#they evolved into a character in my old oc story but I never drawing them
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
fagbearentertainment · 6 months ago
Text
Wait wait wait I just realized for J.J.s partner I can finally kinda use that Boyfriend fnf redesign/gender swap I’ve been thinking about for YEARS
4 notes · View notes
shirogane-oushirou · 10 months ago
Text
now that i'm mentally working towards making a new ren ref sheet, i'm finding i'm. SO torn. because yeah, ref sheets can be redone if things change, w/e... but it also feels like with each one i'm "locking in" more features? and he's gone through so many changes in such a short amount of time that it's hard to decide on certain things!! like!!
(design choice rambling under the cut, i just needed to get it out of my head bc it's been stuck in there for weeks kJNKJNS)
Tumblr media
baby boy. baby. squeezable. squeaky toy noises. super cute and primed for Corruption... and his hair is very easy to draw LMAO...
but he also just kinda looks like a silly, tired 20-something year old??? like a guy who's still catching up on sleep after many college all-nighters, but otherwise doing well?? and he looks a little more... well-kempt than he initially did. not exactly your standard anime guy but much closer to that kind of design.
meanwhile...
Tumblr media
very first sketch, from the morning after my dream. very pretty but also A Bit Of A Mess. also very clearly 30-something years old. and i REALLY love how his messy ass hair looks.... it's just... such a pain to draw consistently KJNKSJFN...
and while it makes sense for him to look more put-together, with the way his character and story have evolved... man... messy ren is so pretty, wtf. and his hair looks so grabbable who said that.
idk i'm rambling, i'm just frustrated bc he changes a little each time i draw him so there are a bunch of different possible design choices to pick from and i like ALL OF THEM. AUGH.
(i'm also frustrated in parallel bc he was initially a scorched-earth, pure villain post-Fuckening, which was fun AND hot AND took from a lot of past dream-ocs i never did anything with... but story-wise it makes soooooo much more sense for him to directly target specific people and then fuck up Massively and have to deal with the aftermath. like i'm debating making ANOTHER ren offshoot where he really is a pure villain JUST so i can draw him being evil and fucked up and hot about it 🥴 idk, a lot of frustration from a lot of different angles!)
12 notes · View notes
bubblegum-blackwood · 1 year ago
Note
🤲what do YOU get out of writing?
Ah good question. I feel like that's a complicated one that's not so straightforward to answer.
TL;DR - idk I like it :] and I like people
I've been writing fiction since I was nine years old. My teacher had us do some creative writing in class, and I fell head over fucking heels for the concept! It's crazy to see how much I've grown since then 😂 but I kid you not, I've known I wanted to write for a living since I was nine years old. I did it once and was like yeah . . . I like this. Funnily enough, I started out writing fanfiction, although at the time I hadn't heard of that word or that concept. My sibling and I had a game we called "Kid Wars" - essentially, we RPed being Star Wars OCs. My character was a female clone of Jango Fett (how did I come up with that as a small child and then The Bad Batch happened????????? will never get over that) who secretly joined the Jedi Order and fell in love with Obi-Wan 😂😂😂 ah, children. This origin story is never not funny to me. Anyway, over the years since then, it's slowly evolved into something nearly indistinguishable from Star Wars (I've mostly just kept something that vaguely looks like the Force and some OC names and arcs, but the worldbuilding is entirely original, and I had so much fun with it!)
But I digress.
It's ironic to me because even though my writing days largely started with terrible self-insert fanfiction I since then only wrote original works and even railed almost as vehemently against fanfiction as Anne Rice herself! 😂 But I spent some time on Tumblr and I caved and read Burden of my Days by @hekateinhell and have never been the same since. And now I have 36 fics and counting!
What originally drew me to writing as a kid is just the whole idea of making shit up. I've been making up silly lil stories in my head to keep my insomniac ass busy at night since I was in kindergarten, and when I realised I could write them down? When I realised I could get paid money for that shit??? Hell yeah! I can make a career out of doing something I genuinely love doing, and I'm so grateful that it's even an option for me because I have no clue what I would have told people I wanted to be when I grew up otherwise. As I've gotten older, I've understood more about what exactly I enjoy about writing (which allows me to take inspiration from the books and shows I like without copy-pasting every minute detail that I don't actually need) - it's people. I like people, I like knowing what makes them tick, I like watching them fuck up and I like watching them interact with others. It's part of what draws me to psychology and sociology, too. I just genuinely enjoy stories. I could eat a well-done character arc for breakfast, honestly. And that's what gets me about the writing. My books don't need big grand plots, the conflicts largely are not centered around big bads with large armies, it's all about people and the relationships they have with others within the narrative. (Don't get me wrong, though, I have fantastical elements - vampires and ghosts, especially, are quite abundant in my stories).
Plus, there's something about the actual process of writing that just gets me in a good mood. Sometimes the executive dysfunction or general life fatigue makes it hard for me to get myself to pick up the pencil, but when I feel motivated, DAMN, the juices be flowing! Sometimes I get in the zone and I just know what happens next and the words just come to me and it feels good, honestly good. I can agonize over it for hours sometimes, but crafting artful sentences to paint a picture with words is such a powerful feeling. I just can't imagine how my life would have turned out had I not discovered how fun it is to write.
And with fanfiction? To me, it's all about connection. To look deeper at the text, to identify what you like about events or characters or pairings and make it your own, to really know the book you love so much. But not only that, then also you get to connect with other fans! You get to get excited together, be proud together, maybe even make friends through it! You get to talk to people!!! And I think the value of that can never be understated enough.
Anyway. I've rambled plently now 😂 thanks for the ask!
8 notes · View notes
vsnotresponding · 1 year ago
Note
🍎🧠
hi vee! thanks for the ask!
ask game for oc(s)
I chose Ely for this question because 1. they deserve more attention, and 2. their relationship with their parents is relevant to the plot
🍎 - What is the OC’s relationship w/their parents like?
Bad. Terrible. Awful. Ely doesn't feel comfortable in their skin, and their parents and society won't accommodate for it.
It was tolerable when they were a child because they could just escape to play into the forest and listen to the tales of an old hunter about prophecies and the old gods. Once they enter into their preteens, they start to feel the pressure put on them by their parents and society to be the perfect daughter, something they aren't and never will be. The relationship really turns sour. Ely fights against it all, but they still need to comply with the orders they are given (in their own way), as they prepare to run away (even if they know their chances of survival once they do are extremely low).
They hate them, at one point, but after dying it soon turns into nothingness. They see their parents mourning the girl they never were, and can't even find it in themselves to feel anything but indifference.
🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?
Many things, I don't think I can choose. Their origin and how Ely and their story has evolved with time, as well as the multitude of Elys that there are in UP. There's kid!Ely and teen!Ely, then ghost!Ely and adult Ely (and there's also the first lost soul). All these characters *are* Ely, but at the same time, aren't? Their story also involves remembering and accepting all of them, which I think is neat (immortal being kinda deal).
Drawing them is also very fun.
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
look at them!!!! (ft my graph theory teacher)
2 notes · View notes
oros-ash3s · 16 hours ago
Note
heyoooo!
1, 11, and 21 for those writer asks!
tysm for the ask @seastarblue!! sorry I don’t have any OC introductions or fics posted yet, I’m working on them trust 😮‍💨😮‍💨
Tumblr media
1. Who was your first ever OC? Do you still “use” them? How have they evolved over time?
If you’re counting fandom OCs, my first ever OC was Hayden (who was made for a PJO fanfic when I was literally 9 💀). But I don’t really ever count her, so my first “official” OC was Jaiden, who I created when I was about 10-11. She went through a lot of changes over the years, even going goth at one point, but I don’t use the story anymore. It belonged to my friend and to be honest, I just don’t really like her character all that much anymore!
11. Sum up 1 or more of your WIPS!
For this one I’ll do 2 of my WIPS:
★﹒₊‧ ★ Magicae ★﹒₊‧ ★
Co-written with @ohagi505
For as long as anyone can remember, magic has always been a taboo subject. No one really believes in it, the myths of a secret society of people with magical powers nothing but an old fairytale told to kids. But Atlas Zieliński knows better. Growing up in Eden, an organization built to conceal Magicae and protect the human population from the terrorist organization known as The Congregation of the Chosen, he’s always sought to do what’s right, use his powers for good - fulfill his purpose. But when a spy named Wren breaks into Eden one day, discovering hidden secrets about what the company is really doing to the Magicae that they are “rescuing”, Atlas is faced with a decision that makes him question everything he has ever known. He suddenly has to ask himself if Eden is as good as he had been told it was - and what “his purpose” really means to the company.
★﹒₊‧ ★ Metamorphosis ★﹒₊‧ ★
Yara had never believed the old myths her mother had always told her before bed, the ones about Noroi - the ancient, demonic creatures borne from pure evil. Leeches, she had called them. They were just old fairytales that she used to scare her when she was younger, after all. But, on the night of her 12th birthday, when her home is invaded and she finds herself face-to-face with the father of Noroi himself, she sees her mother’s stories for what they really were: warnings. Left with an empty house, her only companion being a raven that can’t seem to leave her alone, Yara can’t force herself to leave. With a magical barrier to protect her from the Noroi always prowling outside her house, she spends her days inside, trying to keep her sanity in the remnants of her family home. But as the years pass, the barrier slowly grows weaker, and Yara knows it’s only a matter of time before the Noroi finish her off, just like they had done to her family. That’s when she suddenly runs into a peculiar stranger, and her life is flipped upside down.
21. When did you start considering yourself a writer/artist?
I’ve been writing/drawing for as long as I can remember, so honestly I’d say I’ve considered myself an artist since I was like, 3 and a writer since I was about 8.
1 note · View note
rayedraws · 1 year ago
Text
I still get questions about my style change. When people see me post old art of my OCs in a more Mobian style asking why I “gave up” the style. I never gave up on the style. I moved on from it. For me, it’s a key distinction. Nothing big or dramatic took me out of the style. But much more mundanely, my style evolved to the point where it didn’t make sense for me to keep myself, or my OCs in a style I had no attachment to. OCs are deeply personal to every creator. How they evolve is a personal journey for everyone. There's a lot of details the public isn’t privy to, which can make any sudden change, like mine, seem to come out of the blue. My OCs had their own world, life and concepts outside the Sonic universe for over a decade now. Outside the similar style, nothing was related to the universe. Her design has had very little change in 12 years. What sparked the initial change was the loss of my brother. I used to draw comics based on our family, with each character designed nearly together. When I moved to the UK I gave him every hard copy I had. I did have scans but the hard drive I had them in got corrupted. I did ask him to send copies, but sadly he could never get around to it before he passed and the housefire destroyed nearly everything he owned. I still remember what the sister (based on me) looked like, and I decided to give Raye a lot of her markings. Mostly the one my brother liked the most. That was the catalyst that brought change in nearly every aspect of my art. It took a while to realise I would draw my other OCs in a different style next to Raye and then have to change them dramatically to fit with her style, I asked myself “Do I even want to do this style?” And honestly? Not with My OCs. Lothar already changed his OC from echidna to Hyena (I gave him an OC design I had that he resonated with which we later adapted to suit his character) and I’m working on solidifying my character’s stories and interactions, not to mention me coming back from a long hiatus from art, I figured, why not experiment? The current art I do is the one most natural for me. It’s also likely why I’m drawing more frequently because I connect with it on a level I haven’t in a long time. I love my OCs, I love how they interact with each other. I love what their different personalities bring to the table. I feel passionate about the work I do, which has been absent for a long time. This doesn’t have anything to do with what style I use, but rather with trying to keep myself in a bubble that wasn’t right for me. Forcing to do art, in any style you don’t particularly connect can be damaging to growth. Being able to let go of nostalgia for my own, personal art was the best thing I could have done.  Does that mean I hate the Mobian style? No. In fact, I admire people who are able to do the style so effortlessly and connect with it on a near-spiritual level. I have no hate for the style and will continue to admire and watch others grow with this style. And as for drawing it again, I have no qualms drawing it to the style I had before, especially when others present me with their OCs to draw. But for my own personal art and my OCs? I’d keep the current trajectory. Draw what makes you happy. It’s life-changing.
0 notes
electricxmayhem · 3 years ago
Text
Tumblr media
first of all: THANK YOU
second of all I am sorry for the can of worms you have opened.
[cut for long post and embarrassing old art]
SO. The pirate OCs were invented in like 2018-ish because I simply felt like making an all-female pirate crew at the time.
Tumblr media
they were the crew of Captain Kalavaar (the one in the purple jacket) although she really only went by 'Captain' conversationally. All of them had taken names/nicknames that were for the most part descriptors. Kalavaar was moreso the name she was referred to as among sailors in stories, and it was based on my best manufacturing of a bastardisation of the (probably already bungled on my account) Hindi words for 'black sword'. The rest of the crew were Hadari (meaning clever), Callada (meaning quiet), Armada (that one was just a name) and the twins, Titch and Minnie (meaning small).
All of them were runaways who joined the crew one by one (or in the twins case, two) after the Captain went to sea at a young age and never looked back. In fact she made a pact never again to set foot on land after she left.
Tumblr media
Hadari was the smart one, and the Captain's First Mate (mostly because she literally was the first crew mate). She was from Kenya and she had a pet bird who sat on her shoulder. I'm so mad that I deleted a bunch of my photos to free up phone space and I don't have any drawings of him on hand rn (I could go get the actual pages out again and take more photos but i don't want to) but he was a bare-faced go away bird and his name was Mr Person
(here is a photo of what kind of bird he was)
Tumblr media
Hadari was also the closest friends with Callada.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Callada was from México, where she had escaped a traumatic event that killed her family. She was mute, but communicated with sign language that Hadari helped her develop and share with the crew. She wore a low brimmed hat to cover disfigurement around her eyes and protect them from harsh light.
Tumblr media
the next to join the crew was Armada, who was a mermaid! She had run from a high-class life in mermaid society and didn't have much experience fighting. Still, the Captain agreed to take her on as the ship's figurehead (the usually wooden decoration of a woman on the front of boats). Really, her job was just to sit around and look pretty, but she gradually got the hang of the pirate life and started participating a little too. She also ended up romantically involved, and eventually married to, the Captain.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
and finally, those two little ones are the twins, Minnie (long hair) and Titch (short hair). They were runaway foundlings from London who Armada let stow away and who basically became adopted by the entire crew. Titch was a bit rowdier than Minnie, but Minnie was still very brave and lost her hand helping to fight off a Kraken. She ended up with a hook hand cobbled together from scraps, that evolved over her life into a functional metal appendage with multiple attachments.
Tumblr media
But they were still the babies. (Oh and look there's Mr Person)
Listen I'm very bad at explaining things well, I have a lot of complex feelings about these characters and their relationships but this right here I guess is just a surface level introduction to my little murderous boat family. Hope you like them and support their dastardly deeds.
10 notes · View notes
0beythydemon · 3 years ago
Text
Obey Me OC/MC update!!
I just want to say if anyone is reading this and if you have an OC for anything you have all right to change and correct things and you shouldn’t feel bad, guilty or nervous. Sometimes you just don’t vibe with things you first created which is okay.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
So I used to be okay at drawing but not so much now so we’re sticking with picrew, sorry not sorry.
Oc Template before- what I’m gonna be referring to.
Before I described her with having ‘light golden blonde’ hair
I’ve changed this to her having ‘strawberry blonde with gold peachy undertones/rose gold hair’
(If that makes sense. I have a very specific shade in my head and it’s hard to convey) She still styles it half up in a bun with a ribbon.
Outfit-
Nina typically falls into the light academia aesthetic with muted pinks and dark forest greens thrown in.
Her normal attire: A muted pink cardigan, white long sleeve shirt, maroon brown tartan skirt, white socks and Dr Martens platform boots or Mary Janes. Accompanied by her round frame glasses.
About them:
Personality and background-
Nothing really has changed personality wise or bio. Background I wanted to flush it out and change somethings:
- Nina grew up with her mother, an interior designer and architect that focuses on historic\old houses (idk if that is a real thing but we’re going with it) and her younger brother Julien.
- Because of this they’ve lived in places such as London, Paris, Amsterdam and New York.
- She has been drawing since she was little and is quite exceptional at it. Her sketch book is covered in drawings and paintings of anything and everything.
- She has a slight fascination with the macabre and is a huge history nut, which she got from her mother.
-Nina doesn’t remember when this started, but if you asked her mother she’ll say that she inherited it from her. Like mother like daughter.
- She also loves literature and reading in general.
- Since Nina has moved around a lot she never really formed a solid group of friends, so because of that she has never shared/expressed her true self or interests to anyone. So she was always known as ‘the weird new girl’
- Besides one time, she developed a close relationship with some girls at one of the many schools she attended and felt close enough to them that she showed them one of her sketch books that held her drawings.
-She wasn’t friends with them after this…however this incident only made her more passionate and headstrong about her art and herself. But she was never really friends with anyone after this incident.
- Nina developed a self dependent attitude since her mother would work long ours or would be away for long periods of time and her and her brother would be left alone or with a babysitter/nanny after they came home from school, plus she’s the oldest. Her bluntness and sarcasm she slowly developed because of school.
- On the inside and with her family Nina’s rather soft and cares about them a lot. She adores her brother and they get along really well, they recommend each other books and anime and would often play games together.
- She has a real admiration and respect for her mother since her mother was the one to take interest in her drawings and her art and pushed her to evolve her talents and didn’t find her more gothic/macabre drawings weird but encouraged her to draw more and also gave her advice.
- She was working at a coffee house during her break from her first year at Art University when she got accepted into the Devildom exchange program.
Songs or a song that describes them-
- mxmtoon- quiet motions
- Gracie Abrams- Hard to sleep
- Florence + The Machine- Various Storms & Saints
Relationships with the characters-
Lucifer- same
Mammon- same
Levi-same also- When she saw Levi so open and expressive with his love of TSL and anime Nina felt a little more comfortable with her own passions and likes. Plus he kinda reminds her of her own brother.
Satan- From both having a love of books, from fictional stories to history Nina was automatically drawn to Satan and after getting to know each other that small like turned into a big crush. They are often seen together either reading, studying or discussing a topic they both found intriguing into the early hours of the morning and on occasion going on a ‘date’ to a cat cafe or to the museum to see a new exhibit...if Mammon doesn’t insert himself and basically third wheels.
Asmo- At first she didn’t pay any mind to the avatar of lust. Sometimes he reminded her of those girls from high school. But after getting to know him and slowly beginning to open herself up more they soon became really close friends. She discovered they have a few things in common with each other. Now Asmo is the only other person she feels comfortable venting and talking to.
They often do skin care routines together and hang out in his room. Asmo often helps her with her sketches, modelling and posing for her to sketch and in return Asmo gets to keep a portrait of himself that she drew.
Beel- same
Belphie- So after figuring out Nina a bit more I decided to re-valuate Belphie and her relationship.
After...what happened, Nina kept her distance for a bit. It took a while but she sucked up her own fear and tried to move on for the sake of the brothers. She’s still weary around him sometimes and she knows deep down inside she’ll hold on to what happened for the rest of her mortal life.
Diavolo- same also- Tried not to bombard him with questions about everything about the Devildom and Demons in general. Very fascinated by everything and she respects him a lot.
Barbatos- same
Solomon- After getting to know each other a bit more and becoming an assistant and voluntary Guinea pig for his spells and experiments, Nina (even though she will deny this and never admit it to herself) started developing a little (big) crush on him. She finds him quite intriguing and interesting and they get along really well.
Simeon- same
Luke- same
Mephistopheles-The fact that he was the one to design the Prince Lucifer and Princess Diavolo stickers automatically makes Nina want to be friends with him. Although he seems to not like her that much. She wants to get to know him and figure him out and the relationship he has with Diavolo and Lucifer.
13-Sometimes she reminds Nina of those girls she was friends with in high school that she had a hard time with but she tries to move past this. Still a bit wary of her but open.
Raphael-Finds him interesting, especially since he actually likes and eats Solomon’s cooking plus the fact that he is closest to Michael (besides Lucifer from before the fall) Likes the fact that he’s not that talkative but feels like he’s silently judging her all the time.
Other-
Nina has relatively bad eyesight so she needs to wear her glasses predominantly all the time.
She also has two little moles right under her right eye.
She has suffered from bouts of insomnia since she was a kid and still gets them sometimes.
Loves a glass of white wine on a Friday night.
We all know Asmo loves clubbing so he tries to drag Nina with him as much as possible as Nina hasn’t exactly experienced anything to do with clubbing when she was in the human world. She loves the dressing up part of it but not so much the actual clubbing part as of yet. It feels too hectic for her.
She likes spending her time at the Royal Library (obviously) but also at the Mausoleum. She finds the architecture rather interesting and she loves learning about history and the past of the Devildom, it’s lore and it’s past kings.
She has secretly sketched all of the Brothers. Satan and Asmo most of all because she spends most of her time with them. She’s slowly starting to draw the others, the most difficult one to draw without said person noticing is Barbatos.
She has introduced her brother to Levi during an online gaming session and now both of them are friends and regularly have gaming sessions with each other, which she is very happy about. Both for her brother and for Levi gaining a new friend.
Her favourite things the brothers have gifted to her are: A matching tea cup set from Satan, matching earrings from Asmo (they both have one earring and the other one has the other) and the ring Solomon gave to her.
If she could, she 100% would take one of the Little.D’s home with her. Her mother would absolutely love them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So that’s it for now, I might add some stuff later💕
17 notes · View notes
aye-write · 4 years ago
Text
Tumblr media
Summary: Research student Isla Reid has been fascinated with the legend of the Kildonian Chessmen - a trio of mythical Pokemon rumoured to have lived centuries ago on the remote region of Kildo - for as long as she can remember. So, when a museum exhibit on the Chessmen is set to open in Kildo’s Hydrogate City, coinciding with her independent research project, she packs herself and her trusty partner Furret onto the long ferry journey bound for this new region. 
 However, when she arrives in Kildo, thoughts of her research, new friends, and an entire Pokedex’s worth of new Pokemon, are quickly dashed. Kildo is a troubled place, beset by natural disasters and fierce rivalries among its people. Isla suddenly finds herself at the centre of a centuries-old plot to invoke the wrath of the Chessmen, and is set on a race against time to stop them, before it spells destruction for the entire region.
Other Links: Read it on Ao3!
Tags: OC Pokemon journey, OC region, Fakemon region, bisexual main character, found family, ace main character.
If you are not interested in these posts, especially as I know Pokemon journeyfic is fairly niche, please blacklist the tag #Checkmate. Most of the story will be put under a Readmore anyway!
Author’s Note: Hi everyone! This is just a quick author's note today! Thanks to everyone who has read and commented! I hope you enjoy another chonk of a chapter and that the starters' introduction went okay! There were a LOT of Pokedex entries this week, so I won't be including them all in the author's note this time, but you can head over to our tumblr @kildo-pokedex​ to see them in full! See you in two weeks, everyone!
*****
Chapter Four
Things moved fast that night. Too fast. Morning dawned, dappling the sky with tangerine oranges and cotton candy pinks, and Isla soon found herself packed and standing on the doorstep of the cottage she’d almost come to think of as home.
Rhona fussed over Skye’s layers and blankets for so long that Isla thought they’d never get away. Even Blair started to look nervous, casting pointed glances first at his watch and then at his mother. It would be a long walk, he said loudly, at least five hours of walking, and they needed to get on. Finally Rhona got the hint and passed over a mammoth bag of sandwiches, juice, and crisps – enough to sustain an army for about a week – and both parents said their goodbyes. Rhona’s eyes were wet with tears when she broke her hug with her daughter.
Isla moved forward, meaning just to offer thanks, but before she could open her mouth, Rhona swept her into a rib-crunching hug.
“Now you be careful out there, chick,” Rhona said, her breath tickling the whorls of Isla’s ear. “You always have a home here with us, alright? Don’t you dare be a stranger. I expect to see you again here before you go back to Johto, you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Isla said, her voice thick.
Kenneth shook her hand next, his huge fingers easily engulfing hers. He had a firm grip, yet surprisingly soft hands, and when Isla drew back, she found he’d slipped her two crisp twenty pokedollar notes.
“Kenneth, thank you, but I can’t take—”
“You take care of yourself,” he said firmly.
Isla decided not to argue. Especially when it was the most the giant man had ever said to her in one go before.
Blair took his mother’s hug with an embarrassed grimace, nodding along to a laundry list of instructions she hurled his way. Make sure you take frequent breaks. Don’t let Skye go wandering on her own. Make sure you feed a Clatty if you see one, it’s good luck. Don’t dare go any further than Aberdrip. Eventually, Kenneth clamped his hand on Rhona’s shoulder, and she stopped.
“I suppose you best be going, eh?” she said, forcing a quivering smile. “Before it gets too late on. Have fun, darlings. Call me when you get there. Be safe.”
“Thanks for everything, Rhona,” Isla said, her voice catching. She had to turn around to shield her face from view.
Blair, who had been battling to fit Rhona’s supplies into their travelling bag, grunted with satisfaction as he finally got the zip up, leaving the bag bulging like an overripe balloon. He felt around at his waist, unhooked a Pokeball, and tossed it over the gate.
“Coastrot, come out!”
Isla let out a breath as the ball burst open and she came face to face with Blair’s Pokemon. Easily reaching Blair’s shoulders, it had a long, lithe body with a clipped coat the colour of the ocean under the morning sky. Even when it stayed still, its mane and tail rippled like plumes of gentle flowing water. It was a stunning Pokemon – right down to its dark, inquisitive eyes and glistening hooves – but there was something unusual about it that Isla couldn’t quite put her finger on. As she stared, Coastrot’s body seemed to blur, wavering in front of her like a picture on a TV with a dodgy signal.
Blair saw her staring. “Touch him,” he suggested.
Isla frowned, uncertain. Under Blair’s watchful eye, she reached out to touch this new Pokemon, only for her hand to slip straight through its body, as easily as if she had just put her hand through a hologram. She whipped her hand away like she’d just been shocked. The Pokemon’s body turned solid again the moment Blair touched it to string up one of the bags.
Isla consulted her Pokedex. “Coastrot, the Mirage Pokemon. Its translucent body refracts light, and it will often appear as though it is surrounded by rainbows. If it doesn’t trust someone, they will not be able to touch it. This is seen as an unlucky omen by some.”
“Amazing,” she said. “So it only lets people it trusts touch it?”
“That’s right,” Blair nodded.  “Coastrot is actually the evolved form of one of the Kildo starters. He was my starter, so he’s been in the family a long time, but it still wasn’t easy for him to trust all of us. He lets me touch him, of course, and Skye, and sometimes Dad, but Mum is still a tricky case. Since he’s only just met you, it may take him a while to warm up.”
“That’s okay,” Isla held her hand out for the Pokemon to sniff. Its nose passed straight through her hand, a sensation rather like she’d plunged her hand into a bucket of ice-cold water. “I’m sure we’ll get along fine.”
Blair clapped on Coastrot’s haunches, signalling everything was secured. He called for Skye and helped boost her up, Isla holding her breath as she entertained a vision of Skye sinking right through the Pokemon’s ethereal back. Luckily, Coastrot remained solid and strong, allowing Skye to settle herself.
“Hold onto his mane, there,” Blair fussed. “No, not there. That’s too tight. Just there, look.”
Skye made several wide-eyed glances over the Pokémon’s massive haunches as Blair made the final checks. Isla offered her a smile.
“I take it that you won’t be going for Coastrot’s evolution for your first Pokemon, then?” she whispered.
Skye shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut. “Definitely not.”
As she waited, a breath of wind lifted the hair from Isla’s forehead, already moist with sweat from the heat of the beating sun. She’d dressed light, in a loose, billowing top two sizes up from her normal, and a pair of comfortable jogging trousers, but she still worried about the journey. The bag slung on her shoulders didn’t feel heavy now, but walking would leaden it. She’d sprayed most of a bottle of antiperspirant on herself before setting out, but she still had doubts about its efficiency. She could only hope they would take it slow and she wouldn’t embarrass herself.
“That’s us,” Blair announced. “We’re ready to go.”
And with one final look back at the Whispering Pines Croft, they set off.
**
Having left the confines of the family croft, Blair switched into serious mode. He had done some travelling when he was younger, he explained as they walked, enough to know the basics, and he’d made the journey between Aberdrip and Port Glen enough times to pick out the best route to accommodate Coastrot. Their chosen path along Route 1 started out as a stretch of delightfully flat ground, buffeted by a strong, salt-smelling, easterly wind. After an hour, the flat paths became bumpy and wild, grass rising as high as their knees, the tips of trees bordering the horizon.
Blair told them stories as they walked, a welcome distraction for the pain needling through Isla’s legs. He brought them to a stop at the peak of a hill to point out Loch Culla in the distance, a shimmering body of water neatly fringed with trees. A place claimed to be the home of an entire family of shiny Kildonian Lapras.
Skye’s shriek of excitement at this news startled Coastrot, and Blair had to dart to her rescue in case she was catapulted off. She wasn’t fazed. She still insisted on making the detour so they could go hunting for one. Blair laughed. The loch was a protected area for that exact purpose, he explained, and catching Pokemon wasn’t allowed there.
“But we can manage a picnic nearby,” Blair added when Skye’s face fell. “Come on, let’s go.”
Back to walking it was. Isla forced herself back to her feet. To give Blair his dues, he factored in plenty of breaks, at every rest stop or every half an hour, whichever came first. He said he wanted Coastrot to get plenty of rest, as he wasn’t used to carrying weight over long distances. Isla wasn’t sure how true that was, but she was grateful all the same. If Blair and Skye saw her flushed face, sweat patches, and occasional gasps for breath, they were very kind and didn’t draw attention to it.
As promised, they unpacked a picnic at the bank of Loch Culla and shared out sandwiches, fruit, and flavoured waters. Sitting in the shade, listening to the water lapping against the bank, and sipping their drinks fresh from the cool bag, Isla felt totally at peace, despite the numbing aches sprouting in the back of her calves. Blair recalled Coastrot for a proper rest, but Isla released Soba and Wingull to stretch their legs and wings. To keep Wingull amused, but more to stop him stealing, she lobbed his food into the air, sending him swooping and diving over the loch and into the deep grass in pursuit.
Skye didn’t eat much, her eyes trained on the still loch water. When Blair nudged her back to reality, she folded her arms and said, “Blair, I’m looking for Lapras. Leave me alone.”
Isla saw him roll his eyes, but when he spoke to his sister, his tone was nothing but gentle and respectful. “You won’t see them, Skye. It’s massively rare to see a Kildonian Lapras out in the open. They live pretty much entirely underwater. Proper deep down.”
Isla looked up from her sandwich. “Do they? They don’t in Johto.”
“Yep. Kildonian ones are different types too. Ours are Ghost and Dragon.”
“Water and Ice for us.”
“Yeah, that’s pretty different, isn’t it? I think the mainland variant travel a lot, but you can pretty much trace all Kildonian Lapras to just one or two lochs here. They don’t move around a lot. Hence why the area is protected.”
“It doesn’t look protected?” Isla said, looking around. There wasn’t a stitch of modern technology to be seen. No buildings. No cameras. Heck, there didn’t even seem to be any other people around other than just them. “There’s nothing here.”  
“Doesn’t need to be. See that sign?” Blair pointed out a sign nailed to a nearby tree. A bold, crimson X was splayed across a black and white image of a Pokeball. “That sign lets us know that there’s Anti-Pokeball Interference here. API for short.” When he saw Isla’s blank face, he frowned. “I don’t know exactly how it works, but basically, Dad said that it transmits some sort of signal that humans and Pokemon can’t hear, but it scrambles the capture mechanism on all Pokeballs. Makes them nothing more than fancy paperweights.”
“We certainly don’t have that in Johto.”
“It’s pretty new. Just come into fashion over the last year. Lot of folks don’t like it, though. I think they had protests out in Tideburgh. They say it violates our rights to catch Pokemon and that it’s going to lead to overpopulation. If you ask me, it’s a load of Tauros shi— uh, nonsense,” he corrected himself when Skye turned her head.
They lapsed into silence, Isla pretending to be fascinated with her sandwich crusts. They’d gone dry and hard in the sun, and she nibbled at them ineffectively. Wingull, amazingly, had eaten its fill and had nestled with his head (mostly) under one stubby wing. Soba, who had been luxuriating in the sun, had fallen asleep curled around a bottle of lemonade. Blair lay back in the grass, his eyes shut, making occasional contented noises. Skye was scribbling something in a notebook patterned with Slugma.
“We’ll head off soon,” Blair yawned. “I just want to rest my eyes for a few minutes.”
The soft noise of snoring drifted over the wind moments later. Isla had to resist the urge to join him. Sitting down had been fatal. Now her eyes felt as heavy as her legs and the thought of getting up again made tiredness sink into the very pit of her. She could shut her eyes for a few minutes, she reasoned. Just a few minutes. Just a few—
“Isla!” a voice cut through her thoughts. “Isla! Isla, look!”
Isla had to force open her eyes, gummed together like chewy toffee. Skye was on her feet, pointing at the nearby undergrowth.
“What’s goin—”
“Shush!” Skye hissed. “Just look!”
In amongst the green, leafy fronds was a flash of something dull and brown. It emerged from the grass like a Furret in miniature. It had a long, snake-like body, the colour of dark chocolate, and a cream underbelly. Its sharp, inquisitive nose twitched, and its tail swished like an over-eager feather duster.
“What is that?” Isla gasped, pulling her Pokedex out.
“It’s a Mudstel!” Skye said, just as Isla’s Pokedex chirped “Mudstel, the Mud Ferret Pokemon. Curious, but shy, Mudstel rely on their stealth and environment when hunting. They blend in well among trees and bushes, but if spotted, will quickly burrow underground to escape.”
“Gosh, it must be hungry if it’s come right out in the open!” Skye breathed out. “Can we try feeding it?”
“Yeah, if you like. Try it with the crusts there.”
Skye offered the Mudstel some of the uneaten crusts. The Pokemon held back, its nose twitching, eyes unblinking. Skye stretched her hand out further.
“Wait, Skye. Stay as still as you can,” Isla advised, not even daring to breathe too loudly in case she startled it. Skye’s wavering arm came to a stop. “That’s it. Let it come to you.”
After a few moments, the Mudstel stretched out its long, ribbon-like body. Skye looked like she was about to burst from excitement, but somehow, managed to stay still. Isla caught a glimpse of sharp white teeth as Mudstel opened its mouth and snatched the crusts from Skye’s hand. It didn’t pause to eat them, just turned on its heels, and dove back into the undergrowth.
They waited, but Mudstel didn’t come back out.
Skye looked crestfallen as the grass went still. “Bread crusts aren’t all that nutritious,” she said mournfully. “I wish it had stayed and I could have given it some Pokemon food. I think we even have some Pokemon Rock. That would have been even better for it.”
Isla made a sympathetic noise. “Maybe we can leave some pellets for it when we pack up and leave?”
“Maybe. But I wish I could have caught it. I don’t want it to end up starving. Mudstel wouldn’t come out and take food from humans if it could help it.”
“Some Pokemon are just opportunistic, Skye. He probably has plenty of chances to get food and then saw us and thought “Oh yes, a free lunch!” Pokemon are clever. They can take care of themselves.”
“I suppose.”
Isla slung an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “Try not to worry,” she said. “We’ll be in Aberdrip soon and you’ll have your very own Pokemon before you know it.”
“I know,” Skye said. “I just… wish I could make friends with all of them. I don’t want any of them to suffer.”
“Then I think that means you’ll be a good trainer.”
Skye smiled. Isla’s heart skipped a little. Could this really be the first time that she had ever seen the younger girl smile?
A sudden kerfuffle sent them both looking over Blair, who snorted and pushed himself upright, making a strange gulping noise. “I wasn’t asleep! I wasn’t… sleeping?” He looked blearily across at Skye and Isla. “Was I sleeping?”
They didn’t answer. Instead, the noise of their laughter echoed across the loch like water tinkling from a waterfall.
**
They had stopped for another break on Route 3, a densely wooded path littered with fallen leaves and fresh with the smell of moss, when Blair got a text through on his phone.
Immediately, he was dialling a number, face twisted, and one hand covering his ear to block out the shrill shriek of the local Caperchick. A Caperchick, as Isla had found out was another of Kildo’s resident bird Pokemon. Pretty much helpless as babies, they were only able to eat, sleep, and call for help from others in their family group. Isla had hoped to see one, but Blair dissuaded her, explaining their later evolutions were territorial and aggressive. Most wouldn’t take kindly to humans on their turf.
It still didn’t stop her, or Skye, from hoping. Skye got up to wander four times while Blair stepped away to speak on the phone, poking at the bases of trees and among tall grasses. Or maybe she was just doing it to fill the time. Whatever conversation Blair was having, it was taking a lot of it.  
When Blair did eventually return, his face was pale. “That was Mum on the phone.”
Isla’s instant thought was Nana Morag. “Is everything okay?”
“Kind of. She’s just back from the hospital. Nana Morag is doing better, they think she’ll be alright to come home soon as long as she gets plenty of bed rest.”
“Did they find out what it was that made her ill?”
“They’re still waiting on some test results,” Blair said, worry creasing his eyebrows into one long caterpillar. “She said she’ll phone me as soon as they hear. Now, the other thing. Mum said she had a voicemail waiting for her when she got out of the hospital. It was one of Professor Spruce’s aides.”
Skye stopped what she was doing, pricking her head up.
“There was some problem with the breeders they use to supply the new trainers and they don’t have enough to supply everyone who wanted one.”
Skye looked ready to burst into tears. Blair saw this and quickly assured, “Don’t panic, Skye. They’ve just moved it to a booking system instead to try and get as many folks sorted as possible today. Mum gave me the number and I called the aide. You’re still getting your Pokemon – as long as we get there in time.”
Skye visibly relaxed but Isla felt like something had severed her at the chest. “When’s Skye’s slot?”
“2pm. It was the only one I could get. All the others were filled.  
Isla looked at the time on her phone. It was already ten to one.  
“Yeah,” Blair said, as Isla caught his eye. “We need to hurry.”
**
Isla hoped that adrenaline would see them through. That they could power on the remaining couple of miles without feeling the pain or the tiredness, subsisting only on the rush of purpose to get there. But it was hell. Pure hell. As they half walked, half jogged along unsteady ground, the air dense and muggy, the heat of the sun dripped down their backs.
I can’t let Skye down, Isla told herself as she dragged her aching limbs over the nobbled hump of yet another hillock. I’ll never forgive myself if I let her down.
Once, when the shooting pain of a stitch left her doubled over, she told Blair and Skye to go on without her. But she didn’t even get to finish her sentence before Blair cut in with “Absolutely not. We’re going together,” and that was the end of it.  
As it ticked closer and closer, the clouds receded, and the sun intensified. The air remained stubbornly heavy and humid. Finally, they were over another hill and Aberdrip loomed in the distance, a monochrome city with silver buildings reaching up like metallic petals. They didn’t stop to take in much else. Feet pounding the concrete, each step sending pinpricks of pain up Isla’s legs, Blair hailed a taxi. In one confusing bundle of recalled Pokemon, sorting of bags, and too many legs in one small space, they clambered in. Within minutes, they were speeding along the blurred roads, the streets like smears of running ink.
Professor Spruce’s lab sat right at the western outskirts of Aberdrip in a plot of land closed off by wrought iron gates. The taxi driver dropped them off at the bottom, and after buzzing through to the office, they were on their way up the vicious uphill path to Professor Spruce’s lab.
Stumbling through the front door, trembling with exertion, Isla checked her phone. Three minutes to two. They’d made it.
A concerned looking aide lead them through a maze of breezeblocked hallways. Skye stuck so close to Blair that they practically became one person. The aide opened a door at the end of a particularly long corridor, and they emerged into a room groaning with workbenches and strange equipment that wouldn’t have looked amiss in an old sci-fi film. The room was wonderfully chilled, the overhead fans pumping in swathes of cool air.
Blair and Skye gave the aide their names, Blair signed a proffered sheet, and then they were shepherded through into an adjoining room. As they stepped through, Isla felt the eyes of a dozen people land on her.
“Ah, Skye McLeod, is it?” came a voice from ahead of them. “Excellent. I was starting to worry you weren’t coming.”
Skye tensed next to Isla as the woman who had spoken – Isla assumed this was Professor Spruce – beckoned them forward. She was small, rounded, with greying hair slung into a messy bun. Her eyes were sharp, glinting like the sheen of ice over a frozen puddle. Easily a foot shorter than everyone else in the room, she still commanded everyone’s attention.
With a wave of her hand, Professor Spruce separated Skye and the two other young trainers – one girl and one boy – from their respective guardians. Isla collapsed gratefully into a nearby chair. Blair was rigid in his own seat as Professor Spruce took the new trainers through the standard “First Pokemon” spiel. It was a comforting lecture, so much so that mixed with the relief they had made it in time, Isla soon felt her eyelids drooping.
Then, voices surged.
“I want to go first!”
“No, I’m going first!”
“Enough!” Professor Spruce barked, her voice tight. “Being a Pokemon trainer isn’t about who goes first. It’s not even about getting exactly what you want. If you go into this life expecting to get what you want all the time, you are setting yourself up for failure Pokemon are as unique and individual as each one of you. A “weak” Pokemon can become strong from the right training and support. On your journey as trainers, I encourage you to open your hearts and minds. Embrace all that this region has to offer you. Take a chance on people – and Pokemon – you might not expect to. They might just surprise you. Now, young lady…” Professor Spruce’s eyes fixed on Skye, who had been sitting quietly the whole way through. “Why don’t you come up and pick your partner?”
Frozen under the expectant gaze, Skye didn’t move. The other two new trainers muttered as the silence grew. The faces of the parents clouded. Still Skye didn’t move. Or perhaps she couldn’t.
Isla pushed herself out of her chair. Despite the angry murmurings from the other guardians, she threaded herself in next to her. “Skye, do you want to go up first?” she asked.  
Skye nodded.
���Would you like me to go up with you? Or maybe Blair?”
She shook her head, but no words came out.
“Just take your time. I know it’s a bit scary, but you can do it.”
With the encouragement, Skye faced the three Pokeballs next to Professor Spruce. Each one was furnished with a plaque listing information about the Pokemon inside. Isla read them over, trying to absorb the information quickly, in case she was asked to sit back down. One Grass starter, one Fire, one Water. Exactly the same as Johto.
Coozy, Lv 5
Gender: Male
The Little Cow Pokemon
Good natured and docile, this Coozy is an excellent choice for those who enjoy a slow and steady pace in life. Be careful not to let him get lazy and complacent!
*
Bleater, Lv 5
Gender: Male
The Nightlight Pokemon
Aloof yet curious, this Bleater will be a loyal companion to any trainer willing to take the time to get to know him. Be warned, Bleater are prone to dependency on their trainers later in life.
*
Coltide, Lv5
Gender: Male
The Water Horse Pokemon
Spirited and independent, this Coltide can be a handful without firm guidance in the beginning. However, you will rarely find a more dedicated Pokemon out there!
*
Curiosity burned at the back of Isla’s head, but now wouldn’t be the right time to interrupt everything by checking. For now, she turned back to the chairs and waited as Skye made her final decision.
“This one.” Skye eventually said. “I would like this one, please.”
“Excellent choice,” Professor Spruce said kindly. “Why don’t you take your, uh… guardians towards the back and fill out the paperwork? The aide will have your license waiting for you.”
“You go,” Isla motioned to Blair. “I’ll wait here.”
While Skye was away dealing with her paperwork, Isla watched the two remaining trainers making their picks. Compared to Skye, there was no hesitation. The boy beelined immediately for Coltide, but the other girl seemed perfectly happy to be left with Coozy. Which, of course, meant that Skye had chosen Bleater.
One by one, the families left for the other room, and Isla had the chance to look closer at the three Kildo starters. She painstakingly punched the names – or her best memory of them – into the Pokedex and clicked Image Search.
Coozy, she decided, would have been her choice. It was almost painfully cute; small, and quadrupedal, covered in a thick coat of moss green fur, a pale pink nose, and dark inquisitive eyes. Her arms ached to hug it.
Now, Bleater was cute too, she thought. It reminded her of a favourite Johto Pokemon – a Mareep – just smaller. Its wool was coarse and tightly packed against the body, in a vivid orange, the colour of flame. Its short, stubby legs and the small nubs of horns were a much darker orange, a striking contrast to the rest of its body.
The final one, Isla could figure out on her own. An aqua blue body, a mane and tale reminiscent of flowing water, black hooves polished like obsidian, and dark, beguiling eyes. Coltide, the previous evolution of Blair’s Coastrot.
“You seem very interested in the starters, young lady,” Professor Spruce’s voice cut through Isla’s thoughts, making her jump. “Not local?”
“How could you tell?” Isla laughed nervously.
“I’ve been around the block too many times,” Professor Spruce said. “Kanto?”
“No, Johto. My accent is a bit softer though, so I get why people mix them up.”
“Johto, eh? That’s a long trip. What brings you here?”
“Visiting family. And some research into the Kildonian Chessmen.”
Professor Spruce’s eyes widened. “How interesting.”
A perfect opportunity had fallen right into her lap. She would be stupid not to take advantage of it now. “Professor, do you know anything about them?” she asked. “Or the Vitalities? Anything you could tell me?”
“Like what?”
“Like where they could be found?”
Professor Spruce’s eyebrow arched. “Well, no-one really knows where the Chessmen are now. Recent reports claim they settled in remote places – like islands far away from the mainland or underground. But that’s all just theories. There hasn’t been a confirmed sighting in over a century. But the Vitalities, on the other hand…”
Isla leant forward, closing the space between them.
Professor Spruce seemed to think better of what she was about to say and let out a sigh. “You have to understand something first. The Vitalities are a polarising bunch. Much of my generation, us old folks, even some of the more… naïve younger people believe the Vitalities are responsible for the natural disasters around Kildo.”
This wasn’t news to Isla, but still she pressed “Why?”
“The Vitalities brought many gifts to humans. Some were used wisely. Others weren’t. One of the most enduring theories is that the Chessmen banished and trapped the Vitalities to four remote corners of Kildo to prevent them intervening in humans’ natural progress. There’s an argument to be made that the natural disasters are the Vitalities fighting back, I suppose rebelling against their banishment.”
“So, no-one knows where they are? Or the Chessmen?”
Professor Spruce shook her head. “You may have noticed that Kildo is a region on a precipice. Pokemon journeys, gym circuits, the battling leagues, these are all very new to us. And they’ve become very popular very quickly. Up until about twenty years ago, most people in Kildo only used Pokemon to help them work the land, to till crops, things like that. It was like the whole region carried this collective memory, a shared fear of what happened when technology became too great a force.”
“I suppose that makes sense.”
“Yes. But that fear has diluted. It’s been lost among much of the new generation. Things have changed. We’ve made amazing technological advances since then, eclipsed even some of the other regions that have been doing this for much longer. I’m sure you’ve heard about our API technology and Ability Suppressors and Experience Boosters, all that sort of thing.” Isla hadn’t, but she didn’t want to stop her and ask. Lots of people think it’s amazing. Lots more people are scared. Scared that if the Chessmen were to wake again, and were to see the way we have advanced, they would do exactly what they did the last time they awoke.”
The phrase festering in Isla’s mouth felt ridiculous. Laughable. But something compelled her to say it anyway.
“That they would destroy the whole region?”
Professor Spruce’s piercing grey eyes met Isla’s.
“Exactly.”
10 notes · View notes
kaimactrash · 3 years ago
Photo
Tumblr media
Okay first and foremost: if this flag is wrong lemme know! I have been googling but obviously, it can only go so far in trustablity since pages can be boosted.Anyway, heres my crew of lesbian OCs,
realise I have very few gay men ocs bc I've been in a real drawing fems mood lately, but theres a few there
info below on the ocs
other than Lith none of these women were born on earth, or even lived on it, so they don't have the exact same gender and physical sex rules we do, so this is more the closest term that fits all of my ladies who love ladies&enbees.up in the top left we have Lottie, she's not really into sex that much, but shes all about the romance, shes a very loving person, but deeply scared from several events leaving her with intense PTSD. She's a Frenrar native would was recruited as a demon, she was much more anthro as a human, but lost some of it on the transition to demon. She starts her story being rescued, while greatful, within a few months of world trecking she realised that this isn't what she wants to do anymore, she decides to hang out at Valentino, Skye, and Pipers traveling bar, called The Turkeys Tail. There she studies endlessly to solve a few magic issues on Franrar with the help of Valentino, it takes time but she ends up being the demon to be able to break the Elders curse, in the form of cuffs binding all lower (Hokey) demons, which prevents them running of flying away. She's a pacifist & would really like if there were no wars going on, but since she can't stop them herself, she tries to do so with her experiments. She's growing a lot as i write her and get to know her which is cool, I love when you can just almost hear a character coming together in your mind. all the inspo! Sorry for the ramble! it's good to get this stuff down when I'm in brain storming mind! Across from Lottie, top right, is lith! If you've followed me for years you know lith a bit, she was once a middle aged woman from earth, she made the transition over to demon at the end of a long fight with respiritory illness. Shes very busy lady being one of the two first primary protagonists, while she has some time to adjust to demon life, it didn't come with its own issues, and she ws soon through into a resistance for a place she arrived in not that long ago, she works it out over time. She also works out her sexuality, as a human, she pretty much burried her sexuality but the freedom of a while new world, one filled with many more queer people like her, haha.below her the giant elder Galo stands, due to her bullish attitude and hard headed focus, she struggles with this and the power battles in the Demon realm, often failing to see the wider issue as rilo refocuses her everytime she get close to figuring them out. Shes a bit new so a little under developed but shes going to be apearing quite a lot at the start of the story, then return later, so I'll have some time to get to know her. that tiny lil green triclops like thing, is Shihosu, my most precious and special baby, I wanna protect her even thou i'm the one writting the conflict in her world. She actually dies before she even apears, but shes brough back by octo ( the gold and purple octomaid lady.) and this essentially makes her speicies see her as some blessed chosen one, she has a big repuatation and after seeing and hearing other members of her speices die, she goes on the hunt for octo to find out why she was chosen...she has plenty of fun nights out during  this, so she has a good life work balance.   Shihosu is checking out Elviras butt. Elvira is basically an effigy brought to life by her father Emesh, She's a romantic at heart and can't help but coo and awe at any acts of love. Her father is very over protective and it takes a long time for her to be given true free reign of her life, shes thousands of years old by that point, so she gets out and finds the area outside her home is a semi-apocolyptic waste land filled with strange speicies and creatures, she quick decides she has left because she's to help. Her father is actually aware that he was to let her go off on her own as soon as she'd ask. He was inspired to create her while tripping hard, and the voice told him how to make her, and why he should....*mystery music.*Lastly we have the aforementioned Octo, and her wife, Beefy. By the time we meet them, they've been married a few years and they are obnoxiously in love. Beefy was earth child some how snatched onto Frenrar, she doesn'y know who did it, why, or even how, even though she meets others like her over time, none of them seem to know who did this, and no one on frenrar seems to know who could even do that. She was found in a box in the woods, no older than a year, and the Fleetfoots, a rabbit like spieces with multiple varients across frenrar, the spieces are known for strength, mentally and phsyically, hardiness, and determination, which ended up feeling perfect for Beefy, until Octovar arrived, Not immediately though. Octo was there over a summer at her father request, as she had gained a reputation for making scenes at big public royal family events, so as it is so oftem the rebelious princess is sent off out of daddys way, while he does his old boring bussiness. Beefy spent a lot of her time building and training physically, and Octovar would often be around. She's very curious as someone who lives mostly in the sea, being so far from the ocean, the lifestyles felt completely alien to one another. Over time awkward stares and little comments evolved in to longing looks and full on flirting. Always very opinionated, Octovar opened up to beefy about why she was here, why she was fighting them, and why she needed to leave before her father came back to collect her, Beefy agreed and talked about a Fleetfoot called Piper who had been here, but left after a visit from a powerful mage, beefy had kept contact via letters, so was now aware, Piper was an active member of the resistance. Beefy said her goodbyes, their culture never saw one set of parents, everyone raised everyone basically, so it was scary, but the elders reccomended beefy go try it out, reminding her, her burrow will always be there for her when or if she ever comes back.While we meet them at wives I'm 100% planning a prequel comic on them from meeting each other, to when they meet lith landon and the crew.OOf woops sorry these are meant to be silly cute lil pieces but I get all focused on lore! I'm still planningon doing more even though pride is over, I'm planning on doing one with gay men, then aro/ace. I may also do one with other mspec idnetities, but I do not have many ocs in those categories, YET! I will defo have more as more characters are created, I gotta make a whole planet of people. so theres gonna be variety.I may try and put all my trans characters together for a trans flag, but i may use the art I already made of them! Happy pride Lesbains*! (*and all the groups simailir or under that lable)        
3 notes · View notes
wcamino-confessions · 4 years ago
Text
hi I’ve been waiting for species to come up in here, and now that it has, hold on to your asses boys we’re going for a ride
it’s another long one, sorry, but I’m very passionate about the species debate and whether or not you agree with me, you can’t say I’m wrong with some of these points
firstly, species are various ‘hybrids’ or evolutionized/mutated subversions of cats that are commonly found around amino. sometimes they’re simply cats with odd traits that serve no real purpose and were mainly created for aesthetic. some more popular species include delicats, mermyxns, and slimetails. each species has traits that are specific to their genes, although MOST (not all) have the same base traits (horns, wings, steam, fish tails, spikes, random inanimate objects as tails, socks, bandaids, unnatural whiskers, antennae, glass body parts, liquidated body parts, etc).
species really got big upon the first notable creation of warriors species called slimetails back in late 2018/early 2019. the cats featured various colored, themed, textured and substanced tails made from slime after radioactivity consumed the clans homes and resulted in the genetic mutation. they grew very popular very quickly as they were, and are, an open original species. from there, species quickly took off with the members of WA, and with no regulations about who could make them and how you went about doing so, they were quickly overwhelming. well, maybe overwhelming isn’t the right term. the community absolutely ate up the prospect of unnatural, oftentimes irrelevant, cats with pretty features and levels of trait rarity. they’re still a very popular aspect of WA today.
and in today’s standards, they are oftentimes associated with a users level of “popularity.” although this is definitely not the case with all species owners and affiliates, no one can deny that the only reason some members are popular is because of their status as creators, GA’s, or fervent members of that species communities. now, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does tend to rile small bouts of drama in some cases. luckily, they usually remain off of WA, or at least out of the BIG drama category of WA. but there is plenty of drama associated with species nonetheless.
firstly, there is the matter of relevancy that needs to be addressed within species. although the LT did reform their guidelines to ensure that all species do have some form of relation to the warriors books in their lore, we haven’t seen much of a change. in order to “abide” by this new guidelines, many species creators simply said that the cats in their species could be found living in clans either in the wild, on their own accord, or as a whole. WITHOUT altering their lore as required. that’s all fine and dandy. but how does it derive species from the books? well. it doesn’t. because in order for a species to be truly relevant to the warriors fandom, they must have descended DIRECTLY from one of the five clans in the books, or a tribe. rogues and loners, while apart of the series, have never been found to go off and create their own clan(s) for the fun of it. and we have no reason to believe that would change in the series. even the Skyclan cats didn’t reform Skyclan for shits and giggles. they were influenced by clan cats and received prophetic dreams from Starclan cats that basically guilt tripped them into doing this really random thing that they otherwise wouldn’t have even known of.
so, in all technicality, rogue/loner species derivatives do not pertain to the books. in order for a species to be genuinely, unquestionably relevant to warriors they need to either be mutated/evolved counterparts to the clans/tribe, or they need to, by direct lineage, be related to the original clan cats. of course no one expects you to go draw up a family tree on how your flying monkey cats have someone come from Firestar the Greats bloodline. but simply saying so isn’t enough. if they’re truly relevant to the books, then species owners need to add it. to. the lore. yeah, that guideline has already been passed. but it was not followed efficiently. your quirky cats with a clan/tribe hierarchy or something similar to such does not make them relevant. fix the damn lore like the guidelines originally stated. oh, and sorry to break it to you, but this means that your mythical god-like cats, your robo-cats, and your human object cats are immediately out of the running for relevancy. I can see how wings might have some semblance of realistism, but your sparkly candle tailed cats or cats who grow moss in cute little bubbles serve no evolutionary purpose and wouldn’t have any possibility of existing within the warriors universe.
now, onto the next topic of relevancy: evolution. some people say that cats developing fish tails or wings defies the laws of evolution. it probably does. but then again, we are dealing with four territorial cult cats who are very religious and, on occasion, will fight ghost cats and lose so. I’m actually defending species on this part, but don’t get used to it. because in all honesty, who are we to defy the lengths that evolution will go to? we didn’t expect fish to grow legs, but here we are. who’s to say that in this hypothetical universes cats can’t evolve to accommodate wings? don’t get me wrong, I hate the idea of it, but it isn’t COMPLETELY unreasonable.
next on the agenda, we have attribute individuality. granted, there are only so many different ways to make your species unique and really genuinely original, seeing the same handful of base traits repeat themselves in multiple different species (that could honestly just be considered one species altogether) does get old. there are not infinite options for creating a species that is going to be genuinely relevant in some remote aspect, and at some point people need to realize its time to stop. new species sprout up on what seems like a monthly basis on several occasions. and, although they don’t always get big, they still hold a place in clogging the latest feed. specifically with their borderline unacceptably irrelevant adopts. species really test the limits in relevancy, and so do adopts, but that’s for another day. and I’m not saying adopts are bad, so don’t single that out from this entire confess.
there’s another thing. species adopts. they’re constantly flooding the latest feed and drowning out actual warriors/oc related content. “it’s not your place to tell people what they should and shouldn’t post!” yeah, no dip. that’s not what I’m doing. I’m simply expressing my grievances with the amount of UNBEARABLY absurd species adopts that are constantly being uploaded and sold. and pricing? yeesh, that’s also for another day. but I am, again, not blatantly telling anyone to “stop posting species adopts!” or “lower your prices!” so that’s not something that needs to be brought up. so, whether or not you continue to post species adopts is your business. I’m positive that plenty of people adore them and are eating them up like candy. but, coming from a rare non-species lover, it does get tiring to trudge through all those horned bases and eye bleed neons to find some actual content.
don’t get me wrong, I’m not against species, per se. but I am against them being on WA. they don’t serve any actual purpose to the fandom in terms of relevancy. in most cases at least. and while I do applaud the creativity, the uniqueness and the overall joy it brings to the table, I just think that they’d be better off elsewhere. this is not a cat amino. this is a warriors amino. meaning we are only inclusive of cats pertaining to the warriors fandom for validated use in the community. validated use consists of realistic role playing, realistic story writing, realistic artistry and/or realistic character development by any means. so, looking outside of species, any unrealistic characters are still fine for the community because they cannot actually be implimented into WA in the ways that species can for their unnatural complexions. the only reason species are justified for their unnatural complexions is because of loopholes that make them seem relevant and viable for validated use, simple because they are completely feline in the genetic sense.
I hope that paragraph made sense, shit got a little complex right there. but, anyways, I’d like to reiterate relevancy. again. because I don’t see anyone giving up their species on WA for the sake of being canonically relevant because they’re going to find some off the wall way to make their quirky cats seem applicable. to be fair, I wouldn’t want to give up by hard earned creation so easily either. but there ARE other places to take them. and it isn’t up to us to figure out where, it’s up to the species owners. so it’s not like the species would be thrown out altogether, it would just be the irrelevant ones. and the relevant ones would be required to ACTUALLY abide by the guidelines instead of finding loopholes or countering valid points as to how their species are not canonically derived with “they lives in clans.” again, sorry if this paragraph was hard to follow. I’m perfectly fine with clearing up any misunderstandings in those last two paragraphs^^
so, to sum up, I believe the guidelines should be fixed and species should be properly mandated to abide by these new guidelines in order to ensure ACTUAL relevancy. I don’t like species. I don’t want anything to do with them. but I like that they bring a new sense of community and likeness to WA. and I don’t give a rats ass if you choose to associate with them. I personally believe that NONE of the species have any place on WA, but that would be unfair of me, wouldn’t it. so, I did my best to accommodate rationality in this entry, and I apologize if I came off as a stuck up bitch at any point. it wasn’t my intention, but I sure it did happen at some point.
oh, and let me derail any “WA would be boring if it were 100% relevant” arguments. because firstly, it WAS 100% relevant when it first started out, and it thrived. secondly, no where did I claim that species need to be 100% relevant. I made it very clear that it was the lore and the traits that needed to match up to accommodate the terms of relevancy. and thirdly, even on the off chance that species were subtracted from the equation, there are still plenty of other aspects that leave WA out of the running for total relevancy. thank you for coming to my ted talk, have a nice day loves <3
31 notes · View notes
asterlizard · 4 years ago
Photo
Tumblr media
As a memorial for my first tablet, which died this year, I put together pieces from each year that I had it (it lasted for almost 12 years!) Also I’m curious to see how my art evolved over the years, and this was a good excuse.
Analysis of each year under the cut:
2008: -Got my first tablet in September (the top pic was my very first attempt with it aaa) -Was into fanimations and creating fanart of peoples' OCs, and Japanese stuff in general -Made several attempts at original stories, but they barely lasted after creating the characters --However, I did have two stories that I made fair progress on: one of my group of friends at the time, and a horror story with disabled protagonists
2009: -I was very into horror tropes at this time, so it was difficult to find early stuff that didn't have blood on it :'D -HETALIA -My art themes immediately moved into Cuteness Territory, which I've pretty much stuck with to now -Also pretty much adopted Himaruya's art style almost overnight -The prototype characters of Kaleidoscope Children began here, though I didn't start making proper art of them until next year
2010: -So much Hetalia and chibi content (I should put a cuteness warning next time) -Played around with different art techniques -Discovered SAI -Finally completed a group picture (with 50+ characters!), which is a big accomplishment considering how easily I get bored/burnt out --This was probably the first pic I did that got fairly popular
2011: -Moved over from Photoshop to SAI as my primary art program (PS was only used for extra effects) -Finally drew fanart that wasn't Hetalia, haha -My first commission -Out of my old artwork, this year was perhaps my favourite; there are a lot of works I'm still really pleased with
2012: -Half of my art this year was digital paint, and the other half was 'attempted digital watercolour', which I never really mastered... -First attempt applying for an art job (I didn't get it, but in retrospect I'm glad I didn't, I wasn't ready yet :'D ) -Joined an art contest (and only one) on deviantart
2013: -The number of original pics outnumbered fanart (especially Hetalia, I probably drew it once a year for the next few years) -In previous years I made a couple of attempts at a simplified/more cartoony art style, but didn't really settle on something until this year, though I still primarily stuck to my more anime-influenced style -Used the Fringe tool for shading for a few years
2014: -Too busy with school, probably only made like 5 proper pics this entire year -For the next few years, I drew eyes where the lineart has no gaps between the eyelids (so more Western-ish) -Started experimenting with darker shading -First attempt at detailed food
2015: -Also not very productive -Got a food art commission
2016: -Still not very productive -First 500+ note popular pic -Stopped adding highlights to hair
2017: -Started reviving KalChi and gave them new profile pics -Wasn't super proud of my art style at this point (particularly how I drew eyes)
2018: -BNHA -Finally I had a series to obsess over again and draw lots of fanart for again! -For some reason, something clicked toward the end of the year, and I started to really like drawing??? (not that I had low self-esteem about my art, but most of what I drew didn't feel grand or special or super memorable) -New tricks: Multiply for the lineart layer, also finally drawing a decent BG instead of mostly blank/basic BGs
2019: -New lineart technique, which for lack of a better term I call the 'traditional/marble-chiseling technique', which makes me feel like less of a perfectionist due to the rougher lineart 👍 (i.e.: the rough sketch becomes the final lineart, I don't make a separate layer for the final lineart anymore) -Drew eyes differently (lineart gaps again and smaller irises) inspired by BNHA's art style -Getting back into making comics frequently again -Also more proper BGs! -Perhaps the highest enjoyment I've had yet
2020: -Zines! -The most detail I've done yet -Tablet dies in the middle of my 3rd zine work in mid-late summer (R.I.P.), while I finished it with my backup tablet --This became my first 1000+ note popular pic!
2 notes · View notes
drfoxlefoxyfloof · 4 years ago
Text
Some of my more humanoid oc's
OK so, I've got a bunch of unikitty oc's, but I actually do have some non unikitty oc's and two of these guys aren't even from a fandom, I just made them up,
Anyway here are my characters and some info about them
Tumblr media
Rebel isn't from the same story as trinket and nebula, and trinket is a muifandom oc, meaning that I put trinket in a lot of fandoms, the trinket in this drawing being the original
Tumblr media
Rebel was originally a nexo Knights oc, but I've made a version that can be used in multiple fandoms/stories besides nexo knights, and that's the version I will use here
Rebel is a lava monster who can be summoned from a spell book if she is ever killed, she just goes back into the book and waits to be summoned back to the real world, this book still has many completely blank pages after the page showing rebel, and ripped pages where her description used to be only 2 pages of the description are left,
the creator of the book decided that rebel was a lost cause, sense she would never turn out the way she was supposed to.
Rebel was supposed to seem innocent and childiah, but actually be violent and deadly, with the power to controll heat, ranging from a warm summer day, to burning hot lava, when her powers are activated the brown patches on her skin turn black, looking like stone, with what seems to be visible lava flowing through her veins instead of blood.
but rebel always turned out to just be an innocent and friendly child, who just wanted a family, she did turn out with the lava abilitys though, but mostly used these powers to bake and cook with her bare hands, or to give someone the perfect warm hug,
Rebel was discarded, her book can be found in a garbage can or at the dump, she just patently waits to be summoned again.
If she's ever used in a story or rp, a random character within this story will find the discarded book and acedentally summon this innocent and niev child, who will claim the summoner as her parent, what happens next with her is up to whoever finds her
Tumblr media
Trinket coppervine forestgear has two origin story's, depending on where she is used and what works best with the story,
In her cannon origin trinket was a a blacksmith from an isolated small town, separated from modern day, this town was called ironsteam village, and is a heavily steam punk themed place,
Trinket has worked in that blacksmith shop sense she was 9, due to ironsteam village claiming that children where old enough to start working at around 8, wich resulted in many young children getting injured due to jobs being too dangerous,
Trinket lost two of her fingers in an accident with the weapons rack when she was 11, wich is also how she got the scars on her cheek,
Eventually when trinket was 15, she got bored of work and was curious of the world outside of ironsteam village, and set out on her adventure, wich is where whatever story she is placed in begins.
Her second back story is pretty much the same other than she worked at a clock tower and started working there when she was 6, and lost two fingers in the cogs and gears of the clock towers when she was 8,
In either story you go with trinkets personality is pretty much the same,
Trinket is a curious and friendly young teenager who likes to help where she can, and loves to explore and find out new things, she's creative and resourceful, using what she has to work with to solve her problems,
Trinket does have dyslexia though, making reading a little hard, and also has some trouble holding things sense she's missing a few fingers, she can also get a little pushy at times, and also ends up panicking at certain things.
Tumblr media
Nebula nadara silvara is the princess of a race called " elemental weavers "
Nebula is a kind and generous princess who does her best to help around her kingdom and make her subjects happy, both of her parents are still alive and rule the kingdom, nebula just likes to help where she can,
Her usual story is,
A greed weaver from a tribe of purposefully corrupted elemental weavers manages to lure nebula away from her home,
Nebula gets lost, unable to find her way back, and now has to try and get home,
This is usually how she ends up meeting the other characters in any story she's involved in.
Info a about the race
Elemental weavers are a race wich evolved along side humans, but mostly kept themselves seacret, and are able to live almost everywhere, but prefer caves and forests, these creatures are closely related to spiders, and can even produce spider silk, wich is where the " weaver" part of the name comes from,
Elemental weavers can live for around 400 years, nebula being 99 years old, wich to this race is considered to be rather young to this race a 40 year old still counts as a child, and 50 through 100 counts as being a teenager.
Elemental weavers also each have a special power that they usually unlock between ages 10 and 40, once their power is discovered their first name is changed to their middle name, and their first name is changed to be something related to their element,
Their hair will also change from grey to matching their new element, and they will gain related markings on the natural armor like plating on their skin, it is also sometimes possible for a weaver to have 2 elements, or end up with a different element later in life, it's even possible to lose an element.
It is also normal for elemental weavers to have different amounts of eyes, going from 1 eye to 24 eyes, the number of scarf arms also usually match the number of eyes, these weavers don't actually have arms, and never have, instead using natural telepathic abilitys to control scarves or ropes made of weaver silk that they wear around either their necks or waists,
Elemental weavers are also incredibly accepting and understanding, so it's completely normal to meet a, LGBT+ weaver and they will gladly allow humans and other races to live in their kingdoms.
( sorry about how long this was, I just had a lot of info on these characters and really like my elemental weavers race, they are a little flawed though sense I made them when I was 13, but I'll keep working on improving them ^-^)
9 notes · View notes
toruhalo · 5 years ago
Text
Psychotic (Prologue)
Pairings: Ledger!Joker x  Female OC
Wordcount: 767
Warnings: forms of abuse, violence, murder, minor character death, explicit language.
DO NOT READ IF ANY OF THE ABOVE WARNINGS MIGHT TRIGGER YOU
A/N: This chapter is just to set up the OC’s background! No Joker in this chapter T-T Also this is a rewrite of my Wattpad story! (more chapters to come)
next chapter(s): 1
Tumblr media
Zachary and Angela Wilde used to be in love with one another. Angela happened to become pregnant at the age of sixteen, administering them to be wed at only eighteen. They soon relied massively on narcotics and alcohol to ease their mind from their fraught financial situation. The drugs began rotting their brain of any rational thinking or conscious decisions. The couple's daughter felt as if she had no parents at all. She never referred to them as 'mom' or 'dad', only as their birth names, if she had to speak to them. On the odd occasion, Zachary and Angela would take turns lashing out at her as if it was a game. Beaten, starved, and neglected, she thought she wouldn't live to see adulthood.
Before she had started going to public school, she thought all parents were like hers. Promptly she learned that it was one of the most immoral things a parent could do to a child. However, she did not want to trouble anyone with her heinous life. She genuinely believed she deserved it.
In her tween years at school, the hallways were always buzzing with frequent rumors and gossip of up and coming local criminals in Gotham City. The stories piqued her interest, so she began watching television late at night when her parents were knocked out. Her favorite channels were Gotham City News and GNN (Gotham News Network). She would laugh hysterically at the stories they would report, not taking them seriously. Watching and listening to such gruesome stories began to expand her mind with maniacal, murderous thoughts. Time and again, she would dream of an entity killing her parents, relieving her of the unspeakable pain she experienced. Her dreams soon began evolving, and eventually that figure became herself that murdered the drunken couple.
The fifteen-year-old daughter giggles to herself, drawing up plans on how to butcher the other occupants of the house. Earlier that day had been one of the most traumatic days of her absolute existence, details excluded. She began to huff in frustration, being unable to think. Slowly, a smirk grew on her face.
Gripping the kitchen knife handle with white knuckles, she stalks towards the ominous living room. Soft groans were heard, along with the distinct sound of clothes rustling and lip-smacking. After rounding the corner, the girl sees her two parents grinding on each other while half-dressed. The daughter turns away, turning off the television playing a cheesy sitcom. This action alerts Zachary, causing him to sit up and look with glazed vision. He squints to discover his daughter staring at them with indifferent eyes.
"The fuck? Go away you creepy little shit!" He spits. She slowly backs away, maintaining her eyes on him. Zachary growls and reluctantly gets up to grab his daughter.
"Zach! She has a knife!" Angela screams.
He snapped his neck to look at his wife when the girl shoves the tip of the knife into his jugular. This caused Angela to shriek louder, as she scrambled to the kitchen. Zachary tried to make a sound, but all that came out was gurgles followed by heaping amounts of blood. The girl slashed the older man over and over until he stopped moving, his eyes becoming lifeless. She gathers herself from the rush of adrenaline and walks to the sound of her mother talking.
"She stabbed my husband in the neck! Please hurry—" Angela stopped at the sound of footsteps. She turned around to see her daughter covered in Zachary's blood and a smile on her face. Angela instantly released the phone, the only sound being the distant 'hello' from the other line of the call.
"Sweetie... I-I'm your mother! I love you so much. I know your father was a terrible man, and he's done bad things to both of us. I-I understand your anger. Just... please... put the knife down," her mother reasoned shakily.
The blood-stained girl began laughing, "You're not my mother. You never were and never will be." Angela sobbed in response and reached behind her, gripping onto a frying pan. "The cops are on their way..." she whispered.
"Good." The daughter lunged towards her mother. At full speed, Angela swung the pan and hit the girl in the temple, knocking her unconscious. Sirens were heard distantly, so the woman sprinted outside. The girl gradually opened her eyes as her head was ferociously pounding against her skull. Lying motionless on the cold tiled floor, she finally felt a sense of fulfillment. She knew she would end up being sentenced, but she didn't care. She didn't want to be home.
33 notes · View notes
thedragenda · 5 years ago
Note
In your opinion, what makes a good or bad character design? Which comics, cartoons, etc. have the best character designs? Which have the worst character designs?
I think what makes a design good or bad really depends on the designs purpose and style, and by definition a bad design is a design that fails at this goal and runs contrast to the styles strengths. A colorful neon punk character is probably not something well fitted for a black and white detective story, but would look quite on brand in an intense fast paced cyberpunk novel that only needs a few illustrations of the character. A style that looks amazing with wavy flowing fabric would looks pretty awful drawing a DC type of hero in tight spandex and clean cut strong colored color pallet. This doesn’t mean the artist can’t draw X thing. It just means an artist as part of their tool kit have different styles for different feel and genre they want thing to give off in their work and with experience most artists pick up on this. I think we all have seen artist redraw memes where in the old image that character design just looks awful. Everything is messy, non of the colors works together, nothing leads the eyes in an organic way.  But then in the redraw. Despite on paper the design being the same it now looks amazing. Sure a better pose helps a lot, but I think a lot of it has to do with the artists style having evolved into something that benefits design elements they like. So now the design compliments the style instead of fighting it making everything just feel so much better and coherent. Because no one deserves getting randomly roasted for no reason let’s use me as an example. Ancient cat boi OC redrawn in 30 seconds VS the nightmare we shall never mention again.  If you ever read one of those awful 10 THINGS TO NEVER DO OR YOUR OC IS A MARE SUE!!! lists. He pretty much is every single one of them. A generic two eye colored white fem boi cat. But with my many years of never letting go of my love of cute animu bois with extra ears my style is now something way better suited to these types of designs so now he doesn’t look half bad.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Shudder So that’s my TED talk. Most “bad” character designs are just ill fitted for their usage or haven’t had the right style found to compliment it.
12 notes · View notes
darklingichor · 5 years ago
Text
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell *Major Spoilers*
I wrote a little about this book last month, but I want to write more. This is one of those books that has been lingering in my brain so what follows will be long and rambling.
Now, I haven't read Fangirl I've been pulled more toward action adventure and humor in my fiction, for a while now. Hmm, I wonder what could have happened a few years back  that would cause a Pacific Northwest liberal to feel the need for escape? Just one of those things, I suppose.
I need to read it, if only because I wrote Harry Potter fanfic for years and sort of lost myself in it right after high school.
Anyway.
I've heard people calling Carry On an HP knock off. I don't get this. Simon Snow is obviously Fangirl's Harry Potter. That makes Carry On more of a tongue in cheek homage to HP and stories like it as well as something of a love letter to fanfic writers.
A lot of the main characters start out as your standard for this type of story. "The Hero", "The Mentor", "The Damsel", "The Enemy", "The Unspeakable Evil."
Through the book it becomes clear that our hero is well meaning but ill-suited for the role that his mentor thinks he place him in. The mentor is shown to be unhinged. The damsel is sick of screaming and doesn't want to be in the story at all. The enemy is love sick for the hero and dealing with the puberty from hell. The unspeakable evil, isn't. Its just an unforeseen byproduct of the mentor's plan, in which, the hero, is a pawn.
The book plays with archetypes and I read some of them as being fairly meta about their expected place in the story.
Agetha, especially, seems to know her role and resent it. She's who is saved by the hero, whether she likes it or not.
Baz is so certain of his role as "The Enemy" that until his role flips, he's sure his destiny is to be killed by the person he's in love with.
Simon knows his role so well, he's on auto pilot as a defence mechanism. He's either going to die, or he'll get a stock Happily Ever After. He doesn't even allow himself to think too much about what really matters to him, because he knows his life isn't really his.
I would have loved this book because of everything I wrote above, but add to it the nods to fan contribution? It was enough to make me remember my old ff.n login!
I don't know if Rainbow Rowell researched fan fiction but I figure she must have.
I mean, the things I saw played with and reshaped in Carry On, are fanfic tropes. Rowell took things that grew out of fans having fun with their favorite characters and made them canon.
Main character going out with an exchange student, pop culture references, evil good guy, and:
Four words: Draco is a vampire.
Sure, not every fic that used these were the best, but so what? Many were sincere.
What better way to go to Hogwarts as a person raised outside the UK than to live though an OC in an exchange program?
It was weird that no one in the wizard world listened to muggle music, watched movies or TV. Even the muggleborns? I'm sorry, but I was in the same age range as the characters. In fact, if Harry were real, he would be three years older than me. You can't convince me that there were not at least a couple of muggleborns who were  sending an owl a week to remind their parents to tape Friends or My So-Called Life.
There were a fair few stories where Dumbledore or even Harry turned out to be evil. Even before we found out Dumbledore wasn't a saint. It can be fun to play with expectations and Dumbledore was too perfect for too long.
The vampire thing? I mean, why not? Either Draco or Snape. It fits enough for a fic, and you can get some fun stuff out of it. Besides Hogwarts allowed a warewolf, why not a vampire?
The point is, this book reminds me of some goofy fics I read but also reminds me of some that I sometimes have to remind myself aren't canon, because fan fiction can be amazing.
Example: It has been years but I still remember a great fic that someone wrote about Uric The Oddball's years at Hogwarts. I don't remember much about it off hand but I do know that if I re-read HP, when Uric is mentioned, I think of this story like it is something that is actually in the history of the series. (Dude, I googled "Uric the Oddball fan fiction" on a whim. Popped right up: Uric the Oddball and the Wild Hunt by Ariana Deralte. Guess I shouldn't be surprised! Maybe I should read it again to see if it's still as good as I remember).
So yeah, Carry On is so not an HP knock off and has a number of things that I think make me like it more.
The first one is diversity. It is very nice to have it explicitly said in the text that characters are of different ethnicities, sexualities, and abilities. Watford is a far better representation of a population than Hogwarts is, outside of fanfic (It wasn't there, people wrote it in).
Then there is magic itself, it comes from somewhere it's in the environment, it has to do with celestial alignment, people give words power to channel that energy.
That brings me to something that made me adore the world building here.
The actuality of Simon Snow's universe is that Mages cannot exist independently without the Normals. Without the Normals giving weight and meaning to turns of phrase, rhyme and songs, the Mages couldn't do what they do. Add to that, this means that magic is ever evolving and the Mages must learn about and be a part of, to some extent, the Normal world. This makes Mages who look down on Normals seem even more ridiculous.
I also think this book handled romance better than Harry Potter. I don't know what it was but the relationships seemed awkward and strained in HP. Maybe it was because most of it was shoved into one book, like Hogwarts's water supply was spiked with hormones? I don't know.
What I do know is that even though Simon and Agetha are going through the motions of being together in this book, they still feel like two people who have been dating for a long time.
We don't get a lot about Penny and her boyfriend, but the way she is described talking about him reminds me of how my best friend would talk about her boyfriends when she was visiting me. The way she would go on, you'd think that he was on the moon instead of 90 miles away. I bought that Penny and her boyfriend enjoy each other's company.
And the biggie. Simon and Baz
I almost didn't read this book for two reasons. First: Vampire main character. I love vampires, but I lived through the deluge of Twilight, True Blood, and Vampire Diaries, not to mention that every other book seemed to be about vampires. Even though I didn't watch or read all of them, I just got vampired out.
Second: I have never been one for the whole "enemies to love interest" thing. The Harry/Draco pairing never spoke to me.  Not that I never read fics that managed that ship well, it was just not my favorite, probably because I just never liked Draco.  I tend to prefer romances that are built on friendship (Remus and Sirius dated each other at some point, and nothing can convince me otherwise).
All that being said, I like the Simon/Baz pairing.
I like that Baz freely admits to the reader that a lot of his tormenting of Simon is pigtail pulling.
I like that Simon is more or less: "I like a guy? A guy who was my nemisis? That's new, let's go for it."
There's none of that "Hate turns to love" shit that I personally can't stand.  None of the "I am evil, yet his light draws me" or "His darkness is so seductive"
Baz isn't a villain needing to rethink his position. He's a slightly snobby guy with a lot of family pressure, who is in love with a dude who has been set up as opposition, by the adults in his life.
Simon isn't a good guy wanting to be bad. He's a guy who is following the path set out for him without giving context to his feelings with thought, because he doesn't think. So, when Baz doesn't show up at the first of the year, Simon knows 3 things for sure:
Baz is his enemy
His enemy is not there
He feels very uneasy about it.
Why?
See numbers 1 & 2
This equals out to "plotting" in Simon's mind because that's what enemies do.
It doesn't dawn on him that he was actually missing Baz and that he has romantic feelings for him until later
I also like the interaction between them. Again, I buy that they like each other. The simpler moments, like sharing food, or being flirty. It also makes sense that Baz is so nervous and guarded about the relationship. It fits that they would bicker and argue while trying to figure every thing out.
The relationships feel authentic.
In fact all of the relationships between  the characters feel authentic.  The sibling relationships between Ebb and Nicky, I know siblings that close. The interaction between Baz and his little sister, I know people like them too. The Friendships; in my opinion, too few friends in fiction are depicted messing with each other or being lovingly annoyed by each other.
I've known my two best friends most of my life. Not a day goes by where one of us doesn't say something that if it was said by anyone else, it would lead to a fight. Said by us, it's funny, or at least something we can't argue with.
So I related when Baz's friend complained that he had wasted his childhood hating Simon now that Simon and Baz were no longer enemies and Baz said: "What else were you going to do with your childhood?"
I spent my 20's with my friends seemingly taking turns crashing at my apartment. I spent most of my time ossulating between wishing they would go home and being glad they were there.
So at the beginning of the book, when Penny won't leave Simon's room? I saw myself in the way Simon felt about it.
That authentic and relatable quality was what I really liked about the quiet - if not Happily Ever After - then the Attempting Normal For Now ending each character got.
Well, as normal as you can get with a story involving  mages, vampires and powerful Elton John songs.
I am a dodecahedron of geekdom, btw and the classic rock side jumped up and down clapping hands at all of the music references (and giggled when Carry On was fallowed by Wayward Son which will be followed by Anyway The Wind Blows). 
And now we come to the reason I have not read the sequel even though it is sitting in a bag with the rest of this year's Powell's haul.
From what I have read, Wayward Son is, at least in part, about what happens after Happily Ever After and ends on a cliffhanger. 
After Happily Ever After with a cliffhanger and no release date... Yeah, that will drive me crazy. I haven't even read the second book and I'm already thinking about the third. Aw man! Who dies? Who breaks up? Who becomes evil?
So, even though road trip stories are right up there with time travel stories as one of my favorites, even though I love the idea of showing a character battling depression, even though I love these characters, period; Wayward Son will stay unread until I run out of new books to read, or the next book's release date is close. Whichever comes first, because I want to think of the characters in their quiet ending ending for a little while.
11 notes · View notes