#theyre so big brown and round

[imagoofball]

Willson thinking long and hard about "how would that make him gay if he already is?"

anyways....guess who didn't "do her"

[loafysainz]

Hey I loved your stories with Lando and the twins being clingy:)

Do you think you could write something where Lando is streaming or getting filmed( like the 24 hour video with angry ginge) and the twins can’t leave him alone. Like they want to help with the workout and sit on his lap the whole time.

:)

NEW STREAMER | LN 4

lando norris!dad x fem!reader!mom

warn: fluffffffffff

anw theyre not twins Noah is (5) & Leo (3), Thank you so much for the req! I hope you like it!!! 🤍

Lando was mid-game, headset on, fingers quick on the controller as he and Max Fewtrell played yet another round of whatever game they were obsessed with that week. His stream chat was buzzing, the viewers thoroughly entertained by the usual banter between the two.

“Bro, you literally threw—” Max was saying, but before he could finish, the door behind Lando suddenly burst open with dramatic force.

BANG.

In came a blur of curly-haired chaos: Noah (5) and Leo (3), charging straight at him like tiny human missiles. Their tiny footsteps pattered against the floor, and before Lando could even turn around, two little missiles launched themselves at him.

“DADDYYYYY!”

Lando barely had time to react before they tackled him. “Oi, oi, what’s this? what are you two doing? It’s way past your bedtime.” he laughed, quickly muting his mic as the two little ones climbed onto his lap like they owned the place.

Noah pouted. “Not sleepy.”

Leo, the youngest one, rubbed his little fists over his eyes, betraying the fact that he was absolutely sleepy but fighting it like a true warrior. “I miss Mommy.” His voice wobbled slightly, and his big brown eyes were already glassy with unshed tears.

And just like that, Lando felt his heart squeeze.

Lando instantly softened. He didn’t even hesitate before pausing the game and wrapping both kids in his arms. “Oh, come here,” he murmured, setting his controller aside to properly hold them. He knew Y/N was off having her well-deserved girls’ trip, but apparently, bedtime was a struggle without her.

“You miss Mommy, huh?” he murmured, pressing kisses onto their soft little heads.

Both boys nodded, Noah sniffing as he clung to his dad’s hoodie. “Yeah. When’s mommy coming back?”

Lando rubbed soothing circles on their backs. “She’s having her girl’s trip. She’ll be back in a few days.”

Leo sniffled dramatically. “That’s so looooong.”

“Oi, don’t be dramatic,” Lando teased gently. “You guys have me! Isn’t that enough?”

Noah wrinkled his nose. “Mmm…”

Max burst into laughter on the other end of the call. “Oh my God, your own kid just humbled you.”

Lando sighed. “Alright, you wanna help me with the game?”

Noah nodded enthusiastically. Leo, already making himself at home on Lando’s lap, rested his cheek against his dad’s chest. “Wanna help,” he mumbled sleepily.

Lando grinned and handed them his spare controller, even though it wasn’t actually connected. “Alright, but we keep it chill.”

The next few minutes were absolute chaos. Noah kept pointing at things on the screen, bombarding Lando with rapid-fire questions. “What’s that? Who’s that guy? Why did you do that? Can I do that?”

Lando answered every single one patiently while simultaneously trying not to get eliminated in-game. Meanwhile, Leo was just pressing random buttons on his fake controller, babbling nonsense as if he was actually playing. Occasionally, he’d giggle in pure delight, making Lando’s heart melt on the spot.

Max, amused, decided to include chat. “Alright, boys, say hi to chats.”

Noah, ever the confident one, waved. “Hello, Chats!”

Leo, though, hesitated before tilting his head. “Umm… who we talking to? What they look like? I can’t see them daddy” His little voice, still holding onto that babyish lisp, made the words even more adorable.

Lando, Max, and literally everyone in chat laughing out loud.

Lando actually had to take a deep breath from laughing. “They’re… um, they’re just watching through the screen, buddy. They’re just like you.”

Leo frowned, like he was trying very hard to understand. Then, after a long moment, he nodded. “Okay. Hi, people in the screen!”

The chat exploded

“THE BABIES ARE HERE EVERYONE STAY CALM”

“Leo is literally the cutest thing ever”

“Noah asking 500 questions per second LMAO”

“Y/N better watch out, Lando violated the children's screen time.”

“They miss their mama :(((((”

Lando, still grinning, let them push random buttons as the game continued. It was chaotic, to say the least—Noah kept trying to actually play, while Leo just mashed buttons with all the confidence of a pro-gamer. Lando didn’t even care that they were losing horrendously; seeing them smile made it worth it.

But soon enough, it was obvious that tiredness was creeping in. Leo’s blinks were getting slower, and Noah, while still trying to act tough, was yawning every few minutes.

Lando glanced at the time. “Alright. One last round, then it’s bedtime.”

Noah groaned. “But—”

“No buts!” Lando cut in, ruffling his hair.

As the game went on, Noah continued to give commentary like a tiny sports analyst, and Leo just… slowly melted against Lando, his chubby cheek squished adorably against his dad’s chest.

Lando stood carefully, cradling Leo in one arm while holding Noah’s hand with the other. “Alright, chat, I gotta go be a dad now. Thanks for hanging out, and I’ll see you all next time.”

Max smirked. “Gotta keep Dad Lando’s rep as the best bedtime storyteller, huh?”

Lando grinned. “Exactly.”

By the time it ended, Lando was ready to sign off. He gave the camera a fond smile. “Thanks for hanging out—Noah, say bye.”

“Bye, people!”

Lando turned to Leo, who was now fully slumped against him, half-asleep. “Leo, say bye.”

Leo, eyes barely open, mumbled, “Bye, screen people.”

As Lando wrapped up the stream, the chat was already buzzing with questions.

“Awwwww Leo knocked out”

“Noah be like ‘one more game’ energy”

“GOODNIGHT BABIES”

“Where’s y/n?”

Before turning off the stream, Lando replied “Y/N’s having a girls' trip, so I’m on dad duty. And these two little spiderman need to sleep before I get in trouble!”

“Alright, bedtime, you little spiderman.”

Noah yawned. “Can we call mommy first?”

Lando smiled. “Of course, mate. Let’s go tuck in and give her a call.”

And with that, he carried his sleeping toddler and led his other sleepy one down the hall, heart full, and already excited to tell Y/N all about their little adventure.

Lando and Noah was quietly talking with Y/N in their shared bed, Leo stirred at the sound of their voices. Still half-asleep, he shuffled closer, rubbing his eyes.

“Mommy,” he mumbled, voice thick with sleep. “I talk to screen people.”

Lando chuckled softly, smoothing Leo’s curls. “Yeah, you did, buddy.”

Y/N’s voice came through the phone. “Did he really?”

Noah immediately jumped in. “Mommy, when are you coming home? I miss you.”

Leo pouted, now fully awake and climbing onto Lando’s chest. “Come home, mommy.”

Lando sighed dramatically, squeezing them both. “Yeah, when are you coming home? We’re suffering over here.”

Y/N just smiled on the screen, watching her boys pile up on Lando. “I’ll be home soon.”

Lando huffed, leaning his head back against the pillow. “Not soon enough.”

The boys continued to mumble sleepy protests, but eventually, exhaustion won over. One by one, they drifted off, little hands clutching Lando’s hoodie.

As he looked at Y/N on the screen, he sighed. “Seriously, though. I miss you.”

Y/N’s gaze softened. “I know.”

Lando groaned playfully, nuzzling his cheek against Leo’s soft curls. “Hurry up and come back already.”

She just smiled again. “Sleep, Lando.”

He yawned, wrapping his arms around the boys. “Fine. But only ‘cause I’m exhausted.”

And with that, he fell asleep, his family safely tucked around him, waiting for Y/N to come home.

END

[bluem1lls]

hii!! can u write a se-mi x female guard reader and theyre already lovers even before the game started. when reader realized that se mi is in the game, she secretly protected her. when the reader revealed herself to se mi in the bthroom they kinda argued,,

✧₊⁺ i'm mr. loverman (and i miss my lover)

se-mi x fem!reader

✦ synopsis: you're so in love with your friend with benefits that you'll risk your life to keep her safe, even if it's all to let her go in the end.

content: angst, guard! reader x player! se-mi

authors note: hi!!! tysm for your request, i hope u like it!

⋆｡°✩ her fingers feel so good inside that, combined with her lust-filled face that roams your features, you think you can cry from the sight alone.

"yes, yes, yes, just like that" your head hits the wall with a choked moan once she allows you to finish.

as you're coming down from your haze, she kisses you.

her kisses so rough, that you're used to being out of breath afterwards.

she lays you in bed, gently getting on top.

"you're my pretty girl.. and i'll miss. you. so. much" she says, kissing you after every word.

please, make it never ending.

"why can't i go with you?" you pouted as she shook her head no.

"i need to take this trip by myself. i told you.. i need to solve a few issues before.. we get more serious" she says as she hears your sigh. "i want that baby, i really do."

you nod, a bit hesitant, resting your head on her chest. you can feel heart beating, which pulls a smile from your lips.

"we can have a morning quickie, as a goodbye"

she hums as she kisses your forehead in agreement.

"mmm.. such a nice way to say goodbye." she replies as you chuckle. "but i still need one more round, just.. to make sure i'm leaving you all satisfied"

you smirk, lifting your head as your eyes find eachother. your lips meet hers once again.

"make me" she grins, quickly getting on top, covering the naked bodies with the white sheets.

⋆｡°✩ you place the mask over your face, following 015 to the 'red lights, green lights' room. stepping in, you remove the mask and drop the case on the floor, putting the weapon together.

practicing the aiming, you check the new players. you would judge them but, weren't you just one stupid more?

as you got ready for the game, the doll turned around, letting you hear the little song you knew all too well.

everyone started running, slowing the pace as it screamed red light.

you found an already familiar face guiding the newbies, oh? well he's..huh. player 456. that's actually cool.

you scanned the room as the game kept going, finding a face you had imprinted in your brain.

huh, she's pretty.

she has..

pretty brown eyes, short brown hair, piercings.

huh.

your eyes shut closed, trying to supress the angry scream.

the girl looked just like se-mi!

no wait.

it was fucking se-mi.

"fuck."

pulling your hair, you tried to focus during the game, you can't lose it now.

you tried to keep your shots far away from her, trying to not make her flinch or anything that made her move.

as she got to the finish line, a sigh of relief ran through your body.

you couldn't face her now though, that'd be reckless.

⋆｡°✩ as the night came, you stirred in bed. shivers running through your body as you kept thinking about her.

you slowly got dressed, walking where the players went through to go to the bathroom, you nudge your partner to go.

i mean, you weren't a big thing here, but they respected you as a triangle, at least the newbies (circles).

so as he left, you stood there, checking on her through the small window.

you located her on the bed, asleep. she was all alone and you almost ran in there to sleep with her, but you couldn't.

pressing your lips together, you sighed, hoping everything could end soon.

⋆｡°✩ a new day, the end of a new game. you prayed that she made it, as you couldn't be there present for it.

you stood on the bathroom door, guarding, as you kept thinking.

how could you ask them without being suspicious?

maybe grab a circle and ask, then kill him.

or um.. maybe go down to the bathroom door? like last night and look for her?

no, maybe you could-

no need, because as you kept thinking of ways to find out if she was alive after 'six-legged pentathlon' while taking custody, she stood there in front of you.

"can i go orrr.. you'll shoot me?" she smirked, eyeing me up and down.

you swore, if she kept being a brat, you'll throw the mask and kiss her. a few ways to makeout and have a quickie came to your mind.

you nod at her, your gun pointing to the door as she enters, leaving your sight.

at least the brat was alive. thank god.

⋆｡°✩ as you kept with your nightly ritual, you found yourself in the little hallway where the players walked for the bathroom.

you could see her chuckling, she was sitting down with a few guys, manspreading as always.

your eyes roamed her body, and then her face. she was so attractive.

you wouldn't judge any of the girls here if they fell for her.

judge doesn't mean you wouldn't shoot them though.

⋆｡°✩ a new day, a new game.

mingle.

as you stood there, your eyesight found her. she was scanning the room, walking with the same group you saw her yesterday.

moving aside with gun in hand, you stared as her brown eyes started to show a hint of fear as the platform begin spinning.

she does the first round, the second one.

but on third one, something feels weird as you see her talking with this guy, a frown on her face.

your heart shatters as you see her three partners run to a room without her.

fuck no. she's not gonna die here.

you stare side to side, as the guards are busy, keeping their focus on otherways.

good.

you get close, poking her with the gun as she turns around, surprise all over her face. you could see that she'd given up. that broke your heart even more.

"196 and 133 are missing one. run" you mumble, but she can still hear you.

she stays there frozen as you poke her again. she seems to react this time as she runs with them into a room, although she keeps turning back to stare, trying to find out more about you.

you go back to your position. once mingle ends, you let out a breathing that you didn't even knew you were holding.

⋆｡°✩ you can't sleep that night, knowing she's there, probably staring at the ceiling thinking about what happened today, just like you.

you miss her so much you feel like you're about to leave everything to go and help her.

because you would. you'd drop everything for her.

⋆｡°✩ light's out was next. you knew that.

you can never be too careful, right?

as you run downstairs, placing the mask on your face, you find another guard with the triangle instead of circle, like you're used to.

fuck.

"039, what are you-" you cut him abruptly, choking him with your arm.

once his body goes limp, you hide it behind the door.

you start looking for her, she's not in her bed.

a bad feeling running through your veins.

fuck it. it's worth it for her.

as you hide your gun, you enter the common room. the light's are flashing, making it worse to locate her. everyone is in such a rush, they don't even see you. if they did, they're too busy being stabbed to death.

where is she?? WHERE the fuck is she????

you look near her bed, she's not there. you stare behind, the sides. she's. not. there.

fuckk.

you find her friend...min su? on top of a bed, quickly, you run to him. once you're close enough, you could hear a whimper.

no. please. not her.

"se-mi?" you scream with fear, voice almost trembling. "se-mi!?"

your eyes find her cornered against the wall. she already has a wound close to her neck.

what's it gonna be? your life of her's?

there's no doubt.

you aim and shoot. his body falls on top of her as she gasps. her gaze finds yours.

she throws his body to the ground, running to your side.

"who the fuck are you?" she tries to pull the mask as you stop her, holding her wrist.

"not here. bathroom"

she follows you to the bathroom, her body shivers.

"are you cold?"

"no. just.. had a very close death experience" she replies coldly.

there's nothing left to say other than pressing your lips while nodding.

once you get there, you step in first, checking to see if it's empty. you sign her to follow you as she enters, closing the door behind her.

she swiftly pushes you against the wall, holding a shard of broken glass to your throat. "who. the fuck. are you?"

"if you let me, i'll show you" she hesitates but backs up. you remove the mask and everything that covers your face and hair.

her mouth opens in shock. please, not this.

"you're fucking kidding me right? is this some kind of sick joke?" she says, staring wide eyed. "you were the one who helped me today and..oh my god. this entire time it was you"

as you try to get closer, she slaps your hand, rejecting you.

"se-mi, please"

"i can't believe you accepted this. do you have fun killing people? what if- what if you had to kill me?" anger slips through her words.

"i-i dont, se-mi" your eyes close, a few tears threaten to spill. "you lied to me too.. there was never a trip-"

"it's different! i came here to fucking end my debts to have our happy ending! you're just here for pleasure!

"it's not pleasure se-mi. i get fucking paid for this too, i need the money as much as you do" your voice elevates.

tears roll down your cheeks. it's useless.

"can we talk better outside?" you hiccup. "may-maybe when this is done we can get back home and-"

she dry chuckles, shooking her head no.

"you're fucking insane if you think there's an 'us' outside after this"

oh.

she must've seen your fat tears rolling down your cheeks because she attempts to comfort you, the habit being stronger than her. she closed her fist before any move, trying to control herself.

"right." you try to move but all you could do was try to breathe. if you didn't left this place in 2 minutes, you'll have a breakdown.

her gaze filled with anger, starts to disappear once she sees your teary eyes.

"fuck. im- i didn't meant- i" she stutters as her hands cover her face. "i fucked up, i didn't mean to say that-"

its too late, because you start placing all to cover yourself once again. she grabs your arm to stop you as you remove her grip.

"princess, i'm- exhausted and i'm confused and i'm fucking pissed i had you here all along, and my fucking 'friend' tried to kill me and he died in front of me because my girlfriend is the guard at this fucked up place and-" she pulls her hair as she takes a deep breath, clearly stressed.

she closes her eyes, this must be a fucked up nightmare, she thinks.

"baby- i'm sorry."

"you're not the only one who's been having it hard sem. you think this is a birthday party? you get paid to murder your own partners too. you killed them everytime you hit the circle. i need this too. the money- it goes all to my parents se-mi. i don't kill for fun. you need the money to pay your debts and i need the money to keep my parents alive." a sob escapes from your mouth as she looks at you, regret takes over her.

"but i'm fucking glad you lived though. as i'm also glad you lived in 'green light, red light' when i tried to avoid shooting near you to stop you from flinching. as i'm glad i kept you alive, even if i had to stay all night on the door to look after you while you slept after the games. as i'm glad i fucking saved you, while your friends left you to die."

you grab the mask, turning around as her mouth agapes like a fish, trying to find some words to say.

she has none. she knows you're right. or maybe you're both morally gray. you're as fucked up as she is.

and maybe now, she realizes it would've been better if there were no lies from the beggining.

"baby.." she murmurs as you start to head out the door, walking away.

"take care se-mi. i- i did everything i could. i had to pick between your life and mine. and i chose you. there's a big chance they'll kill me if they see the tapes, but at least you get out of here alive." you said, placing the mask again to cover your face.

and you leave. and she lets you leave.

and she cries against the wall until there are no more tears left to cry.

maybe she lost the game, but most importantly, she lost her lover.

and now, there's not a home to come back to, because you won't be there when she does.

[bovineblogger]

do you remember when emoji ratings was a thing!!! that was a great meme & we should bring it back. but you specifically should rate all the cow emojis. if you want :)

absolutely.

APPLE

super cute!!!! got the roundness in da front, square butt, perfect. luvly. would be cuter if it was stylized tho. 8/10

ANDROID

VERY CUUUUTTEEEEE LOVELY!!! i preferred the old one tho :(( (right) 9/10

SAMSUNG

the cartoony smiley face looks strange to me .. 6/10

MICROSOFT

SOOOO CUUUUUUUUUTEEEEEEE SO CUUUTEEEEEEEE this is so good!!!!! perfect!!!!!!!!! big nose empty eyes. perfect. cow. 10/10

WHATSAPP

hm

TWITTER

kinda cute! dont really know what the face shape is supposed to be like ... uhhh . its okay! 4/10

FACEBOOK

you had a perfectly good brown cow why did you . why did you get rid of her. bring hehr back. like this is fine but the sideways body and front on face is kinda jarring ig 4/10

OPENMOJI

A BEAUTIFUL BELTED COW!!! OH MY GOSH!!!!!!! HOW CREATIVE! THATS WONDERFUL THAT A NON-FRESIAN WAS USED FOR THE COW EMOJI THATS LOVELY<3333 10/10

HUWAWEI

heheheehehehe she looks like a chihuahua 6/10

LG

horse without a neck/10

SKYPE

EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHHEEEEE CUUUUUUUTEEEEEEEE this cow is excited about something!!!!!!!!!! this cows about to run up to u and try to lick ur face 8/10

ICONS8

she looks like shes wearing slippers....... aouuu floopy brisket. round nose.. how lovely. 9/10

MESSENGER

what a lovely girl!!! oh my gosh!!!! and a lovely brown cow too!!!!!!!! not a thought behind those eyes. i lve her. the anatomy is a little strange but i forgive thiem 7/10

PLAYSTATION

sHES SO FUCKIGN SMLA ORINGTOFDIEKFRGTRFEDLWKSNDFGFOTEFRIDWNSLKDCFVGTREFOWSXDC 10/10

HTC

a very pretty approximation of a cow!!!! with suuuuuuuper sharp horns!!!!!!!!!!! woawh!!!! a fearsome creature! 7/10

JOY PIXELS / TOSS FACE / EMOJIDEX

theyre okay. bye

[b1asho]

Round one of the species introduction!!!!

Prectikar Master Post:

Here's some info on them, and if you want to see some other drawings I've done of them (albeit some occasionally older n crustier ones), check out my deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/blasho

Anyway let's get into a terribly long string of paragraphs about some of their info:

Prectikar are a large sentient species, usually standing at around 8-9 feet tall when fully upright and weighing anywhere close to or upwards if 1000 pounds

They are covered in feather-like fur (or is it fur-like feathers? They're occasionally branched like feathers, and all have quills, but some are more hairlike) due to the cold climate they evolved in, though length and thickness of it now varies by region.

They are omnivorous, and while they have many traits to help them hunt and kill, most of their diet tends to be plants.

Originally rush-down predators, they use their considerable strength to move in quick bursts and their specialized tusks to either ram prey to death or gouge into it as they grapple it.

Their jaw strength is also insane,with their skull actually sacrificing brain space in favor of it, which helps them eat pretty much anything they come across. They pay a lot of attention to food and cooking because of their high calorie needs and very sensitive nose/tongue.

They have manganese as an oxygen carrier is a result of the scarcity of other metals in their environment and potentially because of its general affinity for oxygen.

This causes their blood to be an amber/orange brown and shades of pink depending on its exposure to oxygen.

Through a network of cooperative bonding and other adaptations (like better oxygen retention in muscles and the easily carried size and longevity of the molecule) they’ve managed to bring this manganese transport molecule close to hemoglobin in terms of effectiveness, though they can also make use of manganese’s catalyst properties to temporarily push it to bring lots more oxygen to their tissues at a time (used for short bursts of speed and strength that allow them to take down large prey and plants for food).

their large body size (selected by their colder environment) lets them use their own high body heat to keep the O2 fixation and liberation going in their highly effective lungs.

An extensive understanding of their internal chemistry is unknown (aka gatekept by their colonizers/"uplifters" who ill get to later) but it seems like they also have a network of bacteria in their body just to manage the more reactive and damaging oxides that form, and to remove/convert the spent manganese into connective tissue and aid in bone maintenance.

They have higher calorie needs from keeping up the body temp and recycling/removing all that stuff, alongside just being big in general. Alongside a lot of sleeping, they also basically just eat all the time (compared to other species) to compensate, though their mammal-like fat retention and other metabolic adaptations for scarcity mean that they can handle long periods without resources(though this causes increasingly compounded problems for them)

Some other downsides include low tolerance of changes in oxygen levels (particularly low) and temperature levels, and poor adaptation to environments outside of their biosphere/without all the microorganisms since these things upset their delicate balance.

(part of why so many tribes were nomadic was/is to chase temperate and ‘warm’ seasons, even though to us that’s still cold. Prectikar living in human dominated areas often just take a lot of supplements with beneficial bacteria in them to cope with thr lack of that in their environent, and any food printers need an 'ink' cartridge containing these things or else theyre basically useless.),

They also experience faster general wear and tear from having constant complex and intensive chemical reactions(sometimes with dangerous chemicals) going on in their bloodstream and tissues.

( I’m not a biochemist, so if there’s any glaring issues with this then just explain it away to yourself with ‘they have a gland for that’ or ‘just don’t think about it actually’ which is what I did. I just wanted the fun color with a metal that can reversibly bond with oxygen :). )

They have one nasal passageway for smell/air and a second, bigger cavity for just vocalization (which they can’t breathe in from as easily).

This second cavity is between their first set of eyes, and has a phonic lip structure inside to produce higher pitched sounds.

The upper nasal opening has muscled nostrils that act as lips to further help control sound. The noise coming from here sounds very high to them, but to us it sounds like a nasally human voice, broken uobhere and there with squeaks, buzzes, and clicks).

They can pitch this nose voice very high, closer to dolphin-like clicking noises but not quite echolocation level.

Their throat vocal cords by their air sac are very long and thick, used for making very deep noises that carry long distances.

However, the vocal control they have through their mouth is very poor due to this and the inarticulate lips and tongue they have, and due to the more limited air they can bring in and out of it, so when speaking only through their mouth they sound a lot like seals or dogs and can only really go in short bursts before having to refill the sac.

Most of their languages are spoken with the nose and mouth sounds in tandem, where the high and low mix to make a more even sounding voice.

It’s fairly easy to understand them, but nearly impossible for us to truly speak any of their native languages, and if they wanted to they could also just start making sounds we cant hear.

They see it as strange that humans and other species speak with a single tone without difficulty.

The red flaps pictured on the drawing of their mouth and nasal passages can be moved to seal off the passage and direct airflow elsewhere.

The big red one in their throat acts as a “diaphragm” to fill and empty the air sac (which is left over from when their digestive and respiratory tracts were more connected like ours, but time in the water heavily shifted it to a more ‘blowhole’ type outline to help them breathe and vocalize from the surface).

The other flap by the air sac and its vocal cords moves upwards to block off the digestive tract whenever the mouth or nose is opened to allow air to be drawn in by this diaphragm.

The two red flaps making a pinched shape can move independently or with the other red flap, but never at the same time with each other. The main airway is always separate from the digestive tract, though the flap to the middle, non vocal nasal passage can be moved so that it’s a part of either the vocal nasal passage to draw in air or the air sac part to act as another resonance chamber.

Air can be drawn in by the diaphragm via open mouth and through the nose via open top red flap at the same time, and can be released at the same time, resulting in their near continuous double speak sound they use for their own language.

Their characteristic large tusks are retractable and housed in a cone-shaped bony socket on the side of their jaw.

A muscle is attached to the bony root of the tooth, and pushes it out. As it slides towards the front of the mouth, the cone socket narrows and wedges a protrusion on the tooth into a hole in the socket, and then the muscle stiffens, locking it in there.

When the tusk retracts, the muscle quickly jimmies the tooth forward then draws it back to get it out of the hole, and then pulls it back into the wider part of the socket.

This is mainly because their tusks are ever growing (but very slowly) but not great at self sharpening, and are their main weapon in self defense and hunting,so it seems this just happened to keep them safe.

If a tusk is broken, as long as it was not cracked at the root, it can be regrown with extensive time in the socket, but otherwise they stay safely stowed in da socket where the majority of its sharp edge can stay protected from chewing and other mouth stuff. Tusks won't start growing in until their teenage years.

They are primarily bipedal/ quadrupedal and switch between the two occasionally.

Knuckle walking helps distribute their top-heavy weight and give them more balance for long and short distance, while walking upright gives them better visibility, less stress on their neck/upper back, and quicker but unsteadier movement.

Their gallop/sprint utilizes both arms and legs to propel them forward in a gait halfway between a bear and a gorilla (since their big mid arms are set like a bears) to overtake prey after an ambush or drive them into the rest of the pack waiting elsewhere. Quad walking also helps them get around in buildings meant for species half their size.

Their hands are some of their only places without hair, but as they age, they loose it on their arms and face too.

Prectikar have different uses for each of their pairs of limbs, and have for all stages of their evolution.

The front ones specialized for grappling prey and grabbing things, and so have a ‘sprawling’ shoulder position like humans and have hands with relatively nimble fingers, the outer two are angled inwards but can also move in a pamprodactyl ish fashion (which acts as their version of a thumb, and lets them switch from big to little grabbing motions) .

Their mid limbs used to be wings with hands, and still have a basically zygodactyl finger position that was helpful for holding onto branches (with the backwards facing finger), but over time they have been converted into terrestrial knuckle-walking limbs, with the one that swings back and forth being brought forwards to walk or swung back to adjust grip on big things they want to move or for balance on unstable terrain like ice . The fingers on this one are big and clumsy, pretty much only useful for digging, walking, or slashing.

Their back limbs also used to be for grasping but were mainly counterbalances, but have now turned into plantigrade walking limbs (and much like humans, that’s pretty much all they use them for). All have nonretractable claws.

Prectikar are viviparous and usually give birth to litters of up to 8.

They have a specific mating season, where their dimorphic traits will become more pronounced.

Males in rut will shed the feathers on their throat sac region and it will become a bright ambery yellow color, and they will also grow in longer feathers on their butt region (in a fan shape for display purposes. The dont have a true post anal tail like humans).

They will also develop some of that pinkish orange/yellow on their chest skin. Females go throguh estrus cycles and will also grow a more prominent butt feather crest, as well as some very long feathers around their neck, shoulders, and abdomen for babies to hold onto.

Their skin patches turn a much brighter shade of yellow to help direct newborns to where they can feed from. Once they give birth, they will start making an oily and thick secretion across the skin patch which is collected into a divot which the infant licks from. Part of why the babies hold onto them is so they can constantly lick the 'milk'so they can grow.

Newborns come out blind and hairless, but quickly grow in a thick down and open their eyes so they can climb on mom.

Once they're weaned, they'll drop off and use the muscles they gained hanging on and climbing to start moving with the adults. They grow very fast, and canes are a common sight in teens to help deal with the rapid bone and muscle growth.

Usually, it is only during this season where chest/skin related nudity standards change to be more conservative, since showing those colors means youre down to fuck and so doing that is usually restricted to in private with their partner or for bachelors.

They have very strict binaries for sex and gender based on this seasonal divide and religion.

Most tribes show gender identity through a piercing on their lower nose for male or chin for female (so dont worry, the main guy up there is showing some male presenting chest outside of the mating season, so hes fine).

Normally, only some cultures pierce their ears, which are like if owls had a little mobile flap of outer ear to swivel I stead of their whole head. Very little of it is actually flesh, and the sound is mainly captured by the feathers around it.

While they have a reputation otherwise, Prectikar are highly social within their tribal/family groups.

They regularly allogroom, greet each other with hugs, and usually travel in sibling groups. Households are multi generational.

They have a reputation as standoffish or irritable because they take things very differently and have other standards/specific body language truggers. also most other species treat them differently/with fear by default.

their upper pair of eyes is larger and focused on long distance vision while their lower pair is for close up vision, creatign a bifocal effect for them when using both at once.

Aaaaaand that oretty much everything, I think. I'll post some other arts related to them soon, but consider this the Master Post on the things you should know about them!!

[found-family-tournament]

Found Family Tournament Round 2 Part 3 Group 14

Propaganda and further images under the cut

Hamato Clan/Mad Dogz: Splinter, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello, April O'Neil, Casey Jones (& Baron Draxum & Cassandra Jones)

BatFam: Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Duke Thomas (& more)

Hamato Clan/Mad Dogz:

Because Splinter was going through something horrific as his body was altered against his will (whether man to rat or rat to man depends on continuity) and he found four random turtles going through the same thing and went out of his way to car for them too. And then he lived in fear of humans because of what he thought they might do to his family and still accepted Casey and April despite that.

Okay so some of them are related yes but that doesnt stop the found family okay???? Draxum got a redemption arc and reaccepted into the family, April has been with the turtles and has been their big sister for like, 8 years or something meaning like half their lives cuz theyre teenagers, Cassandra changed sides to the people that showed her true love and care and loyalty, and Casey Jr. might not be blood related to the turtles but they think of him as family and they raised him. Leo is his apocolypse dad!

BatFam:

A family of superheroes!

(answering the question "Why are they the best?") oh no they're the worst they're the most dysfunctional found family that's ever existed and I love them for it

[dateamonster]

also the fact that the distinguishing features betwix the elves and fairies (besides from wings) is the fact that all the fairies are like. White and skinny to midsize old guy and the elves are like. That’s a person you’d see on the street

yeah they really used character design for evil in this one because like in isolation i think theres soo much to love about strange magics designs. i know the vaguely uncanny valley nature of the models is going to be a dealbreaker for a lot of people but ! their little clothes made out of plants and scraps of fabric and lost buttons and insect parts! sunnys ladybug hat! the way everyones hair is so Shaped in a way that suggests a stiffer fibrous texture! all the little details that make inherently unnatural fantastical creatures feel completely at home in a natural environment!

and tbh part of me still loves the definitely uncanny almost skeletally skinny base model for the fairies. that and theyre big eyes really do give them a very eerie insectoid look that i wish theyd had the guts to lean into more lol. and the contrast between the fairies who are characterized by these long thin bodies and sweeping elegant movements vs the elves who are all round and blunt and blocky shapes with this sorta low center of gravity that places them more firmly on the ground vs the wild diversity of shapes and sizes when it comes to the goblins like very clearly identifies who everyone is in this world and how they kinda relate to each other, and i maintain that a lot of the uncomfortableness that comes with how this world is laid out couldve been alleviated by just. making some of the fucking fairies brown.

like its not as if its especially unique for this brand of kids fantasy movie to have a visible class divide thats never examined, or use conventional beauty standards as a visual cue for importance if not morality. the main reason imo it feels so glaring here is specifically because all the fairies we see are very white and even aside from one of the only elves we really spend any time with being black a lot of the elves features in general read as more racialized.

and i dont think this was necessarily intentional. high fantasy in general has a consistent and historical problem with favoring whiteness, thinness, and eurocentricism. if anything, i think this is just what happens when you make something built on those existing sorta tropes and dynamics without putting any thought into what they represent.

[acheronist]

HI ISABEL i was thinking abt ur beechey boys + peglar/armitage extended cinematic universe while doing my laundry earlier (<- normal guy behaviour) and now i'm curious if u've thought of any actors/face claims for them – beechey boys especially bc we don't even have terror versions to use lol 👀🎤

HI GENEEEE 🖤 this is interesting.... honestly i've never been very good at fan casting shit because my default is always just going "x character should be played by riz ahmed" which ummmm would not work here i fear.

anyways everyone watch out there's gonna be mummy images below the cut

okay i really don't care about actors enough to do this well ummm LMAO johnny bertchtold YOU🫵🏻 are now john shaw torrington!! except johnny's way too tall and also ripped to be jorts.... i will say tho, as annoying as the john torrington/david young erasure is in the amc show, they did kind of nail it with alfie kingsnorth... now that's a skinny blonde bitch who looks half dead! he's got the right big round eyes + prominent cheekbones as jorts

if we could get some mutton chops and the uniform of a royal marine private onto ferdinand kingsley i think he'd be fantastic as william braine..... actually now that i'm looking at this i kind of feel like a genius for this one LMAO??

john hartnell is a little harder because i've already decided in my heart that this daguerreotype is 100% undeniably him even though the chances of it are actually probably very low. in actuality. but i have tried to match up the daguerreotype "hartnell" with the mummy hartnell and i do think it's a super close match.... i just wish mr. daguerreotype hadn't tucked his hair over his ear so i could compare the shape of john's ear.... but anyways there is actually one bg dude from terror amc who i have also kind of decided could be jarts!!! he was one of the dudes who voted to stay on terror and die there instead of out on the shale before everyone abandoned ship... he's got the right haircut for it <3 but also i think rob james-collier could be kind of a slay for jartnell if we can get him back to his downton abbey prime

and then thomas morgan hasn't really made his debut in the beechey boys cinematic universe (yet. chapter two still cooking......) and we also haven't exhumed HIM so this is really just like throwing a dart and calling it good. i did draw a little version of him here tho . so do with this as you will i guess. me when i'm just making up whatever the fuck. he should be kind of sickly looking as well though because my dude was going THROUGH it (+ he had one million pre existing conditions) before he died.

and for like... henry & thomas theyre much more nebulous in my brain..... maybe i'll try and draw them later!? i did do fanart here of henry tho but i fear it's got a heavy amc casting influence on what he looked like.

real life facts: thomas (5'9") is 2 inches taller than henry (5'7"), henry probably had broad/strong arms and shoulders due to climbing around in the rigging for his whole career, both of them had brown hair, and thomas was older than henry enough that he was probably starting to get salt-and-pepper grey during the miserable stressful parts of the expedition. henry's id papers describe his complexion as "sallow" and based on how many captains said he had a shitty/indifferent/bored attitude while working leads me to believe my king had chronic resting bitch face + looked vaguely exhausted and pale and unwell even when he was healthy.

also in my heart amc nailed it with giving thomas curly hair tho... charlie kelly is cute to meeeeee... unfortunately he isn't 40 years old enough. no source no facts anyways i just want to believe in curly girl armitage supremacy. ALSOOOO in my heart (again) henry has sailor tattoos-- HOLD FAST on his knuckles for good luck in the ropes + two swallows on his chest under each collarbone to mark his 10,000th mile at seas. i forgot what i was talking about. i think do think k*vin g*thrie's face was honestly too conventionally attractive for henry though. i just know my man was mid as fuck. frown lines from scowling, ink stains on his fingers at all times, never worn sunblock ever, thinks splashing water on his face counts as moisturizing etc.... MY henry peter peglar is pretty weather-beaten and looks like a mean cunt and sometimes he snarls at people like a badly trained dog. amen.

[sweetvalentinescandy]

trying to make some tweek designs just to like practice or somethin idk ell oh ell im not feeling very confident in my art anymore lowkey

big yap fest for each design under the cut !!

Barbarian Tweek

"ive never really thought of tweek as afab outside of TSOT, but i feel more comfortable drawing top surgery scars [than i do like.. nipples.] ive always seen tweek as trans, usually non conforming/non binary/androgynous in general, but ive never considered transmasculine. but i like the idea!

this is probably my least canon compliant design of this bunch. i feel like the fantasy of TSOT is just so ripe for headcanons. i NEVER draw sp characters with canon in mind really, probably the autism taking over or somethin, but i always at least age them up [more in the main tweek design]. for this design, i was thinking more of what tweek thought they looked like, if not the more au version of TSOT. like, The Thief by Wintergrew on ao3 kinds of non canon compliant. thats also most of the inspiration for basically every TSOT thing i do ever. i love that series (i did cry) (a lot)"

Tweek Tweak

"its the original guy lets have a round of applause honestly..., not my favorite time ive drawn bro. he looks so boring when hes just standing there. i always see tweek as non binary, just because i project on them a LOT.. like. i know that hes a guy and probably doesnt care [in canon], but i just headcanon like that i guess. i also age him up, along with every other sp character, to be around my age so like 14-17. i know thats controversial [and by "i know" i mean i saw someone on sp whisper pinterest say they hated it] but i just dont know how to write kids. theyre kinda boring. i can project more onto teens i guess. thats kinda all there is to say. sometimes i draw tweek with brown pants, but thats because i just like the earthy aesthetic [on them]"

Wonder Tweek

"this is the most canon compliant one. im just not that much of a TFBW guy honestly (which is sad because its the only source of not really canon twenny sigh) but i guess its also the source of some of the best creek. i am not a creek hater but sometimes its hard to fight the allegations when i start crying over them having a cute scene in a video game [not because im mad its because i miss being in a relationship] [frowney tumblr loser behavior] when i say this is the most canon compliant one, i mean it. this is SHORT HAIR TWEEK. [i usually draw tweek with like longer hair like 2021 wolfmullet hair and with the little twin sideburn things idk what theyre called, mostly because i didnt know how to draw short boy hair before getting into sp and thats just how i drew them instead but a year later i finally decided to just do it and thought it was okay for startin out] code red. sound the alarms. theres not a lot to say besides that. (can you tell i hit my peak with barbarian tweek.) [i ordered this by order of how i finished them and yes you can tell sigh]"

[patchesjam]

My MCC Video Rant, sorry its a bit long :)

So first off, the video itself is a bit crap. The first 2 mins are just introduction waffle, they then talk about a UI change for 2 mins. They’ve changed it from the typical mcc style to fit the mcci UI a bit more, to ‘improve viewer experience’. I personally don't like the change, for me it's a bit... busy. They then spend 3 of the remaining 5 mins mins advertising merch and mcci. Only about 1 min of the 8 min long video is about actual updates to mcc.

The actual updates, like the ones that actually matter and change the game are in the comments for some reason??

This is all information that are actual updates, none of it hinted at all in the video but just commented below. 

Skybattle’s update is truly confusing. Let me explain, currently there a a few raw pvp games (battlebox, sb, sg) and they all prioritise something different, BB is teamwork in rapid environments, SB is kills and SG is survival. With the nerfing of SB kills it turns it into a hunting and killing game to a hiding game. It also creates ridiculous scenarious where, for example with past scores adjusted, someone with 10 kills can come 3rd (dream mcc24) and someone who dies 1st each round, with zero kills, gets 64 coins (ranboo mcc17) and someone who gets 5 kills comes 2nd behind someone with 2 kills (Krtzzy and 5up, mcc 20).

It also, crucially, completely nerfs the ability for surpise comebacks and popoffs - for example, Joel Smallishbeans, not exactly known for pvp but he had a very impressive run getting 5 kills in mcc19 and gets just 260 coins with this update. Instead of potentially getting lucky, or a good opportunity you now have to just try and survive to the end. 

Battlebox’s update is a little bit of a nothingburger, they are just adding blocks to all maps which, although probably a bit more fun and makes things interesting. They are also releasing new maps throughout the season - but no major overhaul. Not that it particularly needed one either. 

One thing to note is that they mention that the blocks will be ‘brown, not team coloured, so you won’t mistake them for concrete’. However, several contestants are colourblind.  

In the game, it’d be extremely easy to mistake brown construction blocks, for both red and orange concrete. It probably wont end up effecting much at all - but when you can use the black colour, which is nearly universal it doesnt make any sense at all. I really hope it has a different texture or something because otherwise its just silly. 

Grid Runners changes is fine, probably pretty good change tbf. It does surprise me they havent announced new rooms, if there are no new rooms I’ll be dissapointed as I feel like theyre getting stale, but hopefully theyre leaving that as a surprise. 

However, I’m more pissed off at what they didnt announce. No mention of anything to do with Buildmart, which regardless of opinion, is one of the few games without big updates from S2. It’s also hated by 1/3 of the players and watchers so if they are focusing on improving player’s experiences surely this should be a focus? No mention of new GR rooms. No mention of SG scoring, which still wasn’t great from last season. No new games. No mention of new AR maps. No mention of Meltdown maps. No update to SOT. No mention of new maps for RSR. No PKT scoring update (desperately needed).

It’s just all a bit dissapointing, very few updates actaully talked about and released for the start of S3, where surely they should at least be hinted at. And instead, a nice 5 min long ad for their other products. 

[magic-aggy]

the original mlpfim lesbian ship

text id (never done one of these b4 pls let me know if im doing it wrong!)

[on the left, a fat, dainty, white unicorn with purple hair, looking flirtatious, with text indicating her that says "Trying her hardest to flirt", on the right a wiry, muscular, orange earth pony with blonde hair and brown spots like a cow looking stressed and distracted, text pointing to her that says "Oblivious, lost in thought about work she needs to do"]

uhhh, figured i needed to practise my character design somehow. redesigning official characters seemed like a good start.

idk how evident it is, but i tried to put like, some vibes of other animals into the designs for the purpose of like, trying to communicate character?

like rarity's snout/face/ear is meant to evoke a siamese or ragdoll cat, as well as an alpaca. her legs are def meant to evoke an alpaca, or maybe a poodle. shes trim and prim and manicured. alpacas tie back to fashion, w their wool being used for high end woolen clothing. and a ragdoll is a very like, iconic big pretty cat which is both elegant and very fluffy. i wanted rarity to be fat and elegant. i think i achieved that. her hair is not as good as id like but its good enough. also gave rarity a G1 style cutie mark bc its a classic look and rarity can appreciate a good bit of vintage style, plus her larger body made me think of the G1 pony toys. and i just really like big cutie marks lol.

applejack i wanted to put vibes of australian outback sheep farmer into, as well as fruitbats and australian sheepdogs. i wanted her to be muscular but not thick and overt like big mac. applejack always seems like she should be wiry and lithe. shes not the strongest pony in the world, but she might be the hardest working pony. also her snout being slightly canine ties back to the timberwolves, which for whatever reason i really associate with applejack. winona too! winona is part of the inspo here. and then i put some splotches of darker fur bc i A. wanted to continue evoking a blue heeler, but B. more importantly i wanted her to be part cow. i have this mental image of Pear Butter, her mom, being half cow and being like, very round and fat and soft and pretty. hair is cut short and a bit scruffy, bc long hair seemed impractical to me. i always think about how much applejacks hair would get in the way if things were more grounded. also she has a cow lick! and her hair is less bright, more of a dirty blonde. which just felt fitting. i imagine applejack as having rough skin from all the time she spends working in the sun.

also rarijack is just, the OG, the first thing i was like 'omg those horse fillies, theyre so gay... wow...' its a classic.

[roughentumble]

ok so opinions, geralt has the shoulder length greywhite hair, but he keeps it pinned up while in Casual Human Mode. it grows that way naturally and its one of the default kryptonian hair colors but his excuse for it is that his dad had long gray hair while he was growing up(true) and he always wanted his hair to look like his dad's(also true, he likes that it looks like both his biodad's and adoptive dad's) so as an adult he dyes it(false, it grows that way)

he still has the gold cat eyes, that's also a natural kryptonian feature, but he can control the pupil dilation and keeps them round during Human Hours and uses big glasses to disguise them, so people assume theyre a very light brown.

anyone who notices a similarity between geralt and superman goes "yeah but when you look close he has Alien Pupils and this guy geralt has Human Pupils so clearly its a coincidence"

[castlebyersafterdark]

I don't understand the hate about this outfit like he looks goofy but he was cute in this!!!

omg it's my time to shine hahah i love talking costumes! firstly, mike's shirt is described as orange here by the costume designer so its not part of the blue and yellow theory really, sorry y'all! but we dont need that as byler evidence cos theyre clearly in love anyway. will was definitely judging his ensemble and my fav part is the way it says 'SURF' splashed across the back in huge pastel letters. it's an all-round cringe shirt for mike wheeler whose personality does NOT suit surfer boy style let alone fake, ill-fitting surfer boy knock off style haha. so really what the costume designers were doing is not trying to make mike look objectively bad in terms of out of context outfit, but rather its so awkward for his character and delivers the awkward vibes in as little time as possible in order to set the tone of the scene. so we can add into this...

the camera angle showing him cluelessly looking around for them

the way he's wearing sunglasses indoors, a feat only julian casablancas can pull off. mike wasnt on the concourse, he was never exposed to sunlight since he got on the plane in indianapolis and perhaps not even then lmao, no need for shades!

his goofy wave and squeaky, performative voice 'oh! oh hi will! fancy seeing you here!'

and the biggest culprit of all: THAT HAT

I mean, what is that hat? its the way its sat on his head making his hair look like a wig. major worzel gummidge vibes tbh. that hat cannot be worn with hair down, it should be with a high ponytail which makes me think is this even a man's hat? subtle costume design.

and lastly, the clothes are ill-fitting (just like his hellfire shirt which hangs off him and washes him out, making him look pallid and weary in episode 1). the orange washes him out, making his skin look extra pale (compare to the warmth of the van scene and how golden his skin looks there). the purple shirt does the same, and the vest is far too big for him. finn described the whole outfit, but mainly the flip flops as 'gross' lol, but its made worse by the sheer contrast of mike to will and el and everyone. he's so not cool here, in every way. perfect costume design storytelling!

so yeah, these details are subjective really, but then again you could say all of art is subjective. they try to create a mood and make you feel certain things when watching, and some people just won't get it. thats not a bad thing, but i think recognising when your taste butts heads with the artistic intention is very interesting! i always found mike to be a babe but i cringed so hard when he rocked up in this ensemble lmao. and i think the duffers wanted me to! compare it to how much his brown hair and pale skin suits the forest greens of season 1 and 2. mike is an autumnal colour complexion, not spring/summer pastels :)

THANK YOU for this! I love costume and wardrobes but I don't really feel like my knowledge base is adequate to deep dive beyond surface level vibes and this was a cool read.

Also yes! to the minimizing 'color theory' a little - it's a nice element for these two but I think too much stock is placed in what's a minor detail when so much more is important about these characters. And agree, Will was totally judging - even if he's into Mike, it's so clear that he's doing something out of character and awkward and trying to put on a different image for his girlfriend. I don't necessarily think the outfit is ugly - simply not Mike. That's what I'm saying but oh man, so right on every point. It's a very good storytelling tool. Yes, it's ill-fitting and the coloring makes him look off, like everything about how he's presenting himself is wrong. Overcompensation. Desaturation. I find the mistaken effort endearing, which I think is the point as well. The cringe along with the oh, Mike. He tried so hard and it turned out so wrong. You feel for him!!

(Hides though 🫣 as I'd absolutely wear the hat, I love an ugly hat. Then again - I go out of my way to wear ugly fashion on purpose sometimes because it's fun and amuses me, but that's a pointed choice haha. Mike probably thought it all was cool. I am not trying to be cool ever.)

He is an autumn boy! Fall colors and fall in general! Loved your take, very good insights. Agree agree, there's a lot of meaningful layers here and reasons for what we saw in that scene.

[ribbononline]

I absolutely love the sprites you've been posting! They're so good! Do you have any tips for spriting? I'd like to get better at it, but it's not easy :'D

Thank you so much! and oh my god im so sorry for how long this took me to get to Truthfully infinite fusion helped a lot to get me into it myself haha. Not because of anything about the concept, but because it eased me into it with editing existing sprites. That way you don't have to do a lot at the start yourself yet, but you DO have to really look at how the shading is constructed to edit things together. Maybe hand draw a new leg or alter the expression a bit- again, not a ton of work, but it'll force you to deconstruct how the sprite was made to match the style!

That is probably THE best tip I can give to anyone. Find a (preferably somewhat simplistic- video game sprites r great here) style you like, and start off by working in that. Simple edits etc arent a big bang beginning, but theyre great for learning the basics.

Now for random tips I can have. Be mindful, these are just how I personally work ! Genuinely there are so many different styles and ways of working with pixel art as with any medium- you can break any rule and still have things come out amazing!

Dont worry as much about having distinct sketch/lineart/colors/shading phases. Technically you can work this way? But I find it makes me focus too much on how each individual phase looks when most of the time (at least for me) a sprite doesnt pull together until the very end. it WILL look slightly mad until then its simply part of the process. I tend to put a rough base with some beginning colors and then simply refine from there. wips vs finished attached below for visuals

Also, careful with stuff like dithering! It can be very fun , and some styles have a ton of it which works fine and can look good! But from what I can see at least in the IF disxord a lot of ppl will slap it on anytime anywhere at the start which makes things look... messy. I personally mostly use it for fabrics. (Also, get a dithering brush. Love yourself, dont do that by hand, especially on bigger sprites)

Limit your colors! This is a general tip and not tehcnically that important, but I find it really helps me.

I tend to stick to 3/4 shades per color max. Some of the darkest shades of a color can also be the lightest parts of the outline for that color! Pic below I used the browns not just for the hair, but also for the gold shading and for the darker parts of the skin. It just helps pull a pallete together easier when youre reusing it where you can.

Dont be afraid of using the outlines color to shade with either for dark shades btw ! It is fun it is fresh

Only real warning for outlines Ive got is to be careful of jaggies. Like the upper line reads 'smoother' then the lower one because the longer pixels all follow eachother gradually. Jaggies can be useful especially in folds and whatnot, but when something is supposed to look smooth or round- no jaggies usually show!

[t4tails]

t4tails i had a dream about your cat(s) (you had multiple in the dream) they all could talk but the only one i could remember was brown and had skinny long legs and was male (i only could tell because he wasnt fixed) and i think he had like a nurses hat on? and he kept singing/rapping about why i should be his second father or something it was weird. i dont rmbr the other two that well ngl but i think one of them was big white (or black) and fluffy and one of them was like. had a glass head/paws but cat colored body? but it was a real cat. with a perfectly clear/round head. i thought it was really pretty though. your cats had the ability to put coins in a piggy bank by themselves and i gave them treats for it. Uhhh okay thats it. Oh well btw you were there but i dont know how i knew that because you were just some guy like i dont know what you look or sound like irl and idr what you looked or sound liked in the dream and you were never addressed with a name or pronouns i just Knew yknow? okay yeah thats it bye

this is so funny none of those descriptions even match the cat i actually own. however this did remind me that i once had a dream about attending a classmates funeral and my cats were there (my current + 2 old ones but theyre dead now) in suits on 2 legs and they sang a choir song in memory of my dead classmate

[chamomileeteaaa]

BIRD BLOG TIME FUCKERS

Okay so I have no clue how I'm gonna do this, I assume a format will arise as I go. But right now it's 3AM and I wanna talk about my favorite little birds: the Whooping Crane.

The Whooping Crane is one of the only two crane species native to North America, the other is the Sandhill Crane. (WE'LL GET INTO THOSE GUYS LATER I LOVE THEM TOO)

Anyway Whooping Cranes look like this:

LOOK AT THAT AND TELL ME THEYRE NOT SO CUTE???

Appearance:

You can identify adult Whooping Cranes by their white feathers and patch of red on their head, which goes from their beaks to their cheeks! This patch of red is actually skin and isn't very feathery. They have long, pointed beaks, usually a gray color as you see above. They have yellow eyes and long, thin legs. I've also seen that these cranes often have the tips of their wings black.

Immature cranes have the same long beak and thin legs, but instead of white feathers, have a tan, cinnamon-brown coloring and no red spot. As they age, their white feathers come in, so the more brown feathers they have, the younger they are.

Did I mention that Whooping Cranes are really big? Because Whooping Cranes are BIG

The average height of these guys is approximately five feet (range of 4'1" to 5'3" from what I've seen) when they stand up straight, making them the biggest birds in North America. Their wingspan is 7.5 feet on average, though despite their massive height and wingspan, Whooping Cranes weigh roughly 15 pounds.

Habitat:

Whooping Cranes live in marshes, wetlands, fields, anywhere wet and grassy. They breed in the upper Midwest and around northwest Canada, and migrate south to the Gulf Coast, around Mexico.

I should also mention that Whooping Cranes are very endangered as a species. In the 1940s, due to overhunting and habitat loss, there was once only 21 Whooping Cranes alive—15 migrate birds in Canada/Texas, and 6 that lived year-round in Louisiana.

With human intervention, the species has now risen to a population of roughly 800 (I found an exact number of 836, but can't speak for its accuracy).

Here's a migration map I took of off savingcranes.org (please visit them, they're so cool)

Diet:

Whoopers (I saw someone call them that) ate omnivores, eating a mix of insects, amphibians, crustaceans, reptiles, and small fish and mammals. They'll also eat grain, marsh plants, plant tubers, and acorns.

Fun Facts:

Whooping Cranes' call sounds like a squeaky door. People will try to tell you it's this majestic, one-note mating call, but it is a door hinge that needs some WD-40. Here's a few videos on what they sound like :)

( https://youtu.be/NFzkXdZjQJM

https://youtu.be/8EobJR_jkjs )

Because of how Whooping Cranes almost went extinct, biologists had used aircrafts to teach young cranes how to migrate. (Here's an article on it: https://www.npr.org/2016/03/02/468045219/to-make-a-wild-comeback-cranes-need-more-than-flying-lessons)

They mate for life! They search for a mate at around 2-3 years, and then mate for life. They'll also continuously return to the same nesting and wintering territories. However, should their original mate die, they'll find another mate.

It's late, otherwise I would do more😭

Sources:

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/whooping-crane

https://savingcranes.org/learn/species-field-guide/whooping-crane/

https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Birds/Whooping-Crane

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Whooping_Crane/?_gl=1*10vkxuh*_ga*OTQ5Mjc2MzYyLjE2ODg1NDEwODY.*_ga_QR4NVXZ8BM*MTY4ODU0MTA5NS4xLjEuMTY4ODU0MTEyNC4zMS4wLjA.&_ga=2.29534207.1501623720.1688541086-949276362.1688541086

https://abcbirds.org/bird/whooping-crane/

I highly recommend checking these sites out, not just for Whooping Cranes, but for other birds.