#this actually doesnt have much to do with the art itself i just felt like rambling about vanitas bc hes fucked ip

[haunted-xander]

Wholeheartedly

[falloutnewnobody]

sorry to rant but i hate tiktok so much there's a trend where people go to art exhibits and stand in front of works they think they could've made (which in and of itself i hate) but i saw a tiktok today of someone doing that trend in front of (untitled) portrait of Ross in LA and i actually felt physically ill. i wont link the video bc i dont want op getting harassed or anything and i'd feel gross about sharing it.

and like multiple people commented how fucking disrespectful and ignorant that was and proceeded to get flooded with hundreds of replies of people (including the op) being like "lmao its just a pile of candy its not that deep," or "just because it apparently has a meaning that doesnt mean that it's not stupid and/or easy enough for a toddler to do,"

which like... first of all i'm disgusted at the disrespect people are showing to such a beautiful, meaningful, and tactful piece is insane. i'm actually gobsmacked.

secondly like, yeah, everyone can create art dipshit it came free with your fucking humanity. just because a piece doesn't require a lot of technical skill (and in this example i think the simplicity of execution plays into the themes and message of the piece) doesnt make it or the themes it conveys any less valuable or interesting. part of the point of art museums is to consider beauty and meaning in both the innovative and mundane.

i don't even have an argument like i'm just apalled by the kinda shit these people are saying and how it reflects on society that so many people are insulting such a powerful and emotionally driven piece in such a vitriolic and unwilling to learn way.

[47crows]

Hello!!!! I've been loving your art and Eli content recently and your most recent piece of the 'Returned 'Embrace' was gorgeous! Question, what's the story behind it??? Who is the other person with them, I'm so curious hehehehe

Asking about my oc???? Thank you so much 🥺

The short answer, that is Eli’s sire!! The vampire who turned him.

Eli diablerized her (drank so deeply that he consumed her soul) some years after his embrace.

A longer more rambling answer and extra art!! Under the cut

With this piece I really wanted to emphasize the the mixture of horror and intimacy of the moment. Eli was deeply obsessed with her, to the point where all he wanted was to be a part of her and for her to be a part of him.

At first glance, it’s almost a lovers embrace, but then you see how forceful he’s being, yanking her head back and holding her hand so tightly that his fingers break the skin. Eli doesn’t know actual selfless love, everything that he is and does, much like vampirism itself, is ultimately selfish. He thinks he loves her and loves him equally, but in the end he has to force her to be still.

I like to include a lot of quiet symbolism for myself, like the background is a stark white void. Someone tagged this piece as eyestrain and i wanted to say good!! It should be hard to look at. It’s a murder after all. But it’s also a private moment, nothing else matters to either of them. They are completely focused on each other. Her final death, and his first diablerie. The loss of his humanity and her unlife.

Even in they way they’re sitting, i wanted to scream intimacy. He crowds her, but not entirely. She sits in his lap while he sits on his heels, it’s not an easy position to get up from. She went into this position willingly, having kept him under her and subservient for years through use of a blood bond. The blood bond doesn’t just force loyalty, but intense feelings as well. He was really into her already before the bond, but the trauma inflicted by his aggressive turning seen here (trigger warning for old art and gore) was what really broke his mind, especially when afterwards she used the bond to convince him that she tore out his throat because she loved him. All of it twisted what love was in his mind, he was lil obsessive before but now he was WAY WORSE.

She built it up more and more until she created a monster who would do anything to be with her, relying upon the inherent safety of the bond and unaware it was the bond itself that would push him into wanting to consume her. It wasn’t hurting her or even against her wishes in his mind, because she had convinced him fully of how much she loved him and how violence was the way to show it so why wouldnt she want this?

Obviously it was a lie, but he continues to center his delusions around it to this day. He wants SO BADLY to be loved but its an impossible wish because Eli doesnt know what it means to actually love someone.

I actually drew a follow up to this piece, but didnt post it because i felt like it was too on the nose and didnt quite imply the feeling i wanted from it. Its called Shes gone and now you have to face her lies alone.

[alstroemerian-dragon]

izuru is so interesting to me conceptually. like i know in canon he’s kind of nothing unfortunately. at least in game canon, he shows up right at the end, says some eugenics-y shit, voices hajimes intrusive thoughts, and then hes gone, but. the concept of him, as hajime, but with everything that made him Hajime Hinata stripped away and buried under so much conditioning and bullshit that he cant reach it, is so. its SO. yknow.

its the whole argument about what makes us the people we are, right? if you take a person, and then erase literally all the memories they have of their own identity, are they still that person? have you taken away everything that makes them Them and made them a completely different one? how does that change, and pardon the philosophical question, their soul?

and the thing about izuru is that you can not tell me the memory repression was perfect. you can not tell me that hopes peak academy perfected the art of lobotomy so well that they completely erased every speck of hajime hinata that existed inside izuru kamukura. that boy felt what was missing he knew there was a hole the size of the fucking ocean in his head and he felt every centimeter of it. did he care? up for debate. izuru didnt seem to care about anything, really (which… i have some thoughts about his eugenics conditioning by the academy in regards to that but thats maybe another post). but i definitely think given enough time, some of that would have started to come back. maybe even after the events of the first game, when the school was open again, and junko was dead, and izuru was able to actually explore the place he was held and experimented in and look at the files, and discover his old name. something like that would definitely trigger some memory recovery, or at least a moderate breakdown of some kind.

i dont know. people have said before that izuru is kind of an interesting metaphor for depression if you think about it, and theyre right, he is. he doesnt care enough about anything in life, he doesnt care about hygiene, nothing is going to catch and hold his attention because he thinks he knows how everything in the world works so whats the point in even trying? but he isnt just a metaphor. thats who hajime was during that time. now im definitely one of the people who thinks hajime was a pretty depressed kid anyway, unable to fulfill what he thought he needed to be, constantly pressured to be something he wasnt and couldnt be. but izuru was so much worse. they gave that boy fucking. ultimate depression. super high school level depression. i definitely think the only reason izuru didnt ever do anything drastic about how utterly miserable he was is because. a lot of it was background noise to him? his brain was just blocked off so those triggers were unable to fire? and because. to be honest. thats truly so much work. especially with the reflexes and instincts and empowerment the experiments gave him. and junko’s despair was just intriguing enough to keep him moving

its just something i think about. if someone had been willing or able to just. talk to izuru and offer him a hand. understand that he was hurting and that he didnt have to be. that just because there were holes in his identity didnt mean he couldnt create his own pieces to fit into them. i truly think that if he’d had that kind of presence during the tragedy his brain would have unlocked itself. maybe not all the memories would come back, but he’d be able to feel stuff again at least. and thats… something.

[literalite]

i’m not that same genshin anon, but what are your opinions on fontaine so far!?

HEYY NEW ANON LETS GET INTO IT 💪🏼💞

(spoilers for the 4.0 archon quest obviously 🥰 also massive block of text and this was me trying to keep it brief idk this has been the most interesting genshin has been for me in a hot sec)

i ammmmm not a fan of the new pneuma/ousia system.. ik they gave us lyney and hydro traveller have that inherently but to be totally frank i dont appreciate being basically told to build characters that i dont actually want to 🕊 if they had to implement this i would have preferred that all existing playable characters have an affinity toward one or the other that only triggers inside the borders of fontaine. bcos there (from how much of the region ive seen so far) doesnt seem to be a super solid lore reason as to why only fontaine characters and inexplicably the traveller have exclusive access to arkhe system it just feels unnecessary i dunnoooo. tbh tho i am being sort of nitpicky with this like i dont Need to have arkhe using characters in my party to do decent i can just tank it

i like the nation design! it feels very exciting. ratiowise it feels a bit awkward to have so much of the nation dedicated to the ocean, would have loved an extended sewer system that went into the sea as well so u could access it from both inside the city and in the sea. im a big fan of the steampunk aesthetic and i do wish they'd leant into it a bitttt more as opposed to the art deco. i like grunge sue me. i love the aquabuses and i wish there were more of them but perhaps a bit faster 😅 not the most entertaining mode of transport but my graphic settings arent the highest so i could be missing some of the scenery aspect of it

ok onto the archon quest. to my surprise i actually enjoyed it i thought it was silly and over the top but not in a wholly offputting way. like was it goofy and did i have to suspend my disbelief very hard yes but when i managed it i still had a fun time. childe getting knocked out in one go by neuvillette was def a highlight to me as well as pretty much all of navia's scenes she's such a cool character i really connected with her i think and i hope she comes back for more later down the line and we get some more background on her and clorinde's relationship (or lack of one? not sure what their deal is specifically but giving off immense toxic yuri which.. YESS) before clorinde killed her dad. i appreciated the balance between the expected lighter portions of the quests with the darker themes and stuff (the prophecy, lynette's trafficking, the injustices that the so called nation of justice metes out to its people) i think it was handled decently. all the characters felt like that had a solid reason for being incorporated into the quest itself (my main issue with sumeru's archon quest was how it felt like it was just introducing us to as many characters as they could just for the sake of it and no actual plot reason *cough* dori) and all were realistic and nuanced enough to hold their own in the overall sequence of events. VERY invested in the next installment of the quests in the next update in a way that i don't think i've been since the disappointment that was the final truncated and weirdly paced parts of the inazuma archon quest, sumeru felt like a whole new writing team finding their feet in genshins lore and this nation's quest has so far felt like they've def found their footing

i like lyney and lynette and freminet, theyre a really interesting set of characters and everyone who called them being fatui is surely very pleased with themselves gfhjkl i do find i guess for lack of a better word child soldiers as a narrative point really compelling to me (coughs in sunao kimura), and their clear loyalty and "love" towards arlecchino feels like it will pay off in a big way later down the line, for better or for worse. i did not see lyney being groomed to be the next "father" of the house of the hearth coming so when i looked into all of their voicelines that genuinely surprised me and opens up a lot of questions as to how the harbinger structure works or at least how arlecchino's place in the harbingers works. does this mean if/when arlecchino dies lyney takes her place as a harbinger as well or is her position as harbinger separate from her position as "father"? theyre making the fatui a lot more interesting to me personally as the plot goes on which is a good thing because i was really not into the whole two bit villain thing they were pushing in the really early parts of the game

in terms of who im going for i would like neuvillette i am not immune to lame dude with long hair. to be honest. also if navia has a good kit i might go for her actually because she was a stand out character in this archon quest in a way i really was not expecting like at all so. big fan of her

[kaisfoxhoard]

artwork by me

i wanted to make my first post something cool but all i came up with was this rant about the social media platform i called my home for 6 years.

**a rant**

im finding dark patterns on instagram that dont appeal to me and that i cant support. the entire platform is geared towards shortform content and keeping you on the platform for as long as possible. thus the platform drives away small artists and does not give them a chance to grow

1. dark patterns consist of things such as: updating the app and making small changes that nobody asked for, removing the ability to see every post under a hashtag, and reels taking you down unintentional rabbit holes.

ive always been annoyed by recommended reels on your home page taking you off of your home page and sending you into the reels page. i am in belief that your home page should be a static area that is full of things you’d expect to see there such as posts from people you follow. when a reel takes you out of your home page, its very intrusive and i often find myself getting lost down this rabbit hole for 30 minutes and feeling annoyed after realizing what had happened.

when i recently found out that you cant view recent posts under a hashtag, i was absolutely pissed. its a direct attack against small artists and people who want to look for commissions of maybe an artist with a not-so-popular style. or even cheap coms. if i cant find these smaller artists and support them, how can we expect a community to grow and prosper. how can i expect to grow from a hashtag directly. at that point why even bother with putting a hashtag.

2.with the rise of short form content, artists have had to find new ways to gain reach from their posts. naturally, art in of itself doesnt have great video content, as its a picture. while one could argue this creates competitive creativity and drives someone to think outside the box, it ultimately harms and deters new artists from giving it a go, because it requires more time devoted to the entertaining part of the content than the actual artwork being created. most short form content is designed to generate a quick laugh and maybe a like and follow. when artists cant do that, because they want a specific aesthetic to their art, lack of interaction between community and artist may drive their passion dry.

with the fact that instagram is now more geared towards short videos and not photos like it once used to be, the chances of success as an artist is becoming scarce. theres a loss of close knit community that was once present.

thats what i hope to achieve here. i want to bring back that community feeling that we all once felt. i dont make art all too often anymore because instagram has killed my desire to make and create. i want to see awesome art. thats about it. when i create stuff i want atleast a little bit of attention. i dont want to feel like something i spent hours of my time making, flopped.

if ur still reading this…. thanks

i hope its made you realize that, wow. we all waste so much time on reels, and tiktoks too. to me, the short form content just doesnt sit well with me. i want to be enthralled in whatever im engaged with. lets make a cool community together! thankyou artists!

[vzyee]

gonna collect my thoughts on on earth we're briefly gorgeous since i finally read it after four years of it being the biggest thing in every sphere. preface is that i know this was like landmark literature & i can acknowledge that while also you know griping.

so first of all i thought this was straight up memoir when i read it due to assuming it was an extension of his more autobiographical poetry.

i made a joke abt how it reminded me of barry s3 but its like, the comparison is nearly there. turning from just depthless ancient sadness to like, extremely contemporaneous colloquial language and stylings. which isn't to say that the depictions of generational trauma in gorgeous (ancient sadness) are necessarily more remote/removed of course & in a lot of ways the early aughts details are alienating when you'd expect them to be grounding.

i also noticed how neatly this fits into the like goldfinch genre which im always going on about. obviously it borrows quite a bit thematically from the big gay dark academia epics (art trauma and memory) although crucially the academia element is sort of plucked out of the story. he goes to college this seems like it would have major implications in the narrative of americanness and yet it's barely factored in. and further barbara kingsolver totally did the whole first day on the tobacco farm thing in demon copperhead down to the gloves being too big. i'm calling dc a big etc gay novel even though it barely is because it also to me derives from that same tradition. However. and the point is. it disrupts that genre primarily by not being an epic. Like the prose is actually very efficient. a lot of the scenes are precisely what they are. to my taste i actually like a very long unwinding of every mood and development from one stage of life & being to the next & i do think. gorgeous accomplishes a lot of that even if nonlinearly. but for instance in the "sometimes being offered tenderness" scene, that felt to me like a moment that could have been more thoroughly arrived at as something that fundamentally changed the terms of little dog & trevor's relationship and their understanding of their place in their own & each other's lives. but instead it is so distilled. which is interesting. in a lot of other ways obviously it doesnt seem like theres a ton of disruption as with the dramatization of violence, drugs, intense angst etc and the very knowing floaty tone of the narration. which i did not appreciate as much.

last big point had to do with like, maturity of voice. to me this still seemed absolutely like . well a debut novel. an early work. i've read some of night sky with exit wounds and i have some familiarity otherwise with vuong but i don't think i've read anything more recent than gorgeous. i really like ocean vuong in interviews and i think he's immensely quotable which is a gift some writers have whether due to insight & reflection or just composure both of which are very impressive. vuong i think has both. however i think the impression i got over and over in gorgeous was that his voice either hasn't fully developed or he's still coming to terms with how to use it in practice. i think about this a lot, like what the metric is for a "mature" and "developed" individual voice vision style whatever in writing. basically it's when your conviction matches the level of your ambition & i did not see true conviction here. which is not a bad thing in and of itself in a novel of fragmentation disorientation and resistance. but amid the confusion and the immense efforts of the narrator to preserve recollect and reassemble there are still these grand poetic gestures of generalization summary and aphorism. once again "sometimes being offered tenderness feels like the very proof that we've been ruined" (one of the most successful attempts at generalization i think).

also he says somewhere in an interview that he's working against legibility which i'm not entirely sure he does. he mentions genre bending and the inclusion of for instance butterfly and opioid trivia, he mentions nonlinearity. all of this though is honestly more or less digestible, and the novel is actually fairly rigidly structured. Especially with the amount of im gonna call them tropes maybe cliches. that dictate the general plot progression. quite legible. & i feel even stronger abt that now that i realize those actually were conscious authorial placements and not like, real life experiences that just happened to follow a highly exaggerated narrative arc. which genuinely confused me when i was reading i thought he had to be at least embellishing. and he was

[kingprinceleo]

FIRST PIECE IS DONE. 47 FUCKING HOURS SECOND PIECE IS NEARLY DONE WITH ANOTHER 33 HOURS IN RAHHHHHHHHHHH not even counting the couple hours of planning and replanning this is prob the longest ive ever spent on 2 single pieces my god, 80 + hours

frankly theyre not even that large or impressive, there are definitely a lot of flaws, at least that i notice. i feel like i should have been faster, more efficient but ive never done this before really, put a full 110% into artwork before, i tried really hard, i learned new things, i tried to perfect everything within my current skill limitations, theyre important to me idk it felt like my one big chance to prove i could do more impressive art than the mediocre unfinished sketch pages i post all the time, to prove to myself that i can finish something and i am kinda scared that the art itself doesnt reflect how much i put into it, the emotional labor on top of the actual brushwork and all that,,,, tbh i am scared i am not worthy of respect unless my art is impressive enough to show that i have some kind of inherent value ik its kinda goofy to be saying this kinda stuff about my sonic the hedgehog fanart but i just want to feel like people care but anyway jhfdhjdf i hope when the pieces are done and up that yall think theyre cool dfhbhjfb even if its just a little

the more im able to let go of the idea of a perfect step by step art process the more i realize how unhinged *my* process actually is in a perfect world it would be thumbnail>rough sketch> clean sketch> lineart> shadows> lighting> final effects but its actually 20 thumbnails> sketch 3> hate all 3> new thumbnail i drew as a joke> "wait he kinda slays" >rough sketch> separate foreground and bg layers> fuck the middleground and background are the same layer(doesnt fix it)> add three rulers> 17 more layers of resketching, they are all different colors> thumbnail color time :) (is doing this on the actual sketch instead of a thumbnail sheet)> 19 layers of rough colors > hasnt even finished the rough sketch btw so color placement may not be accurate> move everything to a new canvas bc there are too many fucking folders> wait dont i also need to do a 2nd piece aw hell and im like. 4-5 hours in i think

[funkymbtifiction]

hi! so i wanted some general advice, i am an ISFP and 80% sure a 4w5 if that helps, but essentially I'm in my 20's and my entire life i've always just done whatever felt right at the moment and a couple years ago i finally found out that art was my actual passion so i just went ahead and started focusing on that eventhough i knew i wouldnt make money and had no connections i just knew it was my thing and i loved it, so that was almost 3 years ago and for the first time i felt kind of healthy in the sense that i was making art all the time so i had this always incomming sensorial experience and i was able to push myself to have a schedule (work a little on my Te) and make stuff with a certain amount of time, and i felt very balanced? it was good but lately idk, its been getting harder for me to make stuff and working on my interests? Idk I guess my question is how do I get out of this funk? I just feel so lost and just standing on an empty space of nothingness that also doesnt allow me to create and i feel like i know the answer is probably you have to push yourself and create even if u kind of like ehhh about it and that will help but i'm scared? like normally i dont really care about what will happen to me career wise, i just do what i want and believe the universe will solve itself and everything will fall into place because of my will but lately i'm just terrified that my art will not get me anywhere, suddenly i have this fear that i'm waisting my time and i just want to know how to forget about that and just do what i always do but then again, should i even forget about that? is that even healthy? and if it's not, how do i find a balance? I'm sorry if this is a little long, I just needed some type of advice if it's even possible? Either way tysm for your blog and comments <3

I'm sorry. I know that this is frustrating, to reach that point where you are wondering if there's any point to doing this, because you are not being successful at it.

For what it's worth, a lot of IFPs (and EFPs) choose careers based on what they love and/or think that they should monetize their passions -- the problem is, as you point out, they lack the know-how and social skills to be self-promoting; they are often introverted loners who just want to paint or write or create things, rather than be out there actively selling them, making connections, and socializing. Most artists are sensitive, creative loners, because that's how you create things -- alone. They are not natural self-promoters. For this reason, artists need other people to sell their art, in the same way it's better for a writer to have someone else promoting their books, while they focus on writing another one. There's also the problem of, as you are currently experiencing, trying to make a living or a success at it, being discouraged when that doesn't happen (for most people, it doesn't), and then facing indecision and angst about your craft. If there's no point, why am I doing this? am I wasting my time? does anyone even care? should I be doing something else instead?

That's why most higher Te users tell creatives not to try and make a living at their art -- because the need to sell it becomes so all-encompassing, either out of a desire to succeed or a need to make an actual living -- that it taints the creative experience; it's no longer self-expression and enjoyable, it's no longer relaxing, because there's so much pressure on you to "make something of it." Some people do make a living doing what they love -- but even then there's a trade-off of trying to produce consistently, give people more of what they want, etc. Most creative types need to do what they love for themselves and in their spare time, and find a job they can tolerate that earns them enough money to be creative for fun and personal enjoyment.

I obviously can't tell you what to do, but it may be time to step back, evaluate what you love about art, and whether trying to be successful at it is going to kill your love of doing it (it sounds like it's happening now? and creating apathy?), and look at your other options. You may find that relieving the pressure of NEEDING to do this helps reawaken your love of creation just for ME. If you love art, and you want it to be part of your inner experience, your way of sharing your emotions in the world, then you don't need to make money off doing it -- you need to be doing it because you love it, and it's enjoyable. You need a job to pay the bills, and a hobby to fill you with personal satisfaction and enjoyment. Higher Te's understand this dynamic better than FPs -- I work so I can do what I love in my spare time.

[onewomancitadel]

One last thing. I just want to let you know that even if Knightfall doesnt happen it doesnt mean this blog or anything weve discussed where wasnt worthwhile. If nothing else this monolith of Knightfall discourse serves to prove its narrative validity and why its not only good but surpasses all other ships. The discourse in itself has value just for the sake of allowing us flex our minds and break down our thoughts on storytelling. Just know I appreciate you & have a wonderful day. -EmperorLuffy

Aw, thank you so much, this is so kind of you to say, I always appreciate hearing from you! I also really appreciate hearing that because I do agree with you, but I also very much have that cynic in my head telling me it's a waste.

I agree, I really feel like I've learnt a lot as well as been able to articulate what I think better and I've also learnt to trust my story instincts again. Also, I really thought I'd never get anything like Reylo again (which especially had that theme of story poetry/mythic cycles) so it's just good to know I can find things I can enjoy which hit the same spot. Or, I mean, Knightfall is like my most favourite thing ever now more than anything ever lol.

To talk about my fic, I do really value having begun writing/posting The Distance Which Fools the Skimming Eye, which will probably be my happy funtime dreamland if (God forbid) canon doesn't go the way I hope it does, or at least in some spirit of it. I was really anxious about writing it before V9 aired because I was certain at the time it would kill all of my enthusiasm but I feel a lot more confidence now to keep going anyway.

Writing that has been probably one of my favourite things to do ever as well.

But yeah, I ultimately think whatever you get out of art is meaningful even if it's not your ideal. I learnt a lot about what I enjoy and expect in storytelling with Reylo and that was even true of why the film itself and ending upset me to the degree it did.

One of the things I really was curious about is why Kylo Ren's death felt so wrong but a lot of character death in R/WBY really doesn't upset me in a 'this is really wrong' way, and then how do I justify why Cinder's death doesn't make sense. That has been really interesting.

On the note of ship superiority: oh, I cannot make any comment... I don't want to be mean to other people... ok, ok, yeah I think Knightfall is the ship in the show which could realise themes of romance in my favourite transformative way, and the way it's set up means if/when it happens, it's going to carry a lot of narrative impact. I certainly like the other canon ships in the show well enough, and with Blake/Yang in particular I think that does a lot for the themes of romance in the show, but on the other hand I love Jaune and Cinder and it's just like everything I have been waiting my whole life for lol. In Jaune and Cinder's romance you get all of the show's themes in one statement lol. I can't help but love that. I also can't help but speculate about it because of that.

Anyway, I appreciate you saying so very much, I really value going on about the stuff I love and it's very nice to share it. (: Though I do often think I must come off like an annoying freak lol. Not much different to what I actually am like to be fair.

Thank you and hope you have a fab day too. (: <3 <3

[foxymoxynoona]

Never read a hybrid fic before.. im curious what is it about? Is it about animals? Half animals?? like something in "furry" community fetish?? doesnt people found it uncomfortable reading something like that?? just curious bec i don't think i can read a hybrid fic but i want to know what is it about?? 😅

Hello! I'm going to assume good intentions with your ask and answer a few questions in here. This is long so I'll put it behind the cut.

I'm not sure if you're using a very focused definition of furry community (as in, people who have personas and dress and roleplay in those personas, although your understanding of that community as being just a fetish is incorrect) or more broad (people who like art that includes human-animal chimeras, etc.) but I do want to point out that 1. these interests and communities are not always sexual (but can be!) and 2. the spectrum of things that could be considered hybrid media are ancient through modern, and very broad. Netflix has a literal hybrid show. Many cultures have hybrid figures in their religions and mythos. Werewolves are hybrids. Mermaids are hybrids. Lots of animated movies, cartoons, and even non-animated movies have hybrid chracters. You could even argue that anthropomorphism is a type of hybrid (animals who move, think, speak, sing, etc. like humans.)

So this as a whole is a very broad spectrum of media where I guess the baseline thread is just "human + animal/alien components" (as oppoosed to cyborg, which would be "human + machine/robot components.) Clearly the people who read hybrid stories don't find the concept uncomfortable because it's a type of media they choose to consume --and it's a very, very large audience consuming things along that spectrum. I'm sure others have done much better analysis and writing on this and the psychology and history behind it, but basically, this is not really a niche thing. People have been combining humans and animals since forever. I'm not saying everyone likes catboys, but that most people have probably seen the Little Mermaid. What an individual likes along that is just an individual preference. You could like the Little Mermaid or have a crush on the fox in Zootopia but not find it interesting/appealing to think of a human with bear ears or behaviors.

I'll narrow the focus to "BTS Hybrid stories" of which I have written some and read some. I don't think there are rules, or at least I don't follow them and am not an expert in them, though some common themes come up, which can lead to general reader expectations of the genre. The two main groupings you tend to see are either "have some physical animal traits on an otherwise mainly human form" or "shifters/people who can turn into an animal", but there's a whole range of what that means in practice. I've written stories where people have some phyisical characteristics of their animal, stories where they look just like normal humans but have some behavioral tendancies from their animals, and stories where people look like people but can transform into animals. I personally also tend to really enjoy writing about how society has shaped itself around the existence of hybrids or species, as a way to deconstruct and analyze our real world systems and relationships.

People's individual tastes range as with anything else. Some of my stories lean more into the animal portion of hybrids than others, so some readers might only be interested in certair iterations. I think tastes change over time too. When I wrote Sea of Indigo, I couldn't figure out how I felt about a romantic lead with dog ears, so I actually left the story vague about whether JK has dog ears or human ears or both. Now after writing these stories for two years, doesn't phase me at all to write about how comforting it is to stroke JK's soft bunny ear when you're stresed out from a bad day. 😎

Anyway, hope that lends some insight!

[madelion]

hey, i'm an artist (or so i'm pretending to be) and i absolutely ADORE your art style and the way you draw so beautifully. What are some tips or what is some advice you could give me on anatomy, use of color or digital drawing generally? I've posted my art like once but I was so nervous of what people might think of it I made something super different to my actual style, so if you scroll on my page don't find it because i hate it lmao

Anyway, I would really like to hear what's some advice you have to give!

Hi!!! First of all, thank you so much for your sweet comment it means so much to hear that 🥺

So my bIGGEST TIPS I can possibly give (this is gonna be long I apologize in advance):

1. always always always use references.

I cannot stress this tip enough.

Whether it‘s for a certain pose you want to draw: you can go on Pinterest/google to find poses, clothing ideas, hairstyles, lighting, scenery. use references for EVERYTHING. no matter what people say it is not cheating. Sometimes we luck out and we magically draw the poses straight from our brain, but honestly that’s rare.

And it doesnt all have to be from real life. You can take inspiration from other artist whose styles you look up to/admire. For me that’s viria94(Instagram), aleikats, alexiakhodanian(twitter), spidertams(instagram) and many others! Obviously you don’t want to copy your inspirations, but you can learn so much from just observing their artwork :) Your inspirations will most likely change dramatically overtime because your art style will grow as you continue to improve. These inspirations are going to be a mashup of things you like about each individual style. And eventually, you’ll learn how to incorporate some of those elements into your own art which in turn: helps you find your own voice/style with your artwork.

but also, don’t forget to not copy them exactly lol. It’s one thing to “copy” an art style as a way to personally practice in your own time (which is totally okay to do!) But there is definitely a fine line between practicing/outright copying and claiming it as your own work. I hope that made sense???

2. Redraws

this is something I only just started doing, but it has helped my artwork improve immensely. I redraw scenes from shows and movies that I love (which I will get to this tip in a second). And then because the scene is already set for you, it helps you not only practice anatomy (especially if you’re referencing real people), but also lighting, setting up compositions, and in general practicing this over time will help you refine your art style!

3. Draw from life

Not everyone has a realistic art style, nor do they need to have one. However, it is important to understand the ”rules” before you can break them. And what I mean by that is that by practicing realistic anatomy, you get to understand proportions/how the body works in relation to itself. Because even though everyone is shaped differently from each other, there is still an overall similarity we all have with one another. And honestly all you have to do will go into my next point:

4. watch tutorials

Cannot even tell you how many tutorials I have watched over the years. I will forever be on YouTube trying to learn how to do something. this honestly goes with the references section because it just helps so so so much. Having someone show you exactly what to do is so beneficial because they’ll move you through the exact motions you need to do to get to the end result. I remember when I first started really getting into art, I loved drawing realistic eyes and lips. so I watched tutorials of that all the time and now it’s pretty much second nature to me.

since you asked about the use of color, anatomy, and digital drawing… this is gonna be golden for helping you okay. I might have taken a color theory class a couple quarters ago at school… but trust me I’m still winging the whole color thing. howEVER, tutorials will be your best friend when it comes to these things I pROMISE.

5. TAKE BREAKS

please for the love of all things do not push yourself to be creative when your mind refuses to do so. some of our best work/ideas appear when we’re bored or doing something else entirely.

taking a break means go do something else you enjoy. For me that’s: playing my favorite video game, watching my favorite show/movie, reading a book, talking to my friends or family, baking, writing. just do something else!

the moment you try to force yourself to finish a drawing when you’re really not in the mindset to do so (unless this thing you’re drawing is for school… that’s an entirely different thing trust me lol), you’re just going to lead yourself into an art block. So many artists pressure themselves to draw everyday because yeah it can lead to improvement, but back in my anne with an e days when I felt pressured to put out fan art consistently for the show, it led me to what was probably my longest art block EVER. and it sucks because I ender up losing the inspiration to draw for a show that I loved a lot. So always remember to pace yourself and take care of yourself before anything else <3

6. Draw what you love

so often we feel pressured to draw what others want us to draw. But that shouldn’t matter. yes, it’s good to be aware of the people that may look at your art/follow your art account, but that should never dictate the work that you create.

for some people they love drawing original characters and creating stories, others might only love drawing animals, some people have certain themes in their artwork, and others, like me, purely like drawing fan art.

when you draw something you love, your artwork will always turn out better because that means you’re having fun making it.

and for me personally, I cannot whip out original characters for the life of me unless it’s for a grade LOL. So when it comes to drawing, that’s why I stick to fan art.

NOW I KNOW THIS WAS SUPER SUPER LONG but I really hoped this helped in some sense!!!

But thank you so much for asking, I’m always more than happy to give out some advice/tips :) I’m looking forward to seeing more art from you!

[thelostguardianau]

The Lost Guardian- Chapter Eight

“Heed the Silenced”

(Authors note: aha.. yknow I should probably stop making promises for this fic. Months later, w/ a chapter that doesn’t have Thomas in it, three different outlines down and i’m really just at the mercy of this fic at this point xD considering midway through writing this chapter I had to cut and rewrite an entire scene i’d spent a month on bc I’d decided that Dee had a chance at redemtion that added an actual direction and a tangable end goal to this story. So. Yeah. And!! A loud Thank You!! to @bumblebeekitten for helping me bounce ideas back & forth for this au and being my beta for this chapter!!)

Character Info & Art:

Patton | Logan | Roman | Virgil | Remy | Deceit | ??? | ???

Chapter Seven | Chapter Nine

Fandom: Thomas Sanders Sides

Pairings: Eventual Polyamsanders (LAMPR/CALMR-a.k.a LAMP/CALM + Remy ‘Sleep’ Sanders)

Warnings: THIS CHAPTER IS KINDA DIALOG HEAVY!(sorry) Currently depicted as morally grey Deceit(subject to change in future chapters), though the side of Deceit from his first appearance doesnt make an appearance in this chapter and it is explained why, mentions of past betrayal and dark descriptions of bodily concepts, curses, limitations, and changes only really explained as possible through the lore of this au. Deceit speaks in riddles because he has to, ominous warnings. Virgil still isn’t okay mentally. Mentions of indifference to death, lack of selfworth or self preservation. (Let me know if I need to add anything!)

[[MORE]]

Brown eyes flutter open at the chilly breeze of a fan, and the ravenette’s mind comes to realize that he’s been moved from resting on his stomach to laying on his back. Groggy from his much too short nap, it takes a few moments to realize there are no warm bodies near him or under him, no breathing or chatter of familiar voices to sooth him.

The room, he realizes, is empty.

The room itself is, in fact, not Remy’s bedroom at all.

Shooting straight up, Virgil’s first clear thought is that he’s back at home. At his apartment, this time in his hoodie yet still roughed up from his latest ‘adventure’. The scene is eerily familiar, and yet he knows this time that work is not where he needs to be. It’s already daylight and his mind now knows this familiar scene, he should feel alone. Yet, this time he can hear the sound of honking cars and people, his loud neighbor from upstairs stomping around.

It doesn’t make sense as he walks to his window and peers out to see vague cars and people, he can’t even seem to make out any individual faces. It’s grey and raining outside, but there is no pattering sound against the foggy window. ‘What’s happening?’ Virgil wonders.

“Life seemed so simple a week ago, even months ago, did it not..?” A familiar voice drifts from behind him. Ice cold fear shoots down the ravenette’s spine as he recognizes the voice.

“I can hardly believe you were able to leave it, your routine. It was your everything, back when you came to terms with what you had left. Am I wrong, Virgil?” Whirling around to face the voice, Virgil finds the terrifying ex-Guardian sitting on his couch looking quite at home, if a little sheepish.

“What do you care?” He spat back, stepping back against his window.

“I am only looking out for you, you know. I have been protecting you all your life. Of all people I think I would know what is best for you, don't you think? We are connected after all, you and I.” The man sighed, making a surrendering motion with his hands.

“Why would I trust you?! You tried to kill me yesterday!” Virgil growled. “Why--h-how are you even here!?”

“False, my dear Virgil. I tried to warn you. Sure,” The guardian rolled his hand as he spoke, “I am forced to have a round-about way of speaking my truths, it is just part of my consequences it seems. But how else was I going to get you to listen to me after the others fed you lies about me? I do sincerely apologize for my other half being rough, though. I cannot quite.. Control.. Him.” The guardian tilted his bowler hat down to guiltily hide his eyes, regret briefly twisting his expression.

Finally the Guardian stood, dusting himself off as if his immaculate attire had acquired dust from just existing in his apartment. “I needed my physical body to reach yours and make our soul connection strong again, so that my soul could reach yours. However.. The pain I caused you was far from my intention. I am deeply regretful that it came down to.. That awful encounter.

“To answer your question though, Virgil, I am here because I created ‘here’. A realm made to form this illusion of being home, sweet home, just on the corner of the little street you had come to live on for the past year. It is all my doing. Where you stand is simply an illusion only you and I can access, a manipulation of your dreams and memories. The only place where the real me can talk to you mostly unhindered.” The guardian gestured to his surroundings.

“It takes only one person to flip your life on it’s head, a matter of hours to make the decision of a lifetime, and a matter of days to have completely changed your life’s direction,” He turned to Virgil, and looked him straight in the eyes, feeling distant and lost.

“And only a matter of years to succumb to the depression of the lonely consequences..”

Virgil blinked at that. The sad, longing tone had him thrown for a loop; it almost felt like the Guardian wasn't even quite talking to Virgil. “I-What..? I.. I don’t understand.”

The Guardian shook his head, snapping out of it and refocusing himself. "Nevermind that. It is time I talked to you for real, if you will have me?" The Guardian held out a hand politely, though there was no real expectation for Virgil to take it.

After a pause, Virgil gave a slight nod, still suspicious of the other's intent. The Guardian returned the nod, and his hand fell to his side.

“I am limited to the time that you rest and for now I will not be able to explain myself thoroughly, so, I ask you to understand that I do not expect you to trust me when I am done. I honestly do not expect you to ever trust me. With the mistakes I have made, I firmly believe I would not deserve it.”

Virgil blinked in surprise, not having expected his captor to admit to his faults straight off the bat.

“Okay.. Well, we’re here, might as well hear your side of the story. So.. Shoot.” Virgil said lightly, distrust and suspicion still evident in his tone and stance.

“I would assume at this point you are well aware of how the story you have been told paints me as the villain, a mastermind seeking power, immortality, and revenge? At least, that is what I am led to believe is still the story, it has been many years since I have heard the tale first hand… And... Well. Would that not be so lovely?” Virgil made a face, eyes narrowing in confusion.

“I am serious. Life would be so much easier if it was all black and white, true or false, good and bad, would it not? If those who meant well knew everything and those malicious few could not corrupt anything?” The Guardian frowned a bit, frustrated with his words that couldn’t seem to cooperate with him.

“Would it not be lovely if I could talk to you without fighting to keep from turning every honest thought into a question or theoretical statement just to let it be said? That my words could hold a meaning not forcibly disguised in the forms of fables and riddles?” The Guardian looked down lamely, his words tapering off in agitation. For a moment, Virgil waited as the Guardian was silent, contemplative. Then, the next moment the Guardian’s face scrunched up in sadness and his words were soft as he placed a hand over his golden wrist markings.

“My story is complicated, and twisted with shades of grey. One could say what I did was an attempt to keep you safe, another could say that what I did was outlandish and impulsive, and stupid. But no one will be able to tell you that what I did went according to the plan I had... at first. No one will tell you that my intention was to save you, to keep your fate safe. No one will tell you that my plan was ruined. Because there is no longer anyone who remembers what happened that night except for me,”

The Guardian’s eyes flicked up to meet the ravenette’s, a hurt look passing over his face as he continued. His steady voice now just barely trembled with uncertainty as he continued.

“No one but me and the soul who wants so desperately for everyone to forget. The soul who ripped my own in two to bury the secret, and ruin you and I both.”

“My final warning is this: Beware of the man who carries the world on his shoulders unflinchingly, he will be watching you closely. You have immunity to his power thanks to our connection, you might use this knowledge well to find the truth that lies in plain sight. However, your fate lies in the decisions you chose to make with this knowledge, I can only warn you of what might come.” The Guardian nodded solemnly, choosing to finish his cryptic warning there.

Virgil stood there, reeling with the information. Sure, he definitely wasn’t completely convinced he could trust this cryptic stranger, Guardian? Foe? Friend? Virgil wasn’t really sure what to call him anymore. But damn, his life was already so fucking crazy, this was all just fucking crazy! He could just be dreaming for all he knew.

But… Deep inside, he was hoping he wasn’t.

This was, well. This wasn’t what he’d been expecting to hear when facing the man whose, er, body? Had originally tried to strangle him? Now he’d heard his sob story and, well, Virgil wasn’t that easy to fool, but he’d also been told that it wasn’t expected that he’d trust the guy even in the end and he didn’t really want to.

He’d been on the path to death for so long, and then just two days ago everything had changed. So much was happening, it was frankly exhausting. What the fuck was he, some book protagonist? Couldn’t he get a little time to think about all this before he went crazy?

Still, something under all his incredulity begged to hear the guardian out. He vaguely wondered how Stockholm Syndrome worked before he gave in a little. What difference did a little more crazy make in his life at this point?

“Fine, I’ll heed your warning, or whatever the fuck. But only if you can tell me what you mean when you said that this guy ripped your, uh, soul? In two.” Virgil huffed, partially relaxing. It was odd how comforting he found it to be, floating in this weird feeling imaginary world, where he could interact with objects that weren’t real. It felt like he was really standing in his home, and yet it was just built from memory.

The guardian’s solemn expression formed into a grim smile, eyes distant once more before nodding. “I will do the best that my words will allow.” Virgil nodded, and waited for the now very familiar stranger to gather his words and take a breath. Then he began, his markings lightly flashing gold.

“You find yourself whole one day, as you have always been. To be whole of body, whole of mind, both human and guardian in nature. To have conscious thought and control over your whole physical being and soul..

“You find that yourself and others of the winged variety are capable of separating your soul from your being, though only the most Elite can do it well. You find out the family you made would soon be in danger. You then find yourself lost and alone when you once had a home to call your own.

“You find yourself knowing a truth, a perilous truth. Your home is in shambles now that you are gone, yet they do not know it. This truth is at fault, but the blame is not fully your own in a world built on lies.

“The source of truth tucks itself into blankets of grey, drawing itself further from discovery with each passing day. Now only you know the truth. The source of the truth finds you, it seeks to hide you too.

“You find yourself split one day, as you have never been before. Forced apart from the body, trapped within the mind. Guardian in nature, to have conscious thought and your dying soul trapped within, a false mind piloting the puppeteered confines of a broken body with a blind goal.”

“You find you cannot control what you used to, you are a prisoner to a body that is no longer your own, mostly unconscious to the world around it. Crazed by the false emotions that fuel it.”

“The you that used to be is no longer, and has not been for over a hundred years. The world that knew you knows not of what you’ve become. Knows not of the shackles that bind you.

“The you that used to be is no longer, and will never be again.” The Guardian finished, hesitant yellow eyes meeting Virgil’s carefully. Phantom goosebumps trail down Virgil's arms as the final sentence strikes a cord in him.

Virgil found he really wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, the rawness in the other’s tone spoke volumes of the sore spot they’d reached.

“Your body rests, but your mind also needs time to process today. I shall see you when you next rest, though only if you wish to seek me. Rest well knowing that you will not be scooped from your safety once more, as I hope I’m never to do so again. And...” The guardian paused, considering their next words very carefully.

“I know it is selfish to ask... but, I hope and wish that Thomas is alright, after all this time... Do take care of him, would you?”

Virgil paused and stared, finding only concern and longing in the guardian’s expression. And, well, fuck. What a way to pull at a guy’s heartstrings.

“Er, yes. Yeah. I’ll try my best.” Virgil gave his signature mock salute, the Guardian tipping his hat in return.

“Trying is all I could ever ask of you, Virgil. Rest well, you will need it.” And with that final sentence, the world around Virgil gently grew dark, and he sunk into the comforting arms of sleep.

Despite it all, Virgil still found his mind vaguely conscious. Sluggish at best, but awake nonetheless.

He figured it was likely some lingering effect from the Guardian’s dream realm, but didn’t dwell on it. His life had way too much else going on to be debating the side effects gained from Guardian powers.

First, he’d been pretty damn convinced two days ago that he was going to be a goner by the end of the month. Completely resigned to die believing that his very existence was scorned by the world he’d been unwillingly born into.

Then Patton had stumbled onto his shitty apartment’s roof, found him in all of his resigned and depressed glory, and changed his life forever.

They’d mostly skipped the whole ‘Human nature is a series of life, death, and rebirth’ spiel that guardians were known to give in these situations because... Well, It wasn’t like they’d really had time to address it before the truth about his soul had come out. That he wasn’t exactly human to begin with.

Virgil didn’t think that Guardians had ever had a situation like his before. There wasn’t a protocol for comforting a kidnapped guardian soul. It’d never been a possibility before!

So it wasn’t surprising then, that Virgil didn’t have any better of a time processing it.

His whole life, all that he’d known to be true, all that he’d believed in? Everything had been uprooted and turned on its head. He’d apparently been living a life that was not supposed to be.

Perhaps for the first time in two days, Virgil realized that the thought of his death at the end of the month had not been consistently worming into his brain. It had once been something he could never seem to stop thinking about.

The death indicated by his soul timer was now perhaps the farthest thing from his mind.

Perhaps the strangest thing so far was that he wasn’t alone anymore. He’d possibly had more physical contact with other people in the short two(three?) days since this adventure started then he’d had in the past 16 years.

And wasn’t it just the cherry on top that he’d also gotten nearly choked out by the very guardian accused of kidnapping his soul in the first place? And now he was considering trusting the damn guy.

Virgil hollowly wondered why he even cared.

Why did he care about staying alive now when he’s spent his whole life believing he never would? Up until two days ago, that belief had still been true. But now? Avoiding death was the goal, Logan had stated as much.

Really, would Virgil lose anything by trusting the banished guardian? Even if the guardian was trying to trick Virgil and got him killed, what difference would it make? That’d always been the goal before. What did he, Virgil, really have to lose?

If it happened that Virgil lived past his twentieth birthday, if he became a guardian like he was supposed to be in the first place. Would he want that? Did he want that?

He wasn’t sure. Didn’t know if he ever had been.

His life had been built on resignation to the inevitable. Nothing seemed to motivate him towards liking or hating that possibility. He was just that.

Indifferent.

And wasn’t that just the greatest revelation of the night? Finding out that you’re indifferent to living or dying.

Once this was all over, if Virgil lived that long, he would make a note to see a therapist. He knew very well that this kind of mindset was unhealthy to keep. It just couldn’t be helped that the nineteen years he’d lived with this particular affliction couldn’t be fixed by a few extra hugs and comforting words.

Even if he didn’t like the fact that death sounded like the more peaceful option.

His thoughts paused, mentally sighing at the downward spiral he’d caught himself in. It was tiring, and going nowhere.

‘For now,’ he decided, ‘I’m just going to see how this plays out. The Guardian said that none of the others remember the truth, or whatever. So, It’s a ‘he said-they said’ situation right now...’

‘I’ll have to keep an eye out for the guy that he warned me about, then. Who knows if he's as dangerous as The Guardian made him out to be. It’s hard to tell with the weird way he has to talk..’

Virgil paused again, a realization striking him. If he could have groaned, he would have. Not once had he been given or even remembered to ask for the name of said Guardian. What was he supposed to call the rogue Guardian now? He couldn’t just keep calling him The Guardian!

Amidst the disbelief of such a slip up, a foreign yet familiar feeling prodded questioningly at his conscious mind. Adding confusion into the mix of emotions, he returned the feeling with a questioning thought of his own.

He briefly heard the Guardian’s whispy voice once more, now acting with permission.

“You may call me Janus”

Then all at once, Virgil woke up.

.

.

.

Chapter Nine

[thirsthourdemon]

Haikyuu boys and what gifts they would give you

Includes: Karasuno, Aoba Johsai, Nekoma, Shiratorizawa, Fukurodani, Inarizaki

A/N: Aha Aha Aha

Karasuno

Hinata: He would give you a rock that him and natsu painted on. On the rock there’s a silly face on it, from natsu, and then a volleyball, from hinata, then an I love you at the bottom part. He gave that to you when you guys went on a park date with natsu.

Kageyma: The first give he would have ever given you was a milk box and you were so happy because he never really shares his milk. This was actually how he confessed to you like he wrote “Want to go out with me?” Or something like that at the bottom. He was blushing the whole time.

Yamaguchi: This baby boy would give you his scarf and a warm drink because you were both walking home from school and it was really cold but you forgot your scarf at home so he just gave you his. He would blush whenever he sees you wearing it now.

Tsukkishima: Salty boy gave you a playlist ever since you told him what type of music you liked. He wouldnt give it to you right after making it though. He would have given in when you’re stressing out over homework or something like that and he’d just put it on speaker for you waiting for you to ask whose playlist that was.

Nishinoya: An ice cream stick. Why? You called him senpai the first time you met him and he just- He automatically fell in love and asked you to an ice cream “hang out” because it wasnt a date or anything! He was just being a good senpai. He confessed to you by making an ice cream stick and the stick had a heart carved into it.

Tanaka: You and him went to a matsuri, shrine festival, with the team. He decided that he was going to be a man and catch you some goldfish. It took him a while however but you still appreciated his victory even though he spent most of his money it. You named that single goldfish “Ryuu”.

Suga: It’s not technically a gift but he gave you a mechanical pencil with your name on it. He was supposed to keep it for himself but you were borrowing a mechanical pencil during lunch time and he just gave you his pencil case only late to realize that it was there. When you saw it oh boy were you confused. Ended up confessing to you that way.

Asahi: OH MY- He gave you a handmade hair tie. Like he saw how you were struggling with your hair so much so he just decides to make one but he didnt plant ahead on how he’d give it to you. He was forced by suga and daichi to give it to you but in the end noya did that because he was too nervous to even tell you. Noya just “Oh hey! Y/N! Asahi thought you might be having trouble with your hair! Here” and just gives it to you. Blushing mess.

Daichi: The traditional gift 😤 He gave you a response chocolate he made with suga during white day. You gave him chocolate during valentines and he responded by giving you chocolate gift back. He gave it to you after practice and though the chocolate was a bit soft now he still gave it because the effort? Not letting that go to waste!

Ennoshita: Another traditional man. You gave him chocolate and he didnt know what to do so he just...Huh? He gave you chocolates back and let’s just say things started from there on ❤️

Kiyoko: You were stuck in the friendzone for quite a time too. She gave you matching keychains for your bag but like...Yachi also has it. 😔

Yachi: 😳😳😳 She drew you once for “art class”. Baby didnt have “art class” but when it came out better than expected she gave it to you when she confessed along with a letter. Let’s be real she was blushing and saying sorry the whole time.

Im sorry, guys but Im a big yachi-stan. Yachi is THAT bitch for me.

Aoba Johsai

Oikawa Toru: He doesnt give you 1 or 2 no no...He gives you 5 service aces. Shows off in the game more when you’re watching and for Seijoh it’s a sure victory once he does his little service ritual for you.

Iwaizumi Hajime: One time you called oikawa “shittykawa” during class he instantly fell in love with your fierce attitude so he legit treated you good food after that time. It became a ritual for both of you to eat out whenever they one which was often. His comfort food cannot be complete without you eating it with him.

Mattsukawa issei: His horsecock. That shit is a gift in itself. A big gift in fact.

Kyoutani Kentarou: People may see him as a very scary person but he actually gave you a stuff toy you wanted at the arcade. He saw how you looked at it with such longing that one time and proceeded to get it for you whenever you werent around. It took him such a long time but gosh was it worth it to see you smiling like that.

Nekoma

Kuroo: This man gave you...A headache. No fr hahahaha he gave you a spike actually. The first time you watched him play in a game...mf told you that if he stomped twice then it was a spike for you. He actually did win the game with that one spike because nekoma was losing and team morale was low. The moment he spiked that ball with that subtle double stomp he managed to score and boost morale again.

Kenma: He always gives you gifts but more like...Health potions, resources you need, animal crossing gifts tbh 🥺. He didnt really give you much gifts physically but virtually? He would specifically go and get rare items in doubles just to give you the other one and say he “Accidentally got another one”.

Lev: Alisa’s cooking. You were both out during lunch time and he saw that you were only drinking something so he decided to feed you his sister’s bento for him. My baby is so sweet- and also headaches. He also gives you headaches.

Fukurodani

Bokuto: He gives you either his jersey OR a spike as well. Better yet he gives you his jersey for a game then does a spike for you. Bitch didnt even have a signal he legit shouted “That one was for you, Y/N!” And pointed at you. Kill me please- Needless to say everyone was looking at you so much.

Akaashi: You cant convince me he doesnt give you a copy of the book you wanted and were looking for. He just so happened to have it, yeah sure...🙃 Little did you know that he went all over miyagi for that fucking book. He probably gave you a bookmark along with it too. ❤️ Ya nerds

Date tech

Aone takanobu: Surprisingly enough he gave you a small vase for the flowers he gave you last time. He even told you how to preserve them more. He be teaching you all about plants whenever he you two go home together. He doesnt speak he just...gives you books or he shows you himself sometimes.

Futakuchi: He gave you his sour gummies 😖 TOO ADORABLE FUCK. You were staring at them and he just offered you some and now you’re in love.

Shiratorizawa

Ushijima: Waka baby gave you a service ace. He isnt one to give you anything big and he didnt know what to give you so he just gave you something he knows he could. Before the game itself he actually told you that he promised you a service ace the first time he would be given the chance. Volleyball Idiot 🥺

Tendou: MIRACLE BOY STRAIGHT UP GAVE YOU ONE OF HIS SHONEN JUMPS. He gave you the one that you really liked and said it was “Not a big deal”-It was a big deal considering how in love he is with them.

Goshiki: Im sorry but...good head. He gave you heavenly head. 😔 King of oral right here. No really hahahaha tsutomu probs gave you a shrine charm that says “absolute victory”. You keep that little charm whenever you watch his games now. Though you tell him that its the charm working he says you’re his actual lucky charm.

Inarizaki

Miya Atsumu: A migrane. His fangirls keep threatening you and you had to keep on telling them that you were just their team manager. He just- I mean I wanted to say he gave you a service ace but mf just gave you a migrane.

Miya Osamu: Unlike his brother this guy is actually pretty reasonable. As an asian you have no idea how happy your parents would be when this man gives you half a sack of rice. I know everyone expects the “Onigiri” answer but I enjoy being given a sack of rice more. 🍚

Aran Ojiro: I- IM SUCH A SIMP! He gave you his a batch of cookies. This headcanon is from @oof-she-needs-therapy by the way because I fell in love with their works so much. He just “Felt like he had to make an extra batch”. This boy 100% made that for you alone. Dont play me. He even fed you one and just to tease back you kissed the tips of his fingers. Practice that day was E V E N T FU L.

Taglist: @my-mass-hysteria @janellion

[hunnybel]

Can you tell me more about your incubus AU? At least that’s the one Au that I think you’re talking about with the erigiri art dump (first image w demonic Tegiri and human eridan) :0

Indeed that first image is my Incubus AU and I'm happy to talk about it! I won't go too much into the NSFW details because I know I have minors following me here.

This is gonna get a little long and I dunno how to Read More on mobile so Apologies in advance 👀💦

Tegiri is an incubus but he's not at all into the idea of pursuing energy like that. Too much work. He has better things to do like watch anime. And its becomes a larger problem the longer he waits to do anything. Like he doesnt think he has the charisma/doesn't wanna expend the energy on seducing anyone and so relies on pheromones to find partners. But the longer he waits, the less powerful even that is, but he's reluctant all the same. Because its not Enticing to him. He has his waifus and husbandos, not that interested in the real thing- until he absolutely needs it or he'll die.

So like the only partners he can really get are just Desperate because otherwise the low levels of pheromones he can produce isn't enough to catch any attention. So usually it's like... a necessity thing and he's like Not into the people he gets energy from

Eridan being desperate enough to get pulled in, but its not necessarily a desperation for sleeping with someone but Intimacy, and that plays a big factor in it. Tegiri isn't used to finding his targets Attractive but Eridan sure is and then also Eridan's Desire for Intimacy makes itself known in how he reacts and also Tegiri's own actions being influenced by his partner's desire. He's not used to this kinda stuff, its usually just Lust, so this is New. And... he likes it.

And intially Tegiri doesn't reveal his true nature, his true appearance, so Eridan doesn't know the exact nature of this person he's met and slept with. Because usually it doesn't matter, Tegiri never looks for repeats because, again, he's not into his partners. But this time, he would like to see Eridan again. Maybe even before he's starving to death. And at that time he would reveal his true self. So Eridan learns that Tegiri is an incubus who feeds off sexual energy and desire and Tegiri is... kinda embarrassed to let him know that this is the first time hes ever wanted to be with someone twice.

And of course it makes Eridan more heistant because, well, the first time he's gotten the intimacy he wanted it was from a demon who just wanted him for Energy. But... he liked the intimacy, and Tegiri would give it to him again and he's Craving it. So he agrees, now knowing the truth. And yeah, the second time is just as fulfilling. Tegiri wants to make this a regular thing and Eridan agrees.

Eridan hates the fact that he develops actual Feelings for Tegiri when Tegiri is just Using him. And he was aware since the beginning so this isn't like... offensive that he's just being used, but it still Hurts. He wants to be more than an energy source for Tegiri, but he doesn't think he even really has a right to say. They're... exclusive? He thinks? Tegiri did say he never slept with anyone else twice and that he's not super Needy for energy. And they meet up enough that it's probably exclusive. But that doesn't mean Tegiri actually thinks anything more of him.

Meanwhile Tegiri is Confused by being Smitten. He's never felt this for anyone? Acquaintances, friendships, sure. But this Desire to be with someone, and not just for feeding, which he never used to have the desire to do before either. Even if it's just... watching stuff together and cuddling or whatever else falls under Eridan's Desires for Intimacy. Tegiri Loves it. He.... loves? Eridan? Maybe? Is this what those romance shows were talking about?

They're both bad at communicating their thoughts so they're sort of in this place where Eridan hesitantly settles for being used as a food source and Tegiri is sort of conflicted because Incubi aren't supposed to have Feelings for any of their partners but Tegiri only wants to be with Eridan. And he has discovered that he can gain energy by fulfilling Eridan's desire for intimacy over the usual methods.

Eventually it sort of reaches the point where Tegiri shows his affection in ways that wouldn't directly result in him being fed and Eridan is confused why he's doing this. And Tegiri manages to finally get it across that he cares for him as more than an Energy Source.

It's a frustrating romantic slow burn and I love them 😩💕💕 Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk

[juni-ravenhall]

my opinions on mistfall!

under a cut bc spoilers and/or not everyone wants to read :D 

overall experience: 

its fun that there IS a sso cartoon now even if its not exactly amazing quality, and im happy to see if there will be more series or movies after this. it was fun to watch and see sso things in cartoon form too and i wish that we had more already (of sso animation in general). imagine if there had been a ssl cartoon? i also kept thinking throughout this, that it wouldn’t be hard for me myself to make an animated series with around the same length episodes and in a similar quality to this (aside from voice acting and music production), which made me feel a little inspired.

favourite scene:

skye taking photos of blaze and hanging out

positive points: 

i like the background art a lot, i think the style of it, and the colour schemes, helps give the series a specific vibe that fits for an sso series in my opinion. 

i like the concept art (i assume) illustrations which we saw in the recipes and other posts on sso ig, i think it looks a lot better than the characters in the series, but thats normal for concept art!!

the music is really good quality (whether or not its your taste, the quality is good) which is ofc bc its sso - theres already good music and not something they only did for the cartoon but something they care about in all of the starstable media. 

i think skye is a nice character (despite the series’ overall low quality writing) and i like her design. i also think rania’s cartoon design (visually) is cute.

skye and rania being a teensy bit gay (minus points for sso if they dont end up really gay in later canon)

i like that blaze wasnt actually like... mean or anything to skye, and i like that shes a mare since typical stories like this usually have stallions. but i just like that there wasnt really any “ooh difficult horse” things between skye and blaze in the current time of the story, blaze actually was sweet to her most the time. blaze seemed pretty charming whenever there wasnt “omg fire” drama. 

the animation itself (not meaning the details of the drawings or scene timing, just the actual frame by frame / puppet movements) was fine! not amazing, but absolutely fine.

points i have constructive criticism for, which doesn’t mean that i expected more from the series, but that we’re all allowed to discuss the quality and our opinions of media regardless of the target audience, budget, etc:

the writing was childish and rushed - this is not to be rude, but a matter that affects a lot of “media for girls / kids”, and a topic talked a lot about by Lauren Faust (creator of the FiM reboot of MLP) who wanted to show that a show about rainbow ponies “for little girls” didn’t have to be badly written, and could be engaging and interesting. if you watch the older MLP cartoons and compare to the first season of FiM (where Faust was still on the team) you can see a huge difference in quality of the storytelling, characterisation, etc. Mistfall, so far, did not subvert any expectation in the quality of what typical “cartoons for girls” are like, and is reminiscent of stuff like “The Ranch” (french horse cartoon) which imo is so bad that its hard to watch. (and ofc... that goes for a lot of “cartoons for girls / kids”, but doesn’t have to be like that.) in order to improve on this, the writer has to study more on storytelling and study from better writers.

on the topic of being rushed: no, it’s not an excuse that the episodes are short: - you have to ADAPT your storytelling and writing to the length of the episodes, not do a bad job and blame the episode length. being able to adapt to different types of media is a necessary skill if that’s what you work with. this comes down to proper planning and structuring the story and writing in a way that works for the length of the episodes. i don’t think that was overall done well here (at times it was okay), and bc of that, it feels rushed and has exposition thrown in your face instead of being shown through better storytelling. the classic thing with exposition is “show, don’t tell”. this is what the writers/directors should study, or pay more attention to. 

the timing (length of shots, length of scenes, or parts of shots, etc) was rly bad at times and overall unimpressive - this comes down to the skill of directors and editors. to improve this they have to study more on the topic. bad timing and pacing can really ruin a good scene or a good story and make it feel disconnected and hard to immerse in for the audience.

the artstyle of characters and horses is fine at times, but appears very low quality at others (skye’s childhood scene really bothered me bc her kid-self had really badly drawn eyes in my opinion). this, like everything else on this list, is ofc something that appears in almost every single “cartoon for girls” that ever existed. to improve on this, most likely it’s not a problem with the artists but with the budget and the production timeline (allowing the artists more time to produce better quality art and animation), and it can also be a problem with the art direction, if the art directors aren’t very skilled or experienced (i don’t say that they aren’t, im just giving examples of what could cause these problems.)

the character design for all characters that aren’t skye, rania, or blaze was very lacking. none of the not-main-3 characters looked interesting or fun to look at, they looked very dull and like the most boring NPCs you could think of. even though its understandable that the mainest-main characters would have the most interesting designs, that doesn’t mean everyone else has to look that boring. this is an issue with art direction or character design. i think most likely there was just very little time (equals money) put into designing the other characters.

the horse design could be improved for a cartoon that focuses on horses this much. like, horses are a big part of the selling point here, so make sure that their designs and art/animation is good. at times even blaze looked awkward and uninteresting, as did the other horses.

“alonso” looks nothing like sso alonso and i don’t like that they used his character if it’s not going to have anything to do with him. they should have given this character a different name if they wouldn’t make him seem like he had anything to do with the sso character aside from being a male ranger. (also in the game he’s like 22 or something, skye is 15...?)

why did they add a “he’s cute” dumbass fucking stupid hetero comment for literally no reason other than adding a dumbass fucking stupid hetero comment?

considering that they “can’t confirm whether a sequel is happening or not”, it seemed very meh to throw in druid cult magic stuff and not really connect to it and now the series ended? you would have expected to find out more about the cloaked people, the runes, the magic that the ranger guy did, and blaze’s magic in general, and skye herself, why her mom is “a witch”.... thats a lot to throw in while saying that you can’t say if there’s a sequel coming to answer all those questions. (it wouldn’t have been a criticism from me if they said “we’re working on season 2″ or “there will be a comic book that continues the story” or anything that told us that these questions, in this particular iteration of a story in jorvik, will actually be answered. - and i assume they ARE working on the continuation of the story, but i dont agree with that they’re not upfront about it, when they left so many questions unanswered.)

at times rania’s blindness was handled stupidly and i think they should have gotten more consultation from actual people with visual impairment, but i think its still good to HAVE a blind character in the main cast and that it’s not a big dramatic story thing but just an everyday thing. at some points it was fine though; and i personally don’t think the scene with rania being able to see blaze was necessarily a problem - because - a lot of blind ppl can see sharp contrasts in light and dark, and this seemed relatively realistic to me when blaze is on fire. (however, the way it was drawn as if she could see the whole shape of blaze and skye could be criticised for sure, and makes it feel more like “i can see because of magic” and not “i can see bc THIS MARE IS ON FIRE”). 

personal opinion which i said before, but i don’t think rania’s voice fits her at all, and it’s not the voice actor’s fault (i’m sure they’re lovely) but the casting and the directors. from the sso character, rania would seem a lot more lively, quick and adventurous, and not as calm and gentle as she appeared here. she seemed a lot too sort of motherly or just adult, instead of an adventurous teen who runs off on her own to do whatever she feels like. compare in-game rania going “MC, thats a jorvik wild!!!” and alonso going “stop talking nonsense” (paraphrased), to Mistfall rania going “jorvik wilds are really rare...” (calm, sort of disinterested, doesnt seem like she cares that much about adventures)

the voice acting overall was meh. i see this as a direction problem, not an individual voice actor problem (and the writing didnt help - it’s hard to provide good quality acting with a poor script unless you can just toss the script aside and improv, if you have good actors). it felt childish and uninteresting at most points and generic low quality for “cartoons for girls”. from a voice acting perspective i think skye had the best result. anyway, the way to improve this is for the director in charge of voice acting to not direct the actors to perform in this childish manner. (again, refer to cartoons with better writing and better voice acting, that have a very similar target audience.)

ok, i think that was everything that i wanted to write about for now, might think of more later lol