#threewaysdivided

[arealtrashact]

Just found your tumblr properly after admiring your art in reblogs for ages. Wanted to say how much I love the way your style uses classic Hannah-Barbera/Looney-toons era animation principles in the posing and character designs/redesigns. You have such good shape language and expressiveness in how you squash and stretch these guys, it's super fun!

Heavens to Murgatroyd, what kind words ♡ I'm flattered, charmed even !

[cinnademon]

Hey! I was wondering if you have any tips/ would be willing to share your process for drawing character faces and expressions? It's something I'm trying to improve in my own art, and I adore how specific and clearly readable yours are across all your different pieces.

Absolutely! To start, I wouldn't say I have a "process", it kind of varies depending on the style of the piece I'm doing. That being said, since most of my art here is mostly all comic book/animesque style, I'll give some info on how I tackle expressions and how to build a good foundation for any expressions you want to draw.

The Basics: The Skull

Everything starts with the skull 💀 I've spent a lot of time learning the underlying structure of the human head, namely the skull and facial muscles. The skull is divided into many zones and regions (of which I do not remember all the scientific names), so to simplify things, I divide the skull into the four main parts below:

(I simplify the maxilla and teeth into a circle, since it's approximately curved when closed.)

I usually spend at least 5 min a day just doodling skulls so that way I don't lose the visual inventory I have in my mind. It makes it easier when I want to sketch characters and expressions on the fly.

That's the structure, but now you need to learn how the motion of the skull actually works. Do studies of how the jaw moves compared to the cranium and maxilla. This is important because if you want to draw your characters screaming/crying/arguing etc., you need to understand how the face stretches to accommodate the open jaw.

It's also important to learn how to draw the skull in 3D space. Yep, I'm talking about head angles. For my Tucker Neon post, since we’re staring down at him from a high angle I drew a rough skull to figure out how his facial features would work in this perspective:

Having a good understanding of the skull will provide you with a solid blueprint for drawing any expressions you want, which brings us to... 

Facial Muscles

If the skull is the foundation, I would say that the facial muscles are loosely the “architecture” of a person’s face. It’s always moving, always changing, and learning how they behave across the human face is a must for nailing expressions. To get a better idea of how the muscles contract/stretch across your face, I would recommend two things: scrunch your face, and use a mirror!

Here you can feel all the areas that crease, which areas are tighter, and which areas “lift” more when you work those muscles! 💪 These creases can add more emotion and intensity to whatever expression you’re drawing; how much creasing depends on the intensity, which is up to you.

This is something that manga & anime make excellent use of; they’re not shy when it comes to conveying what their characters are feeling:

Which brings us to our last topic...

Stylization

Are these guidelines I said so far hard rules? No, they are not. Part of drawing expressions is stylizing and exaggerating realistic human proportions and behaviors. This is why I love collecting anime expression studies. Look at these awesome faces and acting:

And here’s some western animation examples added for good measure:

Do real-life mouths stretch like that? Or do eyebrows move on top of the eyes when you glare? No, but it’s all in the service of exaggerating the expressions and emotions that the characters are feeling and really communicating that intent with your audience. You learn the structure of the skull and facial muscles to get a good understanding of how they work, and then you use what you know to stretch and exaggerate the physical limitations of the human face. 

Essentially:  Learn the rules so that you can break them.

And now that I have subjected you to my long-winded TED talk, let me get to answering your actual question and showing you my process! 😂  

When I’m drawing expressions, I act them out in front of a mirror; this is the best way to learn expressions, by drawing them from real life. As you can see, sometimes I do a quick sketch of a skull to get an angle accurate, but if a character is stylized or facing the viewer at eye level, I just skip ahead to the final sketch. 

I hope this was helpful! I’m going to include a post full of good resources and tutorials on drawing expressions later today! 

[threewaysdivided]

I posted 353 times in 2022

That's 114 more posts than 2021!

79 posts created (22%)

274 posts reblogged (78%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@threewaysdivided

@sapphireswimming

@doodly-doop

@redrobin-detective

@2hoothoots

I tagged 353 of my posts in 2022

#young justice: deathly weapons - 97 posts

#3wd - 93 posts

#art - 70 posts

#danny phantom - 38 posts

#3wd answers - 34 posts

#writing update - 33 posts

#dc comics - 30 posts

#young justice - 27 posts

#batman - 23 posts

#chapter 19 - 22 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#which is how you get things like token ‘girlboss’ moments for female characters who are still written in fundamentally chauvinistic ways; or 

From this post

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

@thecatlounge​ asked: I just read that ask about Vlad that you did and was wondering if you had any thoughts about Jack and Maddie. They have clear love for there kids and when they know they are in danger they will drop everything for them, but they also don't notice when there is somthing wrong going on.  Valerie would be another good one, though I think that she mostly framed around how whe is manipulated by others (like Vlad).

(the Vlad ask)

So, I have quite a few thoughts on Maddie and Jack, and they’re probably some of the most complex.

I’ve talked about this before but one of the quirks/ bugs/ features of Danny Phantom’s tumultuous production and at-times-contradictory canon is that there can be multiple disparate readings that are all somewhat supported.  And no more is this true than for the (nominally) good Doctors Fenton.

Let’s talk about the meta-side first because it’s kind of fascinating.

See the full post

87 notes - Posted August 26, 2022

#4

Decided to update the original FFN-style ‘book cover’ art for my fanfic Young Justice: Deathly Weapons. 

It’s fun to see how the visual identity of this fic has evolved from when I first came up with and posted the initial idea (right) to now (left) that it has a fully-detailed plan that’s developed a vibe of its own.

[Art pieces inside the background-portals can be seen here and here.  Teaser summary for upcoming “episodes” here.]

See the full post

101 notes - Posted December 11, 2022

#3

@kaiobeast asked: So, in YJDW, Danny is still very much a solo-hero type. I imagine that's going to potentially cause some issues down the road, both with learning how to work as an equal with other supers and bonding with them since his own hero development is so different from the Team's. No mentor, the discomfort that the nature of his powers can cause, the mixed history he DOES have that's public knowledge, and the lack of real exposure to the rest of the superhero sphere of influence.

(Young Justice: Deathly Weapons)

So this is interesting because you're completely right; those are things that should complicate Danny's interactions (and potential integration) with established heroes and hero teams.

However, the specifics of Danny's circumstances and road to joining the Team in Deathly Weapons kind of alleviate or sidestep a lot of those potential issues. At cost of giving him a new catalogue of complexes to deal with but beggars can't be choosers.

See the full post

104 notes - Posted October 9, 2022

#2

I don’t have many strong thoughts about Danny x Kaldur outside of it being a rarepair crossover crackship with the potential to be cute.

However,

Deeply Disappointed that the ship name isn’t Sleeping With the Fishes.

118 notes - Posted August 7, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

@kaiobeast​ asked: So, I've noticed that DP fans and authors have a sliding scale for Vlad. They vary from "haha look at poor little meow meow who fails at everything" to "Vlad is an absolute psycho and the Fenton parents are criminally negligent for allowing him near their kids". I'm very curious as to how you view Vlad and his relationship with Danny because that variance is so huge, and since it kind of slides between the two in canon as well.

Ah, Vlad.  Perpetual runner-up of Dracula lookalike contests, consistent bronze medallist in the race for most-culturally-relevant-Vladimir, and called by the internet everything from Psychopath to Meow Meow to I regretfully inform you Daddy.

One of the things that makes interpretations of Danny Phantom characters more fluid/variable than others is that (as you said) canon can be rather slide-y at times - something which lends itself to multiple quasi-canonical potential readings.  I think I’ve mentioned before that for me this means I have a bit of an annoying tendency to change my headcanons depending on what best facilitates a given story concept, rather than being wedded to One True Version™.

That said, Vlad is probably the major-character who I have the most consistent read on.

See the full post

276 notes - Posted July 21, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[rantceratops]

I'll be honest, this was inspired by @threewaysdivided because I saw a tag on one of their posts that cracked me up, but I can't find it again. Something about Wally being ridiculous and Artemis acting like she's not affiliated with him five minutes after kissing him. (it was relating to Deathly Weapons, I know that much)

Either way.

I have another drawing idea but this is the only thing that would come out of me today.

[ladylynse]

WIP Tag Game

Rules: Write the latest line from your WIP (or post where you last left off on in your art) and tag as many people as there are words in the line. Make a new post, don’t reblog.

Tagged by @nikki-pondtheauthor -- thanks! (This was a while ago, and admittedly I might have done this already but uh.... doing it again. Because I can.)

From Revision (FFN | AO3), Ch. 18:

 "Necessity can be a cruel teacher, but I’ve learned my lessons well."

Tagging @pftones3482, @asjjohnson, @animationadventures, @sach216, @queenofhearts7378, @threewaysdivided, @bookeatingworm, @arisu-reblogs, @iconicanemone, @dp-marvel94, and @lexosaurus.

[steveharrington]

re your question about reporting and blocking bots:

threewaysdivided wrote a good explanation of how the boys are using your blog to make their content seem more legitimate: “Likely a form of what's known as "blackhat SEO". Search engines give priority to sites that are associated with reputable sites so if the bot-accounts are following legitimate tumblrs with the handle.tumblr.com URLs and then also following accounts that promote the porn sites it can game the association metrics search engines look for. Basically middlemen tools for pornsites.”

so no, bots don’t hurt you directly if you know not to click on their links, but not reporting them as spam and blocking them means that they start to look safer, increasing the chances that someone will click on a link, which will encourage the person with the bot program to keep making more. but if the bots are reported and blocked before their links get any traffic, the person/people responsible are likely to give up faster

this post has good info if you want to read more: https://www.tumblr.com/ralfmaximus/703812340097892352/okay-so-tumblr-is-free-right-it-costs

oooo that makes a lot of sense!! ty for letting me know, i've always vaguely known that bots should be blocked/reported but i never fully understood why bc technology is very confusing for me <3

[youmaycallmeyourhighness]

Wip Game

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your wip folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it.

Shop of the Lost

The Worlds That Separate Us

The Foreseeable Future

Lock & Key

Dead to Me

Ecto Nails

Phantom Paulina

Cruel Summer

I Love You (In Theory)

Green Lantern

Fault Lines

All's Fair In Love and War

Snake In the Grass

I have more wips than that but I think this is fine as is

@threewaysdivided @wingedflight @the19thduckpotato @tolucawritessometimes @imekitty @cheetee @glamourcryptid @floralflowerpower @wildlyironicbee

If you guys wanna play

[mimeparadox]

Tagged by @morningmightcomebyaccident

Rules: Answer 10 questions and tag 10 people you want to know better.

Relationship status: Single, and not trying terribly hard to change that. 

Favourite colour: Black.

Three favourite foods: Hamburgers, ice cream, rice & three-bean salad. 

Song stuck in my head: “Hachi no Musashi wa shinda no sa”.

Last thing I listened to: The latest episode of the podcast I Will Fight You, by the fine people at @crookedrussiancam. 

Last thing I googled: “Hey Mickey”--see below. 

Time: 12:00

Dream trip: No clue. I’m not usually a trips person, and COVID has zapped much of the lingering desire to go places.

Anything I really want: More corsets, more people who tell me I look really hot in corsets, femme-types who want to make out with me and are in close proximity, and also wear corsets.

Currently reading: The Magician King, by Lev Grossman, because I hated the first one, but did not hate what I’d read of the second one; Toil and Trouble, by Mairghread Scott and Kelly & Nichole Matthews (it’s a graphic novel).

Last song: Whatever was the last song playing at the grocery store when I left. The last song I remember playing was “Hey, Mickey” by Toni Basil.

Last movie: Rocky II, which was not quite what I expected.

Last series: If we’re talking about the very last series, it’s Turn: Washington’s Spies (watching) and Monster Musume: Everyday Life with Monster Girls (finished).

Sweet, savoury, or spicy: You can’t make me choose. 

Currently working on: Mental and physical health, now that economic stability has been achieved, and consequently, to be able to actually work on the things I want to work on.  .

Craving: Attention from the people I want attention from.

Tea or coffee: Both, although I’m more particular about coffee.

Tagging (if you feel like it): @arbitrarygreay, @florrickandassociates, @threewaysdivided @amariemelody @juliareed @andremichaux, @fluffycakesistainted, @life-of-r3n, @lifesizehysteria. @avenge-the-90s

[sons-of-mars]

@threewaysdivided

[cinnademon]

Lately @threewaysdivided 's OlderBrotherDanny!AU has been occupying the majority of my brain space so I've just had to draw a few somethings for it 🥰🥰

We've been volleying ideas and headcanons back and forth about this AU and we've come to a consensus about a few significant features:

With the exception of his eyes and nose, Danny is the spitting-image of John Grayson while Dick has mostly inherited Mary's facial features

Danny and John share the Grayson family tradition of Big Bushy Brows™️

Since 3WD and I are big fans of the Danny-Has-Very-Light-Blue-Eyes train, @threewaysdivided has come up with an awesome headcanon that Danny's unusual light eye color is a weird recessive trait that pops up every few generations in the Grayson family

The reason that Danny was adopted out at birth is that he was born premature and with congenital defects that would have made it unsafe for him to be part of the troupe, least of all a traveling circus

I have to say, drawing baby Danny with his little messy mohawk has given me a lot more joy than I expected it to, I can't stop looking at it 🥺 I love looking at Brother!AUs, they never fail to make me reach for the Kleenex.

If you guys want, share some of your favorite Brother!AU headcanons in the tags or notes! All these juicy new headcanons are making me itch to draw them ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[ladylynse]

WIP Tag Game

Rules: Write the latest line from your WIP (or post where you last left off on in your art) and tag as many people as there are words in the line. Make a new post, don’t reblog.

Tagged by: @threewaysdivided (thank you; love doing this one!)

Technically, I am working on one of my DP fics and the last thing I wrote for Passageway was this:

Johnny retreated back into the room before Danny could ask any questions, including the highly irrelevant one of ‘wait, where did you get a wrench?’ that nevertheless was on the tip of his tongue.

But that’s too long for me to tag someone for every word, so you’re getting the last thing I wrote in that ADJL Huntsclan!Jake fic Unbound, since I’ve been going between those often enough lately.

Haley’s missing.

I keep shuffling chapter orders in Unbound, so don’t know when that line will actually pop up, but the above Passageway line will be in the next chapter.

Tagging: @queenofhearts7378 and @pftones3482

[youmaycallmeyourhighness]

Rules: Write the latest line from your WIP (or post where you last left off on in your art) and tag as many people as there are words in the line. Make a new post, don’t reblog.

Thank you for the tag @wildlyironicbee

From 'Shop of the Lost':

Mirabel does not want to sleep here.

@tolucawritessometimes @imekitty @cheetee @wingedflight @glamourcryptid @threewaysdivided @floralflowerpower

[kaiobeast]

@threewaysdivided

The first time they hit a ghost shield lmao

I think if danny was a member of the YJ wally would get a handle added to the back of his costume so danny can just grab on turn them both intangible and dangle behind him like a balloon whilst KF races straight through every obstacle in his path. Utterly unstoppable

[cryxdraws]

Ok last one for a while but here’s a quickie! This is from one of my favorite scenes in Chapter 9/8. I really wanna do the spar with Ms. Martian next chance I get :D

<a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works

[writingwithcolor]

In a section of the story I’m writing, the protagonists rescue a group of Filipino & Vietnamese workers from a hostage situation. Their race isn’t a big deal narratively, but I don’t want to behaviourally whitewash them by ignoring it. Do you know of any phrases/ exclamations that people might use in times of shock/ fear/ distress/ relief, or behaviours towards each other/ their rescuers that are more specifically Filipino or Vietnamese? Also any tropes I should steer clear of? Thanks!

Filipino and Vietnamese: Tropes to avoid

Vietnamese Exclamations

I’m not sure if it’s specifically Vietnamese (rather, just an East and Southeast Asian thing), but my family uses “ai-yah”. Adding on, this is probably more Singaporean Vernacular English but we tend to add “lah” at the end of statements too: “Who drank my tea, lah!”

I won’t be able to give you specific phrases in Vietnamese as I’m not fluent in the language itself, so contributions from Vietnamese speaking readers are appreciated! 

Behavior

To be honest, I don’t come from a predominantly Vietnamese household so I don’t have the experience to tell you specific behaviors towards rescuers; However, Asian households usually teach us to be grateful towards positive opportunities, my own Southeast-East Asian family has established concepts of Karma as well. 

White Saviorism

As for tropes: you haven’t specified the protagonists’ races or ethnicities, so I’d like to point out that (especially since these workers are all POC) you’ll have to avoid depicting a white savior narrative. Are your protagonists also Filipino and Vietnamese? Is this an OwnVoices situation? 

(Lisa and Rina make some great additions below in terms of other racist tropes in this situation!)

~ Mod Emme

Filipino Expressions

While I know you might be looking for Filipino phrases or exclamations, it’s worth noting that there exist a variety of regional languages in the Philippines that aren’t Tagalog (what most people know as the “Filipino” language), each with their own expressions for emotional distress, so be sure to look into that! Regional and provincial websites are a good place to start.

That being said, some phrases are relatively universal - take for example, “Ay!” as an expression of surprise. 

Hostage Situations

I’ll be honest - I’m a bit uncomfortable with the idea of Southeast Asian characters in a hostage situation, considering majority of hostage situations I’ve read about in Southeast Asian news tend to be associated with human trafficking and exploitation, which vulnerable POC in “developing” countries often fall prey to. 

While I don’t know anything about the hostage situation you’re writing (I could be completely off the mark!), the fact that the characters in question are described as (1) workers (see: The ASEAN Post: “ASEAN’s migrant workers live in fear”) and (2) exclusively Filipino and Vietnamese sets off alarm bells. If so, I’d suggest exploring a different plotline - while especially relevant in a globalized age, it’s an Own Voices story to tell.

~ Mod Lisa

Similar disclaimer that I’m working with the little info you’ve given us. Portraying Southeast Asians as exploited labourers is just as much cliché as it is offensive. American white saviour media with specifically Filipino, Vietnamese, and Korean populations being saved is extremely abundant and overdone because…you know…historical context…of certain 20th century wars. If your protagonists are American, on top of being distasteful, what you’re doing is probably not even that original. 

~Mod Rina

[threewaysdivided]

Hello and welcome to the mess!  I’m ThreeWaysDivided, also known as 3WD.

Statistically you are here from either my Young Justice: Deathly Weapons fanfic (in which case yes, I’m still writing it, it’s just that Life Happens So Much) or the Van Gogh quote (in which case, in the interest of not deceiving you: this is not a quote/inspo blog, I do that sometimes but for the most part we post nonsense here, sir).

Anything important we should know about you?  

I am a legal adult and have been for several years, and if that is something you have boundaries about then that is A-Okay.

Are you in other places?

I am!  You can find me writing on Fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own, and goofing about on DeviantArt and Discord (ThreeWaysDivided#3586).

What can we find here?

Madness.  A rather quiet sort of madness involving plentiful food and plushies, in which we at least try to be balanced and approach things in good faith but still - this way lies madness.

But I suppose you mean content…

Fanfiction (#my writing)

As mentioned, my main fic is Young Justice: Deathly Weapons, a YJ x DP crossover (FFN | AO3).  The #young justice: deathly weapons tag will give you all the content, asks etc. about it, or use #yj:dw if you only want to see chapter release posts and my ‘official’ art pieces.  

If you want to know what I’m up to you can take a peek under #writing update, or send an ask should you need to tap the glass more vigorously.  There is also a discord server.

Wondering if you can make something for, or use part of my work in a thing?  See my Transformational Works Permission Statement.

Talking About Writing (#writing advice)

Sometimes I write my own thoughts, sometimes I share other posts, either way here we talk about the meta of story-telling, analyse how stories and writing techniques work, chat about tropes and all that good stuff.

Big Essays (#scattered thoughts)

Ever wondered what those long Youtube media videoessays would look like if produced by someone with no film or editing skills?  Ever thought they were just too audiovisual and wished you could read a transcript instead?  Boy do I have a thing for you!

You may recognise such smash hits as Tumblr Post Plus is Not Your Friend, Thoughts About Sam Manson, Young Justice’s Terrible Failure of Narrative and Why Does the Danny Phantom Fandom Attract So Many Asexuals?

Art (#my art), Cooking (#3WD Cooks) and Fabric Craft (#sewing)

Sometimes I paint, sometimes I draw, sometimes I bake and sometimes I sew my own pokedolls, whatever takes your fancy.

Fun/ Cool/ Inspiring Anecdotes (#amazing stories)

None of these are mine, they’re just stories I found around and think are Neat.

Short Stories (#original writing)

Cool original fiction pieces by other writers.

Animal Shenanigans (#animal shenanigans)

Sadly I do not own animals but I love seeing the wild things they get up to.

Interesting Quotes (#quote of the day)

Because sometimes I am an inspo blog.

Photography (#photography)

A collection of other’s photos, mostly of natural world stuff, especially birds, flowers and insects.

Fandom Nonsense

In which there be art, meta, fic and other assorted delights.  Tagged by fandom, most commonly Danny Phantom, Batman, Young Justice, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Fullmetal Alchemist, My Hero Academia, Hollow Knight, Dan Jones & Dragons, Marvel and The Dragon Prince.

Is there anything I might need to watch out for?

I try to keep my blog relatively “all ages” so you won’t see explicit or graphic content, NSFW or even much swearing here.  That said sometimes I do talk about heavy or challenging topics such as mental health, loss, relationships and abuse.

I try to tag appropriately so everyone can sort and filter according to their needs but if you need an extra tag on a post then please feel free to let me know.