Editing the faces to look older

Hard & soft shading

Bounce light

Clothing folds

Light sources

 Looking past the extremely-sexual-to-the-point-where-some-of-these-women- are-breaking-their-backs-&-coochies (HAVE YOU SEEN HOW TIGHT THESE CLOTHES THEYRE WEARING ;;;), the art is really fascinating to study. I also think that another reason why I have a fondness for this style is because I was exposed to a lot of harem anime when I was younger (Girls Bravo to name one). Honestly I’m surprised I never got caught for it. 

Let me say that I’m against harem animes  because it’s just sexualization of children, extremely unhealthy relationships, and just the shitpile of anime as a whole. This abundance of harem anime led me to getting into pinup art, some of my muses at the time being Frank Cho & Adam Hughes. I still love pinup art to this day.  I’ve been drawing naked women since I was a kid so it’s my roots. I’ve been planning to make a break into the scene because I hate how some of these artists draw women. Thin arms (no matter if she’s buff or not) baby looking faces, no body hair whatsoever, impossible proportions, so on so forth. I wanna draw sexy women but have it be a tad realistic y’know? 

I just wanted to speak about how ai art has been helping me. I know this topic is a weird one cause “why are you using something you hate?”. The way I see this is, it’s like when I see a proshipper who has a really good artstyle, I’m like, “damn, you draw messed up shit but your art is good? wtf !!” Let me take the stuff that I like about your art and then turn it to something good instead of something bad! That’s all it is, I take their stuff and put it into my art because I’m not a crappy individual! At the end of the day, I’m not followed to them, I don’t like any of their stuff & I block when I’m done. Sooo it works! 

Also I’m studying from real artists as well & I make sure to support them (as long as they aren’t a pos) 

[volfoss]

🔥 for CLAMP of course. Also xxxHolic specifically, but also also CLAMP generally

ALRIGHT. LETS GO. xxxholic spoilers under the cut and cw for discussions of age gap/pedophilic relationships

xxxholic:

the ending was fitting. its not supposed 2 be a happy ending and the way that it is GENUINELY so isolating that u rly just are in watanukis shoes with staying around the shop most of the time. its so well done. also like. i wish himawari got more development oh my god. also like. rei makes me SO mad but i am not getting into it bc ur not there yet. but i wish that it got finished. also. the artstyle is like peak clamp and people that just watch the anime and r like omg its so ugly and long, u literally just like. go read the manga please.

clamp in general:

seishirou i am ripping u limb from limb i am killing u and murdering u VIOLENCE. but to like. be more serious about it, i hate how clamp kinda equates a underage/overage relationship w omg lgbt. i hate how they combine it (in tokyo bablyon and like clover too ough. im sure theres more but i cant remember off the top of my head). i would like to formally petition that anyone who is like omg seisub (with what. seishirou being mid to late 20s and subaru being 15) is so cute dies and explodes violently <3 i am like sick of people romanticizing it just bc its there in the plot and acting like its ok.

also. overrated and underrated clamp works bc i feel the need to be a bit aggressive <3

overrated: tokyo babylon (i love it but like. overhyped ESPECIALLY w all the content in it), chobits (also again bc of the content but i do also love it), ccs (again i enjoy it but like. people that rec it as just a magical girl anime and dont touch on all the gross shit in the manga like. stop and tell ppl in advance)

underrated: DERAYD (GO READ IT RIGHT MEOW.), shirahime-syo (literally. some of their BEST artwork!! its gorgeous), the one i love (literally just like rly personal and good)

clamp manga i would explode if i could: suki, man of many faces

[icy-blue-rose]

Okay I just HAVE TO get this off my chest right now.

I was watching the new episode of 2.43 seiin koukou danshi volley-bu, and well, I decided to check out the comment section because hey! I want to hear what other fans of the series have to say, liked, and so on.

Instead however-

I was met by the most horrid comment section it reminded me why I usually dont actually interact with the anime community (and usually just talk to myself or make posts like this one that nobody will read aha)

But shit, I like, felt so uncomfortable.

Now before I rant a bit, if anyone skimming this may get offended let me make something clear.

If you just arent into the series, or don't like the show/series, then that's fair.

I have literally no problem if you dont like the show, or are simply expressing that you just dont like it and list your own reasons, I completely respect people's opinions and right to openly criticize series, even if I dont agree with it.

However, the following, while I wont actually attack people for it, just made me so uncomfortable for liking the show that I had to talk about it.

So here we go.

2.43 seiin koukou danshi volley-bu is not a sports shonen and so you shouldnt expect it to be written and animated like one.

People are free to say they dont like the animation, artstyle, or way the series is written, we all have our personal tastes.

But, like, it felt like non of the people commenting had a single brain cell.

No I am not exaggerating.

This series is written is a very particular way, one that I'm ABSOLUTELY loving.

I'm not fond of most writing styles and usually have a hard time reading novels but this one I particularly enjoy.

However, it felt like everyone was bashing it for how it's being written, not understanding what the author is doing or setting up, not even understanding the basic structure or style the author has used for their series.

It honestly made alot of the people complaining sound really dumb, no offence, but you all sound stupid.

Then there were our typical HUGE swarm of "ewww gaaaay, omg he blushed, omg so cringe, ewwww"

Which I mean, every sports anime has so I'm used to the endless flood of these types of comments but I find them really annoying because dont get me wrong.

I'm Queer.

I like LGBT anime/manga but I also really enjoy Yaoi and Yuri in it's pure ridiculous form at times (not I'm not saying all BL or GL is the same, I dont think I need to get into this rn)

And of course I enjoy shamelessly shipping and headcanoning characters as well, whatever I want because it's fun and I am aloud to HEADCANON all I want.

So or course I like to jokingly ship sports anime characters for fun, even if I dont genuinly ship it , or sometimes do.

Because I like certain relationship dynamics they can have that are never explored in anime/manga.

However, being serious for a second, I dont genuinly go around saying characters are "Gay for sure 100% yeeee"

People blush at their friends. People and characters can have deep bonds and relationships that arent romantic whatsoever and can STILL feel more like a romance than a real romance, despite it not being intended in that way at all.

It's so stupid to bash a character for "ewww gaaaay shit" when they blush at, someone they genuinly care about and have a non romantic relationship with?

Idk it just makes them seem dumb, internet trolls suck and I usually ignore them, I just feel like complaining today.

In the end I must say, the most annoying group of people in the comments were, as any 2.43 seiin koukou danshi volley-bu fan has seen, the fucking haikyuu fandom.

I feel like I should note that I love haikyuu, I do, it's great, for a sports shonen I do enjoy it alot.

After all I do love me some sports shonens.

But haikyuu fans need to buy some brain cells or critical thinking abilities.

Listen, to all the normal haikyuu fans like myself, I salute you and this is in no way direct towards any of you.

It's for the....other ones.

Haikyuu and 2.43 seiin koukou danshi volley-bu have a couple things in common.

Volleyball

Their source material started getting serialized around the same times

Some character designs look similar.

And I'd say that's about it.

Neither one "copied" a premise from the other.

Okay? Haikyuu fans? For fuck sake? Can you stop "omg they really are running out of ideas huh"

"Omg this is a haikyuu rip off"

"Omg this is a watered down shitty haikyuu knockoff"

I'm going to shoot myself I swear to god shut up.

No.

No.

And fucking no.

It isnt. They started coming out in the same few years, and start completely different, a knock off? How?

I dont even see it one bit.

Now on the topic of some similar character designs.

To put it in a way haikyuu fans would understand, I've seen over 12 Kageyama "lookalikes" in anime, ones from LONG BEFORE haikyuu, and long after.

It's literally a common thing in any media platform, but we've all seen the same character design used before in diffrent shows.

It's not new, character designs were not stolen, please get a fucking brain cell.

Also he looks more like Saiki.K in most of the anime shots in my opinion.

Now, if you like haikyuu and you're looking for another sports shonen to

Live up to the hype, have the same premise kinda or just that awesome animation and typical sports shonen storyline you love to fill the void until another haikyuu season comes out.

Just feel like watching another sports shonen in general.

It isnt the show for you.

Now if you want to check out a volleyball show, check it out and form your own opinion on it and for the love of god dont compare it to haikyuu.

It's a sports drama.

If you like shes like Stars Align, Battery, or even Ahiru no Sora (which I feel has a nice balance of sports and drama, rather then focusing on either category, it balances both really well) then this is a show for you to check out.

I've watched I think 4 diffrent baseball anime? Maybe 5?

I never once compared them to each other while watching.

While comparisons are fun to do! I love reading about parallels, series that inspired other series and examples of how it was done and all that awesome jazz!

It's not the same as actively comparing a show to another one while you watch it.

Especially when they arent even in the same genre category.

Anyways this probably seems like a pointless rant but the comment section actually crushed my week long built up excitement for the new episode, cause I had the misfortune of opening it first to see who else was hyped and enjoyed the episode, only to find well, all of this crap.

And fans like me who tried to politely digress and explain how the writing style is different than the average sports series, or explain why it's written how it is, alot of them got met with SWARMS of more ignorant and just plain ride comments.

Also all my "you're fucking stupid" comments in this rant, are directed towards those people in particular.

Now if you are simply genuinly confused about why there are time skips, why it's written how it is, or any other things, this is not directed at you.

Not at all.

Not understanding a writing/directing style is a completely innocent thing and there are many fans who would be happy to explain it.

The hate is directly towards the arrogant, annoying, internet trolls and haikyuu fandom who has been getting annoying lately? Especially about this show.

[aroaceacacia]

Man, all these asks really do bring up some memories huh! I was especially involved in all the discourse (which was absolutely not healthy for me but eh, I was a kid who romanticised the whole thing like it was some cinematic war) and I definetly recall some notable details that I might be the only active hermitblr to remember at this point

For example, I personally knew the person who wrote the fanfic people cancelled Cleo over, and they actually wrote it as a vent because they were trans themselves and feared the stuff they wrote about happening to them

And there was a talk with M on a private server, idk Coffee might remember it if I recall correctly?? Or maybe not? But it was when me and a bunch of related people actually sat down and talked to M about how what he has done was hurtful. And he actually was really nice about the whole thing and gave us a heartfelt apology, and explained some details that... really made it feel like his relationship with H wasn't very healthy at all. But it's not my place to be the judge of that.

And then he posted an apology on his blog as well, which was worded less than addmitting his mistakes and actually apologizing, and more like shifting the blame away from himself. Even more, ironically, he posted a drawing of his friend group, most of which were exactly the people that did the most harm in the fandom, on the next day after the convo. On the same server we used to confront him JSGHSDLSDGHJG but yeah maybe the excessive hate on M was not deserved, but he still leaves a bitter feeling when I see him.

I also was very active in hermitshipping circles at the time, so I know some details from there, but idk if you would be alright or even want to talk that much about the shipping itself. But I guess a fun detail was how the whole disaster started with me an my friends deciding that we're going to make shipping sideblogs that haters could block if they wanted and where we could post freely, and also allowed ourselves to use the main tag because we felt it was unfair that no other fandom had a problem with shipping in the main tag and it was just regular content like anything else.

I think my "favorite" (/neg) story that I sometimes tell like both a horror story and a funny incident is the whole pisszloy thing, where the same blog that drew piss all over minor's shipart... called out Zloy. For liking a post on Twitter. Needless to say, ironic. Pretty sure it's the same person that told Scar that Zloy wanted him dead.

I also remember very clearly how, at least in my circles, there was A LOT of hate directed at RST, which I actually haven't seen mentioned here yet (maybe it's because they/[whatever pronouns RST uses these days] have since decided to disengage with the discourse, which, good for them). Basically RST made tons of callouts for shippers, outing those that did not want to be known as shippers. And that landed them into getting doxxed, which was absolutely not deserved and way too extreme, so much that the entire hermitshipblr started posting about how they did not support this, but it remains a fact).

A lot of this stuff ended up leaving a mark, so much that for a while I could not look at anything related to SMPL/LC, Schlatt, even some meme formats, and certain artstyles still cause me to be wary, but these days I feel like not only am I healing myself, but the entire fandom has moved on and has become a very chill and stable place :D All these years, even in the worst of moments, I still had friends that supported me (Hippiecraft, Doomcraft, Zloy gang, etc., I love you all so much) and I think the good times alone were worth it :')

By the way, please take care of your own mental health! You've been getting a lot of very heavy asks lately, including this one that you don't have to asnwer, so if you need to take a break, this is your reminder that it's okay to do that! <3

thank you for the kind words, and for sharing your perspective! I'm glad you're doing well, and that you can still find the positives in the entire situation.

oh god dont remind me of the zloy-scar incident that was SO out of line NotLikeThis

[ranpotario]

hi! could i get a matchup? im harley! im 4'11 :'), have brown eyes, and black hair with a blonde streak underneath its surface on the left side of my face. i'm a ravenclaw/intp w an 80s/retro aesthetic. im an artist (painting/drawing) and musician in a rock band (guitar/piano). im interested in politics/debate and science. i have a rep for being mean/honest as well as hating emotional things like love + physi contact, but tbh it rocks and i love it a lot. i have been described as a tsundere-

Hey! I’m guessing you’re requesting for Haikyuu, since i’ve got a lot of those lately, haha. Anyways, thank you for requesting💕

I match you with..

Morisuke Yaku

Yaku would find you interesting because of your wide range of interest. He loves someone who’s down with any topic, since he’s quite a chatter in a relationship.

He finds your aesthetic very unique and cute. He’s down to match with you! He finds it fun to match and try out different styles together.

Your tsundere type personality is no problem for him; he’s really good in blinking himself inside your heart and he can make anybody soft.

His team describes you as the "Small couple" and ofter tease you with you two being shorties.

I’m pretty sure he’s secretly a very good artist and has a really cute artstyle! He really wants to draw or paint with you sometime!

With music, he’s not as talented, but he has a good taste. Very much enjoys hearing you play and always cheers you on. Motivating you is one of his hobbies!

[franeridart]

I read Honenuki got in through recommendation like todoroki and yaoyorozu why do you think he ended up in class B instead of A?

Oh, I’m pretty sure the sorting is somewhat casual - I say somewhat because I think the classes are made trying to keep the overall strength balanced between the two groups, but that’s about it? It’s not like class A is inherently better than class B just because they’re called “A”, it’s mentioned more than once during the story that the potential should be overall the same and the only difference is the battle experience class A has

Anon said:holy shit I lose my shit bc of that text of yours. I mean I knew already how the case was between Baku and Kiri, but it still hit my heart to read that all in one text. I'm so blessed welp X'D

I nearly cried while writing it so guess what you’re not alone anon we can cry together ( ձ ̥̥̥ ﾍ ձ ̥̥̥ )

Anon said: I started watching BNHA because I love your art and I wanted to understand it (came for Haikyuu!! stayed for everything) and oh wow I'm only 7eps in so far but I really like it!!!! Thank you! Your art is incredible keep up the good work! : D

Anon said:Franeri-san, do you read the BnHA spin-off Vigilante? They showed Iida's big bro!

I read the first chapter back when it came out and nothing else, but you’re the second person to mention it to me in one day so I guess I’ll have to give it a proper try!!!! And if Tensei is there then it’s definitely worth it!!! *O*

Anon said:Hi! How are you today? I hope you are well! I just wanted to let you know that I use to be strictly a kats.udeku shipper, but ever since I saw your work (and a few others) I have become multishipping trash, so thank you. Also, I know you've been having it tough with demands and reposts, so Im sorry, and hope you stay happy and healthy.

B O I thank you!!!!!! *O* I hope you’re well and you’ll keep on being well too, anon!!!!

Anon said:OMG!!!! Shinsou and Izuku look sooooo adorable in your style!! What do you think of them as a pairing?

I SHIP IT - actually every time I go through their fight I remember I ship it and then after a while I sorta forget until I read it again, it’s interesting probably I just have too many Deku ships lmao

Anon said:let me just take a moment to praise ur artstyle............Blessing, u are blessing TvT I just feel like I've seen the most inspiring and good looking art syle ever : > That's really close to something I want mine to be. and the best thing is that u like same animes than I do and u draw ma babies with that gorgeus style of yours U.U Blesssssss uuuuuuu, lemme kiss ya

...man I’m crying. Holy heck, how am I supposed to answer to this even - thank you??? so much for liking my stuff??? and for such kind words too, this ask means so much I literally have no clue how to tell you just how happy this made me!!!

Anon said:hey i usually don't ask thing to people (well, it's more like a confess), but ugh your art is so cute and everything, i mean, i smile everytime i see one of your drawing on my dashboard. So yeah that's all i wanted to say... HAVE A GOOD DAY DON'T FORGET TO EAT, SLEEP AND DRINK (water) *throw hapinness to you* (sorry if i made mistake, english isn't my first language)

YOU TAKE CARE TOO ANON!!!!!!! And thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( ˘ ³˘)♥♥♥♥♥

Anon said:I really likes when you include Mina to bakusquad, she's one of them and she deserves to be with them ,and u know I really hate it when people kick her out of it that really pisses me off

Oh, I get this, I love Mina’s relationship with the boys in the squad so I’m kinda sad when she’s left out too - though in a certain sense I understand it, as far as Bakugou goes her direct interactions with him aren’t nearly as many as Kirishima, Sero and Kaminari’s? But when she isn’t with Hagakure or the girls’ group she’s always hanging with those three so she’s definitely part of the squad too, which is why I like including her as much as I can haha

Anon said:You: draws Kuroiro like 3 times maybe, Me: !!!! A GOD HAS BEEN SENT (also so much good Bakugo and Kirishima and Kaminari content >-

I???? love how much you guys love Kuroiro because really same even though he hasn’t done much at all he’s too good and he deserves all the love !!!!

Anon said:Have you ever drawn homestuck?

Yeah!! But a super duper long time ago back when I still didn’t have this blog, so there shouldn’t be anything of it here sadly (not, my homestuck period was the one in which my style made the least sense since I could kind of do whatever I wanted, which in hindsight helped me shape my current one but as things are now no one should see that stuff ever)

Anon said:omg after what the other anon said, now I really wanna see a drawing by you of Kiri where he just gets closer and closer. That made me laugh really hard too!

OH MY GOD WHY THO HAHAHA

Anon said:i've literally been procrastinating from studying and instead been looking at your art for the past hours. I LOVE YOUR ART!!

I’m glad you like my stuff but please don’t procrastinate on that too much!!!!

... I’d say if I hadn’t spent my high school years procrastinating my afternoons away, but I have so actually who am I to tell you what to do there anon lmao rip

Anon said:LOVE YOUR ART SO MUCH!!!!!!!, its so cute and love your drawing style. '3'

AAAHHHHHH thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!! ฅ(♡ơ ₃ơ)ฅ

Anon said:Dear Fran, just wanted to let you know that I've been through so much lately and it made me so depressed but thanks to your bnha art I was able to smile again. You always make me feel better and i just wanna thank you for being such a gitf to this world. Love ya and your art! Your amazing!

I’m so sorry you had to go through a hard time, anon ( ;-;) but!!! I’m glad I could help you at least a little??? Thank you for liking my stuff!! I love you lots too!!!!

....Anon w h y

Tho I guess watermelon season is starting so why the heck not 🍉🍉🍉🍉 

[moonraccoon-exe]

HEY COON! SO I am trying to get back into art more after being super dead for almost 2 years after artschool. BUT now I just can't find the inspiration and/or motivation to do anything, plus whenever I manage to finish something (after millions of trashed sketches) I hate it half of the time. Any tips for a sad artist?

GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASPS

 BUUUUUUUUUUUUDDDYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY  (ノ*°▽°*)

HEWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

*PETS YOU*

Buddy, hello!! It’s been a while since I last heard about you, I’m happy to see you around!! (ノ*°▽°*) I mean, sometimes I see you in my activity, but we hadn’t properly talked in quite a while, and it’s great to hear from you again!! Seeing your icon made me happy. :3 

Anyways, let’s see…

Tips for a sad artist, huh.(。。 )ゝ

Wh- waIT

WHAAAAAAAAAAAT

YOU!?!?!?! NOT LIKING YOUR ART!?!??! AHDAWBHFPASD BUDDY WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOOOOOOOOOOOUT!?!?!?

Ohmy GAWD, I’m thinking about that Gladio art that you made, with the super detailed and amazingly designed braids and the badass and cool artstyle and this super awesome art aND THEN I THINK YOU’RE NOT LIKING THE THINGS YOU MAKE AND I’M SITTING HERE LIKE WUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT ASJDHJGHDA FHA NO WAAAAAAAAAY!!

WHY WOULD AN AMAZING ARTIST LIKE YOU NOT LIKE WHAT THEY’RE MAKING AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH, I admit I haven’t seen more of your art, but the piece I saw is INCREDIBLE and I goddamn LOVE every inch of it WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT OH MY GAWD ASDHDGKLA KJF DKLGALKDJ

*UNCONTROLLABLY FLAILS LIKE A DESPERATE TURTLE ON ITS BACK*

Okay, BUT that’s actually understandable. I don’t know WHY but it happens sometimes that INCREDIBLE artists don’t like what they do. And you know what I think? I think that some of the most commons reasons is, either they were bullied in the past about their works, OR even more dangerous, artist is a PERFECTIONIST. And it’s USUALLY THAT LAST CASE ZOMG ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ

Okay, buddy, Imma gonna answer this the best that I can, okay?

For anyone interested, Coon talks under the cut about how artists can find inspiration and/or motivation, perfectionism, and what to do when you hate your art.

Tips for a sad artist! ヽ(・ω・)ﾉ

First of all, and as I always think is necessary to clarify, I’d like to keep it clear that I’m neither an artist nor a professional counselor. I’m a raccoonie with no more than its personal philosophies and a lot of positivity and kindness to offer.

I’m not telling you what to do, or how to do it. I’m offering some personal experiences or thoughts, and suggestions, but in the end it’s always in your hands to do as you consider wisest. Alright, buddy?

*pets you*

Said, that, off to try to answer this! /o/

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS!!! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ

Going back to art is something not everyone takes. I think that you love making art, so going back to it is really a wonderful and brave move. It would be so easy to stay in your comfort zone and not go back to it, because it takes so much effort and time, and you’d rather just eat cheetos and rot in boredom, am I right? How easy it would be, to not go back. But you did!!! And that is AMAZING!

Buddy, I’m proud of you just by the fact that you’re trying to get back to art. It’s something not anyone does, especially dealing with the struggles you’re going through as you’re making your way back into art, so it really, really takes something and I think that’s AMAZING and so AWESOME!!

LOUD CHEERS AND HOORAYS FOR YOU, MY FRIEND, I’M SO PROUD OF YOU AND SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!! ٩(◕‿◕)۶ 

Congratulations on having the courage and the firmness of going back and fight those struggles to do what you love to do!!!

Also, buddy, know that by just having the intention of going back to art after 2 years, you’ve already given the first step.

Really, I don’t know how to say it enough. Staying in your comfort zone is what most do, and having the courage and daring to go back to something that takes time and effort and a lot of struggle talks about someone determined to do it. Letting go of the fear of the water and going into the pool is the hardest part; learning to float and swim takes longer, yes, but you’re already in the water, which is the most important and vital of steps. You’ve gotten over the hardest part, so know that you can do the rest even if it takes a bit of effort.

Now, I don’t know where to go. We have lack of motivation/inspiration, lots of trashed sketches before choosing a final piece, and hating it half of the time. Hm. 

Lack of motivation/inspiration.

I think it’s important to mark the difference between Motivation and Inspiration

Motivation: I feel/don’t feel like drawing.

Inspiration: I feel like drawing and I know what I will and I have this idea and that idea and I know how I’ll do this and that and then I’ll make this and-

You can have one without the other. It’s rare to have inspiration and not motivation, because insspiration usually brings forth the motivation. But it’s very, very, VERY common to have the motivation and not the inspiration. What do you do when you want to draw and lack the inspiration?

There’s this saying, you know, I always forget who said it. But it says something like “Of course inspiration exists. But you must make sure that when it finds you, it finds you working”. 

Let’s be real; when we say we’re “waiting for inspiration” we’re just not trying. Art is not sitting in a corner alone doing nothing but eat popcorn and waste our lives away waiting for the moment that Lady Inspiration decides to come in and do the work for us. No; consider inspiration as a very loving but difficult lover. Love it, let it take you, let it do wonders with you, but when it gets moody, don’t give it the pleasure of seeing you struggle. Don’t depend on it; just because lady inspiration is not showing up doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time or do stuff alone. She was late to the date? What a shame, but not because you’re waiting for her you’re going to let that extra expensive extra delicious hot coffee get cool, right?

Don’t depend on the presence of lady inspiration. Let her know you don’t need it; that if she appears you two can have fun together, but that she’s not a necessity. Show her you will drink that hot coffee and enjoy it whether she arrives or not; that you can work alone whether she’s present or not.

This means DRAW. Draw and draw and draw when you feel like drawing or want to draw whether lady inspiration is here or not. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to FORCE yourself to draw. Anything that’s made by force is useless. It’s like a fart; if you have to force it, it’s most likely it will come out as shit. It’s not about forcing yourself to do it, it’s just about not depending on inspiration; you feel like drawing but there’s no inspiration? Draw anyway. You don’t feel like drawing? Don’t draw. Even if there’s inspiration, because it CAN happen. It’s rare, but it can happen that there’s inspiration but not motivation, and that’s okay. Don’t draw. Your body and mind know what they want and need, and if they’re rejecting the idea of drawing, listen to them. Don’t force yourself to something you don’t want to do. Think of yourself as a friend; you would get upset at a friend that was trying to force you to draw for them, even if they’re your friend, right? So why don’t you get upset when You are trying to force you to draw too? It’s the same. Ignore that bad You and listen to good, real You and what they need.

Summarizing, don’t force yourself to draw if you don’t want to, but if you feel like it, do, whether there’s inspiration or not. Inspiration exists but it has to find you working; don’t let your art depend on inspiration or inspiration will notice and take cantage of it and will abuse of your dependence on it. Don’t let it. Draw alone, for yourself, show that bitch of a muse that you don’t need her. Ironically, it’s the fact that you’ll show her that you don’t need her what will make it impossible for her to abuse of you, because you don’t depend on her and hence she doesn’t have you in her grasp, and what will make the relationship healthy and useful; showing her you won’t die without her will make her see you’re good as you are and lend you a hand in a good way.

Not having motivation is okay, and you should listen to yourself. I don’t know if it’s the same, but I take my writing as example; sometimes I sit here and I think “I should write for this fic”, but I just don’t want to. No matter how much I force myself to, I don’t want to. So I close it and I think “I think that even though it’s been longer since i updated fic 1, I really feel like writing fic 2 instead”.

And you know? That’s fine. 

What I mean to say is, something it’s not that you’re not motivated. Sometimes it’s that you want to force yourself to be motivated for a certain thing, when in reality you’re motivated to do something else. Explore what you want and listen to yourself and what the inner you is asking from you; not because you think you want to draw Drawing 1 means you WANT to do it. Sometimes we THINK WE WANT something or WANT TO WANT something, but that is entirely different to WANTING something.

Listen to yourself, the inner you, what it has to say. Listen to what you really, really want to draw or do. And even if it’s not what you wanted to want, when you figure what it is that you really want to draw, you’ll find that it’s easy to get on it, and, sometimes, that even makes inspiration come too.

Now, what if there is NO motivation though? What if it’s not that you don’t want to draw Drawing 1 and instead draw Drawing 2, but you’d rather not draw any of them?

That’s fine. It’s as I said, don’t force yourself to draw. Wanting to want to draw is very different to wanting to draw. I hope I’m not confusing you too much. What I mean to say is, it’s phenomenal that you want to get back to art, but that doesn’t mean you have to force yourself to. The wish is there, so the motivation will be there; if it’s not here today, it doesn’t mean you’re doing wrong or that you’re not progressing. You just don’t want to draw today, and that’s okay.

If you sit to draw and find you don’t want to, explore if maybe you’d rather draw something else, and so on and on until you run out of ideas. If it turns that you don’t feel like drawing anything, that’s okay!! Art is not born from drawing every minute every day every week. Art is born when an artist wants to draw, not when they force themselves to draw. Art is more than just sitting to draw; it’s getting up to go for a walk, breathe in the air of the park, watch TV or a movie, play a game, go do something and literally anything else.

Recently I hit a point where I really didn’t feel like writing anything. So I went to play FFXV Comrades for the first time, and spent most my evenings gaming instead of writing. And you know? It’s made wonders to me. It took from me the pressure of thinking I MUST have this or that for tomorrow, and while it did slow me a lot, it improved my writing. Because the more you force yourself to do it, the more you mine your skills instead of letting them grow, and when you rest you’re just recharging energy.

Think of it like your muscles. Exercise is good, but over-exercising is not, and it will reach a point where your muscles can’t take more. If you keep going, you’ll just end up hurting your muscles and actually tearing them apart and not only will all the progress you made go to waste, but you’ll also be unable to walk for a good couple days. In exhange, though, if you stop over-doing it, and if you take a couple days of rest, it’s not harming your progress, you’re just letting your muscles relax and be back in shape so you can go back to your usual exercise routine. You’re not “skipping one day” or “lowering your level”, you’re balancing yourself to not explode.

Summary; draw when you want, don’t force yourself to do it, but don’t wait for inspiration either, work with or without it.

Now, what if you really do want inspiration, though?

That’s a tricky question. I guess it depends on what you want to draw.

I guess I’ll tell you what everyone else would say; music. It’s no secret that like 99% of creatores play music to gather some inspiration for what they do. There are many playlists of 4 hours or such of “inspirational” music; you can even search for more specific things, as there are playlists made for specific sort of inspirations (sad playlists for those making something sad, cheerful ones, suspense ones, even fantasy music playlists, etc).

On my humble and subjective opinion, I dare say that music is perhaps one of the best tools for a creator’s source of inspiration. I think that music is the most beautiful of arts because it’s the most abstract; we don’t see it, or can touch it, it’s temporary because it exists only as long as it’s playing, it’s not material. It’s only the air around us vibrating and making the air shake at certain frequences. And it’s because it’s the most abstract of arts why it’s the less…how do I say it, influenced one??? Like, because it’s so abstract, your brain will interpret it the way it wants. A piano piece that can be calm to me may be sad to someone else, for example.

A ballet or a play or a painting, we see what the artist made and nothing more. But music? While it of course influences a lot whether it’s a happy or sad melody, you can still interpret it the way you want. We rely too much on our eyes for dance, theatre, and visuals, but music will go straight to your brain and give you images that no one else has; even if alike and very similar, no one will have the same mental image than you unless it’s made as something physical.

So yes, I would suggest music. If you feel like drawing something sad, go play something sad; if you feel like drawing a dragon, maybe fantasy music will do; if you want to draw this or that, there will be something that fits. 

For example, I’m writing a beauty and the beast AU fanfic. The chapters are usually 14k words each. You can easily tell that the way I get lazy at times, or with the pressure of how long it is, and hence that I easily drop it if I’m not inspired. But I want to go on, I want to write it, but have no inspiration. So what do I do? I go look for that piano album of the film’s soundtrack. I can write 7k in one day thanks to that. What I can’t do in 2 weeks, 1 playlist makes me do it in one evening. 

That’s why I personally suggest music (lyric-less, preferably), but it may not work for everyone.

So what if music is not your jam for inspiration?

Then go for a walk, free your head. Look at other artworks; watch a cool video or cartoon. Look at book covers, read a book or a fanfic, get excited over something, read, watch, listen to, or look at something that makes you get excited, that gives you mental images, that makes you want to be that hero or protagonist, and let that excitement build up more and more and let it take over and make it inspire you and make it make you grab that pencil and start sketching, and if your hype starts dying, listen to that game’s OST, look at that book’s cover again, re-read that passage, anything. Keep the hype up. Get excited.

I’m sorry for the length of this aaah, I’m gonna try to keep it short now hndnghgfh

Now, about your thousands of trashed sketches and hating half the finished things you make, you know what I think? I think you’re just being harsh on yourself.

There’s not a worse critic for a creator than themselves. We look at what we made and it’s never 100% exactly like we saw it in our heads, it’s not good enough, it can be better, it turned out so bad, I don’t have the skill to make it as I imagine it, this this this THIS THIS THIS STOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!

I know the thinking because sometimes I’m the same with my writing, and I know lots of artists that are like that, and a lot of musicians, etc. It took me years to understand, and evne understanding it doesn’t get rid of the problem, but understanding it at least makes me stop to realize what I’m doing and know I’m wrong and it’s fine. 

No. It’s not not good enough; it didn’t turn out bad; you don’t not have the skill. No, no, NO. It’s NOT that way, buddy, no!!

The problem is called perfectionism and self-criticism. We’re made thought by people and society and the world and even our teachers themselves that we have to be EXCELLENT at what we do; that we have to be the best, and if not the best, at least EXCELLENT and perfect at what we do it we want it to be acceptable or god. And it’s not true; this is bullshit. Utter, magnificent bullshit.

It’s okay to want to be number 1, and it’s okay to want to get better and do better things. But there’s a difference between “I want to get better” to “fuck, I’m useless and must be better”. No! There are so many things to say about this I don’t even know where to begin. But the most valuable advice on this is

Love what you’re doing. Sounds easy. But I don’t mean that you must love drawing as the act itself; love what you draw. Even if it’s bad; even if you don’t like it, even if people hate it, even if it’s trash. Love it. Take that piece of paper in your hands and look at it. And even if it’s trash, even if it’s horrible know that it came from you.From your time and effort. From your passion and your skills. This was born from you. A mother doesn’t hate her child because it’s ugly or with no talent. So why would you hate anything you make? 

A lot of the problem with perfectionism and self-criticism is the way we look at things, the perspective. And I’m going to gift you the best perspective that will fix your problem; love what you make. Take it with a positivity so positive it makes you feel stupid. Be like Kuzco; over-love yourself and what you do. Imagine that the place where you just stepped is glittering because you’re FABULOUS, imagine every thing you do is as fabulous and amazing. You fell in public? You look RADIANT doing it. You chocked on a grape? You’re FABULOUS on it.

Your drawing sucks? It’s trash and you hate it and it’s ugly and anatomy is horrible and the perspective is bad? WHAT A DRAWING. IT’S HORRIBLE AND UGLY AND YOU LOVE IT LIKE THAT.

It’s honestly an advice for anything in life. With that philosophy I defeated my problems of lack of confidence, and it’s thanks to that philosophy that I’m the hyper positive and kind creature that I am today, and the reason you’re asking me for advice.Because if you asked, you think even if just on a 1% that I’m capable of replying, right? And that’s because of how positive I am most of the time.

It’s thanks to that Kuzco philosophy. It’s  not egocentric; so long you’re not harming anyone, yourself included, exaggerate that love, even if you’re lying. Because a lie said a thousand times turns into a truth. But I’m digressing; what I mean is, apply that to your drawings.

It’s ugly. It’s horrible. ACKNOWLEDGE THAT. Don’t lie to yourself and tell you that’s the best you can do because it’s not. Do encourage yourself to do better. But LOVE what you made as ugly as it is. LOVE it. Love its ugliness. Love how bad it is. It’s a drawing you made, it comes from you, it’s something no one else can do, and it’s ugly? Yes, but it’s YOURS. So you will LOVE it. You will look at it, smile, love it, and then move on to try again and better.

Next time you hate a drawing, and listen to me, and OBEY ME; next time you hate a drawing, you will look at it, and you WILL NOT THINK, WILL NOT THINK “it’s so horrible, I must do better”. You will think “It’s not the best I can do, I can do better”. There is a HUGE difference between “I hate what I’m doing and need to get better!” and “I don’t like what I do but it’s part of my progress, and I’m on my way to be better”.

Really, buddy, it’s like physical appearances. If you’re overweight and trying to lose weight, you don’t hate yourself for being fat. You take the fact that you’re fat, you acknowledge it, but you don’t hate it. You don’t tell to yourself it’s fine and you will stay there and do nothing about it; you take it, accept it, and work on it WITHOUT hating yourself. It’s unnecessary, and really only does harm. It’s not about hating yourself until you get the results you wanted, it’s about loving yourself in whatever state you are, while still seeking to improve.

Art like life is not a goal but a process. You’re not supposed to love your art only when it’s as you want it. You’re supposed to love your art from the beginning to the end, from the first terrible sketch you ever made to the most amazing painting you’ll ever make. There is really a huge difference between doing something and hating it and forcing yourself to be better, to acknowledge what you’re doing is not the best you can do, but accepting it and loving it nonetheless.

Buddy.

If you want me to hyper summarize it, I’ll just say

Don’t be so harsh on yourself.

:)

Buddy…life makes you think you have to bully yourself. That if you don’t leash yourself, you’re not making any progress. We were raised by being hit instead of encouraged; instead of talking to us about why doing our homework is important, they would hit us until we made it and got higher grades. And that develops into how we treat ourselves; instead of encouraging yourself to get better, you’re hitting ourself because you’re “not good enough”. So what? No one is born a Michaelangelo. Not even Michaelangelo was born doing what he did. He learned. He made a first doodle, once. Painted when he wanted, what he wanted, regardless of how bad it was. Progressed eventually. No one is born knowing how to run; that other kids do it before you, yes. But you’re not other kids, you’re you. We all work at our pace, we all have our time of doing things.

Even the kids that learned to run sooner than you did first had to learn to walk, and before walking they had to learn to crawl. The fact that someone learned to run before you doesn’t mean you’re out of time, or too old to learn, or that you will never learn. In this metaphor, you’re literally a toddler. You HAVE time. You WILL learn. Just stop looking at other kids running, look at the floor, and push it with those little legs. You won’t learn to run if you spend all your time watching other kids run instead of trying yourself. Right?

You know, I loved my own vision of “they taught us by hitting us so that stays with us”. And I think I can’t explain or use it enough.

What I think you’re doing is exactly that. Because you’re not getting the results you want, you’re lashing yourself and tortuing and punishing, when it’s not about that. It’s not about punishing yourself because you didn’t get what you wanted; it’s about sighing, petting yourself on the head, and say “It’s fine. I will try again”. No need to punish yourself, why would you do that?

So you lower that arm, and let go of that lash. And you stop hitting yourself. Okay? From now on, I don’t want you to punish yourself; every time you make something you didn’t like, you will calmly talk with yourself about what you did wrong and about how you can do better, but no more hitting or nagging, okay, buddy?

Art is…the way for humans to vent things out. Be it positive or negative emotions, art is a way to take what we have inside and put it out before it rots inside us. Art is meant to clean the soul and ease the heart. Art is meant to be good, to be kind to us, to be gentle. Don’t use it as a weapon against yourself. Don’t weaponize it. Why would you take the most beautiful thing humankind has ever made and make it a weapon? Why would you take the tool that serves to clean and heal your soul and use it to harm yourself?

Enjoy what you do. Even if it’s horrible. Sing out of tune, draw with no anatomy, dance without grace. It’s not about how perfect it is, about how good you are at it; it’s that you have the courage to make it anyway, regardless of its quality. Quality comes with practice; getting better is just a matter of constant practice. But the passion for what you do, the love for what you do, that’s not something you make; it’s something that’s born on its own. 

Do what you love, that’s clear, but we forget to love what we do. You draw because you love it, don’t you? Then love what you draw, too. It’s about balance; don’t focus your love in the action of drawing alone, balance it between doing what you love and loving what you do. That’s the only and true recipe for success. Do what you love, and love what you do. Don’t forget.

There’s another saying that says that those that look for perfection will die unsatisfied. Perfection is not real, buddy. Perfection is in the eye of the (I forgot the word). It’s subjective. You can make something that a great majority of people will enjoy,, but never something that everyone will enjoy, and never something perfect. Perfect is, to me, just a compliment. Not a fact; not something real. Perfect is fake; perfect is not real. 

So why try to achieve it? It’s fine to want to be excellent at what you do. But if you ALWAYS think you can do better, and if you’re never satisfied, you’ll be miserable. Doesn’t it make sense? If you go all your art life saying “I can do better” and never be satisfied with what you do, you’ll surely die without ever being satisfied. It’s great and healthy to want to get better, but, agian, there’s a difference between being satisfied with what you do and aspire to do better next time, than never like what you do, never be satisfied, and thinking you’ll like the next, and repeat, and repeat.

So change that philosophy, okay? From now on, think positive. It’s as simple as loving what you make, even if it’s ugly. You’re making what you love, so now love what you’re making.

Also, I would suggest posting even if you don’t think it’s perfect.

You don’t need to post and share EVERYTHING if you’re not comfortable with it. But even the things you don’t share, love them. Post what you’re comfortable with posting, share what you want to share, never force yourself to post if you don’t want to. But also know that many times you don’t see your work as the public does, and what may be trash for you may truly be beautiful to everyone. Sometimes, I’m not confident on my writing, and I think it’s trash, but I post it anyway, becuase I already know that there’s 90% of chances that it’s not trash and it’s just me being perfectionist and too harsh on myself.

And you know? Not once have I ever regretted it. Most times, the things I think are more garbage are my most popular stuff. One time, for example, I posted this rushed draft of a story that I wasn’t comfortable with. It’s one of my most popular stories nowadays, and one of those that have received the most comments and love. I have two, three, many cases like that, of things I think are trash and I share anyway, and turn out to be brilliant to everyone else.

And it’s not that people love garbage. IT’s that it’s NOT garbage. You’re just hard on yourself. 

Buddy. What you’re making is good enough. It’s 100 times better than what you can see. You saw it when it was but a blank page, you saw it when it was blurry lines, so you can’t see the final result. Your brain saves the pictures from when it was a mess of blurry sketched lines, so your brain thinks it’s still incomplete. When truth is, it’s perfect as it is. It doesn’t need to be perfect to be perfect. And what’s better, it doesn’t need to be perfect to be beautiful.

Wouldn’t you prefer making something beautiful to something perfect? Because I do. :)

But yes. What I mean is, I would suggest you share some of the things you’re happier with even if you’re not 100% confident on it, because 99 of the times you’re just blinded by your perfectionism. But we the public are not. We see what you can’t. What you make may be absolutely beautiful, but how will you know if you don’t show anyone else but yourself?

So go ahead, tiger, lazy neon chocobo. Draw without inspiration; make inspiration come to you; love what you draw, even if it’s ugly; share. 

If I had to summarize it all in as few words as I could, I would say what I’ve been saying all this time.

Love what you make.

That is, I guess, the final advice. As in the ULTIMATE WEAPON. REally, it all revolves about loving what you make regardless of how “beautiful” it is or not. If you love what you’re making, you will reduce the lack of motivation. If you love what you’re making, you will attract more inspiration. If you love what you’re making, there will be less trashed sketched, and you will reduce the times that you hate the results.

There’s a reason they say love is the most powerful thing in the world. We think it’s about loving someone else, but it’s not just that. It’s about loving ourselves. Loving what we do. When you love yourself and what you do regardless of what it looks like, you’ve already won. 

And take it as a personal advice. I can tell you I hated both myself and everything I made until I started loving it, but I didn’t start loving me only when I saw I was close to what I wanted to be; I got close to what I wanted to be because I started loving myself. You don’t…really, you don’t love yourself only when you’re a champion. You love yourself when you’re a loser, when you’re in the way, and when you’re a champion. You love yourself and all that you make all through the process, not just at the end. You don’t love your art only when it’s as you want it to be; you love your art because it’s yours. 

Think of your art as someone else. You see what you’re doing? You’re hating this person and hitting them and being aggressive with them only because they’re not “good enough” and not what you want them to be. And you will love them only when they’re a champion. See how it doesn’t work that way? You love this peerson because of who they are, not because of who they will be. You don’t hit them whent hey fail, you encourage them to do better. You don’t hate this person as they progress and love them when they’re a champion, you love themfrom the beginning regardless of what they are or how far they’ll go.

You won’t love your art when it’s a champion; your art will be a champion when you love it.

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I think that’s it? Knowing myself, I probably forgot to say many things But in all honesty I feel like this has gotten too long and I don’t want to bore you or make it a heavy read, aah. I’m so sorry I got so carried away. ^^;

I just really want to help.

Also, I’m sorry it took me a bit to reply; you can see it took me a while to write this, and I was not in my brightest moments the past days, so I didn’t want to answer when I was a grey cloud of negativity. It would have been hypocrite and everything would have been empty. So I waited until what I said really came from my heart. I hope that you can feel it!

ANYWAYS BUDDY, THAT’S WHAT I THINK!! ヽ(・ω・)ﾉ

I hope I could help even if just to lift your spirits a bit, buddy! I’m sorry if anything I said rubbed you the wrong way, I didn’t mean it like that! And I hope that you can find soon whatever it is that you need to love what you’re making and grab that confidence you need for your art. In a personal opinion, I think you’re GREAT! So I hope you can see that soon, too :)

Again, buddy, it made me sooooooooooooooo, so, so very happy to see from you again!!! I’m sorry I say bye in such a quiet way as compared to my usual bubbliness but, wow,am I tired now, haha!! But trust me, I’m very sincere when I tell you that it’s made me so, so, SO VERY HAPPY to see you around, buddy!!! Thank you so much for brightening my day with your presence in my inbox, and thank you for giving me that bit of trust to share your problems, and that bit of trust to ask me for advice!!!

It means a lot to me. It feels like you think I’m worthy of a bit of your trust and that’s beautiful. Thanks a lot for sharing this with me, and for thinking about me when you were/are in need of some aid, even if it’s just to cheer you up. ٩(◕‿◕)۶

I hope you find your ninja way in art soon, my dear fella mate! I hope I could be of help!

And I hope you’re having a MOST FANTASTIC day!! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ