#oh but your artstyle is simply to die for!!

[yet-yo-be-named-game]

Even More Games Similar To Mine (in terms of either visuals or gameplay, sort of)

Blasphemous:

Blasphemous is a tough game where you fight and jump around a lot. It's got a story that's deep and interesting, and you explore lots of levels that you can go through in any order. Made by a Spanish team called The Game Kitchen and released by Team17, it came out on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on September 10, 2019. The artstyle of this game is really quite similar to mine, not in the fact that they probably spent days on each sprite and I spent a couple oh hours, but simply the setting. I definitely took inspiration from just the environment, being set in a dungeon or castle.

Rainworld:

Rainworld is a game set in a place that has been taken over by strange creatures. There is almost always an extremely strong rain, but when it doesn't rain, the creatures will begin to hunt, and attack the player. The artstyle of this game was also quite a big insparation for my own artstyle, even though I didn't create anything that looks like it, I really liked its "rough" looking sprites and how dark it looked.

Notia:

Noita is a game made by Nolla Games. You play as a witch who battles creatures from Finnish myths by using spells. The main part of the game is exploring caves and facing a big boss at the end. But there's also a bunch of hidden stuff to discover. It came out for Windows on September 24, 2019, and got its full release on October 15, 2020. While the artstyle is very different to mine, seeing as theirs doesnt seem to use a purely tile-based system, but I do like how they've lighted their scene, having light cast onto the objects from a source.

Dead Cells:

Dead Cells, a game from 2018, is a mix of roguelike and Metroidvania styles. Developed by Motion Twin and Evil Empire, and published by Motion Twin, you play as a shape-shifting character called the Prisoner. You're stuck on a sickly island and need to fight your way out to kill the island's ruler. Throughout the game, you gather weapons, loot, and tools as you explore the randomly generated levels. When you die, you lose everything in a permadeath setup. You can collect Cells from enemies to buy permanent upgrades to help you on your journey. While its artstyle is very different to mine, I liked it's combination of pixel art and having light sources placed around, which was something I chose to implement in my game.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

This is a game from 1997 where you play as Dracula's son, Alucard. It was made for PlayStation and Sega Saturn. You explore Dracula's castle, which reappeared after Richter Belmont vanished. This game brings back exploration and role-playing elements seen in earlier Castlevania games. Once again, the artstyle was a very big inspiration for my game, using quite a "gritty" dungeon / castle theme of scenery, the same as mine.

Hollow Knight:

Hollow Knight, a game from 2017, is a Metroidvania made by Team Cherry. You play as the Knight, a bug warrior, wandering through Hallownest, a ruined realm dealing with a weird illness. The game happens underground in different places, filled with bugs, some nice, some not so much, and a bunch of big boss fights. As you go around, you find new skills and learn more about the world from scattered bits of information. Hollow Knight has quite a dark artstyle, and while it isn't pixel art, some places still have a certain "feeling" that I wanted to try and emulate.

[arcadian-vampire]

Video Game Infodump... 3!! (Disgaea 4, Chapter One Pt. 1)

[LONG post, most of it under a 'readmore' link, RIP to y'all but it's real autism hours again]

There's this tactical rpg called Disgaea 4 that I've had my eye on for a while now, so when it ended up being 60% off on Steam for Black Friday, I snatched it up. Not five minutes into it I found that it 100% would've been worth the full price, I love it So Much. It's like,, Fire Emblem but silly

The protagonist is so, so beautifully stupid. He's a vampire, and he's introduced w a monologue abt drinking blood- or at least, that's what it seems like, until he reveals that his favorite thing in the world... is sardines.

This man has four (4) traits: being pretty, gullible, sardine-obsessed, and so dead set on keeping promises that it's absolutely absurd.

Oh and he's the instructor for the prisoners of Hades, known as 'prinnies'. They're penguins that apparently are human souls who, to carry out punishment for the crimes they committed while they were alive, have been tucked into the world's saddest fursuits (blubbersuits?)

Also, the voice acting in this?? Is SO fucking good. I'm usually not a huge fan of English dubs, but this one is fantastic. Valvatorez' VA's passion shines through in every line, and it really brings this character to life, it's so much fun to hear.

[The VA is Troy Baker, who is known for his work in anime and video games, including the second incarnation of Greed in FMA and Excalibur in Soul Eater!! I went to his wiki and there's a section on NFT drama though, sad clown honk]

The story really kicks off when Val's beloved class of prinnies are 'kidnapped' before he can fulfill his promise of one (1) sardine, and he ends up rebelling against authority just to get those penguins their fish. They're set to be exterminated to deal with overpopulation- a big huge Yikes- but he doesn't care about that. The prinnies can be killed AFTER he gives them each a sardine. They can't die before he's followed through on his word!

To go with goofy characters, there are goofy items: for healing, I've got a fuckton of sardines, the beginner armor is a garbage bag, and every item description is rather silly (pot lid shield that simply says 'it can protect your body but not your pride' my beloved)

There are also goofy names. I totally forgot to take screenshots, but my fighter's name is 'National Holiday', and at one point I fought a prinny named 'Contact Lenses'

Back to discussing the story bc I'm obsessed with it, the first antagonist, kidnapper of the prinnies, is the warden of Hades. He's sort of opposite of Val, and I don't think I'm ever going to get over his design- no shirt, the silliest coat ever, and his EYEBROWS... reminds me a little of Ralphie (ask me abt Ralphie ask me ask me I dare you)

Even after we kick his ass, he refuses to let Val feed the prinnies, boooo

The government of the Netherworld is called the 'corrupternment', which is. yeah.

And Val's loyal servant also does not wear a shirt. Low-rise jeans that expose a man's hip bones are The Trend in the Netherworld, I guess.

This artstyle makes it look like all these guys got grabbed by some giant hand and were squashed around the middle... it's so funky

The quest for the prinnies continues, with Fenrich pulling some political bullshit, but I am. nearly at the image limit and it probably isn't reasonable to just post most of the entire first chapter of this game, huh.

Anyway TLDR; this is my favorite game now, and I adore Val so so much, he's Pathetic <3

[phoenixfire-thewizardgoddess]

Respect Fanartists & Fanfiction Writers

Listen, and do so carefully... because this will be said once. 

Fanartists & Fanfiction Writers put a LOT of time, effort, emotion and skill into making things that you enjoy for free, friends. 

Sure, it takes you a minute to stare at artwork that someone spent weeks on; or 15 minutes tops to skim through a fic that may have taken days... so you just see it as something to be consumed, and in a lot of frustrating cases, your RIGHT to have provided.

For one, providing feedback in the form of comments or reviews/asks is always appreciated. That’s awesome and we love it!

Sending ask after ask or Private Message after Private Message demanding they make you something specific... NOT okay.  OR, worse, falsely befriending them in order to get them to make you free art/fiction, is alternatively what the creative side of the fandoms calls ‘a dick move’.

See, here’s the thing... if you are friends with someone, you are there for them. If you friend them with the ulterior motive of getting them to draw you a specific picture, or comic, or write you a highly-detailed fanfiction... then you are being a manipulative drain on their life.

Like, listen... even if someone reblogs a ‘Writing/Art Prompt’ post, you cannot sincerely anticipate they will answer every single request they get. There might be duplicates, the person receiving them may not like one received, they may lose energy or focus, or just be busy with the real world. To harass, to send additional follow-up asks bothering people? Not okay. 

It used to happen more frequently in the past, but it’s rising up again.

Consistent harassment of the creative sides of fandom (encompasses gifmakers, SFM makers, all the types, etc.) just drains the creative batteries worse than a lack of comments/reviews on new art/fiction does.

It puts them under pressure to fulfil your demand, which is not okay. Hell, assholes in certain fandoms used to do CALLOUT posts on artists and writers who didn’t fulfil the requests they demanded. It was ridiculous?

Let’s not go back there.

-

So here’s the thing. 

>You like their artstyle? Yes. <You would like them to draw you something? Oh yes! >Are they doing commissions, or would they be willing to do one? They are open to commissions/Oh, I will politely ask. <They are open to commissions and you can afford what you want? a)Yes (Proceed) b) No. You can save up to commission them later. YOU WILL NOT HARASS THE ARTIST FOR FREE ART (that includes trying manipulative tactics such as making up sob stories, falsely befriending them, and/or claiming you don’t trust internet banking options*). [*If you distrust paypal, or certain sites, you can actually buy preloaded/disposable credit cards (which are basically gift cards), that you can put the required amount on and use to pay. There are alternatives, just ask.]

>>>You can afford it, and what you are asking fits what the artist has said they are comfortable drawing for you? Yes. ~Ask them if they are happy to take this commission and provide the details necessary. ~Accept that it will take time, and effort, don’t hover trying to get them to finish it faster.  ~Do not try to change the deal mid-way through the commission. E.g. if you paid for greyscale, don’t demand colour, or one character but now you want too for the same price, or withhold payment until you get your way. That is a major dick move, and your name will circle through the artistic sphere as ‘difficult’ and ‘untrustworthy’. 

There have been a few notable people out there that have tried to get free art this way, and thought artist-hopping would make sure no one found out. But, buddy, if you know one artist, they know ten more, and it branches out from there... who do you think has the most feedback for creators, but other artists and writers? They will all find out, eventually.

>Not being able to afford it, it not a good excuse to hound the artist to change their prices. Listen, if you’re at the store and can’t afford the new action figure you want... you can’t haggle with the poor storeclerk at the counter (but numerous people have tried that? Is that where you have learned this from?) for a ‘better price’.  You might counter, ‘but the clerk can’t set the price and an artist can’. Listen, lissen here fucko mccoconuts, the artists on tumblr charge an obscenely low pittance for the amazing art they do... like, barely anything.  A coloured sketch? Some artists will do it for five bucks because they’re too goddamn afraid you whiny little bastards won’t agree to anything more; they are downselling their hard-earned artistic abilities.

And fanfiction authors? They have to do it for free because NO ONE pays for writing. Ask, and they will tell you almost all fanfiction commissions fall through, for one reason or another... but mostly the idea is considered absurd.

If you cannot afford it now, then either save, or maybe ask if the artist is open to a payment plan. E.g. If you requested a five-page comic at $60 coloured, by the way an obscenely low price compared to real-world prices, you could ask to pay it in two lots, or something of that nature. It depends on each artist as to whether they are amenable to it. Never assume.

>Not being able to afford it does not mean, ‘befriend the person and try to feed them your headcanons in the hopes of free art’ (nor the old, ‘so my birthday’s coming up... do you think you could make me _____?’).  If that’s the whole reason you have ‘befriended’ them (manipulated them into thinking you are genuinely offering altruistic friendship) then you’re an absolute cactus, mate. A conglomeration of pricks, that is to say. 

You don’t make friends to get things. And if you do, perhaps you need to re-evaluate your priorities, you drongo bastards, people are human beings not vending machines. 

Sometimes, if an artist or writer gets inspired by the stupid headcanons you share at 3am your time and like 9am their time... accidental art or fanfiction happens. It’s spontaneous, fun, a gift based on mutual feedback and conversation. But to anticipate being rewarded simply for your friendship, is wrong.

ESPECIALLY, and I cannot stress this enough, especially if  you try to feed the artist a headcanon... then ceaselessly pester them as to why they haven’t made the fiction/fanart of it yet? Everyday? What the fuck is your problem?

-

>Why is it so expensive? It isn’t. It really fucking isn’t. I’ve covered this. Also, everyone is so damn quick to say “But art is haaaaaard” when told to draw something themselves, because an artist doesn’t want to, but just as fast to question why that artist (who has learned that skill and ceaselessly practised until they have their own artstyle that you like enough to think about commissioning) is charging you MONEY for something you WANT (not NEED).

You will not actually die if you don’t get a pic of your OTP fucking in a jacuzzi, suzy. So just calm ya tiddies and carry on.

>Why won’t you draw my headcanon? Did you commission the artist? No? Then fuck off. They have their own life and ideas... and if you harass them, others who are less polite are going to have something to say about it. Especially the adults who pressure young artists to make them shit all the time... you will be found and shamed you bastards. >Why won’t you write my detailed headcanon? Same as above. But also, aren’t you the person who keeps saying ‘but writing is easy’? How about you write it yourself. One of the many things you will be told to do to yourself if you don’t stop pestering writers.  That goes for bothering writers/artists here, on AO3, ff.net, DeviantArt or any random site they’re affiliated with. 

- - - -

The biggest question is what makes you feel so ENTITLED to their work?

And that’s really what it is. “I want it. Make it for me.”

Oh sure, you can cover it in pretty words, “But we’re friends”, “But I can’t afford it”, “But I’m feeling so down recently, maybe this elaborate 15k OTP headcanon I want you to write will make things better, don’t skimp on the smut! XD” ...it all amounts to, “Hey, you should reward me for liking your art/writing. If I do not get it immediately, without cost, I will pester you either brazenly, or subtly... I may even pretend to be a genuine friend, to get what I want. You owe it to me.”

And, really, from the bottom of the creative community’s hearts, I’d love to just remind each and every person who feels this way... that you are not a good person, at heart, and can fuck right off out past alpha centauri where such disrespect might be considered flattering... because it sure as hell isn’t on earth.

-

Fanartists, Fanfiction writers, put up with this all the time.

It’s the sixteen asks they don’t publish, all demanding things.

It’s the excitement cut short when they thought they had a new fic review, but it’s actually just someone trying to get them to write them something.

It’s the person in your chat always giving headcanons, many you don’t agree with, and then checking in to see if you’ve drawn/written them. Relentlessly.

It’s the Private Messages, dozens of them, requesting you do something specific for someone, something that will require time and effort on your part but not theirs. And the angry messages that follow if you turn down their demands.

It’s the angry ‘callout’ posts from people who you’ve said No to. The people who were told, “I’m not taking requests, but if you would just see my commission post for details...” and were abhorred at the idea of PAYING for ART they WANT????

And more. There is always more, worse, unending, frustrating.

This goddamn barrage hits some more than others. Some acquiesce for the sake of peace, but it will not end if they do; because once someone gets free art, or fiction, they’ll demand again and again and again...

- - - 

And as you can imagine, like a ceaseless cascade of waterfall over a cliff-face, eventually it erodes the joy, the fun, the creativity of your art or writing, or any of the other artistic abilities (e.g. gifsets, photomanips, videos, animations, etc.)

But the reality is, these groups (plus the whole gamete of other creative types out there) are putting time, effort and skill into making something; whether it’s free or a commission, and you need to respect that.

-

So please, be kind to the people who are putting their abilities out there, often entirely free, for the sake of enjoying something they love with the rest of the fandom. Respect them, don’t demand, and remember that a comment on what you enjoyed about their work can mean the world of encouragement.

Thank you.