#short reply is short LOL

[bacchuschucklefuck]

class swap design masterpost for convenience (from top to bottom: bard!riz, cleric!gorgug, sorcerer!kristen, barbarian!fig, artificer!adaine, and rogue!fabian)

[crowliphale]

your ouaw (what a fun acronym hehe) art might be what pushes me over the edge and gets me to finally watch the series, cuz I just spent like an hour scrolling through literally all of it and I have a need to see more of these guys

HEHEHEE well i'll say the best way to get more from them is definitely to watch the campaign! eeek im happy i'm getting people interested in it

[batbabydamian]

Met Joshua Williamson at NYCC during one of his signings! He said of all the characters he wants to protect the most at DC, it would be Damian because that’s his “baby boy” 🥺 Said he’s tired of people hurting Damian since he’s already gone through so much his whole life.

Asked him 2 questions!

What accent does Damian have?

Others have asked him but he doesn’t want to say, because he wants people to talk about it! He mentioned Damian has only lived in America for 4 years, and would naturally have an accent.

Who decided on Damian’s new hair?

Simone - Joshua said he didn’t notice it at first and then he was like “UMMM IT KINDA LOOKS LIKE TIM…”

He let it go because he thought about how Tim has had different hairstyles, and Damian is young and still growing.

[luminescenc1e]

: does anyone want short starters? if yes, please press the heart so I can write you smth. here is my roster! pick whomever you might want! all of my drafts are very long, I feel like writing but starting off with something short first i.e small para, at least at the start! (:

[matchalovertrait]

Noemí and Erick found out about the video. It was only a matter of time, of course. Needless to say, they weren't exactly thrilled about it. They told Dulce to go up to her room while they have a thorough discussion.

Start from the beginning

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[novella-november]

This isn't going to be another "you hate fanfiction!!" because very obviously you do not, but it is prompted by the discussion of branching out into original work, since it's something I often struggle with when trying to make that jump. Do you or any of your followers have any good resources on beginner worldbuilding? I really struggle with it.

Thank you!

If you check out my post where I made a "Prep Calendar" for Outline October (Which is a November-prep alternative/ supplement to Ominous October, the spooky short story event), I actually made a rather rough calendar outline of how to go about world building in advance for November;

The basic first steps for me are usually just three things:

Who are your characters

What kind of world do they live in (aka setting)

Whats your main plot/conflict?

To start worldbuilding at its lowest level, start with number one and work your way up; figure out what kind of character you'd like to write, where they live, and go from there!

Here is the prep calendar I threw together in MS paint, I definitely reccomend downloading it on desktop to actually zoom in to see what all it says lol.

And as a bonus, I will even make a fun, silly little exercise for anyone who'd like to get some practice in!

If you want to join in, grab a pen and pencil, or open up your favorite note-taking app :D

Here we go....!

Let's start out by saying that my basic concept for a character is *spins mental wheel of random ideas*....... a talking deer! 1) So now that I have decided that I want a talking deer character, now I have to decide: A) do *all*deer talk? B) Do *all* animals? C) Or is it just this one singular deer who is special? 2) If it *is* just this one singular deer who can talk, are they: D) otherwise a perfectly normal deer who just happens to be able to talk? E) Can they talk because they used to be human? F) Can they talk because they used to be an Alien or encountered Alien Tech (scifi) ? G) Can they talk because they used to be a Magical Creature or ran into a Magical Spell (fantasy) ? 3) Now you get to decide, mostly if you chose A or B from #1 but also useful for C : H) Is your story a more personal nature documentary, with realistic interactions between predators and prey? I) Is your story going to be a unique world where deer have built a society with technology and know how to defend themselves from predators? J) Is your story a unique world where all animals can talk and are equally sentient, therefore predators are revered as gods or keepers of the dead, who bring all back to the circle of life and prevent the spread of illness and disease, with older animals proudly going "to the wolves" to give their life to their brethren who consecrate the bones of the dead and keep resources plentiful? K) Or are predators the monsters in the dark, the teeth that bite, the slavering jaws that kill to live and *cannot live any other way*, so has learned not to regret? L) Or even, predators who feed from the already-dead when they can, and eat their fill of berries, nuts and fruits when they cannot, because they do not wish to take the lives of others for their own sake?

*clears throat* ahem. Drama done (can you see why I love worldbuilding) ,

go ahead and pick a letter from each of the above options, and jot them down on your paper or note-taking app.

You now have: A basic character, their backstory, and a basic setting!

From three-ish questions from a basic idea, you can spawn multiple possibilities, each of which can branch off into their own unique iterations!

Here's a few more, if you'd like to continue the exercise as further practice:

What is your deer's name?

What do they look like / what kind of deer are they? (deer of various species are found over almost the entire world, so there is tons of variety! :D )

What kind of world do they live in?

How do they interact with humans?

*are* there humans in your story?

What kind of zany or terrifying adventures would your talking deer and a human go on?

What kind of adventures would your talking deer go on with other deer or other animals?

How does your deer get along with other species?

Do they have friends from other species?

Do they have rivals from other species?

Do they have *sworn enemies* from other species?

Do they have a *love interest* from another species?

etc!

I am hoping this game/exercise is helpful, my brain being both autistic and ADHD means I am, at the drop of a hat, ready to start spouting more and more ideas sparked from a single concept at any given moment!

And yes, if you did this exercise, please feel free to use your deer character in a story, draw art of your deer character, etc!

If this exercise was helpful to you or fun, please feel free to tag any deer creations with "NovellaDeer" , I'd love to see them!

You can easily adapt this exercise to any story concept you need to worldbuild; pick what basic idea you have for a main character, and start asking yourself questions about them and their circumstances, and let yourself come up with multiple, contradicting answers for each question; the more the merrier!

After you've decided which starting answers you like the most, you can work your way down the list, asking follow-up questions, and before you know it you will have your very own original character :D

And do not feel like you need to keep your character exactly the way they start out as; characters evolve over time, and you may find yourself changing their "base" character to suit your story or to suit your tastes as you get more experienced with writing and world building!

[sapphire-drawings]

Hey Sapphire!! I have a question about your Adult Webber

How did he end up getting fused with a spider? Is it sort of the same way that the normal Webber did?

Express reply for Beetle lol

In my head it started all the same as the canon but instead of kicking him out, his mother recognized his crying and they realized what happened to their only child

And his dad would be so mad!

By losing this rare spider specimen he also lost the opportunity to be somewhat relevant in the science community (and his child too). Since that day everything changed and Webber grew with little to no affection practically raising themselves, specially from his dad. The only good company being his now own spider.

But I also like to think his grandparents would try their best. Grandpa providing as much books as he could to read together developing a love for literature, also taking his father's entomology and other sciences ones and eventually finding ways to get more growing up. Such a bookworm, but what else would he do, right?

He considers himself a scientist like his dad taking every opportunity to apply everything he read. Not because he was taught.

Soooo yeah, not a good childhood

Does any of this makes sense? Not at all. It's way more logical for them to get rid of him but that's what Au's are for, right????

[penanceisthecure]

@daddymothxxx

Popping by the tower to try and catch a Valentino. Finally out of pajamas, wearing a nice romper because two piece attire is too much work with broken ribs.

Since they last saw him, they've gained a new less than welcome addition of obsidian-blue/black scales on their arms all the way from fingertip to elbow.

Their hair is a level 10 disaster.

Considered opening a rift to get inside, but out of respect for his wishes, they're instead talking to the doorman or whatever. Yes, hello, I have no appointment, I'd like to talk to Valentino. Please and thanks. Show me the mothman. He is my tito.

They did not actually say that he is their tito, they do not have that much gall.

[aghastro]

When i get a really nice message on here I wait a bit before answering because sometimes I have many emotions and want to keep it for a moment and spin around and give it a good answer

[turbo-tsundere]

i'm glad to see the positive asks coming up at great timing ;w; i hope you're doing okay! please take breaks whenever you need, and take your time. it's a strange question, but i was wondering if drawing gonta and kokichi has ever given you any practice at drawing a certain aspect of their character (anatomy, clothes, nature...?) i'm really curious!

Thank you, I'm trying my best (• 7 • ) Thought current issue is that I want to draw SO badly but caaaan't, because I'm too busy grrrrrrrrr wr I missedGonta'sbirthdayAGAIN. Oh well, maybe next time but ghhhh *frustrated cat noises*...

Regarding your question, it's not weird at all. I do hope though I understood it correctly, because the way I see it, drawing anything is always simultaneously practicing it, whether it's a warm-up sketch, or finished drawing... But perhaps "Did you have to practice/learn stuff to properly draw these characters or things symbolic to them" is more in line of what you wanted to know?

Then yes, absolutely, there was quite a bit of that!... So this is going to be a very long one.

When it comes to Gonta... oh boy. I'm not underestimating by saying pretty much every single aspect of his design is something I struggle with. Long and slightly wavy hair is the most difficult kind for me to draw, and I keep forgetting the exact shape of his quadruple ahoge. I've difficulty with narrow faces (and his wide neck doesn't make things easier in that regard xD), and I didn't draw that many muscular characters like him in the past (I did draw a lot of over-exaggerated, blockier fantasy characters, but somehow this wasn't helpful for my brain because ????? ...Well, they often have disproportionately massive joints and way different skeletal structure that doesn't exactly make sense tbh).

Drawing suits is my bane, especially lapels; if it looks good, it's because due to my stubbornness I redrew it 5-15 times. I generally struggle with kimonos, suits and certain types of uniforms - anything that's formal wear made of relatively stiff fabric that creates little to no folds and has to fit well and relatively snug, but still obscures anatomy...

Gonta's glasses gave me trouble, too: I didn't know I was drawing their perspective wrong until I studied photos, videos, or 3D models of people who happened to wear similar models...

(How I instinctively drew glasses vs how they're apparently supposed to look at specific angles. It feels so unintuitive and surprising for me to see the farther lens stick out so much... kinda funny, considering I wear glasses myself, albeit rectangular ones.)

Even his eyebrows turned out to be a challenge, because they start thin in inner corners, then get thicker as they spread outwards - this made me realize that I tend to draw my own characters with an exact opposite shape xD... It took a while to get a hang of how they'd look while expressing different emotions (but I think they are cool the way they split at the end!)

I pretty much had to actively practice all of the above. It was difficult but rewarding, and especially at the beginning of my brainrot I really dove into the research, studying details, collecting all sorts of references both realistic and stylized, and working on how to translate Gonta into "my style" (which imo ended up more like a hybrid between my own style and DR one) to represent him and his vibe as accurately as possible (it's generally my philosophy with fanart).

On a side note, imo Gonta has a great design. He combines simple elements and colour palette - wild long hair, brown suit, glasses, barefoot - and not too many small ornaments (bug box, lapel pin), but they result in something unique and distinct. I find that school of character design really clever, and oddly more difficult than designing overly elaborate ones.

Going back to the topic of the practice, it was beneficial even for subjects besides Gonta himself. For example, getting a hang of how to draw beefier, more pronounced anatomy helped me understand it better in general, and be able to draw more lean characters as well. (I do have trouble with subtle things like how a ribcage connects to the waist, then hips, or how shoulders look at specific angles etc.)

Or when I had to research bugs for some of the fanarts, it made me realize how much more complex their anatomy is, and how despite the infinite variety of species there is always a certain consistency to it. I started appreciating them so much more... my previous default was rather neutral leaning on slightly positive, but I was scared stiff of mantises when I was a kid. Now I find them genuinely beautiful, endearingly dramatic with their patterns and behaviour... And see bugs as so cute overall. I guess Gonta would be happy to know that?

Thanks to him I managed to return to more painterly and sketchy techniques, too (For a few years before playing V3, I used to draw a lot more lineart heavy works with anime-like shading, and I was worried if I'll be able to stray away from that).

In the end, every fanart is always an exercise in something, like "oh let's try those golden/metallic digital paints, let's try dark colours/hair underwater study, or high contrast, etc., etc..

Gonta was tough to draw, still is, and I'm definitely not done learning and making mistakes, but I don't mind... and I think it's a good thing to feel about something, when you want to keep doing it even if it isn't always a walk in the park. He's definitely a FUN variety of challenging. I only hope I will be able to keep finding time and energy to keep on going.

---

Kokichi on the other hand isn't particularly difficult to draw, even if it wasn't the case at first, though for mostly emotional reasons. On a technical level, he's nicely effortless, though there are some tricky aspects to his design, like how his hair works in a 3D space.

I even made myself a little "guide" in the beginning, to help me understand just that. I'd draw his "base" hair and add these signature strands.

Funny how... casual he looks without them? Fandom usually depicts all of his hair curled outwards, even I do that quite a bit, while in canon, oddly enough, it's just a few strands that seem longer than the rest of his hair. His hair is also simply black with purple tips, not all purple like he's often depicted.

(Behold, a wet cat Kokichi doodle from the depths of my fanart folder. YES, those are hair rollers.)

It's interesting how characters are often drawn the way they "feel", rather than by strictly adhering to their design, and how it leads to accentuating some design elements...

Oh right, I also had no clue how to draw Kokichi's face at first, how to interpret it into something more realistic; this character named Doa from Blade of the Immortal by Samura has served me as an accidental inspiration in translating his features into something closer to my own style. The checkered hat and big guy companion may or may not have contributed to grabbing my attention.

(panels from Hiroaki Samura's manga)

The way I draw Kokichi has changed since, getting closer to his original style, but it's thanks to her that things clicked into place, and I managed to finally draw the fanart that I was actually satisfied with, this one specifically. (Also it may or may not have inspired me to muse about BotI ougoku AU for like 54 seconds.)

But all in all, Kokichi is really pleasant to illustrate, and what I enjoy practicing the most is his baggy shirt and, again, his hair.

Also the scarf. I really enjoy drawing drapery and baggy clothes, but I specifically like to draw this checkerboard pattern by hand and merge it directly with the lineart and shadows - so it's more like a bunch of abstract shapes creating an object, rather than clearly separated lines, shadows and colours. It helps with accentuating the dimensionality of his scarf (which I always felt like is some sort of infinity scarf, since there aren't any ties visible on his concept design...). I know using a pattern would be much faster and easier work, but I just like drawing it, so I don't mind putting in that little extra work in there.

(I really love hatching, too. I actually don't like linearting all that much lol, unless I merge and structurally "support" it with hand-drawn textures or thicker brushtrokes - it's nice to test out different brushes just for that purpose.)

To sum it up: yep, I was given an opportunity to practice a ton of things thanks to those two lovely messes. I still am, and certainly still will - even if some of those might be simply re-learning stuff I got rusty at, bc no art skill is ever a static one, for better or for worse.

[templeofvengeance]

Drafts: 18 11 Askbox: 2 (there's a lot on the queue)

[meownotgood]

do you think my fics are too long. asking for a friend

[quackity1999]

[ OOC: also b4 i go to bed. holy shit i wrote a lotta lore today LMAO but i may be a little slow bc long asks + getting ill again its gunna be a rough one tmrw </3 so take it easy on me thank yew :3 ]

[shepcdr]

@spectrien // cont.

shepard has nothing in particular against aliens. he was far too young for the first contact war — his childhood memories are vague and few, but he thinks he remembers the anxiety that tensed his caretakers from head to toe until they were wound tight enough to snap, and until they did; perhaps some of that had been the war, and the burden of knowing that humanity was not alone in the far expanses of space, after all — and still too young for the grudges built after and upon it. though that hardly stopped many of his brothers in the reds from fostering hatreds of their own, there was little they could do about it... little time to think of worlds beyond when it was trouble enough to survive their own. and, now that shepard thinks about it, his contact with the galaxy at large has been somewhat limited considering the decade he's now spent with the alliance. ( in his defence, he had other concerns of his own to manage. )

his recruiters had pulled enough strings getting his AFQT scores waived once they had seen biotic potential and a willingness to do whatever it took so long as he could enlist and get off of earth. there was nothing that could've been done for him if the alliance had an intergalactic history class prerequisite; but, luckily for shepard, his interests didn't lie in turian-human relations. relations that, from the spectre's sudden ( unwanted. but it doesn't appear that what shepard wants matters very much ) interest, appear to be on the up-and-up.

still, shepard would have to be an idiot to not have questions.

his lack of knowledge on both turians and spectres aside, it doesn't take a studied mind to know that nihlus kryik doesn't exactly fall within the boundaries of one definition or the other. nihlus likely defies the former, from what shepard knows of turian society; and from what he has heard recently of what it means to be a spectre, he suspects that nihlus exceeds the latter.

" what's your stake in all this? " thinly-veiled distrust colours his curtly-spoken enquiry. no point in masking his wariness. nihlus is an unknown variable on the normandy, on anderson's ship. ( never mind that captain anderson himself authorised this. he had authorised shepard as his XO, too ... so it's shepard's prerogative to exercise however much caution he deems necessary, until he determines the spectre is neither a threat nor risk. )

so the alliance wants more say in council matters ... that makes enough sense. but one of the council's own — a species already nestled quite comfortably within the status quo — taking such an unlikely and proactive interest? he doesn't buy it. not unless nihlus has something to gain from this.

... the one thing that does give him pause is nihlus' declaration of respect. shepard doesn't know enough about turian behaviour to discern honesty from flattery from placation. without adequate data, his first instinct should be healthy scepticism. nihlus seems clever and well-spoken: a perfect combination for deception, and make it pretty and pleasant to the ears. ' capable of caring? ' and what did that have to do with anything? shepard might have laughed in his face if he wasn't certain that that would surely be crossing the line.

but, for whatever reason, nihlus' words — ‘ i respect you. ’ — ring true just enough to soften the coldness of shepard's stare. ( only slightly. but that alone is an impressive feat. )

[hisinfinities]

@sharpsuite (continued from x)

It's a SHOCK to feel a snowball shatter against her head, and she ALMOST slips from how it throws her off-balanced. Luckily she manages to catch herself BEFORE that can potentially happen. It's still cold though, clinging to her face and her dark strands of hair while smaller clumps fall against her neck. Somehow, despite it all, ANN MAINTAINS HER STEEL-LIKE GRACE. But she's no fool either. Her head turns towards Gojo, her eyes hidden behind her signature sunglasses. At least with the colder weather, Hatter's allowed some ADJUSTMENTS to the whole Beach attire rule that he'd had in place. Probably more because he was also cold rather than anything practical. Beachwear was fine during the heat - but the SUDDEN CHANGE in temperature called for adjustments. As if death games weren't enough. But for now, her focus is on the other executive. As if people like Niragi weren't enough to have to deal with. " Somehow, I doubt the sincerity of that statement. " Ann replies; DOESN'T SEEM MAD, only critical. " I think you DID mean for it to be thrown that hard, but I wasn't the intended target, was I? " Unlike many at the Beach who indulged in escapism or fun, Ann was rather known to not indulge in such antics. A rather comforting fact when it came to playing games, even if it tended to give her something of a colder reputation to those who didn't particularly know her. ( AND YET, FAR FROM THE TRUTH. ) It's actually rather NICE to see people having fun. She just doesn't find it as easy to indulge in as some like Gojo seem to. Maybe it was because she put more weight on the general populace's lives than most of the others here did. She lifts a hand to brush the remaining snow out of her hair, stepping out of the way of where she'd been standing. " Please. Don't let me be in the way of whatever snowball fight you may be having. " / @hisinfinities

He barely makes any effort to mask his laughter; wide smile and snickers only half-hidden behind a gloved hand, eyes twinkling with amusement because leave it to Ann to find a way to get hit by a snowball, nearly slip, and catch herself all while still looking that graceful. Gojo's not sure he's ever seen her not be calm and collected, and it's so impressive that he finds it funny.

"Smart as ever, Ann! Nothing gets past you." She's mostly right; he did intend to throw that hard at a different target. But when she came into his line of sight, he just couldn't help himself... but forgot to adjust the strength of his throw accordingly. But that's fine, because it's not like she couldn't handle it, right? He almost thinks it'd be more insulting to imply that.

Gojo lowers his head to look at her over the top of his own, slimmer shades. "It could be our snowball fight, if you have the guts."

Right as he says it, a snowball collides with the side of the head; while his ear is protected by a warm headband, he immediately feels the chill down his neck and in his hair. Turning in the direction it came from, he playfully shouts, "I'm gonna kill whoever threw that!" Not literally, of course.

Turning back to Ann, he smiles, placing both hands behind his head. "Seriously, loosen up a little! I know shit's serious and all, but I promise you're not going to ruin your reputation by having a little fun just this once." Despite his antics, he understands the seriousness of their situation-- his rowdier, carefree behavior is oftentimes a mask to hide and suppress what this world did to him before he found the Beach.

"Sure we might not make it to tomorrow, but for all we know neither will this snow. So how about it? I'll even let you get a free hit in."

[icewindandboringhorror]

The wax seals you made are amazing!! I want to try this so bad!

Can I ask what kind of clay you used and how you got the wax not to stick to it? 💗🙏🏻🙏🏻

Thank you! I just used the normal sculpey clay (the type you have to bake for it to harden up) that I had on hand, though there may be something actually better for it (probably clay is not the ideal material for wax seals anyway lol). To make the wax not stick, I took a small paintbrush and dabbed a thin layer of olive oil onto the seal (making sure to get into all the crevices of detail) every time before I pressed it into wax. I'm not sure how sustainable this is long term (if the oil on the clay would eventually degrade it or make it soft again or etc), but it seemingly works for just using them once or twice.