#this isnt my normal art style but i wanted in make it similar to the IDW art style. I think i did pretty well

[the-maximist-drawer]

Foot Leonardo!

[the-s1lly-corner]

could I um.. request the whole alphabet with gangle.. take your time :))

The fluff alphabet w/ Gangle (Full!)

so sorry it took me so long to get to this! i got back to my computer just now and decided to whip up a masterlist/begin one before working on requests again! i must admit gangle is a hard character for me to write, so if some letters seem lackluster, sound repetitive, or whatever, i apologize in advance </3

ABSTRACT- if you ever abstract gangle will be absolutely beside herself, overcome with grief. i dont think she would abstract, though. she keeps to her room, her comedy mask long forgotten. broken or not, she cant bring herself to put it on. she feels bad, why didnt you reach out to her? did you feel like you were a burden? did you think she wouldnt be enough to save you? thoughts like that eat her alive

BONDING- you two draw together, sometimes even making comics with each other! i saw a few posts where gangle loves to draw, and draws in an early 2000-2010s anime art style and i absolutely love that. you guys just do that, when you have the free time

CUDDLING- neither little nor big spoon, gangle is simply. ribbon. its like cuddling ribbon, there isnt much to be said in that regard. kinda cold but thats because ribbon doesnt really carry heat. wraps her body around you

DATES- drawing dates! similar to the bonding segment, but you guys make it a point to draw things for each other. you even get to bust out some paints. yipee! ends up in you two drawing each other. so many painted hearts

EMOTION- gangle is definitely the more emotional one between the two of you, especially if shes wearing her tragedy mask. not much to be said, gangle is a cry baby and i dont mean that in a bad way

FAMILY- should the two of you ever escape the digital world and find each other, you two would definitely get married! as for children, i honestly dont see gangle as the type to have kids, but thats just a me thing

GIFT- really nailing the art stuff deep, gangle draws things for you all the time. but i can also see them being into origami! they make you paper hearts and little critters, bows and crowns, things like that! gangle loves receiving gifts as well, unsure of what she would like, though

IN HOUSE ADVENTURE- the only reason she wouldnt spend all of her time with you on an adventure is if she gets paired up with someone in a group (ex. her sticking with kinger after jax put them together), since i feel she would be too scared to speak up about it, even if shes starting to gain more of a voice thanks to your influence

JEALOUSY- gangle doesnt really. get jealous. at least not in the "traditional" way, to be more accurate, she gets sad. i mean, she knows shes a crybaby, she knows shes frail, but she wouldnt want to make you feel bad that she feels bad. please give her a lot of reassurance :(

KISS- lets play my favorite game! admins favorite hc for characters with no normal mouth/lips! she gently doinks her mask against your face; careful not to hurt you and to not accidentally knock off her mask! loves giving you cheek kisses, loves receiving forehead kisses

LOVE LANGUAGE- gangle feels loves when you reassure her that you love her just as she is, as well as when you spend time with her. gangle shows her love by making you gifts and fawning over you

MENDED- should you ever come back from being abstracted some how, all those thoughts that plagued her mind are now voiced. she cant help it, she feels so bad for dumping her grief onto you the second you're retrieved from the cellar. but she cant stop herself. poor girl is going to wrapped around you, literally..

NO- please dont be mean or rude to her she will feel very bad, even if you're just teasing her or joking. she already has to put up with everyone else (well, mostly jax)

ODDITY- when the comedy mask is on, she can light up a room, well, kinda. we dont get to see her with her comedy mask but i think shes loads more cheerful with it on, and perhaps even a smidge more confident in herself, when the mask is broken she can take a quick nose dive. its not so much thats it weird, more so that its a bit jarring at how big the change is

PDA- very shy about PDA, but i think ultimately if you want to hold her hand she wont object!

QUIET TIME- one word, drawing. but also i can see the two of you just being able to lie in bed with each other in comfortable silence

ROSES- PAPER ROSES PAPER ROSES! i may have a soft spot because i myself used to make origami flowers, but i think she would give you a bouquet of paper flowers. she would be over the moon if you gave her some, she looks like a dandelion enjoyer (like the yellow ones, but i think she would also like the white fuzzy ones)

SHH- loads of secrets, a lot of them tying into the jealousy segment. gangle probably also doesnt speak up about when someone is mean to her, opting to stay quiet in order to not cause issues or drama. please help her break that habit

TUNES- it might be because ive been listening to jack on loop, but this is the first one that comes to mind:

UPSET- when she gets upset she just wants to be comforted and held; when you're upset shes ready to do everything it takes to help you, just say the word and she'll do it... the image of gangle confronting someone for your sake has just flashed through my mind, though i think that may be the one thing she wont do... would love to see it though

VALENTINE- paper hearts. you two decide to go to the digital carnival together and experience some of the themed attractions... namely, the ferris wheel.... should i bring up everyones favorite ferris wheel trope...

WANT- she wants someone who wont think shes some. weirdo. and who thinks shes worthwhile

XOXO- little love notes, similar to my idea for ragatha! though gangle is more... eh, about it, since she fears you might be turned off by it

YEARN- id say in the middle, since she can respect your space and whatever it is you need to do, and she has to admit herself there are times where she wants to hang out with someone else or be alone; and thats perfectly okay!

ZZZ- likes wrapping her entire body around you, head to your chest. she doesnt really move when she sleeps, too entangled around you to do that. probably snores very softly

[socksandbuttons]

I’m a new digital artist do you have any tips for starting?

ALRIGHT SO. it took some days to answer this sorry. Do everything. Like just go FOR it. In how u wanna draw. Not everyone has like... a similar way to go about digital drawing. (Some people paint, I do mostly cartoonish and cel...shading??) So whatever feels best for you. Sometimes you learn a new thing its okay to evolve in your art thats normal! Style is... a hard consistency bruh. Stabilization... is your friend if you really want a nice smooth line. (I use it sometimes if something not going great, esp if you want to really follow that sketch!) Lining IS an option. Dont be held back by lining. You can use the sketch, just duplicate the layer and erase some of those lines and boom! lineart. You can adjust as necessary. LAYERS ARE YOUR FRIEND. I draw on a computer so layers are quite unlimited. I know apps that restrain you to few tho which is Dumb but like i guess its a mobile art program. But dont be afraid to use them. Or one. You can get away with one layer, thats how i started before i learned about layers. (Art programs came a long way since then.) SAVE. FREQUENTLY. Also please PLEASE back that up somewhere that ISNT the app itself. If you lose the app or the login... good bye to all that. I have the luxury of usbs and an external hard drive. Just find a way to back that up. Art is a lot of memory and storage just expect that. And yes keep them because then you have something to look back on and go 'dang. ive learned'

The clipping layer is also very useful. u want your lines colored but theyre a different color?? You dont have to redraw that! You can clip a layer over it and color over the lines and boom. Colored lines. Same with coloring layers too btw. Very useful art thing to use. yes even in painting. Also this does help once a while but you dont always have to draw on white, u can change the bg color to something different (depends on the program u can default it to something else so u dont have like.. open the previous file to get the color again.) Like i will change it to greys blues or something lighter cause it turns out. things look very different on different colors. (color theory hello... i cannot teach u that.) There is always a free option somewhere. Do not worry. Um thats basically what i got for ya. Some programs have different perks for you that others wont tho. Such as csp and its delightful vector layers (Sai has this too but i CANT change the pen type. vs csp where u can use any pen. BUT CSP DOESNT HAVE MY WATERCOLOR BRUSH... that i adore.) Animating is a different proceedure. but What it is that i used for a while UHM... Pencil2d. Then i moved to opentoonz. (they are... very different... but opentoonz does infact make some things easier)

[affinitystoryblog]

so these questions were initially an ask but i accidentally published the ask before i was done answering. luckily i had copied what i had written before i deleted the incomplete answer, but here is the answers! i do not remember what the last one was, so unfortunately i can only give u these ones.

--------------

break: What would cause your OC to break down completely? What do they look like when that happens? Has anyone ever seen them at their lowest?

Sinie

SO ACTUALLY there is a major story event that takes place late book 1 that changes sinie's character for a while. book 2 sinie is not going to be the same as book 1 sinie....i cant say what the event is because i think its too much of a spoiler. but sinie fuckin loses it. goes dark. corrupted by her own emotions. itll be the lowest anyone has ever seen sinie. the event, and her actions resulting from how it affects her, will change her forever.

Csilla

this one is a little harder for me to answer, because i havent thought of something like this for csilla like i have for sinie. csilla is...a little stronger than sinie tbh. she can handle darker emotions easier, given that she's been an outcast and lonely most of her life. she isnt sheltered necessarily, just kept on a tight leash. she feels her mother doesn't love her, she adores her father but he's often times too busy to make any actual time for her so he overcompensates by spoiling her in any way he can, and her and her brother have an estranged resentment for each other.

the one that really brings out the best in her is everett. sure, everett is kinda just doing as programmed and trying to woo csilla, but damn does she fall for it. she's a hopeless romantic, and everett is everything she could've ever wanted in someone. he makes her laugh, hes attractive, he gives her attention, comforts her, they have a lot of similar interests, he is always taking her out to do new things she never dreamed of doing trapped by the shackles of her parents expectations. he makes her feel free. so tbh, i actually think a perfect scenario for this would be everett's betrayal. (idc about spoiling this since i mean itll be obvious its gonna come out once i start the arc) i mean, idk if i would rly call it much of a betrayal, more of a reveal that he was a spy but lbr, he's gonna continue doing what mommy (agitha) says until his heart finally tells him to do whats right. (i have a feeling that everett will be on their side before agitha, but i havent fully figured it out yet...) so there'd be a bit of time where everett's heart is in limbo and csilla would be sitting in her room rotting away bella twilight style until it was all resolved.

guilt: What is your OC guilty about? How do they handle their guilt? Do they try to avoid guilt, or do they accept it?

Sinie

again, the big story event that sinie goes through at the end of book 1 will cover all of this. she's definitely gonna marinate in her negative emotions for a while, coping very very badly. she cuts her hair off. not a spoiler u guys have seen short haired sinie tons of times if ur familiar with this blog. i just decided tho...i think i want her to go full throttle and shave it all off. i think she'd eat.

Csilla

see, i love asks like this because i dont normally think of stuff like this for csilla like i do sinie because im used to sinie being the protagonist like she was in beta affinity, but i need to treat csilla with that same respect cause she's equally the protagonist. theyre both the main character because u cant have this story without one or the other. and this stuff makes me think for csilla.

so anyway, i dont know how to answer this question off the top of my head, SO lets psychoanalyze csilla!

she's shy and introverted, but she's also still a nerd; she likes art and music, dance, videogames even though she doesnt play much herself, anime and cartoons (sinie does end up getting her into "kiri kyu-kyu-cute!!") but she also kind of doesnt know how to have friends. she was outcasted for being the weird witchy kid growing up in a bougie all girls private school, and we ALL know how hardcore middle school girls bully. i havent fully thought of how all of csilla's history with bullying went, but it definitely affected her to grow up alone and isolated.

she probably would feel guilty for liking witchcraft and being interested in magic, it being ingrained in her head that its weird and creepy and dangerous. and running with that, she would probably feel like an absolute freak for being a magical girl. ive kind of already depicted csilla calling magic freaky and she is shown to be scared of it.

(shown in chapter 1)

(and then a couple times in chapter 2)

csilla is the one who insists they keep their magical identities a secret, partly because i personally dont want too much of the world suddenly being exposed to magic rn, (hence miko, who takes them to a place they can be destructive) but also because csilla is embarrassed. notice how she calls it "wacky". she does admit it was awesome, but thats really mostly sinie's influence. csilla does still love wacky things, she was just abused into feeling guilt about liking these things. she can be more free with sinie who is OPENLY expressive about her love for magic and their newfound powers.

so i definitely think csilla should go through an identity crisis of some sort, battling her feelings of feeling like a total freak and then feeling like she has a purpose. csilla is a little more logical when it comes to magic, its not supposed to be real. no one would believe them anyway and she's terrified of being considered the freak in a place where she can start over.

i think playing with this idea early on is better, so ill go through and edit some chapters and then keep the theme in mind for future chapters for consistency :)

oc ask meme

[itsartistpending]

The Vision (2015)

General Watered Down Plot:  *Spoilers Ahead*

The series opens with the next door neighbors bickering as to whether or not the Visions would eat the cookies made for them. We discover Vision has this new family full of other synthezoids who look just like him. Virginia is his wife and they have two children named Victor and Vivian. They appear to live the normal domestic life style and even acquire a synthezoid dog named Sparky through the series. However, through the series it becomes even more clear that things are not normal as the tone can be felt though the art style alone. The way they are depicted with black hole eyes adds a sense of uncanniness to them. This series is riddled with death and has very ominous undertones about mortality and what makes someone real. 

(Issue 1)

*A SMALL DISCLAIMER*

In full honestly it has been a long while since i read and completed this series so my memory is not the best. Thanks for bearing with me. 

What is Really Going On:

It is very evident that this story is about what is considered normal. It is easy to look at the surface level and say that robots/ synthezoids cant be have similar experiences to humans. All of us would assume that since we have not had interactions with synthezoids and this is purely in a fictional world. So if we take the idea from this series and apply it to our world, I think this story is trying to warn us that life is fleeting and there is no point isolating others or yourself from what life has to offer. To me it also seems to be saying to embrace what makes you different (a bit cliche I know).  

Victor & Viv:

Victor and Viv have one of the most classic high school experiences. They are considered outcasts and have a hard time making friends. Victor and Viv both fit into two very classic high school stereotypes. Victor is the quite outcasts who gets bullied for existing all while just trying to make it through the day. Viv is the studious shy girl who tries so very hard to please every single person around her. 

*To fairly analyze this Im going to break it down and separate Viv and Victor* 

Victor:

It can be seen so much through the series that Victor is a cautious young boy trying his best to figure out his place in the world, especially in a world that despises him. On the first day of school, Victor askes Viv if he is normal. Her response is to say that Vision told them to remain ordinary. Victor is confused and questions if being ordinary makes him normal. Through the series Victor is constantly trying to figure out how to be normal. He is confused as he does everything a normal kid his age does. He likes football, does his homework, goes to school everyday, he has his own likes and dislikes yet all of that isnt making him ‘normal’ to others. He struggles with this through the entirety of the series. 

(Issue 1)

Much later in the series, the children meet their uncle and Victor walks in on something he isnt supposed to see. His uncle is working with the Avengers and reporting in on the family. Victor is confused and his uncle (either accidently or not) uses his electric powers on Victor. The whole time his uncle is telling him to stop resisting while Victor is crying out for his dad to save him. eventually everything comes to a stop and for a brief moment if seems like Victor might be ok. A few moments later he is dead and in the arms of his father and mother, he is a synthezoid after all.

Victors want to fit in and be normal, lead to his death. One could argue, Victor was normal and can be proven in his final moments. Victor had the curiosity that drove him to discover what his uncle was up to. Isnt curiosity a natural human state? Would him feeling curiosity make him normal? His deference to what was considered ‘normal’ in that world lead to him and his family being stalked and watched and his own death. The world could not accept him and choose to kill him rather then learn from him. 

(Issue 9)

One thing that summarizes up Victors life would be this classic quote from Cicero, “They condemn what they do not understand”. 

Viv:

Viv has quite similar experiences to Victor in the way that she isnt considered normal. The only difference is that she chooses not to dwell on it and carry about her life as best as possible. Viv is also quite clearly a people pleaser. She does her best to seem and act as ordinary as possible to live up to her fathers requests. She never makes any noise or causes any issues. One day as she is walking to class a kid stops her and she braces for another rude comment but this kid actually just wants to get to know her and leaves the convo by saying that he thinks she is pretty cool despite what others may think. She obviously feels validated and warmed by another person approving of her. She had gotten so used to rejection that she did not expect anyone to ever think more of her then just some fancy looking robot. Unfortunately her world came crashing down when this kid was killed (read Virginias section to know more) in a freak accident. The only person in the world, outside of her family, who had accepted her was now gone and she felt like she was to blame for it in some weird way.

There is a common theme with Viv through this series. This series is riddled with death and murder of all kinds by so many different people. Because of this, Viv becomes almost accustomed to it and thinks it is just apart of her life. the world will try and kill her just for existing so why should she give any energy back into the world that hates her. To me she is the embodiment of paralyzing fear and pain. She is so sacred and afraid of the world that wont take more then 2 seconds to judge her that she becomes emotionless to it. This is seen later in the Champions series. However, it is through this that she realizes that she is not normal, she never was and never will be. There will always be people who judge her in the world but she knows she cant change their mind. As shown to her once before, there are some people who will like her for who she is and she has to choose to put her energy into them. 

(Issue 12)

Viv's personal journey continues with Champions as that is the team she chooses to join after leaving Vision behind.

Virginia:

Virginia is quite a complex character in this series and one could argue that this entire series is mainly about Virginia. She is a housewife and has the typical housewife duties except there is no need for those since they are are synthezoids. there is no need to cook, clean, take care of children or a home. So Virginia struggles with her sense of identity very aggressively through this series. She, like everyone else in the series, wishes to be normal and blend in as best as possible into a town that will not welcome her. In the entire 12 issue run she kills 3 people and their dog. Of the 3 people she kills, 2 of them were children. Then first kid she killed was vandalizing their home. She grabbed him through the wall and he was dead. The next one was on accident. She had gone to the home of a parent threatening their family. Little did she know this was the father of the only friend Viv had. His father tried to shoot her but she phased and it hit his son instead. Virginia killed sparky in a fit of rage after the death of victor. Lastly, Virginia killed Victor Mancha (vision’s technical brother) in revenge for her son.

I think Virginia represents the extreme need to protect and defend. She tries so hard to stand up for her family but every single time she does, it backfires only making them look worse. In the end, her ideas of trying to help their image just ends up leaving a long line or red behind them.

It all comes to a head for her with the death of her son. She is too angry to do anything other then retaliate the only way she has known how through the entire story. The man responsible for the death of her son does not live much longer. Virginia then has to face the wrath of Viv for not doing good enough. Vision is gone with no explanation, her daughter is furious with her and her son his dead. Virginia, unable to bear it any longer, ends her life.

(Issue 12)

Virginia struggled with her sense of identity through the entire run. Isn't that a core experience that many "normal" people go through as well? Sure she did plenty of horrible things but she did it to protect her family. She struggled with her identity in a much different sense then ay other characters in this story. She is supposed to care and provide for her children as she is programmed to be a mother. However, her children do not need her like that since there aren't many "normal" house chores or family duties for her to attend to. Is it really fair to blame her for her spiral? Couldn't it be argued that all the things she did (barring death) were normal ?

Vision:

In my opinion, Vision is the real enemy through the series. He created this family in the aftermath of him and Wanda's relationship dissolving so he could have a family that understood him. He created his daughter, son and wife all in his image. They of all things would understand him and get him. He was the one from the very beginning of the story who told his whole family to be as ordinary as possible. he placed all this pressure on his family because he was tired of being seen as unusual himself.

(Issue 1)

Vision had the chance to give his family the lessons he had learned through his years and let them live on their own and experience the world for themselves. Instead, he made sure that they knew the world was already unaccepting of them placing all this fear in them. Vision couldn't live with himself so he made more of him to share his sorrow with. He made sure that they would never be normal.

Personal Takes-Aways:

Personally I think this store has a very intricate and deep meaning that I'm not even fully capable of comprehending. The one thing that seems to stick out to me though is Visions role. He created his family and was the one instilling them with fear and pressure to confirm and be normal from the very beginning. This is something seen in our lives very often. In the real world, we are often faced with the judgment of others and feel the need to conform to what is considered "normal" by society. This has long lasting damaging effects on everyone. Those effects are shown quite dramatically in this series. Viv runs away and keeps everything repressed. She becomes a stone cold individual who doesn't form connections (though she changes through champions). Virginia acts out in anger and ends up ending her own life which, is unfortunately something that many people in real life do who feel this pressure to great extremes. Victor was harmed through his pursuit of being normal. In the end, Vision, the one pressuring all of them, is left alone.

Overall Review and Rating:

Overall, i give this tory 5 stars. This story has its place in fame for a reason. I do encourage everyone to read it just know there is a lot of violence and it is a dark story. The story and art is supposed to be unsettling so take that as your warning. This is a story that doesn't need much pre-reading in order to understand what is going on as almost all of the context is given in flashbacks. The only context not given is how Vision and Victor Mancha are related but that can be rendered with a quick google search.

I know this review was super long compared to what i usually write but this story is deserving of such an analysis bad one even greater then what this is.

As always discussion is welcomed in the comments, my asks or my dms!

[judehayward]

lady gaga voice slowly fadin in: ju-Das juda-ah-ah… this depressed goblin bastard is honestly my fav male muse like i dnt typically stick w male muses tht long i struggle bt................. i’ve played him the longest of them all n always seem to return to him. jst cnt stay away. way 2 attached to this absurd little man. it’s nai btw!!!! (josefine on the main). launches right in to jude’s intro without further adieu..... (u can also find his playlist here) 🧙‍🎨

「douglas booth & cis-male」⇾ hayward , jude, the senior radcliffe student’s records show that he is a pisces and 23 years old. he is studying ART, living in moris and can be protective, laidback, nonsensical & apathetic. when i see him i am reminded of wearing a faded smiley face sticker on your forehead while receiving a serious lecture, saying “fuck off” to inanimate objects, lead marbles instead of eyes. ⇽「nai & 23 & gmt & she/her.」

he pinterest:

me in the voice of a card magician performing on the street: round up round up pick a pinterest any pinterest!

ta-da it’s aesthetics:

lead marbles instead of eyes, a stolen hearse careening down the wrong lane, wearing a faded smiley face sticker on your forehead while receiving a serious lecture, bags under the eyes that are so big they could pack enough clothes for a three week vacation, a cigarette wobbling from your bottom lip as you squint against the sunlight, passing out on a stranger’s rooftop, placing sunglasses over the eyes of a biology lab skeleton, gangling around the place like shaggy minus his scooby snacks, saying “fuck off” to inanimate objects

about tha Bitch:

born in sheffield in england, bt they went back and forth between there n san fran a lot

jude was an unhappy accident. his parents never rly used protection bc they were super Liberal n Au Naturel n believed in the pull out method bc… they were maniacs. bt then the ONE time they used a condom in an effort to b safety conscious it broke n hence…. jude was born

they just kind of ran w it bc they had such a passionate relationship tht they were like What The Hell…. may as well! itll be fine we’ll learn to be good parents n love him like normal ppl do

spoiler alert: tht didn’t work out

they were ok to him like they weren’t fully Bad bt they just found him to be a massive burden n hindrance to their plans. pretty absent n irresponsible. they literally….. had sex all day every day n acted like a pair of teenagers. it ws a super weird environment for a kid to grow up in bc he literally had no role models or… guidance or…. anything rly. occasionally they’d joke around w him or pretend they properly knew what grade he was going into but for the most part they just Didn’t Care the way parents shd. they lost his birth certificate n dnt remember what they put as his middle name so he’s jst kind of like hmmmm............. n gives himself a diff one every time ppl ask. past variations hv included: jude pauly hayward, jude maureen hayward, jude van winkle hayward. says all of these w a very straight face

despite this he does hv some nice memories w them. usually he definitely sees them fr holidays. frm being rly young their christmas tradition hs been to get a bunch of chinese food like a Banquet Feast n spend all day smoking n drinking into the early hours. perhaps not the healthiest or most responsible bt 😔 jude rly likes it it’s kind of the one time of yr he feels he has a proper family

they r both suuuuper into the arts. rly good sculptors bt they paint too n they actually own a successful gallery in sheffield n san fran

(trauma tw) as a result he grew up around a lot of creative n sometimes pretentious ppl. the friends of his parents were more present in his life than his ACTUAL parents bc they were always jetting off to diff countries to scout out new pieces fr their galleries n just have a gd time in beautiful places without…. the annoyance tht ws being responsible n looking after someone. tbh some of his parents friends were rly damaging too bt….i won’t go into that just yet. it doesn’t rly…need properly explaining bc jude never talks abt it anyway n it….is rather triggering so i’ll jst….leav it for now tbh. basically they just were Not Nice n jude had a lot of bad memories he keeps repressed bt he also??? has some gd ones..... it was a strange environment bt he’s a survivor

(death n grief tw) he hd to do community service bc he kind of… hd a bit of a breakdown before the funeral of his elderly neighbour who bsically raised him bc her kids rly didnt care abt her they jst wanted her inheritance?? so he… stole the hearse w her casket still in it n ws jst like… drivin around the place sort of… tryin nt to cry…..KJJFHSFKJGHKFG i mean. it isnt funny its actually sad bt :/ in a very bizarre n jude way. he gt caught n taken in fr questioning bt her son kind of realised hw… broken up abt her death jude ws n had a heart n didnt press charges. regardless he stil hd to do community service bc it ws like taken seriously even tho it ws his first proper offence. doin it rly exhausted n depressed him so when he wsnt doin tht he ws just hibernatin in his room……. this ws like 4 months ago nw............ just some fun lore fr u all

bc of how he ws raised he has a p cultured taste. he luvs classic lit n p much anything artsy. he can play piano 2 n sometimes gets rly high n thinks he’s mozart level gd at composing he’s jst going fking wild on the keys in a trance...... i mean he’s gd bt… chill

he’s rly sarcastic n so deadpan like he’ll say smthn completely ridiculous bt he’ll say it w his whole chest so sincere.... it’s rly hard to tell when he’s joking or serious honestly. has an overflowing secret sketchbook n if he cares abt someone he’ll probably secretly draw them. does NOT share these drawings w the person he hates being openly sentimental. at heart he is jst a very Sad Boy w lots of repressed issues like depression genuinely just does NAT giv him a single break bt he plasters over this w wise cracks n never discusses his emotions ever. he’s actually p decent or at least tries to b. he’s kind of like tht bit in superbad where michael cera gets rly drunk n makes a toast to women like tht energy...........

he has rly bad insomnia so he like never sleeps idk how he’s Alive straight up. please go to bed sir............. he always has rly sleepy eyes n rubs them tiredly mid conversation. he smokes a lot of weed to try n compensate fr this n make him tired bt he still struggles a lot

ANYWAY that aside he’s at radcliffe doing art, focusing on fine art like painting is............... the thing he luvs most...... his style is kind of.......... taking normal things n painting w surreal colours.... he likes A LOT of colour in his paintings which is kind of a stark contrast to his personality bc his world’s so.... washed out n grey............ lovs art n philosophy n literature n photography n music.... 

ummMMMMmm honestly idk i’m blankin on what else to say. ull find him smoking weed reading an american classic or gnawing at his thumbnail n getting charcoal smudges on all his clothes. wandering the streets in plaid pj bottoms n dr martens eating frm a cereal box without care in the world. he’s p broody n scruffy n he’s mostly here fr a laidback time....... doesn’t rly like when ppl take themselves too seriously........ likes strange ppl thinks the world is mde richer by them n likes when ppl can jst bounce back jokes at him without being like erm. u dont make sense mate. bc frankly he can come up w some strange stuff sometimes.............. talking to him cn b like navigating a dark n bendy road without a flashlight....... 

(drugs tw) once did shrooms n woke up naked in the woods curled up in a pile of leaves. to this day he recounts this as his werewolf transformation. hs no idea hw he ended up there n when ppl r like are u not. concerned jude. tht is so strange? he jst shrugs like.............. dunno....................... suppose i’m jst a werewolf upon occasion. so casual abt it. jst truly does Not care abt most things at all..... almost to the point tht it’s concerning (sometimes way past the point tht it’s concerning too :/)

this is the desc on an aesthetic i mde of his style once n sums it up well!! ‘additionally: too many pairs of trousers, a hideous amount of white t-shirts all somewhat stained with charcoal, a jumper so thinly knit it almost looks sheer, chipped teale nail varnish, a cream corduroy jacket with a cigarette hole singed onto the cuff, vintage wiry reading glasses he almost never wears, a freshly rolled cigarette behind his ear, a thrifted t-shirt with a warped bart simpson wearing a stethoscope with the caption ‘bard knwos cardiology’ and two crops hacked that way with kitchen scissors that he sometimes wears to paint.‘

EXPERT at rolling spliffs like jst. mkes them so precise n neat....... it’s his super power. his fav thing to smoke frm is banana flavour papers.................... linking 2 this he’s like. bad w emotions bt he does try..... once his friend (maggie) ws sad so he brought her a spliff wrapped in grape flavoured paper bc it’s her fav fruit n jst like. wordlessly gave it to her. it’s the thought tht counts.....

PLOTS!!!!!

plays bass in a band which cld b a fun connection to get together??? i picture the music being like surf rock type like........... mac demarco...... bt he also luvs elliott smith n glass animals n the cure n metronomy n neutral milk hotel n talking heads n radiohead n mazzy star n wolf alice...................... idk jst like.... within tht ballpark i suppose i imagine it being................

mayb ppl he shares classes w?????? i’d like someone tht does a similar course n they hang out tgether when it comes to trips fr the module to museums or exhibits or wtever................ they both stand in front of paintings analysing it rly wrong n saying stuff like hmmmmmmmmm....... i do declare i see a, uh..... large phallus protruding from the centre of this image...... moves something in me.......... n some elderly person looking at it besides them is like Ergh. sickened n disgraced. leaves w a brow severely furrowed

someone he smokes w on the moris rooftop late at night when he cnt sleep??? mayb they’re up n cnt sleep either fr whtever reason n it’s become an unspoken kind of ritual where they always clamber out n find each other there n jst wordlessly keep them company

jude is kind of like. protective almost to a fault sometimes........... mayb some guy he’s punched......................... if they hurt someone he cares abt........... typically it wld hv been a girl he ws kind of like. affected by his first relationship bc she had a bad home situation n ever since jst wnts..... to Protect it’s kind of like an automatic instinct ingrained in him nw 😔 all sounds very noble n well bt sometimes it cn b a bit of an escalation i wnt lie

perhaps a few hook-ups??? jude doesn’t tend to sleep w ppl he rly knows bc he just..... likes it to b an impersonal thing doesn’t like getting attached fr various reasons so mayb they only kno each other via this OR mayb he bent his rules a bit..... cld either work seamlessly or hv added drama if one side hs mre feelings or whtever

currently living in moris w 2 roommates bt i’d love some neighbours perhaps..... mayb someone tht lives directly nxt door to his room n is like ://// bc he plays music loud n weeds always drifting frm his window n mking their room smell if theirs is open too................. or mayb they get on..... mayb there’s a rly mean seagull tht lands on a branch n poos on pedestrians n they both commentate on it frm their windows like david attenborough...... they’re like he’s at it again. they’ve named him n everything

HONESTLY anything if u have an idea hmu i’d love 2 hear it.......... rubs my hands tgether in excitement to plot up a storm w u all

[wcamino-confessions]

About species, because I see it a lot here:

You dont really have to complain so much, and I'm about to give reasons why. Feel free to discuss anything I say below because I'm not gonna flame you 😳 not my style.

1. Mermyxns

Mermyxns (I think that's how you spell it??? The fish fog cats) really do come down to a cat with a fish tail (variations of a fish tail) and smoke/clouds. Often, from what I've seen, they take an Asian design choice? Which isn't as weird as many would like to think.

Fish being seen as a sign of grace, and or wealth, isn't new at all in Asia. And I dont mean like-- tuna fish, I mean koi, goldfish, any shiny and decorative fish. And it isn't cultural appropriation either, like many here in the past LOVED to scream. Writing Chinese, Japanese, or Korean on a character is not cultural appropriation. Stop shaming people who use other languages, it typically comes from people who dont even know more than English themselves, which is wack to me.

2. Slime tails

Maybe I hold this species dear to me because I was one of the first people to snatch a Dew design from a batch, and then I later when on to make a decently popular base, but I'm going to try and go into this unbiased.

Most of the issues I read were about people making characters with slime as a body part, then being asked if it was a slime tail. Regardless of what you think of Dew, they have a pretty widespread following on wa, and that isn't surprising. Their art style, jokes, designs, and species appear to a LOT of users. I personally find it really interesting, and even though I dont have an attachment to their other species, I still find myself debating buying their designs.

Slime tails can be broken down to just a cat with a slime tail, sure, if you really want to be vague. But this was also a species that did have lore, and did have a background. But when just about anyone was allowed to make one, it was lost. It's the doom all developed species have once users demand for them to open, only to disrespect all the history. I also saw a lot of people say that a turning point was adding gas tails, and yeah, I agree, I dont think it had really fit. But that doesnt mean I HAVE to buy one. I can continue to just look into slime tails, because those are the ones I'm interested in.

3. Biomews

I think this one was the species I saw getting mauled here the most? And I get it, but also I dont. I'd argue that they might actually be one of the most unique species just from appearance on wa. That comes from someone who only began looking at them a few days ago, and doesnt own any.

If you really want to take away all credit to the species, yes, it is a cat with a terrarium filled with plants, water, maybe other animals, etc. Which is very similar to glasstails. However biomews have them everywhere, and I've seen a great community coming off of them. I dont think an average character has been mistaken for a biomew yet, but I could be mistaken. They arent just cats with plants, that's taking away a lot from them. Please dont destroy a species purely for your arguement ♡

4. Glassheads

Probably one of the oddest species, if not the oddest, is the glasshead. They are usually a cat with a normal body, then a large dome with liquid inside for a head. I dont usually see stuff In there besides maybe some lily pads or bubbles? So it's usually just liquid.

I think what draws people to them a lot is the simplicity when drawing them. A lot of users have a difficult time drawing the head, but now all you have to do is draw a circle! How simple! Also it's no surprise that people like MORE liquid filled glass creatures, it's a pattern in the community. It's also an aesthetic.

Glassheads also arent as widespread as the other species. Unless you follow someone that is really into them, you dont typically see them all that much, which I think shows how small they really are. There isnt really a reason to go after them.

5. Delicats

Probably one of the most lt controversial species?? From what I understand, the lt had tried to get rid of them, using the basis that they were kittypets, but the community went into an uproar and pointed out that kittypet were a part of the series, and if badgers are allowed, then so should kittypets. So they were returned, and it became a joke in Dew's following.

Yes, this is another Dew species. Delicats do appear to me, I just havent ever sat down and gotten one, despite how much I want to. They have flopped over ears, horns, usually piercings or other accessories, and collars. They are must more on the decorative side, and are currently Dew's most popular species. I dont know much about their lore, but I dont see how they can be accidentally made, because delicards are more on the original side.

I dont have time, or the will to spam, enough to go into EVERY wa species, but those are the popular ones.

Moral of the story: dont bash people for what they like/create. I totally get that one point of view is that it clogs the feed, but the community is genuinely interested in these funky cats, and so it's fair to let them be.

Tldr: species are more unique than people want to admit, but the end goal should be that it doesnt matter, because we're just kids having fun on an app around a book series we like.

Sorry mods 😳 if this is spam

[comicteaparty]

July 22nd-July 28th, 2020 Reader Favorites Archive

The archive for the Reader Favorites chat that occurred from July 22nd, 2020 to July 28th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

How have your reading tastes for webcomics changed over the years?

carcarchu

i think i used to read exclusively romance webcomics but now i'm really into the historical stuff. also i'm not so into the strictly straightforward stuff anymore, i need a really strong hook or something that makes it different enough to be enjoyable because i'm really tired of reading something that is indistinguishable from other similar webcomics. also i think i've gotten pickier when it comes to the quality of art and writing. there's just so much stuff to pick from now that i want to dedicate my time only to stuff that i really enjoy. i just don't have enough time to read every single webcomic i come across anymore

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

in the past I used to read a bunch of comedic absurdist humor comics (I still do) but it's been buffed out by romance . Same vein like Cara said, I'm just picking and choosing which comics I spend my time on but I do want to try to read as much as I can tho!

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I feel like I used to read LEGO comics a lot lol... I'm not sure how many of them still hold up. In terms of genre, the only comics I struggle to read are ones that are more realistic, or darker. Historical comics often fall into this, as do most horror comics.(edited)

RebelVampire

For me, my tastes haven't necessarily changed in terms of the what I like. What has changed is what I dislike. As the years have gone by, I've really been more open to at least giving comics a try before deciding they aren't for me, especially in the genres I consistently don't like like comedy. So I've gradually disliked less comics. Not to say I like them either or they're for me, but it's a step up from dislike since now I can appreciate what the comics are trying to do more. I think the bigger change for me was art styles though. While I still do have a specific sort of art preference, I've also been more open to giving certain art styles I don't normally like more of a try as well and I've found the styles I dislike (personally, not objectively in terms of talent) to be a much smaller pool than it was before.

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh man, I'm the opposite. I feel like I've gotten pickier

varethane

I can't tell if I've gotten pickier or if the bar has just gotten high enough now that if I only have the bandwidth to read X number of webcomics (let's say 20 as a random example), and I'll be picking from among those which stand out to me, those 20 comics will be on a totally different level than the 20 I might have found 10 years ago

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I think I've also gotten pickier

The biggest change, I think, is that I've gotten way pickier about storytelling

While I used to be able to read a comic with subpar storytelling. I drop comics in an instant these days if the story doesn't speak to me pretty quickly(edited)

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I think it's because when I started reading comics, everything was new and novel. Now there're more tropes I recognize? And more problematic things that bother me, when before I would not have noticed

Deo101 [Millennium]

I dont think I've gotten pickier, per se, I think I just have very specific tastes and many things dont fit them which feels picky? but i can enjoy all kinds of genres, I kind of go into something 1: not wanting to think 2: not wanting to be offended and 3: wanting to laugh a bit? which isnt exactly a high bar to pass, but not many things will do that for me, which isnt because I'm a picky person, its jsut cause a lot of things arent made for peope like me?

varethane

I'm not consciously looking for 'only the best quality' by any means-- if there's anything I'm really looking for, it's a sense of passion and uniqueness, that feeling that the author is having a blast with the thing they're doing. But I feel like it's gotten harder to draw my attention (and readers' attention in general) without having a certain level of skill involved

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh, same. As my art gets better so does my eye for it

varethane

....and, yeah, I guess I've also gotten tired of certain tropes. Once I read 2 or 3 webcomics that do kinda the same thing, I'm less likely to pick up a fourth with the same general premise, even if it looks like it's well-made.

(sorry isekai....)

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

I just absorb a lot of storytelling in many forms, so if the story doesn't grab me right away, I feel like I'm wasting time reading something, where I could be fulfilling my desire for more worthwhile storytelling elsewhere

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Oh true, there are so so many comics out there now

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Art quality plays into it a bit for me, but it's honestly primarily the storytelling

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Everything I read I could be reading 100 others of similar quality Really, why does anyone read my comic at all?

varethane

"good art will get readers to take a first look, good writing is what makes them stay"

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Art quality is very important to me but I've still read and loved a few stories will amateurish art

varethane

for me personally, the art's just gotta be good enough for me to not be distracted by it while I read

Deo101 [Millennium]

idk I think a lot of people stay through bad writing even if something looks good

also yeah i feel the same, about not wanting to be distracted

"does the art serve the story?" is all I really care about

varethane

art serving the story is the most important part. Art can LOOK amazing, but if the body language or expressions don't fit the story being told, it can make the writing seem worse lol

a friend of mine once referred to it as, like watching a well-written screenplay but with terrible miscast actors

Deo101 [Millennium]

mhm, cause the only words we get are dialogue, the art has to be all the descriptive language. so if theyre not describing well, a lot is missing.

varethane

yeah

Deo101 [Millennium]

or I guess some comics have narration, too

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

Narration can't do ALL of the work

varethane

yeah haha

Deo101 [Millennium]

yeah, one of my professors said that a rule of thumb of his about comics is "if you can read me the words and I know whats going on, it's not good comics."

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

The art definitely serves the story (or is supposed to), but if the story is bad from the beginning, I don't care how good the art is.

varethane

I have complicated feelings on that one, because I feel like it's actually pretty rare for me to consider a 'story' bad (at least insofar as we're talking about the core ideas of the plot). Most premises (if they're not actively offensive/poorly thought through), if written out as just a skeletal outline, could work just fine. IMO bad writing is a problem of execution, most of the time, rather than concept. (hedging my language here because there's always exceptions lol)

Deo101 [Millennium]

I would say I agree with you. I think writing and story are different concepts. There is also sort of a macro/micro element to writing, as well, and either one can be messed up

Cronaj ~{Whispers of the Past}~

Yeah, I misspoke, what I mean by "bad story" is more "bad storytelling/writing"

but yes

carcarchu

a friend of mine once referred to it as, like watching a well-written screenplay but with terrible miscast actors

@varethane oh i have read stuff like this. like the art was INCREDIBLE really detailed renders, very consistent and technically fantastic art but so often it just devolved into shot / reverse shot talking heads and the characters didn't really emote beyond changing the position of their eyebrows so it kinda felt like watching dolls interact with each other

RebelVampire

I mulled over the fact I took the opposite route as everyone else. XD For me I think it's three factors. First, I was actually ungodly picky in my youth across the board with everything, not just comics. As such, I've missed out on a lot of things other people love. Second, with each passing year, I've come to appreciate more the work people put into their indie projects. And for me its like a show of respect in a way to acknowledge that hey, you worked on this thing I may not like, but I'll try it because you clearly love what you created (or I hope you love it). Third, and probably the bigger factor, I stuck myself in a positive feedback loop. The more I opened myself up to things and learned to not initially dislike things or be as harsh, the more I ended up finding a gem I really loved. In fact, while this is across diff industries, I'd say this has been the biggest influence for me with webcomics because so many webcomics I was like "Well I'll try it gotta be open and not just dislike it," and then I came away going "Wow this is a diamond in the rough!"

[iobottle]

atissi

replied to your post

“it kinda makes me sad when artists giving out tutorials on character...”

oh could you talk more about this? :o

ABSOLUTELY thank u for enabling me to go off about designs i love this shit this may get a bit long so its going under a readmore (sorry if ur on mobile i hope it works)

gonna start this off with im no expert Nor have i taken any sort of official art class this is me just analyzing characters from what i found that makes them memorable to ppl (most of these examples are going to be from games sorry i got them on my mind)

ok so basically making a memorable revolves around personality and appearance now theres different ways to go about showing these things and i think from consuming media you like will help narrow down how you wanna go about it, basically thinking about your character inside and out!

SO shapes and hyperstylization is a good way to get a fun appearance across in a cartoon esp media and is often what a lot of artists stress on an example of using shapes and a good silhouette to make a memorable character is sonic!(specifically comic sonic)

(had to google idw sonic for a non...u know image)

but not only do they use lots of triangles for this hedgehog they also made him blue! you’d be more likely to remember a blue headgehog over a realistically colored one!(also almost all of the sonic characters have a combination of fun shape + unusual color to help you remember them! the designs werent afraid to use color to make a bold statement)(he’s also segas mascot so of course they put a lot of work in his design)

now sonics appearance is not the only reason why people like him or remember him so much he’s also got personality! he’s cocky, fast, always getting into trouble, “you’re too slow!”, accompanied by shitty butt rock and a cool guy persona ie he’s got personality! and they weren’t afraid to give him some weird interests(see the butt rock) and he’s not perfect( see arrogance) if youve ever played a sonic game you have almost always remembered the crush 40 theme that went with it

all in all to go with his unusual appearance he’s got some unusual traits! it helps make him believable! admittedly he’s not the most embarrassing of the sonic crew (see knuckles or shadow) but he’s definitely rounded and not boring from an objective standpoint(you can not like sonic or his games i dont care)

(another example of something that requires good shapes is pokemon altho they arent really like very depthy since there are 600+ and some only have like a pokedex entry worth of info but still they have good and memorable designs)

NOW something that doesnt have the most “good shapes” design off the top of my head is link

now in the most recent zelda game his most memoriable physical attribute is that he’s on the androgynous side w his longer hair and smaller build but in his older designs he looked something like this

(art for a loz:link to the past)

not really that much of a striking silhouette, but what do we look at and kinda leaves an impression on us? his hair and hat! its very silly to see someone in such a big green hat with that big of bangs/mullet, the hat at least became so ridiculous of a look that in botw nintendo didnt include his hat in links main outfit bc it was too hard to make look good, its silly! thats good! its fine to have a normal human looking characters because sometimes stories are about humans, but if you want us to remember them include something that will strike us as strange for them

also probably a good thing to note is the noises link makes when he swings his sword, jumps, pushes something, ie any action they have always been something that has stuck with me

(another example similar to this is in mgs solid snake in mgs is this cool super spy but is rocking a full on mullet which is considered a joke hairstyle. this leaves an impression on us. a spy with a mullet! how ridiculous! another example is raiden who was specifically made bc a woman wrote that she didnt want to play as an “old man” so the protagonist of the super spy game is a longer haired pretty boy (with a huge ass))

now ive explained a little on a character with good shapes and personality and a character with a more “boring” shape design that makes up for it with almost quirky design choices but i feel like theres another series thats what originally got me thinking about how even a memorable silhouette doesnt need hyperstylization

ace attorney! (which is out on switch now if u havent played it i would def recommend it)

if you dont know the protagonist is the guy in the blue suit(phoenix), which well he looks like just a guy...with ridiculously spikey hair enough so that in his silhouette you can recognize him but also his posture (the pointing) makes for a sticking recognizable image bc if you’ve played the games you can practically hear objection just from looking at phoenix’s silhouette

which is another thing id like to talk about! not only are a good shape a way to have a good silhouette but posture is also important! how the character holds themselves can say alot about them just from a glance! such as meekness, arrogance, confidence, sadness, anger, happiness its a very important too especially when you arent relying on stylization

now onto the characters of ace attorney ive gone over phoenix's design a bit but theres a few others id like to look at with some Weird style choices that make us remember them(just going to glance over them since this post is so long)

now, this woman, franziska von karma, she dresses kind of strange for a prosecutor but her outfit is not too out there and her silhouette is not striking

but you see that whip? remember how i said she was a prosecutor? yeah she will strike people in court for getting off topic and will even hit phoenix when he starts breaking down her witnesses testimonies, which what literally strikes up about her

another prosecutor, godot, now his hair could provide a somewhat memorable shape but what we first notice is the strange mask on his face which is weird, but not the Same weird as franziska bringing a whip to court thus having both of these prosecutors being Weirdly memorable for different things (another note is his liking of coffee that he does not give up even in court ha ha)

now onto the other protag for the aa games

apollo! who also has weirdly spikey hair, but even if you put a silhouette of him next to phoenix you could tell there some was a difference between the two! its showing a pattern with the protags while also keeping them distinct enough to be able to tell who is who! although you cant say the pointy haired guy from ace attorney and not get just One answer unlike saying the prosecutor who has a whip but still they are distinct to people who have little experience with the series

sorry i dont have any sort of conclusion on this this was just sort of me rambling on about character design, but my main point is if you are discouraged bc all your characters dont have wildly different silhouettes thats ok! there are other ways to establish a good memorable character! dont be afraid to make them a little weird! give your character pink hair in a medieval setting, have them be ridiculously in love with tigers they have a striped shirt and pants, let them love childrens tv shows and have them never miss an episode, give them wacky hair or an extreme love of gum, show us some personality!! but dont forget about how they act and their values and dont forget that posture can go a long way for establishing a first impression

there are also many other methods to making a good character! like colors and dress!

silly is the way to go! have fun with it!!

there isnt just one way to make a good character!! theres plenty of more series that have good character design that i didnt mention pay attention to why you like the characters you like! also watch this video bc its really good

[tianshanz]

What's your favorite anime? And why?

heyo!! thanks for the ask because holy damn, and this specific question is a good one for me because i could go on and on about this anime

my favorite anime of all time, and one of my favorite mangas, is durarara!! for many many reasons, but let me go over a few of them.

POST CONTAINS SPOILERS

first of all, lets go back to when i was 11 or 12 years old and id just heard of durarara from a friend of mine. thought it would be boring, and honestly, in the beginning i did. i thought that the first few episodes were slow, so i put it down for a while. but when i returned i realized WHY the first few episodes are slow. because once you get past them, the story progresses like a gunshot and everything goes crazy. which i absolutely loved.

i watched the dub, which to this day i stand by, loving the durarara dub. and johnny yong bosch’s voice for izaya is one of my biggest inspirations for wanting to become a voice actress.

so lets get into the full reasons why i love this anime so much. we have to start on the animation, the art style. of course i was way into the manga art style, and went absolutely fuckin nuts when i saw the second series was going to have an art style more similar to the manga. the characters are drawn in a way that makes them unique, especially in the manga the facial expressions were so vivid and, in izayas case, absolutely terrifying.

so that brings me to my favorite part of the series. the characters. in anime you tend to get the cliche characters-- the protag, the tsundere, the loli, things like that, but durarara was never like that for me.

it was the first time i ever saw a creature like celty in an anime, id never seen a dullahan or even heard of one, so props to narita for including that. there was never a character made to specifically fit into a cliche. even walker and erika, who on the surface seem like typical otakus, are nothing at all just “typical otakus”

and oh god, the dynamic between shizuo and izaya. lemme tell ya. this isnt a shizaya stan post but man am i a slut for some shizaya. but canon shizuo and izaya discourse was so interesting. the dynamic between them was nothing like a typical enemies or rivals situation id seen. these two genuinely wanted to see the other suffer, and why was this?

because izaya was a sadist and shizuo had a bad feeling about him.

of course there was stuff after that, fueling the rage and hatred between them, but there was such a genuine desire to kill each other and it was so cool to see (plus their fight scenes were glorious).

mikado was one of the most interesting characters in the series to me, aside from izaya. he starts out as an innocent guy who fears everything but we learn that not only is he the leader and founder of the dollars, but he has a side of him that is willing to hurt and kill and destroy for his own gain.

izaya orihara is almost the opposite in this sense. in volume 13 of the light novels, shinra says this about izaya.  

"He may seem cold-blooded, but he is more human, and his heart more brittle than anybody else, so much so that if you filled it with human love or betrayal, it would break easily, which is why, I think, he chose from the start to avoid it all, to love humanity, you understand? Not to accept, not to face it, to avoid it." 

as opposed to mikados idea to act innocent to hide a darker side of himself, izaya opts to darken his personality and exterior to hide his inner turmoil. and thats what makes every one of his decisions so much more interesting. if only to protect his own heart, he pushes everyone away with his manipulations and his schemes. also, with my own interest in psychology and human observation, i relate to him a little bit.

lastly, i wanted to take a part of this to talk about how this series had a huge focus on companionship, love, and obsession. 

when it comes to companionship, there was a huge focus on the friendship between anri, mikado, and masaomi. the three of them were close from the beginning, but all the drama and violence brought them even closer than they ever could be without it. mikado was so distraught over the way he hurt others he was scared to hurt his real friends, leading him to attempt suicide. 

and despite his own injuries, masaomi ignored his own pain to try and talk mikado out of it. in his own, special way (in the dub he called mikado a pussy lol). but they all got out okay, thankfully, and in the end there was a focus on them being together, safe and sound, away from the chaos and hatred.

when it comes to love, there was a huge focus on shinra and celty. i think ive never seen a couple as wholesome as those two (as pervy as shinra is). shinra casted away all humans, finding them uninteresting. makes sense his first and only love would be a supernatural creature.

the two had such a genuine love, shinra would do anything for celty, even going to the extent to destroy her head in the end so she would stay in ikebukuro with him. as strange as it sounds, he knew she would need that push to stay where she truly wanted to be. and celty would do anything for shinra, the reason she was leaving ikebukuro was to protect him.

and obsession, oh boy was there a lot of themes of obsession. aside from the obvious choice of talking about haruna niekawa, lets go for something less but still obvious. shizuo and izayas rivalry.

yall cant tell me there wasnt a degree of obsession in their relationship. shizuo and izaya were absolutely obsessed with each other, but as much as crazy shizaya stans will wanna convince you, this was not a romantic obsession. not even a sexual obsession, the two were just genuinely obsessed with hurting each other. for the adrenaline, for revenge, for fun, whatever part it was, there was a heavy blanket of obsession between the two of them.

i mean seriously, these two were so obsessed with killing each other that they were essentially killing themselves. its amazing to see that much dedication, and it was all because they hated each other. no normal person would go to such an extent for someone they were not desperately obsessed with. obviously, obsession doesnt always have to do with sex or love, let izaya and shizuo be your examples on that bit of info.

this post was a mess, and it was all over the place, but i tried my best to convey my thoughts and feelings for this show into words. its hard for me, because this show means so much to me, and a lot of it i cant really explain, its a deep rooted love that i dont think ill ever let go of. this has been my favorite anime for 6 years, and most likely will continue to be my favorite anime throughout the years to come.

[clownmoontoon]

Okay, friend. In your opinion (and you can explain this using gifs or text or whatever) how do each of the Matsu boys dance? From awkward to awesome to kind of cringey. Who's terrible, and who manages to surprise everyone by being pretty decent?

OHOHO WHAT A FUN THING TO THINK ABOUT AAAIVE BEEN SITTING ON THIS REPLY A BIT BC i was gathering dance-y clips for this aND also getting distracted by dance-y clips aaAA /w\

BUT ANYWAY I LOVE MATSUS AND DANCING SO THANK YOU FOR THE FUN!!! >:Dc

LETS START W THE ELDEST!!

i feel like oso is the type of person who would probs be good at everything if he ever actually TRIED

and as far as dance he’s probably kinda smooth and streetsy!! MY HC IS HE’S STILL REALLY PLAYFUL AND DOESNT GO OUT OF HIS WAY TO DO ANYTHING TOO HARD BUT STILL LOOKS GOOD AND SMOOTH NO MATTER WHAT so his style of dance is like this imo! (skip to 1:46-2:23!!)

i think a lot of oso’s “style” (not just dance but in everything) comes from his confidence! he has no fear of looking bad (which could ofc not work in his favor but in this case it does imo!)

oh and i know a lot of ppl like to hc him as a ballet dancer but for me its hard to imagine him keeping up w those classes on his own and if you dont keep at it then its just gone haha (like childhood piano lessons)

-

KARA IS THE MOST HYPER AWARE OF HIS OWN BODYu kno how u improve @ dancing?? looking in the mirror every day and observing your moves! GUESS WHICH MATSU IS ALWAYS LOOKIN IN THE MIRROR???BONUS: HE’S ALREADY MATSUED MASTERED THE ART OF ISOLATIONS!!

"Movement of one part of the body independently of the rest." This means that you isolate one part of your body, which moves, while the rest of your body remains completely still.

AND OFC W THE OCCASIONAL FLIRTATIOUS WINK, SMILE, SEXY POSE AND BOOTY SHAKE I FEEL LIKE KARA WOULD DANCE LIKE THIS GUY HERE:

LOTS OF TECHNIQUE, PERSONALITY, FUN, AND BODILY CONTROL!!

kara would def be the surprise of the dancing boys just bc of his “painful” nature everyone just kinda expects him to be bad at this bUT HE’S AWESOME((also pls check out more of Fik-Shun’s work bc this guy is amazing!!))

-

just like in canon, choro is a bit like “opposite oso” in that he thinks he’s amazing and has confidence in what he does, but does not look good doing it…

if his idol concert dances are anything to go off, and ofc his general personality (like him thinking that hair was cool or that he actually knows anything about taxes) i think he’d be like that guy at a dance who thinks he’s the best dancer there but in reality…

its hard to improve when you already consider yourself the best smh

-

ichi was an interesting bro to consider bc on his own, i dont think he’d be much of a dancer at all tbh. not bc he’d be bad at it, but he would just never try it on his own

however if a certain yellow brother prompted him to start, just like he prompts ichi to do things in canon he wouldnt normally feel comfortable doing if anyone else asked, i could see ichi being a sort of “lazy” breakdancer!

slow moving, lots of pauses but still incredibly agile, flexible and strong!! like a cat!! jyushi would be the only person to ever see this ofc hahai like to imagine they probably have little dance battles while theyre home alone >:3c

I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO FIND AN ICHI COSPLAYER THAT DANCES P MUCH PERFECTLY TO MY ICHI HEADCANON AAA

((the rollover onto his back is what rlly sold me tbh haha))

original vid here!! ITS SO CUTE AND HAS ALL THE MATSUS!!

thank you to @arr-jim-lad for making the gif for me!! >U

and to anyone who thinks ichi isnt strong enough to pull off these moves let me remind you that ichi, our resident cat man, is incredibly strong and fast when he wants to be ((he just rarely wants to be haha))

and since jyushi is the one who gets him started i like to think that their dances are a little similar!

-

JYUSHI 👏 IS 👏 ALL 👏 POWER 👏 AND 👏 SPEED 👏even if you study b-boys in action its unlikely you’d ever be able to pull off his moves without severely hurting yourself haha

IT TAKES INCREDIBLE STRENGTH TO PULL OFF THESE STUNTSless about technique and more about throwing your body as far as it will go and having fun w the insanity of the movement! LOTS OF FREESTYLE!! I PICTURE HIM LIKE BASICALLY EVERYONE IN THIS VID TBH

AND HERE’S SOME OFFICIAL ART TO BACK THIS UP!!

from now on im gonna call breakdancing jyushi dancing eheh

-

I PICTURE TOTTY DOING BALLET!! TOTTY HAS CANON POWERFUL LEG GAME!!!-climbed mt fuji by himself-runs every morning-goes to a gym regularly AND is also the only one disciplined enough to hold down a job, so i could totally see him having the discipline and drive to keep this up on his own. plus totty is all about looking beautiful/attractive to others and feeling superior so it makes sense (to me) that he would choose smth as elegant and “high class” as ballet for his dance style!i picture his dance really strong, but lovely and elegant kinda like this!!

AND THERES MY DANCEY MATSU HEADCANONS OUO)/

SORRY IF ITS INCOHERENT IM POSTING THIS AT ALMOST 4 AM AAAA

i go die in bed now so pls enjoy all these dancey things!! xwx)/

[tumblunni]

Man, god, im just suddenly thinking about "ak/ur/oku" and like.. How the fuck did that even become such a huge thing in early 2000s fandom? Dear god so much early gay shipping in fandom was super unhealthy "sinful" bullshit made by straight people for fetishy purposes rather than genuine representation. But a/kurok/u was such a weird one because it was like.. Just globally accepted and never aknowledged to be problematic?? Man i still remember how lil 13 year old me didnt know there was anything wrong with it, like seriously when stuff like this becomes popularized it ends up sending bad messages to actual queer youth. Learning about your sexuality via the internet cos there's no sex ed irl for you, abd you end up stumbling into toxic fandoms before you have the critical thinking skills necessary to know that this stuff is bad and shouldnt be imitated. Like seriously one of the things i worry about EVERY NIGHT AT 2AM THAT KEEPS ME FROM SLEEPING is that stupid lil 15 year old me made a post on deviantart going like "are pedophiles really all bad? I mean it sounds like an illness. I mean maybe theyre just scared and they want help." Like im terrified constantly that someone will find that old thing and judge me as if i still believe that apologist crap, or as if it was actually an opinion i formed from a fully developed mind, rather than from a kid who (as far as i knew) had never met a pedophile, thinking about pedophiles in the abstract, while being influenced by fuckin pedophile-dominated fandoms and having NO IDEA. and of cooooourse i wanted to believe that i was mature for my age, i thought that was a compliment.. Uuuuugh...

Sorry, going a little offtopic there.

But anyway isnt it kinda weird how akur/oku was just.. Not even regarded as pedophilia? And when i was a kid it wasnt just me not understanding the gross parts of the fandom, i legit never thought axel was that much older than roxas. And it was one of the more popular gay ships cos at that point as far as we knew it was the only person axel had any sort of backstory with, and he cared so much about this guy that he was willing to sacrifice his life to help sora even when he knew roxas would never come back. At the time without further context it seemed like a reasonable assumption to make? And it wasnt until Days that i realized axel was intended to be an adult rather than a teenager, and even worse A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO MADE THAT SHIPPING ART KNEW THAT. Uuugh it was so gross in retrospect to go back and see all the clues i missed that these people were fetishizing roxas's inexperience and veey much writing him as underage. AAAAAAA!

Anyway im glad that shit is now recognized as shit and now we have canon evidence of this dude being old as balls. And honestly i love the relationship of him as a big brother/dad to roxas and xion a lot more, even though as a kid i was desperate for any kind of queer representation in kh. Like.. I never really actually liked the ship that much or felt any chemistry? I just latched onto a few bad writing flubs that could potentially be interpreted as Gay Evidence because i was SO damn desperate! Like i felt like i had to support all these gross abusive ships in fandom cos if i wasnt then i was being 'homophobic', i mean they were THE ONLY AVAILABLE OPTIONS, right? :( Its only now ive grown up i can see how wrong that was, and how people just used it as an excuse to make gross shit and get away with it. Like how in Black Butler all these 'yaoi fangirls' kept erasing the rarest of rare things, a canon trans woman, because 'its sexier if its gay'. Ughhhh. And seriously that discourse still exists for poor Grell, and there's still a lot of these shitty bigoted people pretending to be allies, but like seriously this was EVERYWHERE in 2005! And lgbt rights and even lgbt communities at all were way smaller and less available to the poor teenagers who really needed that positive influence while they were figuring out who they are. So man the abusive side of yaoi fandom was WAY more powerful, and wya more.mainstream, with barely any criticism. And the whole content of this fandom was creepy fuckin adults making pedo porn, and kids who just discovered they were queer and tried to headcanon their favourote characters as being like them. Fucking predator heaven! So yeh that ruined KH for me and definately made me scared of returning to Black Butler for almost a decade. And then i found out that the manga itself has none of that pedo shit and that one of the fandom's biggest abusive gay man archetypes was actually a trans woman this entire time, and just gahhhhh....

Also like seriously this is a tad offtopic but can we kill the anime trope of either everyone looking young or everyone looking old? Or creepy things where just one character looks the wrong age in order to fetishize pedophilia? I dont think kingdom hearts was one of those intentional ones, like i mean there's super bad shit where its like 'this 5 year old looking person is really 9000 years old/actually 18 and just hasnt had their growth spurt yet' (somehow its even more insulting when theres not even a magical excuse) Or the other way around and we have a character thats canonically underage but drawn looking sexually mature with big ol knockers so its somehow okay. The existence of those horrible things is why i end up feeling uncomfortable even seeing ambiguous ages as just a trope in completely innocent anime, yknow? Like in pokemon and digimon all the 10 year old protagonists are exactly the same height as all the adults, and all the female love interests for ash have to be early bloomers in terms of chest and hips, while notably Iris is the only one who actually looks her age and also the first non love interest. Its another reason why i prefer the new art style for the latest season, they make everyone look like kids and Lillie continues to look like a kid even though she's the main girl and has all the cute scenes with Ash. The girls even got very normal looking kiddy swimsuits in the beach episode! Why is that so uncommon, to find the bare minimum thing of underage kids not being sexualized at the beach??

Soooooo yeah, thats at least part of why kid me thought axel and roxas were within a similar age range. Like i thought roxas was maybe 16 and axel was 18?? Somehow?? I dont even know, kingdom hearts isnt even SUPER bad with the 'kids look like older teens,all adults look like age 20 at the most' anime syndrome. Its probably more because id been raised on games and anime that followed that trope, before i played kh. And as a kid you just dont really know the exact differences between 'old', like i mean i knew teenagers were tall and boys get a growth spurt, so somehow it made sense to me that axel could be the same age as roxas?? And man even if i knew he wasnt, i was barely educated at all about pedophilia and i didnt know the nuances of it. I just knew 'its bad for adults to marry kids' like man i was really behind the curve in general learning due to my undiagnosed autism and abusive parenting so like HERE'S 12 YEAR OLD ME NOT EVEN THINKING ABOUT THE SEX ASPECT. And i didnt know that adults in relationships with teenagers was bad too, or like 16/17 year old teens dating kids... I was so fuckin dumb... I really cant believe that not only did i believe stupid adults saying 'pedophilia isnt bad if you're non offending, its okay to make cartoon child porn as long as you dont physically abuse real kids' but also i somehow just DID NOT EVER REALIZE that axel was an adult and roxas wasnt even a goddamn older teen...

So yeh im making a lot of excuses for why my stupid younger self was blindly parroting bullshit, but im not trying to excuse how goddamn wrong and bad it was. I still wake up ashamed in the middle of the night for crapoy decisions i made as a dumb kid, and in terrified that some shreds of it might still exist out there on the internet and maybe someone else could read it?! Gahhhh! Seriously could i have accidentally helped spread that bullshit brainwashing to other kids? And seriously when people say this shit is harmless they just need to look at this, look at how being into problematic yaoi is such a common 'phase' for ACTUAL CHILDREN. Like its not fuckin NATURAL for kids to fall into this stuff, they do it because they dont know any better but the people making the goddamn founding blocks of the fandom are fuckin grown women fetishizing gay men or grown men fetishing lesbians. There's people who do know better who actually conciously decide that a/kurok/u is a good ship while knowing all the goddamn details of what it actually is and exactly what theyre supporting by shipping it. Ughhhhh!

So yeh fuckin Please Stay Safe In Fandom, Kids

And pedophiles have absolutely none of my sympathy, please ignore that goddamn shit i wrote as a little kid being fuckin groomed by a fandom without even knowing it.

This also applies a lot to the rest of LGBT+ aside from just gay shipping, like seriously it took me til age 18 to find any positive representation of trans people or even a proper explanation of what being trans is, yet before i was even 8 years old i'd seen a million 'lol gross man in a dress who gets sexual gratification from wearing women's underwear' jokes in kids shows. And when i was 12 i'd already been exposed to the fuckin hell of m/pre/g thanks to its prevelance of untagged n/sf/w shit in the kh fandom. And by age 15 i'd been exposed to pedophile apologists arguing whether child porn was okay if they only got off to that and didnt personally abuse that kid with their own hands. All of that shit but actually learning about homosexuality and gender in sex ed would have been 'too much' for someone my age...

God what a fuckin mess. Fuck im really really fuckin worried that any of my ignorant comments at those ages could have been read by other ignorant kids and contributed to that disgusting fandom atmosphere. Fuck i think about this so damn often im so damn ashamed of how ignorant i used to be yet i know the adult fuckfaces making pedo shit never reel one lick of shame any damn day of their life. I used to excuse their shit as an actual kid cos i just ASSUMED they would be ashamed and want to seek help! Gahhhh..

[burgermiester]

Some more thoughts on the troubles with game reviews

This is something thats been on my mind lately but I know complaining about video game reviews is tiresome to read for a lot of people so I will just drop this whole thing under a read more.  It does pertain a little bit to Fire Emblem as well if thats why you follow me.

With the release of Cuphead theres been a renewed bit of discussion about how video games are reviewed.  For those of you who arent in the know, Cuphead was released to generally very positive reviews from critics but a few critics panned the game for being too hard and frustrating to be fun, and a fair number of gamers responded to those reviews very negatively.  The issue people have with those reviews is that Cuphead, much like bullet hells or the souls games, is designed to frustrate you with high difficulty only to reward you with an enormous feeling of elation and accomplishment when you beat each new challenge.  The difficulty level isnt poorly balanced or otherwise a mistake on the part of the creators, its core to the experience; so the argument is that these reviews are missing the point of the game and shouldnt be taken seriously. 

Personally, I think people criticizing these negative reviews are missing the point of reviews.  The temptation (I feel it pretty often myself) is to see reviews as a big competition between games where you want to see what you like get the high score.  The real reason for reviews is to get a perspective on a game before you buy it, and for that reason more perspectives only help consumers.  One might think that theres no reason for a person who dislikes a genre to review it since the only people interested in the game are ones that like the genre, but that just isnt true.  There are plenty of reasons someone would be interested in picking up a game even though they dislike the genre.  Cuphead might be one of the best examples, since people who usually hate intense challenges in games might still be interested in it thanks to its art style.  For those people the bad reviews are helpful in telling them that, no, they probably wont like the game.

So not only do I think the Cuphead reviews from people who hate challenges are worthwhile, but I really wish most games got the same treatment when it comes to reviews.  Most game genres fall into one of two categories: genres reviewers like and ones that they dont, and this is a problem both kinds of games.  In the first case, reviewers typically dont like JRPGs because they see menu-based combat and visual novel-esque long stretches of story without gameplay as boring and bad design.  It’s a similar situation with strategy games.  While they arent looked at with the same disdain as JRPGs, its very clear for most reviewers that they dont really enjoy playing strategy games, so aside from the presentation they are really only reviewed based on how beginner-friendly they are.  I’m not saying that these perspectives arent valuable; if you dont play a lot of strategy games its nice to know if a game you are interested in will be easy and if you dont like JRPG storytelling and combat its good to know to avoid the games that have it.  But if you like traditional JRPGs youre mostly out of luck.  Since theyre all treated as baseline bad its difficult to learn from reviews if it is one that you would be more or less interested in.  Similarly, a strategy fan cant really look at, say, the overwhelmingly positive reviews of Fire Emblem Awakening and tell whether or not its actually a deep game or if its just an accessible one.  In both of these cases the only options a consumer has is to find small niche reviewers on youtube whose interests seem to align with theirs or to just buy the game and hope for the best.  Professional video game journalism has failed them. 

On the flip side of things, open world games are critical darlings, but plenty of people (myself included) find one of the core aspects of the genre, namely having to constantly spend a lot of time walking/riding/driving/etc to and from the more meaningful gameplay and story sequences to be boring and bad game design.  I can’t look at, for example, the almost universally perfect (critic) scores for Metal Gear Solid V or Breath of the Wild and learn anything useful from them because I know that the aspects of open world games that I dont like will be brushed over if not praised. Again, the industry has failed consumers, but in cases like this I feel like its even harder to figure out if I actually would like the game by any methods other than trying it myself.

If I could wave a magic wand and put myself in charge of a big video game reviewing website I would make it so that every release was reviewed by two people, one who typically plays and enjoys games of that genre and one who doesnt.  I would throw numbered scores out the window because at this point they are too arbitrary to be meaningful and instead have lengthy reviews only summed up with “I usually hate/dislike/like/love games similar to this and I hated/disliked/liked/loved this one.” Because I think being able to read reviews that say “I love open world games and I loved Breath of the Wild, heres why it stands out above games that play similarly...” and ones that say “I dont normally like open world games, heres why I still liked Breath of the Wild...” is helpful to so many more consumers than just having a hundred 10/10s from fans of open world games to read. 

[annieoftheshitposts]

this post used to be a link to the old canons page but i’m turning it into a text dump of the revised one for people on mobile [or who have bad wifi/computers that the fancy schmancy script on the canons page wouldn’t play well with.] theres a lot sorry not sorry. here we go.

Canon Info

 Much more is said about Annie in external sources than the game itself, here's copypastes of all I know of and go by.

From the 3rd DLC Character Voting page:

As popular figures in nationwide folktales, a children’s television adaptation of Annie and Sagan’s adventures was inevitable. The show’s success lies in its pair of live action hosts, who are as convincing as their cartoon counterparts. Though what the public learns about the real Annie might surprise them. Annie is a seasoned fighter who has been around for a long time, acquiring many skills and powers along the way. Her sword is forged from a meteorite and can channel the power of the stars in its sweeping cleaves. Her right eye bonds her to her Remote Parasite and partner, Sagan, who grants her powers of a galactic motif. While some of her abilities carry more of a sparkly magical girl motif, Annie tries to execute them with the same sternness.

From "The canon info thread" on Skullheart Encore forums:

-Annie is several-century-old. Her immortality was gained when her parents wished on the Skull Heart so that Annie would never have to experience the hardship of adulthood, thereby making her forever a child. -She has had many different weapons and abilities throughout her life. - Sagan, her remote parasite. keeps her right eye in his mouth. - She’s physically not able to swear due to her condition - She is familiar with Double due to her experience fighting Skullgirls - Annie has encountered a lot of Skullgirls and has killed a lot, but not the same a lot. She’s seen the cycle multiple times and seen how they become stronger each time and is looking for the underlying source now. - The Annie of the Stars show is very similar to the Super Mario Bros. Super Show with live action segments with cartoons and PSAs and commercials in between. - Sagan can talk. Somehow. - Annie hides her immortality by getting a new hairstyle every few years. The show tells the audience that they have simply changed the actress. Eliza also pulls a similar trick

and finally some other misc. scraps that weren't covered above:

-annie has some kind of "super" or "powered up" form, in which she seems to fuse with sagan. it can be seen on her

move concept sheet, in the end of robo-fortune's story mode, and as a very tiny feature on one of robo-fortune's merch posters, but to my knowlege it's never really been talked about.

-she's been depicted with an "incognito outfit", presumably for going out in public and not being recognized by fans.

-sagan is named after renowned astrophysicist carl sagan. this isnt really relevant to anything but it's not on the wiki so i figured i'd share :b

-and this random pic of annie in the past with a different look, plus gun and minus eyepatch, apparently official art from the "digital art compendium". i haven't seen the source for this one myself though, and count this one more as speculative canon since that ingame image up there with her eye uncovered doesn't show a scar or any kind of damage from this.

-another canon fact about annie is she is strong and brave and i love her.

Headcanon (Annie)

this is pretty disorganized bc i come up with and revise random shit on a fairly regular basis, but the very least it should be all here and up-to-date. [though on this text post version i may forget to keep it updated oops.

she can still only normally see from the one eye in her head [and likewise probably has terrible depth perception lmao], but she can “project” her vision into the one sagan has if need be, during which time both he and her main eye are blind.

even though sagan’s vision is his own and she doesn’t actively “see” through that eye most of the time, the stuff he sees still becomes part of her memory and she can recall it if need be, though it’s far less tangible and kind of a surreal experience trying to do so.

the space where her other eye was is now just...space. like empty starry void stuff. yes, TECHNICALLY, you could put stuff in it but why would you. sagan can feel when something interacts with it and it’s really just weird and uncomfortable for both of them.as sagan is the source of their powers, the strength of her abilities is slightly dependent on her distance from him. something like long sustained flight is really only capable if they’re touching, but she still has ample firepower and ability to zip around for a pretty good range otherwise.

Not interested in anime

absolutely hates being called her full name; hasn't gone by anything other than "Annie" for longer than anyone that should be alive today should know.

part of her curse of eternal youth is remembering everything up until the point it kicked in and she stopped aging [i.e. when she was Actually a kid] exactly as well as if she hadn’t aged.

from that point however, a lot of it is hazy as shit aside from more recent times [as you’d expect from someone who’s been around hundreds of years]. this one's gonna be angsty as shit when i address it and you can thank @sandstriker for that. fucker.

also hates being restrained. by the concept sheet and beo's story, her fighting style is very kinetic and relies heavily on mobility; take that away and you get one very uncomfortable and very angry starchild. [this one's 'cause of y'all with the handcuffs asks. this is part of why she's so agitated rn.]

what's in the pouch? whatever is alternatively convenient. is it snacks? is it a quick incognito disguise? is it her whole entire sword? who knows. i think it might be infinite hammerspace in there.

i haven't put much though into this side of her story yet, but i've decided part of the mythos of the "annie of the stars" character as a figure of legend is that she literally lives, among the stars.

if there's enough folktales about her to base an entire show off of, i'm willing to bet she used to be less elusive when she was just about fighting skullgirls before dedicating herself to the whole "looking for the underlying source" thing.

Headcanon (Sagan)

tl;dr: as far as things go here, he's essentially a cat and/or younger sibling.

Sagan's canon information and characterization is basically nonexistant, so i got to do pretty much whatever i wanted with him lmao.

simply put, he's a little gremlin of a partner, but he is genuinely good-natured and a happy-go-luckly little dude. mischevious, loves to get up to Shenanigans, go off and hide/disappear to fuck knows where for several hours, climb and sit on tall things[or failing that, annie's head], etc. @sawkinator has described him, regrettably accurately, as "the Token Disney Animal Sidekick". he has a lot of mannerisms like an animal, but is still very much a being of at least average human intelligence. he's also surprisingly indestructible. far from invincible of course, but in canon he's been shown to be quite stretchy and...possibly have minor shapeshifting capabilities?? he's pretty much immune to being squashed and feels very little [if any] pain from most things. really, as far as i can tell he's pretty much a weird sentient plushie. like, if it's not going to damage a plushie, it's not going to hurt him; examples being: getting knocked back really hard or falling a long way? not a problem. fire? problem.

Sagan tends to be somewhat nonverbal and generally only uses a few words or short phrase at a time when he does speak, which sounds something like the voice clip below. that being how it is, he can be kind of inscrutable and more than a bit jarring to most people--though at this point annie's been with him more than long enough to be completely desensitized to it and doesnt quite get why anyone would be perturbed. fortunately, with that familiarity also comes understanding, and she can easily "translate" and articulate more from his expressions. this understanding is a two-way street, and on its other side is sagan's sensitivity to her moods. annie's not particularly...communicative of her emotions, but sagan can always tell when she's having an off day or something's bothering her, and is far better than anyone at helping her feel better. all things said and quirky antics aside, he and annie are exceptionally close and fiercely protective of eachother the moment it comes to it. they don't make a big deal of showing it outwardly, but they know they've always got eachother's backs.

he's taken quite a liking to beowulf as well, and beo defintiely shamelessly enables sagan's shenanigans.

as i see it, annie may be the passion and power of their operation, but sagan is the heart and soul. beowulf is like....comic releif and emotional support. not entirely necessary, but certainly welcomed to have around. yeah. listen im a big sap i just want them all to be good friends ok. i love them.

also sagan does like and watch a lot of anime.

Blog Canon

miscellaneous happenings that either have continued relevance/significance, or y'all just won't let die. there's not a overarching plot to this thing at all, but geez we’ve kinda gathered some history here huh?

taught sagan to say fuck [and other swears, in her stead]. he used to have to do it on command but he's gotten really good at filling in for her.has a

stoat fursona that beo helped her make. she thinks it's neat/cute but has no real attachment to it.

attempted to sue the crystal gems for ripping off her entire shtick [it didn't go well]

beowulf also taught her how to dab.

@sparkeletran is a nuisance and must be stopped

the 70$ pile of high school musical merch. sagan and beo both wear the t-shirts sometimes. she hates it. don't let her attitude fool you though this is actually the best and most important ongoing joke in this whole damn thing.

the first handcuffs stint. they’re gone now but they had a good ~30-post run, and she did take to learning lockpicking because of it.

this.

hey. guess fucking what lads. handcuffs ROUND TWO 'cause y'all just don't fuckin' quit. the first mini story arc sorta thing, in which she visits the cirque des cartes and has an aggravting encounter with taliesin. [currently ongoing][hopefully soon ending]

[[redacted for ""spoilers""]] due to said encounter with taliesin

sparkeletran is a nuisance,

"the official annie of the stars instagram is just cat memes but with sagan" it's canon but i haven't decided whether it's something she would have had already or a recent thing. [either way, hasn't been touched on yet due to the arc taking so long]

badart annie is sorta like her own thing at this point but nothing that happens with her is canon; she p much just shows up for exceptionally dumb posts. we did give her noclip though which is terrifying. on that note i may as well include the things that are Not canon but y'all won't let me forget

beo's animated belt thing. look. it doesnt talk.

spray-on boots.

the lawnmower weapon

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh homestuck

[alpsss]

everyone liked my eyes today

I knew on thursday when he came round several times ‘i intentionally wanted to roast F in front of J’, and commented on my tattoo, that suddenly it all came back to me the tension that always existed. and when he said friday, tomorrow was the last day and the show would close and i said i would go. and in the morning he asked again if i was really coming. and after lunch he asked what i was up to, the plans for the day. ‘did you already notice i dont make eye contact i find it bloody distracting’ Actually shes abit like you Im drawn to girls with a certain sadness I like the messed up ones, I still gravitate towards the art types In the cab- dating is hard because no one gets the artist life, how you’re freelance, juggling a bunch of things I’ve always called them ‘partners’ not ‘girlfriends’ I don’t give it so easily I guard it a lot cos im all about my heart, im not about my brain Estella what would you like-lets do Jap food its Friday ‘I want to touch it’ ‘Only cos its you’ ‘What about you do you stay with your parents’ Similar upbringing, him referencing my sister,Have I not told you this? – said repeatedly I guess this is the first time we are properly speaking Im kidding, I’ll stop messing with you I take things so literally that I need to mess with the world as a game to deal His Aspergers ‘Youre a neurotypical- neuro means brain- you have high EQ dont get me wrong thats good’ im lacking in the emotional part cos im a T and youre an F so you guys are better. ‘now that you know me, or that you are getting to know me’ Sounds really get to him- drilling, ambulances are the worst ‘Atypical’ on Netflix Did you glue every strand of grass ‘well, I scattered it’ That’s why ive such a soft spot for Sean The night is when he makes work- is your house very neat cos his dad is OCD- all his work-making happens outside I don’t know what Love is but I know what it Isnt Rainer Maria Rilke ‘Letters to a Young Poet’ is my bible – ‘and I thought you were a Christian’ There was this girl I was sleeping with who was ENFP and she was going on about how ENFP and INTJs are the most compatible Well look at you things worked out for you you’re good, you’re married ‘He’s Kiwi’ ‘Is he an artist?’ ‘But he gets art, its not like Sharon’s..that was why I broke up with my first one’ ‘Its not like married and game over’ Living, why im alive Its my art cause All the moments and connections and love, etc And he acknowledges it too Being human-being adept at the brain? Rather I’d rather simple naivete You are such a modernist (he says hes a post-modernist) We’re from vicious apes we are inately evil ‘i still choose to believe everyone is inherently good- but you know already that im an idealist’ Its not bout being human and staying alive but not wrestling with it, just sitting idle Telling me about his fishing – and showing me pictures Telling me about Sab’s family history, and sharing about his fam. His OCD dad driving Grab, his brother not actually a weirdo gamer but is probably going to marry his first girlfriend, ‘another breakup and it will actually ruin your sister’, K and S, F and S, R and Levy and S Long, we went down the damn list Bitching about Sab like him showing me her plagerised posts and when I told him she goes ‘hows things? Slow?’ Do you want kids- or is this too early/weird to ask I don’t want to get married, I don’t want kids ‘you say this now but if your partner wanted to get married you probably would’ ‘probably’ ‘the one you marry might not be the one you’re most connected to’ ‘why do you not want kids, you’d be such a good dad’ ‘are you high’ ‘no its true, I can see how you are with the students’ ‘well youre brave and youre doing it’ – my art fight when I said I was well-loved and had a great set of parents ‘yea I can see that’ ‘your parents have a good marriage?’ ‘yea how about yours, good too?’ ‘well yea but they love to fight that’s their thing they love to fight, I don’t’ ‘well that’s good right, healthy fighting’ ‘I love women- colour blind-scottish, swedish, asian-american, an indian in between somewhere’ the broken bridge artwork The Fishtank and galerie fish,also he gets that people are fishing in the gallery– I told him when he brought up his fishing Art is Universal- said in the cab and he started opening up ‘You can come for lunch if you want and them come with me’ When we were in his fog room and I was having a dialogue with him, with the students And his student said something provoking Or when Clara walks in and she recognizes me and he said ‘famous, youre famous’ ‘Where do you live’ My dad is coming to get me and we’re going to get some food and then Im going to come back and take down the pieces Me and Raymond are similar because we’re open Rare that you can say something and id be like ‘HELL NO’ Im free-spirited ‘yea you’re more agnostic’ ZH pushes his own agenda more ‘yea but that’s because hes so passionate he seriously cant help it’ R just likes someone to reminisce the streets of London with When I said R just started knowing Im a painter, I make work ‘you have a way more exciting practice than he does’‘Youre on your way, youre doing great’ Talking about oweing your parents and he went out fishing before his parents came to visit I feel the same way- about needing to repay parents- or feel indebted ‘but there are things I cant reveal to them’ when I say ive a completely open relationship with my parents, anything goes, no filter Showing me his back scar ‘i once showed a girl and she started crying’ ‘im high now btw’- and he smokes up like 5-6-7 things I don’t even keep count Telling me about his jailtime for 26 hours, how his ex wasn’t there for him The last one was more typical, asian, Christian, one day decided I was too ‘sinful’ for her and she couldn’t deal – I might write her a letter to apologize And his grandmother and how they found her on a Sunday- how the emotions set in later, through the initial parts he was all rational and calm even though his brother was hysterical ‘I KNOW your work I saw the wall I just didn’t know that was you’ ‘Yea when I first met you I did feel like whats with this person’ ‘there you go’ Shes like you- cares about people, sees the good. how Sab is eroding away the nanyang style way too quick and too fast. S and S ‘similar types that the vice d can dominate. Rilke says be patient, they are already doing the best they can to ‘get it’- the face that both moms visited the schools with us.

Crazy shit friday

I mean i always knew the chemistry sort of existed, was underlying, or something sensed that it was going to be more than normal getting to hang out with him. But you can talk to someone but not Know-Know them in such a way, ever. you can go about in your day to day and something like this just stops you right in your tracks. and you go along, because your instincts are dying to take this ride into the exciting abyss, but also you recognize its short-lived and its made more precious that it isnt reality. you do not have to act on things/have ownership for it to take special place in the recesses of your soul (i even spoke about Soul and innerblink, how the soul is what created those things outside when he woke up with the image and started making-its spirituality rather than practised religion- dude, what can we not talk about). you just..savour it and you delight in it when its actually taking place. like ive been conscious of doing so-taking breaths and pausing while the good stuffs happening, the capital L-I-F-E is happening because i understand its rare and its beautiful and you never know when its going to next happen to you...so yea these are the things that really feed me, what i live for. its just deeply special and i wonder if he feels the same way too. aka its 7am post-yesterday and i wonder whats he thinking/is he?

[ciratira]

uni rant

u ever get those lecturers that will not stop figuratively suckin the dick of a particular writer. They act similar to those ‘the book i wrote is essential reading now give me money’ lecturers, but like, of someone elses work.  we were free to pick our own topics for our major essay, thesis style, so long as it somewhat relates to the degree. but its been herrington this, herrington that. like its design. its an evolving medium by nature. so basically herrington made this framework for analysis of all landscapes, always be wary of something that claims to be one size fits all, and its like oh look at materiality, then layout, then economics etc. and my project is about emotional investment, in design, groundbreaking. but apparently herrington kind of avoided cultural/psychological interpretations of architecture. so i present my lecturer my topic and she’s like oh, your idea for a project (that i made you decide on before out first class or i’d even mentioned herrington) does not align perfectly within this dudes framework. you’d normally thing oh maybe this framework has a bias, and actually has a flaw for not looking at this interpretation. but no. my topic is broken i guess. oh you want to look at how environment affects people emotionally? culturally? socialogically? sorry i guess fucking design has nothing to do with emotional response. this is a very wide area of existing research because like, design and aesthetic exists to create certain vibes, thats what art and creativity is. anyway. but despite it being a very well established topic, it isnt valid because some old american dude didnt take it into account in his universal framework. but heres the thing. i might have been fine if it was week 1 and we got introduced to it and it was like ok i can change my topic at this point. so i asked the lecturer, oh hey my topic isnt a neat fit, is that ok? oh yeah its fine. first assignment, not great mark. oh i see yeah i wasnt as proud of that one it was kinda rushed. i shall try my ass off to make up for it. second assignment, even worse mark hnggggg ok so i’ve now officially had my mark drop so bad that i lose any chance of getting a high enough mark for honors, something ive been working hard at for 4 years to get a high average is now ruined because of one class. welp maybe i will revamp my topic? because my feedback has been minimal and i dont know what im doing wrong. i shall run this by my lecturer. lecturer: oh i see ur looking at new innovations in design like use of technology and stuff which has plenty of research and precedents, thats all good. but have you considered, 18th century american history. im sorry what is even the point of fucking writing. i thought design theory was to like, propose new was of thinking, move forward as a society. but no i guess i can just reword some rote history thats been looked at a thousand times and is like, several revolutions ago so that its barely relevent to modern practice. is writing really just about regurgitating ideas. oh i guess thats why instead of writing a course you just gave us herrington.