#one of the best monster designs ever imo

[dailyadventureprompts]

Tableskills: Making a Game of It

Recently I learned a bit of an unspoken truth that I'd brushed up against in my many years of being a dungeonmaster that I'd never seen put into words before: If you want to liven up whatever's going on in your adventure, figure out a way to engage the players in some kind of game. It's simultaneously the best way to provide a roadblock while making your player's victories feel earned.

This might seem redundant, since you're already playing d&d but give a moment of thought to exactly what portions of d&d are gamified. Once you learn your way around the system, it becomes apparent that D&D really only has three modes of play:

Pure roleplay/storytelling, driven by whatever feels best for the narrative. Which is not technically a game, nor should it (IMO) be gamified.

Tactical combat with a robust rules system, the most gamelike aspect.

A mostly light weight skills based system for overcoming challenges that sits between the two in terms of complexity.

The problem is that there's quite a lot of things that happen in d&d that don't fall neatly into these three systems, the best example being exploration which was supposed to be a "pillar" of gameplay but somehow got lost along the way . This is a glaring omission given how much of the core fantasy of the game (not to mention fantasy in general) is the thrill of discovery, contrasted with the rigours of travelling to/through wondrous locations. How empty is it to have your party play out the fantasy of being on a magical odyssey or delving the unknown when you end up handwaving any actual travel because base d&d doesn't provide a satisfying framework for going from A to B besides skillchecks and random encounters (shameless plug for my own exploration system and the dungeon design framework that goes with it).

The secret sauce that's made d&d and other ttrpgs so enduring is how they fuse the dramatic conventions of storytelling with the dynamics of play. The combat system gives weight and risk to those epic confrontations, and because the players can both get good at combat and are at risk of losing it lets them engage with the moment to moment action far more than pure narration or a single skill roll ever could.

I'm not saying that we need to go as in depth as combat for every gamified narrative beat (the more light weight the better IMO) but having a toolbox full of minigames we can draw upon gives us something to fall back on when we're doing our prep, or when we need to improvise. I've found having this arsenal at hand as imortant as my ability to make memorable NPCs on the fly or rework vital plothooks the party would otherwise miss.

What I'd encourage you as a DM to do is to start building a list of light weight setups/minigames for situations you often find yourself encountering: chase scenes, drinking contests, fair games, anything you think would be useful. Either make them yourself or source them from somewhere on the web, pack your DM binder full of them as needed. While not all players are utterly thrilled by combat, everyone likes having some structured game time thrown in there along with the freeform storytelling and jokes about how that one NPC's name sounds like a sex act.

A quick minigame is likewise a great way to give structure to a session when your party ends up taking a shortcut around your prepared material. Oh they didn't take that monster hunter contract in the sewers and instead want to follow up on rumours about a local caravan? The wagon hands are playing a marble game while their boss negotiates with some local mercahnts, offering to let the party play while they wait. The heroes want to sail out to the island dungeon you don't have prepped yet? Well it looks like the navigator has gone on a bit of a bender, and the party not only need to track them down but also piece together where they left the charts from their drunken remembrances as a form of a logic puzzle.

Artsource

[gaydiation-poisoning]

Each version of Ganondorf and their best character strengths (imo) GO

Ocarina of Time

The OG. Kinda bland from a character and motivation standpoint, but he has a kickass and intimidating as hell design (I love the long hair post 7 year jump) He makes an amazing first impression by appearing in a nightmare, only to wake up and find that he's killed your dad in real life. That's a pretty solid motivation to go kick his ass up and down the castle stairs in a pretty damn cool final fight. He may be a little generic, but we wouldn't have the man we know and love without him.

7/10

Wind Waker

The BEST from a character development and motivation standpoint. This is a version of Ganondorf who learned from his past mistakes in Ocarina of Time, becoming far more patient and level headed as a result. He is a far older, almost melancholic seeming version of the character. Through him we finally get a glimpse at his (VERY UNDERSTANDABLE) motivations for why he did what he did, and why he continues to do it. He retains this new, calm demeanor until his dreams are once again ripped away from under his nose, and he loses control and falls back into his raging, violent self (in an almost CHILLING scene) and takes you on in an incredibly cool, if slightly easy, final fight. He also makes good use of his screentime for such a short game.

9/10

Twilight Princess

An alternate version of OOT Ganondorf, albeit one who, in contrast to his previous iteration, learned NOTHING from his mistakes in that game. He was stopped before his nefarious plan even had the chance to begin, and yet was STILL granted the divine power he was looking for in an act called 'the divine prank', resulting in his botched execution becoming his banishment to the realm of Twilight. There, he proves himself to potentially be the most resourceful version of the character, using the suffering of Twili people to grow stronger and manipulate a vessel into serving him and setting him free. He may be back to having very little motivation or character, but he has instead poured all that energy into being the most menacing motherfucker on planet earth. He shows this off brilliantly in a gauntlet of a final battle. He is however, held back by a severe lack of screen time.

8/10

Tears of the Kingdom

The newest addition to the roster of Dorfopodes, and the first (mainline) version of the character to NOT be the same man as in Ocarina of Time. Once again a little weak in the motivation department, but has made up for that in STYLE. No other version of Ganondorf has served this hard before, rocking an incredible design and sheer fucking will, this man commands the screen every second he's present. He kills a woman onscreen and then pulls the most incredible facial expression ever about it before turning into a demon, creates hordes of monsters with a wave of his hand, and after two solid games of use pulling out Link's own flurry rush against him. Also having the sheer fucking balls to sacrifice his own mind and body to become a GIGANTIC DRAGON in his final fight is sincerely fucking metal. So no matter what your opinions on his writing are, I think we can agree that his level of cunt serving is second to none.

8.5/10

BONUS

Hyrule Warriors

10/10

[definitelynotshouting]

i literally can't stop rotating hunger au worldbuilding and lore in my head. forgive me if you've ever touched on this in an ask before, but... re: the existential horror of being a parasite that has the sense of self of the host it ate. if one of grian's friends ever did get taken and used as a watcher larva host. how do you think he would feel about the watcher that came out the other side? would he want to see them as still the same person as his friend, or...?

Ive been staring at this ask since i got it with like. I need you to picture the most comically heartbroken expression right now okay. like this is me reading that and thinking about it in great and terrible detail:

Gods he would be devastated if this ever happened. He knows what thats like. He knows just how much it hurts-- and that its not a hurt that can be quantified, because its just that intense, that scalding, that encompassing of an experience to go through. I think, genuinely, Grian would be so utterly horrified and grief-stricken for whichever friend went through the Watcherification process that it would trump every other potential feeling on the list

But i think, ultimately, he would still view them as his friend, and treat them in the same way. There's a little bit of hypocrisy in Grian's character that i enjoy engaging with while writing him, and a good part of that in hunger au is centered around how he's firmly designated himself as the monster, and everybody else is the victim, and theres no room for nuance because he sucks and theyre the only people who are valid. When in reality, yes he hurt them, yes he did terrible and invasive things, but he did them out of pure survival rather than maliciousness, and that does make a subtle difference. And... hes not the only one who has fucked up, either!! The entire point of hunger au is how everyone has fumbled the bag in various ways and now they're all trying to clean it up together. Its just, yknow, Grian is so wrapped up in his own pain that he cant see those grey areas yet

And the thing is, if one of his friends got Watchered™, so to speak, and was standing in front of him, i think he would treat them with SO much compassion. Theyve been through possibly the worst thing anyone can experience and come out the other side-- at his core, Grian is i think a character who wants to do good, and do good by other people, and in this hypothetical that would translate into a lot of kindness he doesnt usually afford for himself. Honestly i think he'd spend the time trying to show them the ropes, get them set up in a better position than he found himself in, and provide his own fumbling emotional support as best he could, just out of sheer solidarity. Like, he gets it. He's been there. He may as well help out.

And i think he wouldnt even realize how hypocritical he's being until someone else pointed it out to him, about how he treats this friend with so much care but is simultaneously cruel to himself. I dont think he'd know how to handle that-- he's sort of dug himself a rut in the road with the way he thinks about and treats himself, and the cognitive dissonance would be really uncomfortable for him. Ultimately a good thing!!! Growth is often very uncomfortable. But imo Grian has a tendency to run from things like feelings of discomfort, so i think it'd take him a while to reconcile his previous ways of thinking with whats being presented in front of him essentially in the form of a mirror.

So uh. tl;dr: he'd be a little hypocrite about it and would feel a lot more compassionately inclined towards the friend than he does himself, and would try to help them out as best he could. Thank you for the incredible question that has given me the opportunity to rotate this worm at even higher speeds than usual inside my brainpan DKNFEKNDSKDJKDKD

[squeaksinc]

2023 creative year in review! 💦💦

The most stand-out thing to mention was this was arguably my most active and productive cosplay year...maybe ever? its incredibly uncommon that I can handmake 9 costumes in a year, but on top of that, 7 of the 9 were also custom designs, which is pretty wild.

costume-wise, i learned a stupid amount of skills and really pushed what i was comfortable with. IMO the best from the year are the collector, knives, pupet, and nekomancer at least just from a craftsmanship perspective. I try not to brag or be an ass, but I am genuinely very proud of those. they posed fun creative challenges that kept me engaged, and I'm happy with how they turned out!

the other side of the coin is although last year was my most dormant cosplay year, other crafts were super active....and the reverse happened this year _(:3」∠)_ i didnt really draw much at all other than making cosplay designs, and other physical media didnt get much time to shine either. I made some plushies, but they were lackluster, and I think I made maybe one unfinished figure lol. but I did try BJD making and loved it!! I made 4 this year and have plans to do more haha.

thats the upbeat overview, the readmore is going to be a more negative perspective so proceed with caution haha.

More than anything I wish i had more time to do art and build up Stitch in The Ditch/more OC work, but honestly this year was also objectively insane in the non-creative front. like i hit the worst patch of chronic pain i've ever had/found out my abdominals have been ripping themselves apart and bleeding for the past 10 years lol/had to go to the hospital like THREE!!!! goddamn times and now i'm dealing with the news i'm going to need abdominal surgery, got a teaching promotion/award, got my physics masters, utterly INSANE family happenings, had gastroparesis for 2 months and couldnt eat more than 200 cal a day in that time which caused all my blood levels to crash and i'm still reeling from it, and of course, have just been Cashually working goddamn 60-80 hours a week in an experimental physics lab in the background during all of this which is driving me to the point of madness- suffice to say i hit my limit like months ago lmao.

like looking back i know i should be happy and proud i did so much but i cant help but feel disappointed and wishing i had done better quality stuff. honestly, i know i goof about how hard work is, but its really really getting to me. i've always been happy with my ability to juggle so many things and preserve my ability to have a cool job, make cool things, and independently take care of myself, but work is month-by-month morphing into more of a monster thats just been suffocating everything else out. I really dont know what next year will look like, as i've been wearing thinner and thinner i'm noticing a trend where I just dont have the energy that I used to to do anything outside of my job.

I bring this up because on paper I should be happy with what I made, but I still feel like im in a stand-still. I made a lot of costumes, but tbh they were low quality/lackluster. like the number went up, but the quality didnt and I couldnt do much of any other art things. I couldve, and shoulve, been able to make much better work this year than I did, but it didnt happen as a combo of being snuffed out by my job physically and mentally.

in 2023 I got a head start/built up momentum from the beginning of the year that carried me through when things got insane in spring/summer/currently, but I'm already starting 2024 from a low point. yall. im so tired. im so goddamn tired. like its funny to goof about how much I do but its catching up fast and i think this is going to be the year when I just cant keep up anymore. Its hard to talk about since the "being crushed to death by your job" topic isnt one people want to engage with, and unless you're experiencing it first hand its hard to understand what living like that really means.

for 2024, i know theres no way I will be able to match this same number of costumes, but my goal is no matter what I want to start making things that are more solid on a construction level. fewer projects, more polish. also doing more non-cosplay stuff like world building and dolls would also be awesome. will that happen??? lord only knows. honestly usually these predictions/goals go haywire but this is also more of a response to external things outside of my control so ???? ??????? we'll see lads

[socialistexan]

As I wrap up my Doctor Who full series mega marathon watch through (and also listen through with the missing episodes audio available as audiobook), I wanted to do a little write up on each Doctor to highlight that each Doctor is worth watching in their own right despite their reputations.

Right now I'm going to start with one of my imo the most underrated Doctor, the one of which my personal opinion improved the most, and the one who runs the full gamut of episode quality: the 7th Doctor

All scores are out of 10; scores are displayed as: my personal score (rank) [reddit average score (rank)]

Overall Doctor Score:

7.51 (4/14) [7.24 (6/14)]

Season ratings:

Season 24: 5.75 (40/41) [5.78 (41/41)]

Season 25: 8.00 (5/41) [7.58 (8/41)]

Season 26: 8.78 (1/41) [8.38 (1/41)]

Highest rated story:

By me: The Curse of Fenric: 9.4 (7/339) [9.0 (15/339)]

By fandom: Rememberance of the Daleks: 9.3 (10/339) [9.1 (12/339)]

Personal favorite story:

Ghost Light: 9.0 (22/339) [8.6 (30/339)]

Most Underrated story:

Paradise Towers: 7.4 (160/339) [6.5 (216/339)]

More under the cut, including full score spread and detailed thoughts

I think it is fair to say that I am higher on the 7th Doctor than most

7 was the victim of the sins of his predecessor's production team's failures (I stand by Colin Baker did a good job with what he was given), which meant short seasons and lower budgets.

I'm not sure if it was the fact that the production team was free over expectations or that the reduced production order forced them to only pick the very best episodes, but once the stylings of the previous era have been shaken off (metaphorically shown by the arrival of Ace and the departure of Mel)

Ace is one of the best companions the show has ever had, and far and away the best post-Sarah companion of the classic era. Her unique and likable personality, intersting backstory, and active role she plays makes her one of the most enjoyable and human companions. She also has some great queer undertones and while it is not explicit on screen (it was 1987-89), behind the scenes it is confirmed Ace is bisexual.

7's first season is not quite as bad as it seems by its low rating. I personally am very fond of Paradise Towers, which I feel is an underrated camp classic. It has very surrealist quality that makes me almost think of David Lynch. It's hampered mostly by the budget (parts feel like they're filmed in a community center) and a random and weak crab monster that went from cool to awful.

In that same campy style there the also incredibly underrated Happiness Patrol. I greatly enjoyed this serial for its unique design and stellar tone that feels almost more like a surrealist stage play with some heavy queer undertones with Ace.

Speaking of queer undertones, there Ghost Light. I am fascinated by this serial, from the cross dressing and gender and sexuality stuff, to the Victorian stylings, to the gorgeous mansion sets, to the spooky story, to delving into Ace's character and backstory. I have thought about this story every day since I first saw it. It might not be everyone's favorite story, but it is mine.

Overall, I really, really love 7. He's a great Doctor who really leans into both the humor and the darkness of the role at the same time. McCoy did a wonderful job as the Doctor, and I really wish he had been given at least one more season. I wish I could have seen what this show could have become were it allowed to continue on the trajectory it was on into the 90's.

[gold-rhine]

Hsr update was a thing that happened... I'm just wondering what is HAPPENING with the writing?? Like it was never good imo but they know how to write in a few companion quests. Like belebog are y'all okay?? I've unistalled the game temporarily so I can have space for my other games but am wondering if I should even bother going back (I probably will for Like a character design I like or for nanook or yaoshi or xipe) the story just keeps getting more confusing in terms of direction. Like what are they trying to show here? Even the game play can't keep my attention long.

Anywhoo I think this can all be fixed if they just give the people what they want

Nanook

right???? like idk whats happening on luofu bc they don't tell you shit and i'm not piecing together drama from expedition clues, thank you very much.

but for belobog its like. hsr spoilers btw. first we gonna lie to ppl that the tyrant that segregated half of them in underground mines without ever letting them see the sun and sent the other half to senseless wars with monsters is a hero actually. so they don't lose hope and bronya gets to conveniently step into position of tyrant herself, which everyone is like yeah she's the best option, shes so great!

then space amazon shows up and demands that they own the entire planet to cover 700 yold debt. they promise to solve ecological catastrophe, but everyone is gonna be amazon slave now. which ok, i can believe space amazon is this scummy, sure. but then instead of fighting it, instead of finding out precisely whats gonna happen to people, asking success rate, which methods are gonna be used, you know, asking ANYTHING. bronya reads letter from amazon union breaker executive whos like "my planet was bad too, and then we were sold to amazon and everything is a-okay now, so amazon's slavery is good actually:) you should trust me:)"

bronya is like hhm she sounds trustworthy:) then she asks opinion of like. 10 ppl. and is ready to sign ALL OF HER PLANET TO AMAZON SLAVERY

then himeko shows up like hey so i googled it, and amazon terraforming only succeeds in 60% of cases, otherwise you guys might die. bronya is like wow no slavery then >:\

and then she wins over amazon executive corporat by showing like. the giant engine first tyrant ordered to make. and union breaker, who btw took control of all robots and already sent them against local military AND fought main character directly, is like oh wow! your planet has strong leaders which my planet didn't, so your planet can stay free :)

like... the implications... bc "strong leaders" are literal tyrants... who, again, locked half of ppl into underground mines... and last tyrant was ready to destroy the whole planet... that these tyrants are the reason belobog is special from "weak" planets who can't survive by themselves and need to be owned by amazon... like what the actual fuck hoyo

oh and then we're supposed to feel sorry for amazon corporat bc she got demoted one rank :( boohoo i hope she gets shot, like?? are you kidding me??

its like if nahida didn't took akasha down, and instead dottorre demanded she has to let him use all the power of akasha and energy from sumeru's ppl minds as payment for akademiya debts. and she convinced him not to with power of friendship (but she kept exploiting ppl's dreams with akasha). and then we see a scene where dotorre is reprimanded by tsaritsa and we're supposed to be sad for him. like lol. lmao even.

also, i think plot expects me to fight nanook in the end. which like. no. i hope yall are getting crushed by his giant gold titties.

[fuckmemurderman]

Hey, freaks (affectionate), it's only 2 weeks to Halloween and I thought I'd rustle up a collection of Halloween movies you wouldn't normally consider in your lineup (yes, I consider all of these to be Halloween movies) and I highly recommend them. Again, as always, do NOT interact with this post or talk to/follow me if you are under 18.

The Halloween Tree (1993) - my absolute favorite movie fully serious. It's an animated movie about a group of kids meeting on Halloween night to go trick-or-treating but one of them is missing. They get caught up in a magical adventure through time and space learning about different cultures and their influence on modern Halloween while they look for their friend with the help of an ancient sorcerer whose intentions are not entirely clear. Based on a Ray Bradbury book of the same name (I think the movie is 1000x better though).

Van Helsing (2004) - the Hugh Jackman horror action masterpiece. If you don't know anything about it, it's about an alternate version of the character Van Helsing who works for the Vatican hunting monsters from classic Gothic literature. He is called on a mission to kill Dracula which has mysterious significance to his own past that he cannot remember. It's campy, it's fun, and it has an absolutely killer soundtrack. Lots of great practical effects and the CGI is stylized so it's aged pretty well in the 20 years since its release.

The Crow (1994) - now is an especially good time to watch this incredible movie because honestly fuck that remake and everyone who thought it would be a good idea. If you don't know this one, it's a revenge story about a musician who was murdered with his fiancee the night before their wedding by a gang of thugs. He is resurrected a year later with superhuman abilities, giving him the opportunity to kill everyone involved with the murder. It's at its core a beautiful story about love and protecting the innocent and it gets so much deeper than a simple "eye for an eye" type plot. It's based on a comic but it isn't a direct adaptation. (Side note: the cat does NOT die or get hurt!)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) - the movie that came before the tv show and is just as good. Basic story is a high school cheerleader finds out she is the chosen one destined to hunt vampires and other evils and she is not about it at first. Think Clueless meets The Lost Boys. It's funny, it's got good drama, the villain is compelling - it's a lot of fun.

Urban Legend (1998) - an underrated slasher using common urban legends to murder a bunch of college kids. It's every bit as good as Scream in similar ways but it was overshadowed by more popular films at the time. It has really good twists and the mystery of who the killer is makes it a really engaging watch. (Side note: the dog DOES die but you can easily avoid seeing it)

House on Haunted Hill (1999) - a remake that is better than the original imo. A wealthy roller coaster designer invites a group of seemingly unrelated people to a party in a former insane asylum for an overnight challenge: whoever can stay the whole night in the supposedly haunted building wins a large sum of cash. The problem is that the building is extremely haunted and they are all in danger. They are also all linked to the building in some way and the ghosts are very angry with them in particular.

Butterfly Kisses (2015) - one of the best found footage movies I've ever seen no exaggeration. It's about an amateur filmmaker who inexplicably discovered an unfinished project of some missing film students in his house. The students were researching a local urban legend of a supernatural being called Peeping Tom who, if you manage to see him, will get closer to you each time you blink until he is able to touch you and then he kills you. It's extremely well done and manages to do what The Blair Witch Project did without having any more similarities than the film students getting into something bigger than they thought.

ParaNorman (2012) - brilliant stop motion animation telling the story of a bullied kid with the ability to talk to the dead as he is needed to break a curse dating back to the witch hunts. It's a little goofy in parts but it's really a heartbreaking tragedy in the meat of it and as a former bullied kid it really hit home for me in a way most movies don't. Definitely watch in a good headspace.

Rec (2007) - found footage following a local news crew recording a fluff segment that turns into a fast paced fight for survival against a rage virus type infection spreading through an apartment building. It's got a basic zombie survival setup but it is so well done and so scary it really stands apart from most of its peers (and if you know me you know I am SO sick of zombie movies I could puke. This is an exception). Lots of jarring violence and overwhelming panic it's a wild ride the instant it gets going.

The Frighteners (1996) - kind of a forgotten gem of a supernatural murder mystery. A disgraced psychic investigator who everyone thinks is a fraud but he can actually see ghosts finds himself caught up in a series of unexplained deaths that seem to be caused by the Grim Reaper. I can't really say much more about it without spoilers but it's really really good and has some excellent twists.

Cry_Wolf (2005) - a meta slasher that takes itself a little more seriously. It uses the concept of a Mafia/Werewolf lying game and applies it to a prep school whodunnit. A foreign transfer student with a history of troublemaking falls in with a group of popular kids at his new school and they decide to prank their fellow students by creating a fake serial killer in a chain email just to scare everyone. They end up getting scared themselves when the killer they imagined seems to have come to life and is targeting them. I was OBSESSED with this movie as a teenager and it still is a decent watch now.

This is just general movies I like to watch around Halloween. If you're looking for specific types of movies (werewolf, shark, psychological, etc.) hit up my inbox and I'll get you a list of my favorites!

[charms-cat]

Is it a good idea to remove the more bloody parts when adapting from book-to-movie?

I know it's a problem when movies show unnecessarily violent scenes; too many of that and I think an audience would get kinda numb to the cruelty displayed

but in cases of book-to-movie adaptations, would the standard be the same? the book(s) already exists; there's already a (semi) graphic description literally written out. so do you think the movie should keep the violence?

imo movies tend to sanitise/lessen the bad parts which kinda presents a false image to the movie-only audience since they're unaware of just how bad this character/group/organisation is

it doesn't help when the violence is completely removed. not even an equally damning (but less bloody) scene to take its place. so movie-only fans don't have a "full" understanding of the character since they don't know how mean/cruel/atrocious they actually are (or were meant to be)

Non-spoiler example would be something like if Organisation B, in the book, was a group that murdered kids and desecrated their corpses; but in the movie, B is alluded to committing atrocities, but nothing actually happens onscreen (at least not explicitly)

TLDR: do you think adaptations should keep the original violence from the books? should there be a balance? or should adaptations sanitise (or straight up remove) any atrocities from the books?

SPOILER examples forThe Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, The Hunger Games, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes below (I'll be doing the examples in order so just scroll fast if you wanna read one spoiler but not the other):

The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials

admittedly, the movies kinda went off the rails starting from TST but imo it wasn't in a good way. my main gripe is that WICKED seems... nicer

(it's been a while since I fully read the books so I might mix up some events)

in the books, the Gladers were left alone for a few/several days before Janson showed up and explained the Trials to them. then on the first day of the Trial(?), the Gladers were shocked by multiple bodies hanging from the ceiling. then they had to travel through a dark tunnel where they got attacked by metal balls that literally swallowed your head. this is all before they actually step onto the Scorch! WICKED prepared that for them! all this to obtain the Killzone data

but in the movies, WICKED was keeping them in the facility before harvesting them. it's cruel to treat these kids like that, yes, but it's still nowhere near the level of fucked up of book!WICKED planning lethal traps just to see how their test subjects react and adapt.

PLUS, book!WICKED forced the Gladers to enter the Scorch by promising that there would be a safe haven(?) after they travelled 100 miles; they do this without ever preparing the Gladers for the harsh desert environment, the Cranks, etc.

yet in the movies, the Gladers escape to the Scorch of their own volition. WICKED had no part in their harsh environment or any traumatic event the Gladers experience

the final Trial in the book was orchestrated by WICKED; the Gladers and Icers had to fend off violent lightbulb monsters while lightning struck all around them; WICKED only picked them up at the designated time (I think they were supposed to reach the 100-mile mark at a certain time?)

there's no real Scorch Trials in the movie literally called "The Scorch Trials". WICKED never gave them a trial, never forced them to the Scorch; they disappeared until the very final scene. compare this to the fact that book!WICKED was a looming threat (the constant reminder that they had to reach a certain location in limited time, the mysterious messages painted on the walls of city buildings, the Gladers literally being labelled on their collarbones, etc.)

The Hunger Games

THG has probably one of the better, if not one of the best, adaptations. I'll admit that this gripe is ultimately something minor

but I'm still a lil disappointed that the movie changed a psychological tactic from the Gamemakers - the dog mutts

the dog mutts are still scary in the movie, but, in the books, the mutts were also said to resemble the dead tributes. the Gamemakers had even made Rue's mutt wear a grass necklace, similar to how Rue wore a grass necklace as her tribute token.

as I said before, this is an admittedly minor issue but it's still one of the instances where we see that the Gamemakers are definitely aiming to attack the tributes psychologically as well as physically. the psychological attacks happen in the next books too - the voices of tortured loved ones from the jabberjays (Catching Fire), the lizard mutts hissing Katniss's name (Mockingjay)

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (this movie should've been a two-parter)

I understand that they only had two hours to cram everything in, but it doesn't change the fact that, in the process, they also had to cut out all of the Capitol's atrocities

it's been a while since I fully read the book, but there is one horrifying cruelty that I can remember: Arachne's funeral

specifically, the way that the Capitol paraded the surviving tributes down the road. the tributes were chained up and crammed together on one truckbed(?) while the corpse of another tribute (Brandy) swung above them. not only did the Capitol chain up the kids like animals, but they also disrespected Brandy's corpse. yes, Brandy had murdered Arachne, but Brandy was already brutally shot by the Peacekeepers after being starved by them for days, she was already suffering and she doesn't get any respect even in death

[angerofangels]

Saying this here and not my animation blog incase i ever have to use that one for job reasons but like my issue with elemental is that it just ism't a strong idea (imo). I get the whole its s metaphor for people of different cultures thing. I do. Im not even hating on the visuals because uh. Aside from the designs being kinda uninspired the worldbuilding stuff is cute and the graphics are fine. And frankly I wouldn't be surprised if the film itself ends up having some real depth and surprising people. But the base idea is just not something that I think works in 2023 as a feature legth film.

Having seen the work of people who like work at disney and pixar i have 0 doubt that the next great film is floating around in the minds of at least a few people working there but this is not it. This is the kinda thing a non artist comes up with and thinks is brilliant not realizing 60 others in the same building alone also have it. This is not "what if the monster under the bed is just doing their day job" or "what if a rat in paris wanted to be a chef" or even "hamlet but with lions" this just sucks.

I'm not even a hater about the good dinosaur even tho nobody saw that movie and it was weird as all hell. I thought it was alright. Maybe the least good pixar film but not a bad one. The real issue everyone is taking with elemental is not something any amount of elbow grease can fix and thats taking this shortfilm ass idea and making it 90 minutes long. When your basic premise is met with groans before a trailer is even out and not like. Curiosity or intrigue or excitement uhhhhhh maybe you should have tested this or something? I dont know. I just don't personally feel any mercy for them if this all goes south because why in hell has this idea gotten this far in a studio full of what are supposed to be the best animators in the country

[soulofamy]

spoilers for tekken 8's story and character endings under the tag! read at your own disgression. these are just my thoughts on it. for transparancy, i likely wont actually be able to purchase and play the game for the foreseeable future so i just watched a playthrough of it instead

so ill start with what i liked. i really liked that, unlike tekken 7, everyone on the roster to some degree was in the main story. i like that a good healthy handful of them even tried their best to aid the efforts against kazuya. it was really nice for me especially to see shaheen get to be cool and heroic. i dont want to hear ANYONE say hes boring ever again, you hear me?

i like the character endings as well, theyre so fun and lighthearted. i liked zafinas and shaheens the most. i surprisingly likes kazuyas and juns too, it makes me think he actually DOES love his wife to an extent. not enough for me to like him as a character unfortunately though lol.

i LOVED angel jin at the end. his design imo was phenominal. i love that they crossed an ethereal, otherwordly monster with a knight and gave him golden angel wings too. it was so visually captivating, i will be looking out for a character sheet to see what distinct features i can point out. i just love that they made an angel design so unique, there was nothing predictable or boring about it.

now things i didnt like

first off, i am SO mad that they killed off zafina AND claudio so early on. they were the two i was most interested to see!! i wanted to see their dynamic together!! but at least zafinas death made a little more sense than claudios. his death did absolutely nothing for the story! i thought maybe that hyper-charged up bolt he shot was going to slowly deteriorate kazuya overtime and weaken him enough that jin could take him one on one or something but NOPE! even zafina i felt didnt need to die. was it ever explained that her life force was connected to azazel? wouldnt it make more sense if she was free to be of MORE use now that azazel isnt holding her back? i never thought i would write tekken fanfiction but they have forced my hand. justice for my faves please </3

they did nothing with leo finding his mother and that makes me sad. its cool we got his dad though, he seems like a cool guy. i wouldnt mind his dad being a new fighter.

steve just kind of dropping the whole thing with nina also upsets me because like if you were going to make the ending to that whole thing so lackluster, why introduce it at all? nina clearly doesnt care and steve just kinda carries on, what was the point? why put nina through such a traumatizing experience of having a child against her will for such little payout?

lastly, i just really could not give two rats toenails about reina im sorry 😭 like visually shes boring. her personality is boring AND annoying. and then they try and make us want more by showing us this heihachi child is ALSO a devil. like i am so tired of the mishima saga that i dont care enough to wonder who her mother is. there are SO many loose ends that havent been tied up yet, i dont want a potential tekken 9 to focus on the mishimas anymore i am on my hands and knees begging

[threebooksoneplot]

Was just catching up on the pod and had to chime in on ep 29. I think it’s a little unfair to say that Bella is being over the top in her depression era. Yes she is sad about Edward leaving but it goes deeper than that: it wasn’t just a boyfriend she was losing.

She is an only child with an immature, selfish mom and a dad that, while nice enough, hardly knows her. The Cullens are a large, cohesive, loving family and she wanted to join them badly. Also, now that she knows that the supernatural exists, she wants to be a part of that world badly and losing Edward also meant losing her chance at immortality. She didn't just lose a boyfriend, she lost the best possible version of her life.

Bella's depression is always going to be a hot topic, trust me bestie. G has talked pretty decently in-show about how Bella lost her entire support system. that's 100% true: she put all her eggs in one vampire-shaped basket, went full tunnel-vision when it came to edward, and only focused on that for 6+ months. but imo it's unfair to point toward charlie and renee (don't worry, I'll get into that) and shuffle responsibility onto them for the way bella spirals after edward/the cullens depart, leaving her with some vague yearning for a loving family (which, tbh, I'm not sure I see supported in canon in any way?)

friend I am so sorry to break it to you but the podcast jokes about stanning renee are not a bit. I (shannon) will always come to the defense of my girl renee dwyer because of how severely she's been mischaracterized by fandom at large. I won't get into it too deeply (me when I lie) because I really could go on all day but bella's parents being distant to the plot they way they both are is 100% by design. it's the whole Disney Mom Effect. when your character is designed to go off on adventures and have a fantastical journey, you sort of end up killing the mom (or at least one parent) so that there's more of that push for the main character to go out and make their own life! woo! enjoy your magical journey! but if you have a mom that is thoughtful, super-involved, ever-present, and/or ahem, alive, that fucks with the plans. renee isn't some neglectful monster who abandoned her daughter to go spend weekends in miami. charlie isn't some dumb sitcom dad who weaponizes incompetence to get free meals. they both love, care about, and worry for bella the way a normal parent would (and we see this in canon). now, smeyer didn't kill either of them, but honestly she pulled off charlie and renee's characters really well imo!

anyways, I agree that losing a vampire boyfriend that could have offered you infinite money or eternal life is a big L, no matter what. but the thing is, bella doesn't care about either of those things. she doesn't care about anything beyond Being With Edward (and Alice, to a lesser extent). the vampirism and cullens are a bonus perk, but she only focuses on edward. that's why we're always going to clown on her "throbbing" holes and her boring nightmares. sure, I feel bad about her complete lack of self-esteem and her self-destructive streak, but it's so hard to feel bad for her when the way she thinks about and acts toward non-cullen characters is like, uh... not great. so I am very sorry to you and the whole of your defense squad, and I wish you the best in your journey, but I don't think we'll ever NOT roll our eyes at Bella's behavior in this book 💔😔—shannon

^ me (G) reading shannon's answer to this

I mostly agree (except for the part about pulling off charlie's and renee's characters well. idk if I'd go THAT far.) the tl;dr for me is that I understand why many people find bella (particularly in her depression era) relatable, and I entered into this reading hoping (and even lowkey expecting) that I too would come away with more appreciation for her character, but I....did not. the opposite happened. that's my truth and if it makes me a hater, I'm a hater ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ —G

[t4tails]

Ur intl dolls so I wanna ask... what do u think of rainbow high and shadow high??

I collect cuz of monster high and ever after high which are maybe not the best quality but they make up with very interesting and out there designs so lately I've started to catch interest on rainbow high but meanwhile the designs are extremely intricate and detailed as in the quality is extremely good... the designs are kinda boring?? Like they're too realistic as in they're based on real life fashion trends and nothing more to add to it

i really like a lot of rainbow/shadow high, but i agree that many of their dolls are boring :/ their best ones imo are the ones that really stick to a theme, like the storm twins, monique verbena, etc, OR showcase body diversity you do not normally see on a doll, like delilah fields (albinism) and jewel richie (vitiligo). tbh im honestly fine with this because their doll quality is so good, especially the inset eyes. they dont need to knock it out of the park everytime. saves my wallet lol

[emblemxeno]

Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected Thoughts

-Future Connected is 100% done! All quests, all ponspectors, full collectopedia, all Quiet Moments, and full map! For a 10~ hour epilogue, it certainly had its charms.

-Story and characters were extremely good and heartfelt. Melia getting to be unabashedly happy and powerful in her leadership position is a treat to see. Kino and Nene were feel good team mates that brought smiles to my face, and their inclusion led to Riki being developed without even being there! Best dadapon even more so. Shulk's story was over in the main game, so seeing him in a supportive role was not a shock, and he's so damn sweet. And again, Tyrea's story role in this-as well as Teelan being brought in as a full supportive character-was a welcome inclusion, something that I felt was a great bow tied on to XC1's world.

-Side characters were good, for the most part. Surprisingly poignant and nuanced dialogue from named NPCs, as well as welcome funny moments here and there. I enjoyed Maxis and the Companions, as well as their friction with Gran Dell. Were the game to be longer, I'd call it underdeveloped, but since it's as short as it is, it's just fine.

Gael'gar though... kind of weak tbh. He created tension in the story that, IMO, wasn't necessary or impactful. Mixed blood High Entia hating pure bloods as a reversal of the main game's take is an interesting concept, but something that can't meaningfully take hold in a short adventure, especially since the blood heritage thing is woven tightly into the main game's narrative with the Telethia's origins. Gael'gar blowing up the lab was ultimately for naught in my eyes, as yeah it sets back Teelan and Tyrea's research, but reasonably that probably wasn't gonna be solved before the Fog King issue anyway. He lacks threat and charisma either, so he's not even entertaining or engaging, he's kind of just a negative.

-WE MEASURE! FIND TREASURE! PONSPECTORS TIL WE DIE!

I loved those little fuckers, even if some of the quests involving them were annoying. Shout out to the chuuni ponspector, your quest may have been hell, but I loved your dialogue. They were great in the gameplay sense too, adding some meat to the system. Speaking of which...

-I didn't care much for the combat at all. I have an overall really positive opinion on XC1's combat, where even though spikes are an awful design decision and the game is centralized around topple locking, the variety of arts, skill trees and links, and various armors and gems led to a great deal of customization and fun. Future Connected is a short romp, so it makes sense for it to be stripped, but stripping XC1's combat makes one realize that it's not quite that fun in its bare form. Things become a bit more routine or predictable, and I think the devs knew that, so they made enemies a bit more annoying and tanky (I think even one NPC commented that the region's monsters are stronger on the shoulder than they normally would be). Until I got access to the Ponspector Attack, I felt at the mercy of things just playing out with no major impact; like I was a level 60 hero going through the prologue again. It wasn't hard to eventually adjust, but still. Meh.

-Specific point about battling. Getting rid of Enchant makes sense, since no Mechon. However, why not also get rid of Shield and enemy Talent Arts since there's no visions? Shield's main purpose was to stop talent arts before they happen, but with no visions you never know when they're happening ever. At that point, Shield is kind of worthless the first time round, and it becomes trial and error depending on the enemy if you keep dying to it. Most often, the only Monado Art you needed was Armor, since that's more reliable and multipurpose. Just strange.

-What else... music was top notch, I looooooved the Fog Beast theme. Visuals were great, and huge fucking props to breathing life into the Bionis' Shoulder, since that was major cut content in the original Wii release. Repurposing it for an epilogue mini-adventure was a smart move. Exploring the continent itself was fun, so they did a great job. I loved each location, and I oddly enough enjoyed the high concept names for each landmark and the like. Very fantastical.

-Having played XC3, anything and everything about the Fog King and the Rift, like these:

They're such brain candy moments for literature nerds like me, oooh, I love it. The XC3 art book revealed that Alrest had a similar event to Future Connected, just not seen before XC3's events. I imagine, that since FC was a rift above Alcamoth that spouted out a Guldo, then there was most likely a rift in the center landscape of the new Alrest, where Morytha used to be. I like to think Alrest's version of the Fog King would be a Telethia that got caught in the rift.

-Last but certainly not least, JENNA COLEMAN! Getting her back for both Future Connected and XC3 was amazing, and she kills it as Melia. So mature, heartfelt, compassionate, an A+ performance.

-Overall, I had fun! Would I play it again? Ehhh, maybe someday, but whenever I play XC1 again, I'm not likely to revisit FC along with it every time. Still, loved the scenes and what it brought to the overall Xenoblade story.

Taking another break before moving on. Continuing on, I'm gonna play Torna next, then main game XC2. I couldn't be more excited to play those again tbh.

[sillyf1blog]

F1 Livery Review time!!!!

quite late to make this but i wanted to wait until every car had been seen on track in some capacity to make this, rankings will be done out of 10 with 5 being considered average.

Red Bull 6/10

As is expected from red bull at this point (sighs), not much has really changed, same usual design with the navy blue base (i prefer the brighter blue the older red bulls used), however it gets a 6 because whilst its the same thing as last year, it does still look pretty alright.

Mercedes 8/10

I was quite surprised by the Mercedes this year, i was just expecting another all black Mercedes. I do quite like the design for this year, mixing very well the silver and black. usually im not a fan of Mercedes liveries, i thought the black was kind of honk mi mi mi and the full silver ones (looking at you 2022) just looked kind of off to me, but this is easily Mercedes best design yeast (bread typo!?!?)

Ferrari 9/10

ok Ferrari, just go ahead and reveal one of the nicest looking f1 cars in while why don't you. ok but like this thing is smexy tho, i dont really have mucch to say here, it looks great. imo im prolly being picky about this but the only thing that would make it a 10/10 ferrari for me would be a bit more white but that might just be me

McLaren 5/10

i have to be fully honest here, im disappointed. im really missing the blue, just the papaya and black is kind of boring, its why i didn't like the stealth mode livery from last year, and i mean its cool there's a bit of chrome, but its barely noticeable, im beginning to really miss the vibrant McLarens from 2019-2021

Aston martin 7/10

not much to say here, the green used this year is nicer, but the livery is held back by the carbon becoming a bit too noticeable for me, but its still quite nice

Alpine 2/10

this isn't a unique opinion but this livery is a waste, imo alpine has the nicest colours on the grid, the blue they use is amazing (the 2021 and 22 alpines being some of the nicest f1 cars ever made) but its just wasted on this livery, there's so much damn black

Williams 7/10

similar to the aston i dont really have much to say, it looks alright, its not amazing but it works

Racing Bulls 8/10

ok with a livery like this i almost forgive you for the awful name, this thing looks great, the orlen sponsorship works alot better on this then it did the alphatauri, and idk if its intended or not but this looks alot like the last toro rosso cars which is pretty cool

Sauber 7/10

this looks more monster themed than the team thats actually sponsored by them, similar to RB i almost forgive Sauber for the awful name, and unlike the other cars with alot of black the vibrant green works quite well and pairs well with black

Haas 4/10

its just kind of dull, the haas always looked good with alot of black but this is way too much, it looks unfinished tbh

[eldritchamy]

read your tags and. (probably) not a girl but anything else you'd recommend rn?

....How do you feel about telekinesis-based witches in very violent Korean supernatural action horror? If this sounds interesting to you, you might enjoy The Witch Part 1: Subversion and The Witch Part 2: The Other One

How about a claustrophobic, tense, atmospheric suspense horror in the vein of Alien but at the bottom of the ocean instead of deep space? Does Kristen Stewart with a butch haircut work for you? If so, watch Underwater.

While we're on the subject, Alien and Aliens. If you've never seen them, change that immediately. Alien is correctly regarded as one of the best horror films ever made, and the (imo superior) sequel Aliens is in my extremely correct opinion the best sequel ever made and one of the best movies of all time. Ellen Ripley in Aliens is my GOLD STANDARD for character arcs. Just masterful writing. Fuck Alien 3. Alien Resurrection is hot trash and VERY OBVIOUSLY a prototype for what became Firefly if you squint, but apart from a few VERY WHEDON lines it's better than Alien 3 honestly. This is not saying enough to count as a compliment. FUCK ALIEN 3. The new films (Prometheus and Alien: Covenant) are OKAY, but a completely different vibe and generally most people either only like the old movies or only like the new ones. Covenant is better than Prometheus imo. And I will say that Covenant has some of the most interesting/inventive xenomorph kills in the series. They do NOT have the same feel as the old movies, though. The design fails HARD to capture the essence of that 80s junk retro-future vibe that makes the old movies so timeless. They're supposed to be PREQUELS but the tech is way more advanced for no reason, which imo was a bad choice.

Supernatural action drama with an interesting plot that will make you wanna read the graphic novel it was based on? The Old Guard.

Wanna see the best and most underrated animated film of the last decade? I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH how much Kubo and the Two Strings was ROBBED during awards season.

Like robots smashing each other with an unexpectedly solid plot? The Bumblebee movie from a couple years ago was shockingly good, in stark contrast to every other Transformers movie.

Want some really well done scifi with a PHENOMENAL concept behind it, framed in a different way than any other first contact style movie, that will make you think about the nature of consciousness? Arrival is a masterpiece.

What We Do In The Shadows remains the best thing in the vampire genre. If you haven't seen it yet, fix that. The movie is great but the show absolutely blows it away.

Star Trek is a good evergreen choice. I don't have as much experience with it as I'd like, but I very much enjoyed TNG up until it hit writers' strike territory and things went really off the rails (mid season 5). Started DS9 but my progress got interrupted pretty hard when my dad was in the hospital for the last time. The different series have different feels to them. Not liking one show doesn't mean you won't like another one. There's plenty of Star Trek to choose from.

I am tearing through The Vampire Diaries at an impressive rate. Is it revolutionary? Not remotely. You can tell a LOT of the character archetypes were pulled from Buffy. But to be fair, it does a lot of those character archetypes better. I got into it partly for a specific character (Katherine Pierce) who is like Evil Girlboss incarnate, and partly as backstory for the world so I can eventually progress to Legacies for ANOTHER supernatural superpowered character (Hope Mikaelson). So far I'm very pleasantly surprised by how much I'm enjoying it. It's actually a good show. VERY straight, but at least the straight vampire drama is better than Buffy's (even if it's very obvious that Stefan and Damon are basically rehashed Angel and Spike).

Have you seen Shin Godzilla? It is, bar none, the best monster movie ever made. An absolute MASTERPIECE of atmospheric, slow terror as the world fails to comprehend and respond to the physical and emotional impact of a nuclear catastrophe on Japanese soil. Absolutely PHENOMENAL movie. The version with all the deleted scenes in it is even better. Incredible film.

Do you like speculative fiction about artificial intelligence, and also think Alicia Vikander is pretty (who doesn't?). Ex Machina is really interesting and good.

Like the classic stuff? John Carpenter's The Thing and the 70s Invasion of the Body Snatchers definitely live up to their reputations.

Want to turn your brain off with a comedy about morons who are in over their head? The Three Amigos is pretty good and has one of my favorite jokes in any comedy movie. (It involves a veranda).

Wanna turn your brain off with goofy kaiju bullshit? The old Toho Godzilla movies are very fun. Be mindful of the older ones, though. If it was made before 1970 and features an island setting, there's usually some outlandish degrees of racism. King Kong vs Godzilla is the worst offender, but a BUNCH from that era had very severe colorism and "primative island culture" vibes. Also probably avoid Godzilla vs Megalon, which even manages to beat King Kong as hands down the worst film in the entire series. It was filmed in under two weeks and Godzilla is only in it for the last forty seconds because it wasn't even supposed to be a Godzilla movie at all. I'm a big fan of the Heisei era movies (1985-1995) personally, with the Millennium series (1999-2004) being a close second. But if you want maximum goofy kaiju cheese, you want Showa (1954-1974). It's all rubber suit bullshit and it's a good time.

The Maleficent movies are fantastic, if you haven't seen them.

The Mummy and The Mummy Returns are cinematic masterpieces. Do not watch The Mummy 3: The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I mean it doesn't even have Rachel Weisz, what's the point.

The Resident Evil movies are very bad. But they're a guilty pleasure if you're into really bad 2000s cheesy action. If you're into it, they're fun.

The Underworld movies are kinda like that but with vampires (and werewolves) instead of zombies. They're awful movies, but they DO have Kate Beckinsdale in a corset so you win some you lose some.

Want action cheese but more 80s? Demolition Man is fun. The original Judge Dredd is also better than it has any right to be. The NEW Dredd is genuinely a good and cool movie.

Want to watch a shitpost? Romancing the Stone and the sequel, Jewel of the Nile. Very fun to watch with friends because of how batshit insane they are.

GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE. I can't believe the post got this long before I thought of it. It's a great story about a female assassin and a polycule of librarians with guns. Sometimes a family is a little girl, the woman who shot her dad, and 4 gay aunts that love books guns and each other. Great music, too.

For turn your brain off but cute, charming, and low stakes/drama, Kiki's Delivery Service is one of my favorite Ghibli movies. It's about equal to Totoro with how gentle the world and story are. Also has some anti-capitalist vibes and a lesbian artist who lives in the woods. Plus it's about a witch, and who's not a sucker for decent witch movies?

Person of Interest is a really interesting show if you haven't seen it. It's about a national security algorithm that gains sentience and a small team of independent ex-spec ops agents use it to save people because its creator refused to let the government have access to it.

Do you want to absolutely lose your goddamn mind wondering how something ever got made? Try watching Zardoz. Holy fucking shit I've never been more confused.

Do you want that feeling but good instead of bad? Kung Fury.

Terminator: Dark Fate is the best film in the series THERE I SAID IT. It does every single thing the series NEEDED it to do to be good and relevant and fresh for a modern audience. The series has been stagnating for a long time and Dark Fate is EXACTLY the direction the Terminator franchise needed to go.

[opanchu]

hiiii^_^? would you say theres a specific/a couple of forms of media like cartoons or comics that you were into as a child which influenced your artstyle, perhaps even to this day? did you learn to draw by copying illustrations or doodling, or both? :3

YESSS DEFINITELY oh my god there's a lot to list

first and foremost I've said it before that I take inspo from fashion design illustration and that is majorly influenced by lily martinez who has designed for mattel in the late 2000s/early 2010s. I discovered her via her work on barbie and monster high and she has been one of my biggest inspirations since

I also generally take inspo from fashion doll lines visually but mostly monster high and ever after high, funnily enough I think those influences show best with how I draw shoes LOL, that high heel shape has me in a chokehold

i generally take inspo from many different things but I think something else I was into as a kid that still inspires me is those hungarian folk tale cartoons (look them up by searching magyar népmesék)! the art style in that series is beautiful 🫶 I also get inspired by shoujo anime/manga from time to time and out of those the ones I grew up with were kirarin revolution and lovely complex

I mostly learned by copying illustrations and doodling! but I'm still learning imo and something that helps me a lot is copying/referencing photoshoots, my latest drawing is referenced off of a photo of gowon from loona and the drawing I'm currently working on has the hands in the pose referenced from a photo of fatou from blackswan