#the more important question

[the-broken-pen]

I go somewhere without service for ONE DAY and suddenly everyone decides to tag and follow me. I love y’all but now I have to go find which WIP I left my latest rambling in and slap it into a tag game post.

I’m a little sleep deprived ❤️💪

[lunaeternamente]

Is snoring considered a torture tactic? Because it should be

[varilien]

you know me, in the way that matters most.

[chalkrub]

art trade w/ thrak800 on twit - love this fella !

[nibbelraz]

Ok

[gunsatthaphan]

they got their silly romcom 🥹

[mantequillamcwhoremick]

my weird take that I've accepted as canon without questioning it until i realized i literally just made that up, is that I think Stephen Stotch has the fattest hots for Stuart McCormick and all I have to show for to elaborate is this detail from TFBW

why are they. in a strip club together. like stuart i understand but stephen hasn't been shown to have any attraction to women. in 26 seasons of the entire show

[anxi04]

Hear me out. HEAR ME OUT.

DC X Epic:TheMusical

Tim Drake who is the descent of the last line of Odysseus (so a descendent of Hermes) through Jack and a daughter of Athena (Janet)

Athena who misses her friend Odysseus and sees so much of him in Tim, who is technically her grandchild and she's so excited about it.

Hermes who also considered Odysseus his friend in a way also seeing so much of him in Tim and being more loudly giddy about it.

Athena and Hermes who absolutely adore Tim and are so proud of him because their kid is so smart and brave and strong and witty.

YES OMG TIM X EPIC???

first of all tim’s hero costume 100% has attributes to both athena and hermes. tim is so insanely offended about the court of owls he decides to make his costume vaguely owl themed to spite them and pay tribute to athena. his shoes also have little feathers on them for hermes (hermes maybe possibly made them flying shoes but no one needs to know that. that is a secret between tim, hermes, athena, and young justice)

of course he doesn’t tell any of the batfam. wonder woman knows cause she can feel the divinity in tim and respects his decision not to tell the batfam so she says nothing outside of a causal “would you like a spar one day?” and that’s the end of that.

he does learn the greek style of sword fighting and also archery. he makes a collapsible bow in the style of odysseus’ bow and even if he doesn’t use it much he always has it on him, both as another tool just in case and a way to honor his long ago relative. and he sees the look in athena and hermes’ eyes when he uses it and wants them to know he’s keeping his legacy alive, even if he never explicitly states it.

his morals are probably a bit less strict. he doesn’t want to kill but he was raised by a demigod and two gods and they definitely have a different view on killing. he sees killing as more of a last resort, if he needs to kill he will but he’ll also do his best not to get there.

during his early stalking the bats days either athena or hermes was always with him. he was nine and while yes he was definitely well trained he was NINE.

bruce quest definitely goes differently. he’s still at like the lowest point of his life, his mom and dad are dead, steph is ‘dead’, bart is dead, kon is dead, cassie is in a cult, the hero community thinks he’s insane, he’s not robin anymore, and bruce is *gone*. but he has athena and hermes (who by the way is very proud of tim being such a good thief. he trained him for sure) and that helps his mental state so much.

the league of assassins and the council still happen, tim still loses his spleen but when he attacks the league he doesn’t worry much about the consequences of blowing the bases up. he doesn’t need to know the exact number of deaths, he hopes a couple of assassins got out but he knows there’s a substantial amount dead.

he’s nowhere near ra’s level, but he does fight him to a closer standstill which only endears him to ra’s more and tim is very much not cool with that. neither are either of the gods. he does Not need ra’s as a father figure thank you very much. hermes takes out any annoyance out on ra’s and really shows he’s the god of mischief

tim also somehow acquires a winion. no one but him knows how. hermes and athena looked away for ten seconds when he was 11 and suddenly he has a winion who is Very against leaving. none of the batfam are sure what it is just that it never leaves tim alone for more than 2 seconds. you know how some animatics just have a random winion with the crew? it’s that winion.

tim also definitely doesn’t just go with red robin as a name once he realizes he can actually choose his own and names himself something honoring both athena and hermes. at this point he also starts using his bow more much to the annoyance of bruce and that’s purely cause tim said he was inspired by oliver just to fuck with bruce.

oliver also sees how good of a shot tim is and is trying to get custody. little does he know bruce doesn’t even have custody athena and hermes got custody of him through a fake identity. bruce has no idea who his guardians are and it drives him crazy cause hes found out they’re not fake and very present in tim’s life BUT HE CANT FIND THEM

[thedansemacabres]

“do the gods harm people”, asks the person in the religion with gods that personify Murder, Hunger, Slaughter, Famine, Disease,

[lesbikyuu]

[bluemoonblade]

The new model shows that there definitely used to be a metal tip on both of his horns but it makes me wonder.. wtf did he do, did he start wearing the tips while his horns were still growing?? Did he carve his horns to make it fit?? Why does it look like that?

[serpentface]

how do you come up with the ways cultures in your setting stylize people/animals/the world in general in their artwork, i.e. jewlery, rock carvings, statues, etc? Each culture in your world seems to have a very unique "art style" and I love it a lot - makes them seem that much more 'real'. This is something I struggle with a lot in my own worldbuilding and I'd love to pick your brain if possible 😁

I think a starting point is to have a research process based in the material realities of the culture you're designing for. Ask yourself questions like:

Where do they live? What's the climate/ecosystem(s) they are based in? What geographic features are present/absent?

What is their main subsistence method? (hunter gatherer, seasonal pastoralist, nomadic pastoralist, settled agriculturalist, a mix, etc)

What access to broader trade networks do they have and to whom? Are there foreign materials that will be easily accessible in trade and common in use, or valuable trade materials used sparingly in limited capacities?

Etc

And then do some research based on the answers, in order to get a sense of what materials they would have routine access to (ie dyes, metal, textiles, etc) and other possible variables that would shape how the art is made and what it's used for. This is just a foundational step and won't likely play much into designing a Style.

If you narrow these questions down very specifically, (ie in the context of the Korya post- grassland based mounted nomads, pastoralist and hunter-gatherer subsistence, access to wider trade networks and metals), you can direct your research to specific real world instances that fit this general idea. This is not to lift culturally specific concepts from the real world and slap them into your own setting, but to notice commonalities this lifestyle enforces - (ie in the previous example- mounted nomadic peoples are highly mobile and need to easily carry their wealth (often on clothing and tack) therefore small, elaborate decorative artwork that can easily be carried from place to place is a very likely feature)

For the details of the art itself, I come up with loose 'style guides' (usually just in my head) and go from there.

Here's some example questions for forming a style (some are more baseline than others)

Are geometric patterns favored? Organic patterns? Representative patterns (flowers, animals, stars, etc)? Abstract patterns?

Is there favored material(s)? Beads, bone, clay, metals, stones, etc.

When depicting people/animals, is realism favored? Heavy stylization? The emotional impression of an animal? Are key features accentuated?

How perspective typically executed? Does art attempt to capture 3d depth? Does it favor showing the whole body in 2 dimensions (ie much of Ancient Egyptian art, with the body shown in a mix of profile and forward facing perspective so all key attributes are shown)? Will limbs overlap? Are bodies shown static? In motion?

Does artwork of people attempt to beautify them? Does it favor the culture's conception of the ideal body?

Are there common visual motifs? Important symbols? Key subject matters?

What is the art used for? Are its functions aesthetic, tutelary, spiritual, magical? (Will often exist in combination, or have different examples for each purpose)

Who is represented? Is there interest in everyday people? Does art focus on glorifying warriors, heroes, kings?

Are there conventions for representing important figures? (IE gods/kings/etc being depicted larger than culturally lesser subjects)

Is there visual shorthand to depict objects/concepts that are difficult to execute with clarity (the sun, moon, water), or are invisible (wind, the soul), or have no physical component (speech)?

Etc

Deciding on answers to any of these questions will at least give you a unique baseline, and you can fill in the rest of the gaps and specify a style further until it is distinct. Many of these questions are not mutually exclusive, both in the sense of elements being combined (patterns with both geometric and organic elements) or a culture having multiple visual styles (3d art objects having unique features, religious artwork having its own conventions, etc).

Also when you're getting in depth, you should have cultural syncretism in mind. Cultures that routinely interact (whether this interaction is exchange or exploitation) inevitably exchange ideas, which can be especially visible in art. Doing research on how this synthesizing of ideas works in practice is very helpful- what is adopted or left out from an external influence, what is retained from an internal influence, what is unique to this synthesis, AND WHY. (I find Greco-Buddhist art really interesting, that's one of many such examples)

Looking at real world examples that fit your parameters can be helpful (ie if I've decided on geometric patterns in my 'style guide', I'll look at actual geometric patterns). And I strongly encourage trying to actually LEARN about what you're seeing. All art exists in a context, and having an understanding of how the context shapes art, how art does and doesn't relate to broader aspects of a society, etc, can help you when synthesizing your own.

[blorbologist]

just saying, the most logical (no that's a lie the most silly) ship name for Verin x Keyleth would be Veth

And i think that's beautiful (would make Veth screech and Essek want to curl up and die) <3

[krysmcscience]

BILLDUMP TIME (with transparency, because I can). Don't mind me, I'm just yeeting my goofy art at some way more talented individuals out of nowhere and then hauling ass back to the security of being a weird silent lurker ahaha

@tesscourtes and @beccadrawsstuff, respectively! These two Bills make a little prism of sorts together because of their recent crossovers on Patreon~ :3c Speaking of which, I highly recommend supporting both these artists! They do fantastic work! (TessCourtes and Beccup)

@qoolk on the left, and @monobmp on the right! I am such a sucker for these outfits~ OuO Go and check these two out, their art is phenomenal!!! >u<

@1spooky2me The most difficult Bill of the lot for me to draw, ahaha... Their art is so incredibly consistent and dynamic, I am, a little envious <:,) A little envious, but mostly impressed, so go look at their amazing art, what are you waiting for

And finally, @ckret2, whose writing is sublimely in-character and just a delight to read - they're a great artist, as well! I simply Could Not resist drawing their Bill in this ridiculous incredible and very fashionable pink feather dress, even though he only briefly wears it in their fic, so I also did a little bonus doodle of him in his standard hoodie to make up for it. XD (Also, as far as I'm concerned, Bill and Mabel were both correct in that lime green accessories make the dress Much Better.)

This is just a small selection of the human Bill designs I enjoy. I may draw and post more later on, who knows! Feel free to reblog with some neat Bill designs, either your own or by other folks - if any of the designs particularly call to me, I'll add them to the little list I've got going~ :D (Alternatively, if you really like my stuff and want me to draw something specific, you could...mmm...perhaps, commission me...? OuO)

Also I'm tagging Billford because uhhhh yeah, sorry not sorry, every single one of these Bills is getting shipped with Ford by the artists in some way or another, lmao

[fatedroses]

More than just the Demon.

[tea-cat-arts]

I simply think this fandom doesn't give Wei Wuxian enough credit for the various ways in which he saved Lan Wangji