#starting this year from another sad fanart

[xyrw]

of course the first thing I decided to draw in 2024 is this cunty ah Legolas

Wip

[brucewaynehater101]

I really need more stuff on some Joker Junior angst, along with Jason finding out about Joker Junior. Even better if you wanna pull in the whole Red Hood (Joker/Jason) Attacking Robin (Jason/Tim), both times when Robin was 15 years old and was supposed to be with someone/somewhere safe.

Hmm... I agree that more content about that would be fabulous. I especially love JJ fanart (there's some really cool ones on TikTok).

Fuck it. Here we go:

TW: torture, Joker Junior, violence, blood, flashback, dissociation, derealization, hallucinating(?)

Tim hands fly to his throat in a desperate attempt to rub away the urge to giggle. He's biting his lips hard enough to bleed in order to prevent them from twisting into a panicked grin.

He's pinned to the floor by a man using one of Joker's alias.

Just like old times, eh?

A snicker slips out at that, which only seems to enrage the man in red.

"Something funny, Placeholder?" The voice modulator in the helmet does nothing to hide the clear disdain and wrath curling through Red Hood. His grip tightens over his holsters, but he doesn't pull them out quite yet. The crimson helmet just glares down at Robin.

Red, red, red. He'd look so much better in Green.

Fuck. Note to self, Tim. JJ likes Red Hood.

Robin locks his face down at this revelation to keep a calm facade. He could try to dislodge the knives holding him hostage, but not with the perpetrator towering over him like this. "Nope. My bad, Hood. Got a little distracted. Where were we?"

The crime lord takes a few steps forward until he's next to the trapped bird. Somehow, he makes even the action squatting appear menacing. "This is the part where I torture you. Where I cut off a little bird's wings so you'll never fly again. Maybe then, B will learn."

Robin watches as Hood draws another knife. The crime lord twirls the blade between his fingers and tilts his head. There's a considering glint evident in his body language.

In a sick mockery of comfort, Red Hood trails the knife down Robin's cheek. It's too close to Joker's signs of "affection" after a round of shock treatment.

Junior shudders.

The leather jacket starts to morph into a lavender lounge coat and Tim blinks rapidly to clear his vision.

A sigh of relief escapes his lips when he's able to see Red Hood again.

The crime lord pauses. He tilts his head once more. Tim can feel the gaze studying him, but he's not sure why. He can't tell if the man is genuinely curious or if he's inspecting Robin like a bug trapped in plexiglass.

When the knife leaves his skin, Tim feels his shoulders lose an inch of tension.

"Don't get too comfortable. I've got a few questions before I snap your legs."

Tim can feel a jolt of pain flash through his legs at the claim. He grimaces at the notion of months off field.

Hood leans back onto his heels, fortunately giving the younger teen some space. It doesn't seem intentional, but it's better.

"You've been Robin for two years now?"

When Tim initially refuses to acknowledge the question, Hood raises the knife. Robin sighs and gives a nod.

The man hums and brings the hilt of the knife to his chin. The weird thinking pose blares an alarm in Tim's brain, but he can't quite piece together where he's seen it before.

"About eight months ago, the clown disappeared."

Phantom feelings of electricity run through Tim's body. His muscles twitch under the memory.

Red Hood leans closer. "Where is he?"

Tim can hear -

"You know better than that, Junior. Where's the smile for your old man?"

A desperate giggle bubbles up Tim's throat.

"Come on, son. You wouldn't want to make your mother sad, would you?"

Joker leans over Tim Junior with a wicked grin. He grips a blade and gestures to Junior's lips. "Do you want your dear old Dad to teach you to smile? Again?"

Junior shakes his head frantically as trembling lips split open in a facsimile of a smile. The motion pulls at his stitches scars.

Scars?

That's not-

Junior's smile starts to fall.

Red Hood Joker crosses his arms. "What the fuck are you smiling at?"

Junior still has a smile on his face (it can't drop), but his eyebrows furrow. "Dad?"

Joker flinches back.

Amethyst cloth flickers to bronze leather and then back again. Forest green hair morphs into a cherry red helmet. Junior watches it peer behind its shoulder before Joker's face turns back to him.

"Batman isn't here."

A cackle erupts from Junior's lips and dissolves into a fit of giggles. Joker peers at Tim Junior in confused horror. The kid turns his head more towards the man. A smile stretches and pulls the corner of his lips, highlighting the faint scars.

Junior Tim hears the man take a startled breath in.

"Batsy isn't Dad. Dad-"

Tim frowns as his gaze drifts away from the man. "I killed Dad. He's dead."

He pouts exaggeratedly before Junior dissolves into a fit of giggles. "Bam!" Both of his hands point an imaginary gun Red Hood's Joker's way. "Bam! Bam!" The hands recoil back as if actually shooting the man.

Tears start to stream down Junior's Tim's face. He fights to bring his lips away from a grin.

"Fuck." He's still grining. "Fuck!"

Red Hood, the cause of all of this, is just staring at Tim. He's observing the teen try to bring himself back to sanity inch by stupid fucking inch.

Tim's eyes dart around the room. He takes a deep breath in and, on the exhale, list something he sees. "Chair. Blender. Staff. Kni-"

Several more deep breaths in and out as he ignores all the knives in the room. "Light. Jacket. Cape. Couch. Lemon. Counter."

His hands paw at his utility breath as he keeps breathing. He grasps one of the sour candies and works on opening the wrapper. He pops it into his mouth and continues the breath exercise.

Red Hood is silent as he watches Robin pull himself back into reality.

It takes several more minutes before Robin's breaths return to normal. He lays there looking at the ceiling absolutely drained and done with this whole situation.

Finally, Tim turns his gaze to the crime lord.

"Can you just kill me already or get the fuck out?"

Red Hood responds by pulling off his helmet.

Tim blinks. Sighs. Then starts up his grounding techniques again.

[wachtelspinat]

i can't help but feel like my drawing days are kind of over. not entirely, i'll still be drawing from time to time. and deffo not because i want to. but i'm having this exact same feeling since mid 2022, since i was really struggling with my elective period, i kind of disconnected with art there and never truly found my way back. on top of everything that came after - moving, starting a job and working to be good at it which leaves such little room for other things because i can't handle my life well - there is just so much horrible shit going on. and i'm having a hard time comprehending it.

a part of me also feels very stupid for drawing one thing for almost 4 years now constantly, but another part of me knows "hey, but this makes you happy". it's a constant battle in my head because online spaces are like school grounds, and i don't actually wanna stand in the corner as that one kid that just can't shut up about that one character. but then again all i ever did was drawing fanart so... what does it. who gives a shit. be cringe and be free alright. but it kinda feels so hollow, esp. when you're at it for so long. a lot of mutuals move on. some are not even active anymore anywhere. and i wonder what happened. plus a huge chunk of the tone of the fandom has changed. also with the source material getting butchered so hard (since the release of ow2) it just kills the fun. playing this game used to be fun. playing this game was one thing that helped me getting through the last meters of university. it's like watching the downfall of the simpsons again without making the comparison too set in stone, just... this thing that used to be decent and nice and watching it getting ruined in real time (broken promises about pve, the recent gameplay changes?? the lore was fucked up from the start but they kind of tried, now it's just skins for 20+ dollars) while still having feelings for the characters is shit. anyway...

i recently went through a big folder of stuff i'd drawn at the age of 12-15 and there were so many fucked up but cool monster and cyborgs designs and just silly stupid stuff and all i could think of was that i felt so distanced from it, like i don't even know i think this is normal? because a lot of time has passed and a lot has happened and i knew i've drawn all this but i wasn't able to locate the person who did in my present me now and... it's just so normal that things move constantly forward but i feel like i missed huge chunks and passed a few stops and now i'm kind of lost.

i don't even know what i'm trying to say here anymore. i just feel sad because it feels like sth is slipping out of my grasp or sth has changed tremendously and i don't know how to make damage control.

i keep trying tho, i try to draw once a week at least. it's just like as soon as i take a step back and look at it i don't feel it at all. gonna continue tho, until it makes sense again i hope.

[cursedvida]

Honestly. Every two or three days someone publishes a post saying "oh why do you like nomae? If mae is bad, she's the villain, blah blah blah" that makes me wonder if these people have a life beyond wasting their time hating.

If you don't like something, can't you just block it? Or can't you just focus on promoting what you like?

Oh my god, do something productive with your lives.

It's good to see that lately even those who don't ship nomae are against these people.

There are many points we can discuss about this.

For example, we can talk about how absurd and pointless it is to throw hate at a ship. I mean, what do people gain from it? Making others feel bad? Do they really get satisfaction from shaming and trying to make people feel guilty for just trying to escape reality for a while by shipping and fangirling over things they like in a healthy and purely playful way? Do they seriously find any pleasure in it? Does it give them dopamine or something? Because if they really need to crush people to feel better about themselves, what I would recommend is to leave the internet and start therapy because these are indeed very sadistic and sociopathic behaviors.

Putting aside the melodramatic and catastrophic moment, we can also talk about how sad it is to waste time hating something instead of doing something productive like, for example, creating content. They complain that the KotPotA tags are infested with things about Nomae, but do they contribute anything beyond the hate? Do they write dissertations, present theories, upload gifsets or fanarts? No, of course not, they just throw crap. I mean, if it bothers you so much that when you enter the tag 90% of the content is not to your liking, then I invite you to fill the tag with things you do like. You are free to do so. But I guess it’s much easier to just complain instead of making an effort to contribute.

This brings me to another point that I find very ironic. Yes, everything is full of Nomae, but that is precisely what keeps the fandom alive. Every day someone uploads some fanart, some video, some comment or fanfic. Every day there is someone talking in this tag about the topic that, whether many like it or not, means talking about the movies. Let’s be honest, those of us who keep fandoms alive (and I speak in general) are the shippers, especially when they are fandoms of franchises whose content are movies that take years to come out. If it weren’t for people fangirling all the time, there would be no content on social media. I’m sorry if you don’t like that content, but once again I invite you to use your freedom of expression to create rather than try to destroy people’s self-esteem.

But well, as you say, at least there are people with common sense and enough mental maturity to understand that if you don’t like something, the best thing to do is ignore it and that’s it, as well as understanding that shaming people on social media is very much a thing of 15 years ago and today it’s just pathetic.

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

There's a really unfortunate cycle characters tend to go through in long-running games that personally makes me quite sad as someone who tends to really like new characters and designs.

A game starts up, gets a surge of interest and players and henceforth a lot of the earlier characters are very popular. Sometimes if a game is lucky, this will go on for quite a while (such as Arknights), and a lot of fanart gets made of a ton of characters for one reason or another. Maybe they're a really good character, maybe they are one person's blorbo, or maybe they're just hot.

Then the game starts to stabilize in terms of interest. Players either remain steady or leave and newer additions are slower. Newer characters don't generate as much interest. People still really like the older characters, and hence the cycle begins.

New characters don't have much fan creations made of them as earlier ones, signaling to other people a general lack of interest, even if new fan creations for older characters are also slowing. This results in older characters getting the majority of the attention, further creating the effect that newer characters simply aren't popular, resulting in less fan creations than before.

Often times the only characters that survive this as characters connected to other, older characters (Degenbrecher, Viviana, Shu) or characters who are different versions of their older counterparts (Wis'adel for instance). But it means a ton of different characters basically stop existing at large. If you like Valarqvin or Coldshot or Santalla, or even some of the newer 6-stars like Ascalon (this one baffles me) or Narantuya or Zuo Le don't get anywhere near as much attention. A lot of the time you are looking for content of these characters in the hands of a few enthusiasts. This might surprise you, but Coldshot is pretty unpopular outside of the handful of really big enthusiasts for her.

This is to say nothing of like, NPCs either. If you're someone who likes NPCs like me you're just guaranteed to be suffering.

I don't know if I posting this out of a desire for a solution or anything, it just makes me kind of sad. It's a product of our human brains working overtime but I really wish sometimes I could find more good content of the characters I enjoy, and not just the same characters from 3-4 years ago.

[jennaaswife]

The fact that we didn't get ANYTHING from Wednesday's official account for the two-years anniversary of the release is more than disappointing. Even a simple small story would have been enough. But no, nothing. And they expect the fandom to still be active after this... it's been two years, and the only thing we got is the two Wednesday videos and the teaser. I really thought they'd post a Wenclair or just a character trend/video every Wednesday as they did it twice until the wrapping, but no. We didn't even get a wrapping group picture... dissapointing.

Literally, the fandom is dying. I've seen all the pics of Jenna and Emma, read all the Wenclair fics, watched all the fanarts. Now it's just boring. I don't know when I'll post a new Wenclair fanfic on my Ao3—soon, hopefully as I have like 2k ideas on my notes—but right now I just feel like taking a break from this show 🤷🏻‍♀️ I found a new hyperfixation, Agatha & Rio from Agatha All Along so I might write some stuff from this on another Ao3 acc. We'll see. I just hope Wednesday's acc will do something soon to entertain the fandom because they're losing people. I've seen a lot of people on social media saying they quit... it's sad

Ofc I'll continue to post here if there's any updates or some random pics, but probably less than before because, what would I even post about considering we have nothing new? At least until like season 2 trailer or something interesting where I'll post a looot. I might also post a new shorr fanfic soon, but I need to finish it first and right now I don't feel like it. Stay turned! <3

[skeedelvee]

Carry On Countdown Day 1 - Something Old

For this year's COC I've decided to put together daily fic rec lists! Let me know if you find any new favorite reads from these <3

For todays prompt I've gone with fics written pre-Wayward Son!

To Get to You by ikehgaan

Rated M, 40,437 words

I think of this fic often. Fight kissing! Who could ask for more!

Simon figured the Pitches didn’t exactly encourage being open and honest about feelings. Unsurprising, but a little sad. Baz always acted aloof, as though nothing got to him, except with Simon. Simon could always get to Baz. (When Simon can’t take out his frustration on Baz by fighting him in their room because of the anathema, he resorts to more… unconventional methods).

No Tomorrow by Spockzilla

Rated T, 42,142 words

I will never listen to Take a Chance on Me with out thinking of this fic. It's such a fun take on the time loop trope!

“Why didn’t you wake me?” I growl groggily into my pillow. “It’s not my job to wake you up. Get an alarm clock, you fucking numpty,” he snaps. I wonder if super hearing is a vampire thing. “You threw my alarm clock into the moat first year!” I shout over the music. “Not my problem,” he says, as he slams the door shut behind him.

Cinnamon Lips by @f-ing-ruthless-baz

Rated T, 9,249 words

I love a good drunkenly getting together story and this is a great one!

“Snow, did you drink my Fireball?” “Your what?” He blinks at me, wobbling in place for a second, so I nod at the flask in his hand and he grins. “It tastes like cinnamon sweets and burning,” he says proudly. “That it does. Now hand it over.” He scowls. “You know, you act like you’re so fucking perfect all the time, Mr. Know-It-All, Mr. Good-at-Magic, Mr. Shampoo-Advert-Hair—” “Snow—” “But imagine what people would say if they knew Basilton fucking Pitch, top of the class, hangs out with corpses and drinks cinnamon sweets?”

Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps by stellatundra

Rated M, 3,936 words

Baz sowing some wild oats? Simon getting jealous as hell? Sign me up!

After his kidnapping ordeal, Baz goes to a magickal bar, deciding he deserves just one night to forget about destiny, numpties and Simon Snow. Simon follows him, convinced he’s up to no good, but is taken by surprise when he sees his roommate kissing another boy.

All this soulmate shit by half_witch

I only read this for the first time this year. It is so fun. If you love magic soulmate tropes, this one has just about all of them!

Rated M, 31,573 words

Simon has learned to despise his ‘evil anti-friendmate’ Baz despite being connected to him through magic their entire lives. From sharing luck at ten years old, to mind reading at twelve, to teleportation at seventeen, and the Red String of Fate at twenty—Simon and Baz know only three rules: 1) The New Year’s Eve countdown brings them one new bond to share, 2) The bond only lasts the year, and 3) Bonds NEVER occur twice. But this year, the magic is out of their control and seems hellbent on bringing them closer together—even if it kills them.

I Hoped It Was You by EllisyaSyron

Simon and Baz fall for each other without knowing they're talking to each other. It's like You've Got Mail, but better since neither of them lose their family bookstore in the end. Excellent dialogue!

Rated T, 8,901 words

as requested by anon: "au where baz and simon start talking online bc baz writes drarry fics and simon draws fanart and they do a collab (they don't know that it's them)" BlackPrince: I want to kiss you. SSPuffPride: I want to kiss you too. I wish I could BlackPrince: ...Tell me how you would.

Unspoken Rules and Simon's Nights by @lilmcgil

Rated E, 5,503 and 5,822 words respectively

This was one of the first Snowbaz fics that I ever got obsessed with. Both fics are truly excellent!

Simon and Baz develop a nightly routine. In the daylight they pretend it's not happening.

Companion piece to Unspoken Rules. Same plot line, but from Simon's perspective. I think it would make more sense if you read that first. But don't let that keep you from reading this if you haven't! Be a rebel if you want.

If you have any recs that fit the prompt that I've missed, feel free to leave them in the comments! There's plenty of gaps in my reading so there's a good chance I may not have read it.

Also I've had a hard time finding if some people are here on Tumblr, so if you know someone who hasn't been tagged, feel free to leave that in the comments as well <3

@carryon-countdown

[kerubimcrepin]

Dofus: The Production - reviewing the Xa and Tot interview

pictured: 7yo Joris, 10yo Joris, 60yo Joris, and 584-585yo Joris.

Funnily enough, this interview will touch onto something already mentioned in the artbook I already reviewed.

The origins of Joris as a character.

Sadly, it is machine translated, but I think we'll understand it well enough.

Here we learn that Joris was inspired by Vivi from Final Fantasy. I am sad to report I had never played Final Fantasy, and all my knowledge of him comes from hearsay at best, but Id do find there to be some very funny and twisted parallels between Vivi and Joris, beyond their troubles with lifespans (Vivi's being extremely short, Joris's the opposite...)

Like lol. Lmao even. (laughs fondly at the memory of having drawn fanart of Kerubim and Joris cannibalising one another as symbolism for Kerubim's selfish exploitation of Joris for his own emotional needs and regrets, — and Joris growing to derive pleasure from being exploited by Kerubim, and being a willing participant in the mixture of parentification and infantilization he experiences after the 600 years of living with his dad.)

Anyway,

Joris's progression as a character being "joke character -> character Xa created to be cool and awesome in a moment of inspiration, despite Tot's brief -> he bewitches them both fully" is so funny to me.

I always found it funny that Tot doesn't really see the forest (dofus aux tresors de kerubim) for the trees (child neglect and the psychological horror of Joris Jurgen's entire existence).

Not even going to comment on not knowing what the hell "epic-burlesque" is supposed to mean.

Now we move onto my favourite part of this interview: Tot's thoughts on Joris as a character.

I'm glad he said that they've worked on his life story through multiple centuries. Gives me hope that Tot has given thought to Joris's experiences during Leorictus Sheran-Sharms silly, perhaps even whacky reign.

I want to note the word choice here, — Joris isn't mysterious, but jaded. All of his caginess and "mystique" is attributable in equal part to his distrust of others, cynicism, and exhaustion with the horrible things he has seen throughout his life.

Which would very likely include being cagy even about his class, considering the whole "huppermage gencocide" thing that happened after Leorictus Sheran-Sharm.

The thing about Joris is that it is hard to appraise him from our own point of view. I had always liked how this franchise treats immortal characters, — they are beings with feelings, who make mistakes, who have issues.

But it does not make them any less incomprehensible.

In a way, he is so compelling to me, because I find his existence terrifying — Joris is someone who started out with all these ideas of kindness and justice, but can someone who is 600 years old really uphold them?

Judging from Waven, we know the answer to this question.

I think that with Joris's character, as well as Kerubim and Atcham, one of the major themes is stagnation.

While at times their immortality, and the freedom it provides, is referred to in a bit of an "optimistic nihilism" way,

Especially with the themes and motifs referenced in Aux Tresors de Kerubim, (especially with the ending directly referencing Diane Ardant's monologue,)

It's such a painful mixture of stagnation and endless freedom. There's a horror of never being able to escape, — not from having to experience the horrors of history, not from your own childhood house.

And then there's the horror of moving on from everyone you ever loved. While Kerubim and Joris share this one, I associate it more with Kerubim simply because he is so obsessed with the stories of his youth. It feels as if what was two hundred years ago is just yesterday, to him...

While with Atcham it's just speculation and my own headcanons, the sort of immortality, stagnation related horror I associate with him is dependency. He is not the same, strong person he used to be when he was alone. If he had to go back to Brakmar after all this time, he wouldn't be able to adjust. It's like all this time has declawed him.

Joris never really knew a life outside the all-consuming relationship he has with Kerubim and Atcham, but for Atcham it's different. And with every unchanging year that passes, he settles more and more into this peaceful existence, — and if he were torn away from it, just like Joris and Kerubim, he would not be able to function.

I think that the theoretical endpoint of where Kerubim, Joris, and Atcham could end up is whatever is going between Qilby and Shinonome.

Being one another's only meaning, in a world devoid of meaning, for better or for worse. Probably for worse.

[anime-grimmy-art]

It’s this time of the year again, folks. Time to wrap up the art Ive made in the last 12 months in another Year in Review! I’ve noticed that this is my fifth Year in Review in a row, so I’ll be making an extra post looking back on the progress in those last 5 years!

I've got a lot to say about this year, but purely art wise, I've gone all when it comes to comics, damn! I've kinda found a format that is messy, and therefore more time efficient, yet still looks good. I even made 2 animatics and lotsa shorts/reels! All that on top of opening coms twice, and, oh yeah, MAKING A WHOLE ASS 4MIN ANIMATION ON MY OWN.

How is my hand still alive.

2023 has been….interesting, to say the least. The first half year I was working on my thesis project, aka making an animated short all on my own (in the art department), which makes it honestly surprising how much I managed to churn out between animating. Trigun rly did have me in a choke hold.

Summer was a bit more spotty, esp. with me not being able to draw anything during August as I was writing my thesis (and doing commissions). And towards the end of the year, Kingdom Hearts tried to save me, but alas, Genshin Impact has finally sunk its teeth into me and dragged me to the bottom of the rabbit hole. It all started with me watching a story summary and lore videos while I was sick after my thesis and I was too intrigued to not dig deeper and well, first I fell in love with Kaeya and then the ships started dropping in left and right.

I’m not gonna lie, the last few months have been weird. I finished my masters in October, and have been on job hunt since, sadly without success so far. I’m existing in this weird limbo of still not grasping I’m not a student anymore after 18 years in education, not really being able to accept I’m an adult, yet desperately trying to find something so I can make a routine, cos rn Im too scared to build a rhythm as I know I’ll have a so much harder time readjusting again. It’s left me in a weird emotional state, where most of the time I feel fine, but when it counts, there’s just, nothing. No joy at getting my diploma, no anticipation to finally go to a convention again, neither any sadness hearing my grandfather died. It frustrates me that it extends to my art as well, there’s excitement over ideas and concepts, but no motivation to pick up the pencil, which makes me either not finish art at all or making so many shortcuts and just ending up with sth not satisfactory to me since it’s not the idea I sought after.

Tho, not everything is doom and gloom. I DID finish a whole ass short animation and got my masters degree, that IS sth to be proud of. Also, while Im struggling at drawing, I’ve also kinda started integrating my shortcuts into my style and some stuff I’ve thrown together actually turns out real good nowadays. Also, and this might be a bit of a weird one, I’m so fucking happy to know I can still enjoy gay ships. I’ve been a bit uncertain over the last few years because when I was around 16-18, I had a real big yaoi phase, which mostly came from the fact so much stuff came out that tickled my brain in the right way (Free, Haikyuu, etc.). But over the years, my enthusiasm died down, and I even started to resent some ships because it’s all some fandoms produced. I often found myself liking a hetero ship more than the popular gay ship, which really made me not wanna stick around because I did not care for most fanart and you can only go through a tag with art you don’t care about so long before you lose interest. I think in retrospect that it rly had nothing to do with the ships being gay ships but rather cos the fans just shoved it in your face when you didn’t care (and shipping culture nowadays also can get real scary). But I’m so happy to see I can still get obsessed with a ship and it’s all thanks to Haikaveh/Kavetham. It really just needed the right flavour for me to dig in again. And oh my god, I FINALLY like a ship with a SHIT TON of art and fanfictions, no more scrounging the crumbs from the bottom of the barrel. 

Anyways, enough lamenting. Here’s to hoping I can bite my tongue and get shit started properly in 2024, and that my brainrots may make me obsessed enough to churn out an obscene amount of fanart again.

[mimithelion]

I love furina so much, I hate the infantalization of her sm it's not even funny. I was talking about this to my friend yesterday and it's genuinely infuriating, so let's start

1. Her backstory was extremely sad and it made the fandom feel sympathy for her (as it should). But it really does get to a point. The fandom instantly started babying her and turning her into a "Traumatized silly who eats cake 🥺". I really hate to bring this up, but regarding how people in the fandom treat neuvifuri just says it all. "Furina's literally his daughter" She's a grown ass woman who's his FRIEND 😭. That is a popular headcanon, one that I genuinely hate because it's literally just another way y'all baby her. The fanart with this headcanon just says it all, with furina being extremely short and being insufferable to neuvilette for some reason.

2. The reaction you get when you find her attractive in the same way people find characters like yelan, chlorinde and ei attractive. She's short (like most of the female cast) and flat chested so people think that makes her a child. "She's cute not hot" it low-key just shows how half you people who were "excited" about her not being oversexualized and having normal body proportions aren't actually all that accepting, because the second you aren't curvy like the other female characters, they instantly see them as a child.

3. "She's one of wriolette's children!" ☠️ No hate to normal wriolette enjoyers but the main reason why this fandom sees her as a child is because of this ship. For some reason, this fandom thinks female characters get in the way of gay ships, so they have to make them pick-mes or children. Same thing in the hsr fandom, with mozeqiu and how they babied feixiao.

4. 98% of her fanbase has an extreme victim complex and it's genuinely concerning. Most of the genuinely bad Furina hate stopped after 4.2 when her backstory was released. Everyone had a valid reason to dislike furina before her backstory dropped because nobody likes an 'bratty' archon who SEEMINGLY does not do their job, especially after a lot of us were hyped for a female character who could do her job instead of abusing her people for a couple hundred years and then instantly being forgiven..⚡ "proud to say I never hated furina" I know 50% of people who say ts are lying LMAO. She's also a fictional character. Dislike her if you want, you're not a misogynist.

5. Too much focus on her trauma, it's been months, I get it, it's tragic, but what else? Y'all done gave her the aventurine treatment and then claimed to love her ☠️

6. I understand headcanoning her as aroace for fun but I can tell when it's because y'all don't like a certain ship, it's just another way to baby her. "She needs healing, not a boyfriend!" And it's coming from a wriolette shipper?? Neuvilette needs healing too but I don't see you headcanoning him as aroace. Fandom acts like significant others are just people who hurt you more, like you can heal WITH the person bro 😭👻.

Anyways, thanks for reading, Mimi blesses you :3

@ironunderstands friend I talked to yesterday go follow them 🧍🏽‍♀️

[whirligig-girl]

Mellanoid Slime Species Sheet (Draft)

Mellanoids were very uncommon in Starfleet following first contact in 2360 and joining the Federation during the Dominion War in 2373. Most mellanoids in space careers joined the United Mellanus Space Program. (see also: Mellanoid Space Exploration) Felime Trox was an NCO during the Dominion War. Eaurp Guz was the first to be an officer in 2379, and there's only a small handful of other mellanoids in Starfleet. As of the 2380s a few more are trickling in each year.

In the late 2390s and the 2400s, Mellanus Space Program gets essentially integrated into starfleet, and Mellanoids start absolutely pouring into starfleet.

Logo of the United Mellanoid Space Program.

fig 1: Just a small window into the possible variation of Mellanoid body plans. Humanoid and humanoid variations are the most common, but practically anything is possible. fig 2: Ditto for faces. fig 3: Cutaway of a mellanoid's face showing the spongy inside of the gelatin skull, the mouth, and an eyeball. fig 4: skeletal gelatin inside a mellanoid hand resembles a mushier, less consistent version of humanoid hand anatomy. fig 5 (left, oops): The visceral and skeletal goo support each other, without the visceral goo acting as muscle the skeletal goo flops. fig 5 (right): a three-lunged individual, with a close up showing the foamy structure of their lungs. fig 6: Demonstration that all forms of slime are interchangeable. fig 7: Mellanoids generally lack genitalia (unless they want them!) fig 8A: three infants (slime worms). fig 8B: the same individuals as children. fig 8C: the same individuals as young adults.

Mellanoids have differing consistency depending upon emotional state. They may get softer when sad or tired, or bouncy when startled. They may become drippy when anxious. Even intense positive emotion can lead to melting sometimes. The default texture is like a somewhat tough jello, jiggly but not sticky and with no residue left behind. When very sad they are capable of crying, with the sclera of their eyes melting alongside other parts of their face and body. In addition to losing cohesion with strong emotional state or sleepiness, Mellanoids can voluntarily liquify and move as a liquid, and even accomplish a limited degree of shapeshifting in this amorphous state. When sleeping or otherwise unconscious, mellanoids will melt into their amorphous form, and either spread thin so they can absorb air through their body, or if they're sleeping in a padded tub, they will manifest lung-foam on the top surface to continue to take in air into their body.

N.B.: Mellanoid consistency and physics is also just kinda whatever works! They're cartoon characters from an animated cartoon and fanart for another animated cartoon. If it feels right, it probably is right, even if it contradicts something I've said in the previous paragraph. The whole point of slimegirl emotional consistency to me is that it is a visual symbolism for how strong emotions can feel--if you feel like you're falling apart then that's what you will look like, if your heart melts you're literally melting, if you feel tense and rigid then you'll be tough and rubbery. And doubtless different mellanoids can be more capable or less capable of not just emotional regulation, but hiding the visible extent of these emotions.

Here is a reference sheet showing variation in existing Mellanoid Slime characters, and also a warp ship and a steam engine for reasons which are unlikely to become clear again soon. NB: following image contains drawings by myself, Ray Daly, and James, as well as a few screenshots of Star Trek Prodigy. Names which are not native mellanoid names are put in quotes.

The bioluminescence here is exaggerated so you can see it--it would really be much much more subtle, to the point that it might be difficult to even see it as colored light.

[galactic-rhea]

possibly the most obvious ship i could send for the ask meme but anidala/vaderdala!

ohohoh of course, them!!!!

when I started shipping it if I did:

Probably since I started watching TCW and saw some fanarts! Which I know it's a bit odd because most people apparently dislike them in TCW (and yeah, when I finally watched the movies I get why!), but that very first iteration of them in i think, the second episode of TCW with them kissing in an enemy ship, with Obi-Wan a few metres away, and all because she randomly ran into danger, was very, very fun to me, so I shipped them in a "they're dorks" way.

Then a saw all the epic tragedy romance stuff and, yeah, i'm sold.

my thoughts:

I think I have said it before, but there's something very "bigger than life" about their romance, which is what kept me hooked beyond "is just funny". They're extremelly passionate people, with the height of the world on their shoulders, and with sides of them that no one but the other knew about each other. Particularly with Padmé becuase she's very cold and compossed most of the time (it's her politician facade!). Anakin overall is just very painfully obvious and easy to read, but he still kept many things from the world, and Padmé knew most of that iceberg, so to speak, and they still loved each other madly despite the ugly side.

What makes me happy about them:

They're just,,,very romantic and silly! When they're actually together and in a situation where they're allowed to relax, they're just very dumb and in love 😆 I think what it makes me so happy about them is that you could tell how happy they were with each other, despite being so miserable most of the time, they just loved each other so much and that's nice.

What makes me sad about them:

This doesn't need answer, lmao 😭😂 But yeah, the,,,tragedy and damnation, Anakin turning on her despite doing all of that for her on the first place hurts so much

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

I'll be honest, I haven't read that many fics that focus anidala? At least no yet, it's been less than a year since a got into this. But I guess it could be that,,,many times they're tagged and then in the fic it's barely mentioned, like sometimes it will be just Anakin randomly thinkin "ah yes, padmé" lol

Another thing could be that,,,ehhh Padmé rendered to just girlboss/dominatrix/ the one that just gives Anakin a glare to keep him on check as if he's a manchild. And the diametrically opposite of this which is just sad, crying, poor wife in a domestic abusive situation and Anakin being the epitiome of Evil Bad Boy Sexy Cool Kidnapper

things I look for in fanfic:

Honestly i just want them being fairly in-character, I feel like they're very easily misinterpreted. But again, everyone has a different opinon on them, I guess, so -shrugs- Probably more situations in which Anakin is the one kidnapped/wounded/in danger and Padmé has to do something about it, so hurt/comfort!

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

Ah....-scratches head- They're so obssesed with each other that it's hard for me to think about that. Like, sometimes I fancy for the giggles and jokes some other ships for them in like a passing crush way, like Anakin and Rex, or Padmé and Breha, but, their narratives are so damn tangled into each other's that it's hard to, but that's just me.

My happily ever after for them:

Anakin leaves the order, Padmé steps away from politics and run away to Naboo to raise their twins, like they always wanted 🥺

Alternatively, I like to believe their ghosts are very happilly looking over Luke and Leia,,,,,,,and also haunting and scaring some random privileged senators passing awful bills in Coruscant. They love writing messages on mirrors with red lipstick

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

I think Padmé likes to be the big spoon just to more easily bite and headbutt him. But they switch, i suppose, because I'm sure Anakin sometimes just really really wants to hpld her.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

Domestic: Just talking, the most boring and mundane stuff, but they just like talking.

Not so domestic: These two are wild souls, they probably enjoy randomly rushing to help some planet/cause/random battle, whatever. In an ideal scenario, this usually means rushing into the ship to go and bail their children out of jail, organize a heist, or a little slave liberation. While holding hands.

[moralesmilesanhour]

The main takeaway from the conversation around the lack of reblogs or comments on fics shouldn't be "writers want more engagement". It should be "the lack of meaningful interaction with creative works makes fandom less enjoyable", I think.

Frankly, I couldn't give a rat's ass if a fic of mine or fanart gets a million notes if it doesn't spark a conversation or any sign of a reaction. The most that a like communicates to me is that someone tapped a button and moved on.

The whole point of fandom creation is to share your ideas with the hopes of connecting with other fans, so when people start to treat creative works like another endless stream of content to scroll through, it kills that feeling of connection.

The whole reason why people want followers and reblogs to begin with is because that USED TO MEAN that more people would interact with you! That's the issue here 😭

I feel like we've been trained to look at everything like a disposable product that we can consume before moving onto the next thing. That’s like...the antithesis of what it means to engage with a creative work.

If this wasn't the case, people wouldn't have cozied up to AI-generated content in the fic community so quickly. I still think about that one viral comment where someone took an unfinished fic and put it into chatGPT without the author's consent, just so that the main characters could get happily married and be done with it.

(This coincides with the apparent hatred people have begun to express towards stories that are tragic or open-ended, but that's an entirely different conversation.)

You're *supposed* to come back to shit you enjoyed years after it's published. You're *supposed* to chat with others about something you like with earnest excitement. It's not cringe or weird. That's the point!

Please, for the love of god, start making it a habit to engage with things that make you excited. It really is about more than just writers being sad about numbers.

[serichan]

So, I have another fanart for you and some thoughts about the show. I stumbled upon some recs and comments, and I’m fascinated by how many different reactions it tends to bring out. It’s incredible. From love to hate and everything in between, it’s amazing. For me, it’s love. It’s really, really love—though maybe as a guilty pleasure, I think. But honestly, I don’t feel very conflicted about it.

What’s good?

• Visuals: Stunning. Absolutely stunning.

• Music: I’m addicted. It’s been on repeat for weeks now. A good thing my partner is used to my obsessions with music, or I swear they’d have killed me by now.

• Pretty boys: God, they’re pretty. They’re very young, but they’re so pretty.

• Shipping potential: Everyone is shippable. This is a ship fest, and I love it.

• Emotional turmoil: I loved how much it made me want to cry. That’s amazing.

• Characters: I mostly loved the characters here, with a few exceptions (we’ll get to that).

• Non-heteronormative ideas: I like this new approach to pushing these themes through censorship. Yeah, of course, it’s baiting, but it always was, even before the ban. And this new idea is fun—I hope it sticks.

• Polycule dramas: Yes, please. I love it.

• Zhu Yan: I love him.

• Zuo Yichen: I love him.

• Found family: I love it.

• Addictiveness: It’s so compelling.

This show has my heart, flaws and all. It’s such a ride. What do you think?

Two things I didn’t like:

1. Sexism:

Oh my god. The damsel-in-distress trope was unbearable. Wen Xiao started so strong, and then they just threw it all away. It was so frustrating! PJ was lovely, but the “big sister” trope is so overused. It feels like they push strong female characters into these traditionally “female” roles, and it’s tiresome. At least Beijing had her sapphic romance with Wen Xiao, which was cute, I guess. But still, I wanted so much more.

2. Timeline:

The timeline is nonsense. Absolute nonsense. Like, the stuff with Li Lan—when exactly did that happen? Eight years ago? How do they go from teenagers to older demons in eight years? It’s ridiculous. It breaks immersion because it makes no sense. I’d honestly rather they just didn’t give us any specific dates.

3. The Big Bad:

Oh, don’t even get me started. The villains were so bad. Every dramatic fight scene had the bad guy just standing there, letting them monologue for hours. Why? Who does that? Though, I will admit, I kind of enjoy this trope for the campy drama, but it still drove me crazy.

4. Over-the-top Torture Scenes:

The unnecessary torture of Zhu Yan was too much. He was already a deeply sad character, and we didn’t need the lightning scene or all the extra suffering. It felt cheap and overdone, like they were trying too hard to milk the angst.

5. Zhu Yan/Wen Xiao Romance:

This could’ve been good, but the idea that he knew her as a child? No, no, no. That’s creepy, and I hate it. Either lean into the idea of him being a parental figure, or scrap the “I knew you as a child” angle entirely. It’s unnecessary and off-putting.

6. Too Much Crying:

Wen Xiao spent way too much time crying on the floor. Can we please let her be a strong female lead? Why does she have to default to being a damsel in distress? She was so promising in the first episode, and then they just threw that potential away. It was infuriating.

7. The Wings:

I'm sorry, but I hated the wings. They looked cheap and... just stupid. I really couldn’t take them seriously.

Overall Love for the Drama:

That said, it might seem like there are more things I didn’t like than liked, but that’s not true. I freaking loved this drama. I’d give it a 9 out of 10. A strong 9. If I didn’t love it, I wouldn’t be spending all my free time writing fics for it! And believe me, I’m not usually a big fic writer. Though, to be fair, I mostly blame the fact that the cast is so bloody pretty.

Music Video Aesthetic:

Oh, one more thing I really loved—it looks like a big freaking music video, and I loved it! It was so aesthetically pleasing, such a visual feast.

Costumes:

Most of the costumes were stunning, though sometimes a bit over the top. I couldn’t stop laughing about all the dangly chain-knee things in the hair. I have long hair, and trust me—that’s a stupid idea if you want to move a lot. It’d get caught in everything. You’d need to be a magical being to deal with that nonsense. But, hey, it looked pretty and gave me lots of ideas!

Boys Crying:

The boys looked absolutely stunning while crying, and I had so much fun torturing them in my fics. Truly, they are too pretty, and I’m here for it.

Demon Costumes:

There weren’t too many over-the-top costumes in the demon sphere, which I appreciated. I don’t like all the plastic prosthetics and weird visual cues you see in dramas like Love and Game. It looks cheap. I much preferred the red glowy effects and face tattoos—they looked cool and suited the aesthetic.

Moral Greyness:

Maybe they leaned a little too much into the “white lotus” trope for the characters. I would’ve liked more moral greyness, especially for the Great Demon. He started off strong and morally ambiguous, but then he became too virtuous, and it got annoying.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, yeah, I loved it. These are just nitpicks. The visuals were gorgeous, the music was addictive, and the characters gave me so much inspiration. So, yeah, these are my very long, very jumbled thoughts about the drama. Please enjoy the fanart!

For my fics find me at

[nyaaamato]

i feel so so crazy every time i think about the expressions obito pulls during the kamui fight... everyone always focuses on his "crazy smile" and it's become so prevalent in fanart and fanfiction that you'd almost think his character was defined by that emotion...

instead i want to talk about the way the animators used the (very sparse) light in his eyes during that fight to convey something different about him that i think is so much more important to understanding his motives and feelings during this part of the series: determination (to, in his mind, "save the world") and grief (knowing, at least somewhere deep, deep down that things will be the same. after all- he wants to create a perfect dream world, not a perfect world because when reality refuses to change... then you settle for second best).

during the start of the fight between obito and kakashi in kamui, both of their eyes are lightless and faraway, they've closed themselves off emotionally to stay resolute in their convictions. this is the first time they've fought face to face in twenty years, and we can tell this takes a toll on both of them because the shots switch back and forth between them fighting as kids to them as adults and back again, with their expressions and reactions mimicking those of when they were younger. it stands out less on kakashi, because while he did change as he grew up he still has a fairly reserved attitude and sticks to the shinobi rules of not showing vulnerability in front of his students and teammates.

it's more obvious with obito, because the distinction between him as a kid and an adult are just so different. whether it's quiet sadness (when he talks with minato about kakashi and sakumo before the kannabi bridge mission) or frustation (not graduating fast enough) or worry (they've lose a teammate in enemy territory), his emotions are drawn exaggerated from the get-go. obito is emotional outwardly and that's a staple of his childhood self as well as another reason he's a "black sheep" shinobi.

then, we have several chapters and episodes after his face reveal where his expressions hardly expand past a frown and a deeper frown. it's easier for him to close himself off, dissociate into someone who can take on an entire army, because that army represents the bulk of what he sees wrong with the shinobi world. alone with kakashi, though... feelings slip in. he doesn't have a character to play, a mask to wear.

kid obito's determination not to lose slips through, and you can see the bitter sadness, the desperation behind his feelings. this expression drags out significantly longer than kakashi, and in many ways gives the impression that his will is stronger than kakashi's. kakashi can't bring himself to kill obito, no matter how close he gets. his resolution is weaker than obito's conviction to free himself, destroy his last shred of humanity (his heart) by throwing himself on kakashi's blade.

kakashi's "determined gleam":

versus obito's:

i don't have much else to say really HAHA... i've just been thinking about this like ten second long snippet of their fight since i rewatched it a few months ago because it's something i totally missed when i watched it air years ago. this isn't a kakashi snub either! he just doesn't get his character quite so brutalised by fandom the way obito does, and i'd looove to see more content that doesn't diminish him to "angry guy that swears a lot" LMAO

[willowisapillow]

🐉 Next Time On South Park Z 🐉

The couple of all time 💝

Here it is, the true (super belated) Valentine’s Day picture. Yet another cringe crossover absolutely nobody asked for yet I deliver because I can. Apologies if I’ve been posting way too much South Park stuff, it’s yet another franchise that I’m currently unhealthily hyper-fixated on. Enjoy some more Randy and Sharon appreciation art from me, because these two dorks are just everything to me <3

This was also made as a small tribute to Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball after I found out that he passed away earlier this month on March 1st. Even though I’m a casual fan of the series, still makes me sad that he’s no longer and that we lost another anime/manga legend.

This whole art became a thing based on a phone call between me and one of my older brothers. We were just talking about random dumb stuff and he jokingly asked me to draw Cartman as Naruto and Kyle as Saskue (which is an art project that y’all know damn well I’ll be drawing in the future so look out for that lmao). I just started laughing to myself, but then I thought to myself, “What other anime could I cross over with South Park?” then Dragon Ball popped up in my head all of a sudden, and that’s how this cringefest came to be.

I can kinda see some connections with it, tbh. Both Goku and Randy are dumbass but funny as hell dads (they also have black hair), and both Chichi and Sharon are no-nonsense moms who are often exasperated by their hubbies’ idiotic actions, but do love them deep down and have shared some wholesome cute moments together with them. Both series also feature a lot of fighting and deaths too lol

And since it is the year of the dragon, this pic is pretty fitting :>

I thought I would take forever with this picture because a. I’m total garbage at drawing realistic-ish, non-animal guy characters, and b. I don’t draw side-view faces that much, but surprisingly it wasn’t too hard. I did get kinda lazy with the lower half of Randy’s body and didn’t draw it, but besides that, the whole art was pretty easy. Minus drawing the hands. Because Jesus tap dancing Christ, the hands took me lightyears to get right 🙃

All in all, this might be one of my favorite 2024 pieces of art I’ve drawn so far. Again, these two are special to me, and I finally got the chance to cross over some of my favorite things, cartoons and anime. Maybe I might draw Stan and Wendy as Gohan and Videl in the future as a little follow-up ^^

Also, the mental image of Randy going Super Saiyan is just the funniest shit to me, istg someone needs to make fanart, an animation, or some other sort of meme of that 💀

That’s all that I have for now. Hope you guys have a great day or night, and make sure to stay safe out there.

Farewell, Toriyama. May your memory and legacy live on 😇