#using specific shapes to communicate things about a character is great for when you want to communicate their personality at a glance

[rileys-battlecats]

I love how you changed Wrentail’s design slightly by making him more rounded. Mudpaw is spikey but is really a sweetheart, and Wrentail being rounded making you think he’s a decent cat when in actuality he’s a monster. Really drives the theme never judge a book by its cover

Yes!! That's exactly what I was going for!!

[liketheinferno2]

These aren't full ref sheets but I was trying to take some clear pictures of Hephaistos for later art reasons and then got side tracked doing all of the Pandaemonium bosses so here they are in order. Also for anyone following who doesn't play FFXIV and knows it as the catgirl game, enjoy this instead? VISUAL SPOILERS obviously.

Asphodelos

Warder of the Condemned: Erichthonios

Mythic Creation: The Hippokampos

Mythic Creation: The Phoinix

(+ familiars)

Hemitheos: Hesperos

(+ sexy fanfic redesign by Nemjiji)

To be brutally honest I never really liked either of these designs compared to every other Hemitheos we get, I think the really brutal black and red of the Phoinix is weakened by gold accents, but I still am always down for gay vampire surf rock. The Savage version kind of looks like Ultimalius as well if you've played XVI.

Abyssos

Mythic Creation: Proto-Carbuncle

Hrgrhhgrhrgrh

Hemitheos: Hegemone

^ My favourite detail on this is you can see the parasite's outlines in her robes and in her legs, then right through the eye holes on the mask to wrap around the torso. I'm convinced this version of Hegemone is functionally an ant being piloted by a cordyceps infection.

Hemitheos: Agdistis

She's very big

Perfect Imperfection: Hephaistos

I'm probably biased by Abyssos being the first raid I was there for day of release but these really are all fantastic. It's also when the story abandons all pretense of not being (at least partly) about family abuse and is loudly using the body horror and shackle motifs to talk about that. It's great. Hephaistos specifically is constantly bulging and twisting in and out of different forms like a highly unstable chimera and the more I look at these the more I notice parts that just should not be there. He's giving everything.

As for the Savage design It's a hard thing to rate as such but my favourite part is the veins that grow down from the eyeholes in his mask like bloody tears.

Thanks Abyssos I love you

Anabaseios

Mythic Creation: Kokytos

Dæmoniac Dungeon: Pandæmonium

It's really hard to communicate how huge this nasty tumor crab I zoomed out as far as physically possible in the game engine and subsequently ended up at a goofy angle staring up his nose.

Ephemeral Justice: Themis

Best boy. The double ended lance and second pair of arms are fantastic for this character.

Theos: Athena

In.. almost every final fantasy adventure you're fighting the real villain not at the very end but a little beforehand, the big iconic end boss is often more a metaphorical figure representing everything wrong with that first person's ideals. Athena cut out the middle man and became her own JENOVA.

I do like the moth angel, especially the hollow body full of dubious orbs, but with her eyes closed all the time it gives off the impression of this not even being the true body but some kind of anglerfish lure in the shape of a fairy... which might be true because this exists:

I really really love her twitchy anemone feelers and how the moth body ends up grafted to the rest of it waist down.

Anyway there's the gang I did not specifically intend for this to be design reviews I just wanted to have clear photos because when you actually see them in game there's other things to focus on. In hindsight I can appreciate more the theming of each tier and then the series as a whole, but my only (extremely obvious) observation for now is that every character Athena had a personal hold over is decorated in chains somehow and so I should have seen the Hegemone thing coming lmao. Heph and Aggy are still my favourites I don't think that's changing any time soon. I'm also noticing that Anabaseios is now just old enough for random DF parties to fuck up severely and I find that fun so I'm going to go fight the crab mansion now.

[s0kkix]

Would it be too much to ask, how do you draw your faces? / avoid same face syndrome ?

etc etc

not too much at all, thanks for the ask !

the way i think about faces is like a puzzle - the eyes, nose, lips, ears, chin, etc. being the puzzle pieces. it's a sort of "mix and match" game.

for example, these three characters all have a similar, strong nose and droopy eyes with puffed eyebags (except for azariel in the last pic), but thanks to different face shapes, body builds (how a character is built also reflects in their face) ears, hair and other details the characters can be told apart.

incorporating your character's personality into the face design is a great idea. perhaps the way they express a certain emotion is different to the way other characters do. maybe their resting face is happier-looking than another character's. the face is a big element of character design, because it's a tool of storytelling on its own.

take a look at my lucifer, for example. woah ! what the hell happened to them ? (he's still pretty though)

the face should entice, force the beholder to ask questions about the character and be curious about their story. i'm not saying every face you draw should suggest the oddest of backstories and personalities, but give each of your characters something unique to their face that would spark someone's interest.

now, i haven't exactly checked how well they stand out amongst eachother by removing the hair and the rest of the body, but i did draw a bunch of my characters together without colour on one paper.

my biggest tip is - exaggerate ! find a feature you want to stick out in your character's face and construct the rest of the face to compliment it. matching a face with the character's personality is also something you should know how to do, so i suggest doing research on shape and colour language.

it's important to take note of how faces look as people (or humanoid characters) age and grow older. wrinkles are one of the main ways i add character to ... well, my characters.

as much as i enjoy drawing wrinkles, i usually save them for "wise old" or nurturing characters. but of course, wrinkles appear on all sorts of people, especially if they have a fuller face.

(i am speaking specifically for my stylization which often strives to be somewhat anatomically realistic)

another tip is to reference life when you study ! human people have such a wide array of features you can utilize, it's amazing and beautiful ! just make sure you do research on ethnic features and when they appear on which face (unless you're going for something supernatural/humanoid, then the nose gallery is all yours /j).

also, don't drastically diversify faces all the time. siblings and family members often have similar features and it's okay to repeat them in these cases.

(this artwork is pretty old)

if your character and costume design is good, "same face syndrome" shouldn't worry you at all. avoiding this art community boogeyman is just one way of diversifying your art and adding spice to it. lacking this diversity really is no sin.

at worst, it's just going to look odd. for example, if you're so used to drawing young, wrinkle-less characters and attempt to draw an older character without any exercise prior to that, chances are this character is going to look oddly youthful, resulting in a sort of silly outcome.

but just like with everything, take your time ! changes and improvements don't happen overnight, and it takes time for you to get used to new things. with all that said, i'm wishing you the best of luck and happy drawing !

[funnier-as-a-system]

Heyy I'm that game concept anon! Wanted to say that it's been absolutely lovely to read about different systems' experiences!! Nice to see we're not alone lol. I'm usually pretty confident in what we have going on, and people around us (in college) somehow are... supportive, even tho they don't understand what I'm talking about like half the time, but that moment bent me out of shape a little. Glad to report that I'm now back into the proper confident shape yeehaw :)

Also in my first ask I somehow failed to mention this, but the whole deal with the "romantic connotations" was literally just my teacher making it up himself. Like as much as I wanted to show my relationship with my husband/co-host one for one, I wasn't originally going to make the game characters have a romantic relationship. Cuz platonic relationships are very important too! And overall the goal was to show how alters should have better in-sys communication and collective problem-solving, when possible (and NOT bully each other for 'stealing' each other's life, and NOT bully the persecutors for being mean without trying to figure out why they're mean and without trying to help them, and NOT bully other alters for acting like they do without learning their reasoning, like we did, unfortunately.) I guess husband's 'Protective husband' energy was just too intense for the teacher to handle lol. But NOW I do want to incorporate in-sys dating. We'll see how it goes, I guess.

(also please take care!! That's a lot of asks to have wow. Hope you're doing well!)

Hey there!! It's great to hear from you again!

I'm really glad you're feeling better after what happened. So, your professor was just seeing romance where there wasn't any, huh? Feels like a common theme with professors whenever someone writes about any kind of close relationship – maybe it's due to amatonormativity, or maybe in this case it's just your husband's "protective husband energy", as you say, haha. But I'm happy to hear that you've continued working on your project with passion, and that you have people who support you!

I'm also happy to learn more about this game concept you're working on, because it sounds very cool! Everything that you list are important things for systems to learn, though I find many systems struggle to learn them when they first discover their plurality. As we said to a friend once, with how strongly the idea of "one body = one self = one life" is cemented into everyday narratives, it's difficult to unpack that and accept that your body and life may not be only your own, thus making it difficult to accept your system and respect your headmates. Of course, this doesn't excuse rude or cruel behavior between system members, but it's a common reason we've found for conflicts that occur shortly after syscovery. So, I find the fact that you're not just acknowledging but showing these conflicts and the process of improving relationships (with the word "relationships" being used in a general sense here) between headmates in your game to be a very good thing!

Thank you very much for the follow-up – and for the concern, haha! We'll be alright, but I think we'll soon have to create a specific tag for all these asks about intrasystem relationships. Maybe "datenight musings" will work? Hm, we'll workshop it.

[absolutebl]

And there it is again: In the first episode of Love in the Air, our young hero's buddy compliments him by saying he's handsome, that he "looks like Korean actor."

I've caught just enough of these references in my first year of BL viewing to realize that it's "a thing": Korea is the gold standard of ... something ... to other SE Asians ? Do I have that right ? If so, the ideal of what, exactly ?

Astro’s Eunwoo is generally considered/discussed as the perfect example of Korean masculine beauty. 

10 Korean Male Beauty Ideals

The checklist of Korean masculine beauty standards (as of 2022) is as follows: 

over 183cm (6″+) 

slim/skinny build but toned body (we talking swimmer over bodybuilder) 

a “small face” 

pale skin 

dark defined eyebrows

a smaller mouth

high cheekbones

v shaped or sharp jaw line 

double eyelids & bigger eyes 

high nose bridge 

Plastic surgery is often utilized to attain the final three in particular.* 

Add to the above the global procreative breeding standards for “healthy” masculinity such as: symmetry in face and form, broad shoulders, clear skin. 

SF9′s Rowoon is a great example of an idol successfully transitioning to leading man. He meets all 10 standards and is v tall at 190.5 or about 6″3. 

A Bit About Idols & Beauty Standards 

The visual of the idol group is (usually) the one who meets the most of the above checklist + photographs particularly well. As opposed to the center who is usually the best allrounder and/or most charismatic performer. Ironically the face of a group is usually the best representative in terms of communication and popularity style (handling fans + the press). But idols can/do hold more than one position in a group. 

Position distinctions are becoming less popular in 4th gen Kpop groups. While position assignments, including those based explicitly on Korean beauty standards, were pretty much expected of 3rd gen group formation. 

Idols “visual” judgement tends to be decided upon and called via the same standards as above checklist, but they are permitted to be more androgynous by branding than if they were leading man Kdrama actors.

That said, idols tend to transition to acting if they can meet more of the above named standards (and want to act, of course), specifically height. They will probably never get to play leading men if they don’t meet the height standard so that’s usually the biggest hurdle (pun intended) - except for if they do BL. Of course, there are exceptions if the idol is an extremely good actor or very very famous. My bias, Jinyoung, is short to be an actor, for example. He still gets rolls but it will always be harder for him to play a grown up leading man in a romance Kdrama than someone like Rowoon or Eunwoo.  

GOT7′s Jinyoung in Devil Judge 

How Does this Work Outside of Korea? 

Hallyu has had a profound effect on taste not just in other parts of Asia, but globally. But you asked about Asia.

Here’s a very good YT vid on the subject which basically is focused on women and China, but still addresses why Asian Beauty standards are the way they are culturally & historically. 

So when an Asian country (particularly in the south) calls a character “handsome like a Korean actor” that is code for particularly distinguishing the character as handsome by virtue of his “non local” features: like paleness and tallness. (Thailand also does this with reference to western beauty standards. Both Dean in UWMA and Tharn in TharnType are commented on/called out for/self identify as being handsome due in part to their “foreign” features, but the Thai word used is slang for a “foreigner of European decent.”) 

TharnType 2

Because of the popularity of both Kdramas and Kpop, Korean beauty standards are coming to dominate taste at least amongst specific age brackets of consumers/watchers and in countries where Kdramas and Kpop are particularly popular. In these case, the 10 point check list above comes into play when you get a comment like the ones we see in Thai BL. 

That said, Chinese beauty standards (somewhat different) are also in play in the culture itself (for primarily socio-political and historical reasons, so more prevalent amongst older generations, and places that were occupied by China or have intimate social-political relations with it, like Taiwan), as well as western standards (blame colonialism, Hollywood, and the fashion industry). Taiwan is an interesting case since it has intimate ties on all levels with China, Japan, S Korean, and the west, so their beauty standards are particularly varied. 

Japanese beauty standards (which used to dominate many parts of Asian because they cornered the market on music initially *waves at 90s Jpop* as well as manga, animation, cinema, and porn prior to Hallyu not to mention the whole, ya know, empire thing) have experienced significant pushback in the last 20 years, particularly from Korea. That said, their standards still hold pretty strongly within Japan (of course). They are a lot less formal and proscriptive. But, loosely, Japan tends to like a softer face shape, heavier jaw, and wider mouth and be less concerned about extreme tallness. They do love big eyes though. NCT’s Yuta is a pretty good example of one type of Japanese masculine beauty standard. But Japan has more than one. Remember the culture concept of kawaii is in play. Aka men are also allowed to be cute as a form of sexiness. 

Old Fashion Cupcake 

* Yes, I am well aware this is a terrible unachievable bullshit. I am answering the question not making a judgement call. 

Finally: 

Like most beauty standards, these are the result of classism, racism, and colonial occupational history. Not to mention trends, styles, permissive fetishization, gender binary, infantilization, and core linguistic symbolism and syntax around the meaning of worlds used to define and talk about beauty. 

I’m discussing this shizz from a cultural anth and pop culture analysts perspective. Don’t come at me in the comments because you possess the sadly ubiquitous inability to critically think about your own cultural biases and how these might impact your consumption of a different culture’s pop product. My patience is wearing thin and my ban hammer is immediate these days. 

(source) 

[finding-arcadia]

😇✨️ Astrological Analysis of Blorbo

Oh, the Astrology of Derek Hale. I had an enlightening convo with @ar795 over on my Fandom blog @hellameyers about the Astrology of Teen Wolf characters. But we never did get to Derek.

In Teen Wolf canon, Derek Hale was born November 7th, 1988. There hasn't been anything in the show to contradict this, like there have been with other characters, so I will go by this as a guide. Since we don't have his birth time, there's some wiggle room for my own interpretation of his natal chart.

I'm going to stick to the main 6 placements here: sun, moon, rising, Mercury, Venus and Mars.

Your sun sign represents your identity, your work ethic, and what drives you. Derek is a Scorpio based on Canon, and this completely works for him. Strong Scorpio placements are known for having intense eyes, which Derek has, including those eyebrows. It's also a very intense and deeply emotional sign with the element of water, which points to emotions. And Scorpios are typically very guarded, extremely private, or careful about expressing themselves openly unless they feel safe, and they implicitly trust the person they share themselves with. They're also very sexual. And can be stubborn when it comes to their beliefs, which makes sense because Scorpio is a Fixed Sign.

Since we don't have a specific birth time, his Moon sign is up for interpretation. Since the moon changes signs every two days, it's possible the sign the moon is in can change in the middle of a day. This is part of why the birth time is important for accuracy. Anyway, Derek, based on the date and the potential moon signs, I've concluded he is a Libra moon. Your moon sign represents your emotions, how you feel deep down. Libra Moons care a great deal about other people. They're a good friend to have. Libra is represented by the scales, so they are about balance, and doing the right thing. They can be charming, intelligent, and funny, but they can also become moody and indecisive. Libra is ruled by Venus, so there is a definite romantic nature to Libra as well.

With no birth time, we cannot calculate a Rising or Ascendant sign, so I've taken the liberty of intuitively picking one for him. The Rising Sign represents how others see us, how we are perceived. I feel as if Derek might have more Scorpio energy than the average bear, and even before we see trauma mold and shape him into the stoic werewolf, we've seen him as the intense, romantic, charming bad boy type while engaging with Paige and Peter as a teenager. Even as an adult, he is seen or perceived as intimidating, alluring, and protective. So I believe he is a Scorpio Rising as well as a Sun.

While I personally see Derek's communication style as more Capricorn, straight-forward, economical, and to the point, the chart suggests his Mercury is in Scorpio. Which to me, just further proves that Derek contains multitudes. He's very deep, he feels things very deeply, but he is incredibly guarded with his speech. He only tells you what he thinks you need to know or what he can trust you with. Which if he doesn't trust you, means he tells you nothing. This falls very well into how his character is portrayed in the show.

His Venus, planet of love and romance, is in Libra. This works for him because with Venus being the ruling planet of Libra, he is very romantic, and falls in love very easily. In Teen Wolf, he has a track record of being easily manipulated by those he loves or cares for. He is blinded by love. He wants to see the best in people that he cares for, and can become a bit wishy-washy, or people pleasing. Which can lead to him missing glaring red flags.

And, his Mars is in Aries. Mars is the ruling planet of Aries. Mars represents passion, energy, action, anger, and sex. With the very heated and outspoken sign of Aries in Mars, he is very vocal about his displeasure, and his anger burns bright. Derek is impulsive, and instinctual. He is quick to anger, but can also be quick to let it go. Passionate, courageous, and aggressive.

I think this perfectly encapsulates the Sourwolf, my sweet angel baby. What do you think?

[creepedverse]

MOD ASK - For those of us joining or rejoining the fandom, do you have any advice on OC creation like how to make them feel real or part of the creepypasta universe?

Also Im super hyped about the creepedverse!!

d6 - having fun with it is the most important thing. it's creepypasta, it's not that deep. research what you don't know (especially mental illnesses you do not have: i do not recommend adding diagnoses just for the hell of it) and don't be shy to impart parts of yourself and your experiences onto a character. that's what makes them unique.

D - I would say make sure your oc has weaknesses, while I love a Mary sue if you want it to feel real you need drawbacks to abilities, certain things are going to cause trauma but there are different ways ppl cope with it. Figure out what your oc’s coping mechanisms are. Also don’t be scared to give them a fleshed out background. Family friends. How do they interact w different kinds of ppl? Who do they prefer to stay around and for what reason/s? What motivates them? What makes them sad?

T - Look into psychology, study characters from classic literature, give them unique designs (make sure they have something recognizable about them). People aren't going to give a shit about your character unless you show them why they should. Have fun with it, take pride in it. Make it YOURS. Tropes also help as a good baseline. Learn the rules before you break them

N - Make something you're passionate about, something you can fixate on and sink your teeth into the details of. Character sheets are so so fun, but a lot of good characterization comes from how your oc interacts with the world around them, with other characters, with themselves. Write who they are when no one's watching, write how they feel about themselves and other people, write their thoughts, their actions, their reactions, write a world around them, and see what happens. Get visceral with it, give them the capacity to be awkward and clumsy and human. Study whatever medium you're creating them in. If you're an illustrator, research character design. If you're a writer, study literary devices and techniques. Look at characters that are similar, or characters you like, creators that write your favorite characters well and see what specific things they do that makes their characters so compelling. @crushedsweets is a star at character design, and communicating what a character's personality might be through color and shape language. @diasartstuff is great at making a whole universe around a character and giving them an ecosystem, a family, a social circle. @necroromantics writes character bonds so well, the intimacy of relationships and love in it's most prosaic and cynical forms, but writes like poetry, in a way that cements it's importance to his characters. So on and so forth. Study your favorite creators, take lessons from how they work. And don't forget to trust your own judgement, too. Nobody's ever going to make what you make as well as you do.

[this-is-z-art-blog]

Hello, I’d like to join Eight Ecto Nights, however I’ve never celebrated Hanukah and I suppose I wanted to ask someone who actually has. I’ll do my own reserch of course, but you seemed like a good place to start.

Is there any particular traditions or little things your family does that you might not see on a wikipedia? Is the mood usually as jolly as Christmas or is it more sedated?

beyond that, is there anything you’d particularly like to see in this event?

I hope that makes sence 😆 thank you for answering my questions

Howdy! First of all, welcome aboard eight ecto nights :D

Second, absolutely feel free to ask me questions. I love talking about this stuff, and I know doing independent research can be overwhelming when you don't know what questions you're trying to ask. If you're looking for research help, chabad.org has a lot of the traditional details and laws (here's their hanukkah page), and myjewishlearning.com has a more modern/egalitarian bend (here's their hanukkah intro)- that said, I'm totally open to asks or dms, hit me up!

Now to actually answer your questions. Disclaimer, a lot of this is just my own experience, not universal or the only 'right' way to do it.

In my family we light the menorahs from oldest to youngest. We all have a favorite menorah we tend to light year after year, but we also collect them, and often have a small party on one of the later nights where we invite friends and family to come light with us, so it's handy to have extras on hand. We use the regular boxes of hanukkah candles you can get at any grocery store for most nights, but on the very last my dad gets these beautiful taller candles with gradients of color to use.

When the kids in our family were younger, we'd often sit on the floor in front of the candles after lighting to play dreidel (a kind of spun top with Hebrew letters standing for the phrase nes gadol haya sham, 'a great miracle happened there', around the sides; which side lands facing up determines the outcome of your turn), and my mom still gives out bags of gelt (chocolate coins, typically in bright foil, that you win and lose in a game of dreidel) most nights.

Some other odds and ends we do include covering the hanukkhia-lighting table in aluminum foil (fire safety) and giving out different jobs (like setting up the candles for everyone before we start).

I wouldn't describe it as "jolly", but I'm probably not the right person to ask to compare something to Christmas. It's a fun holiday for sure, and one of my favorites; you have the lights, the festive foods, the gifts and surprises, the time together. It's not just about that though; it's about survival, and standing up to oppression and religious persecution, so there are more serious elements to telling and thinking about the story. That said, it's a pretty minor holiday.

In terms of things I'd love to see, first and foremost I just want to see what people make! The point of open-ended prompts is interpretation, after all. Whether you draw the characters singing hanukkah songs, write about them making their own menorahs, sculpt a ghost-themed dreidel, or something entirely different, I'm excited to see it!

Also, I hope people have a good grasp of what a menorah looks like. A hanukkah menorah, or hanukkiah, has nine total candle or oil holders (either is good, but candles are more common than oil lights). The eight main ones are placed from right to left, and lit from left to right (ie, newest first) by the ninth, the shamash or helper light. The shape of the menorah can get creative, as long as the eight holiday lights are in a straight, level line and the shamash is set apart (usually taller).

As a last thought, it would be nice to see an effort at IDs for image-based posts for the event; it's not hanukkah specific, but I've been seeing them more and more in the phandom, and it's lovely to see folks learning and trying to make the community increasingly accessible!

Let me know if you have more questions, on or off anon, via ask or dm, I am here to help!

[centipedelightning]

Can we have some fluff headcanons for Mars x reader??

Mars my beautiful boy. I think in the future I should add something to my pinned post about being clear about relationship types. Like it's pretty standard for these things to be romantic but I'm aroace and autistic so I'm set up for failure. Thank you anon! Also, this was an excuse to catch up on the horrortale comic bc I needed to refresh Mars' character.

| ht!Sans x gn!Reader || Romantic headcanons || Fluff |

Great bonefriend let me tell you

He's very affectionate. Like, if you accept physical touch he is always there; holding hands when walking, knees touching when sitting next to each other, you name it. Any little touch of contact is everything to him.

He doesn't nap as much as classic Sans but if you blinked a little too slow you will be dragged off to lay in bed. He uses it as an excuse to nap and cuddle.

If you aren't a physical touch person he's probably doing something for you. He likes to keep his hands busy, so if he wasn't able to hold yours he'd make friendship bracelets or something similar. He doesn't like fidget toys because he feels there's no end. He likes having final products.

No matter your stance on physical contact, he will be doing and making for you whenever he gets the chance. I mentioned the friendship bracelets but he also sews, knits, and crochets. Real homestead like. You have hats, coats, and socks galore. Every gifting holiday ends with you getting something handmade by him.

On your fifth anniversary, he knit you a sweater. It's multi-colored with your best colors and an off-white accent on the collar and sleeves. There's very intricate patterns with some of your favorite things (food, animals, shapes, whatever sparks joy). It also has a 3d soul-heart pattern on the collar and cuffs. Blood, sweat, and tears went into it (the last two literally).

I don't think he has trust issues in the same way as someone from a fell!universe but he's got something. So to get into a relationship with him is a big deal. You'd need to be a very patient and understanding person. You need to be good or get good at clear, open communication as well.

The underground affected his empathy so you need to be direct about problems and explain whether or not you want advice or are just venting.

He has a very deadpan way of joking where you are unsure if what he said was a joke. Just ask and he'll clarify, he never says it with malicious intent.

He raises chickens on the surface and he'd be egg-static if you helped or took an interest. He made that specific pun the first time you ask to meat the chickens. He will then make at least one egg-celent joke every. single. time. you join him in the coop.

This is about Mars so I haven't brought up Jupiter but just know you need to be besties with Jupes to be with Mars.

He is a good cook and will happily cook for you, but if you cook for him he's yours forever. That's only a minor exaggeration.

Loves playing board games with you. Quiet date nights in are usually trying out new board games he found.

The most annoying bitch ever and will put obscenely hard logic puzzles in front of you asking you to solve them. He will literally just walk over to you and place a five-page logic question that gives you flashbacks to math class. This will happen all while he has the biggest most shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

He doesn't actually do it to tease or make fun of you, at least it's not the main reason. He honestly just like using it as an excuse to show off in front of you. He loves being praised by you. Don't let it go to his head I beg.

He uses whatever soap and body wash you use. There's a chance you don't even notice because he buys replacements. There's no deeper reason other than it's right there. If you two don't live together and he's staying at his own house he uses his brother's stuff.

If you're into it, one of your first (and later regular) dates would be to the jazz lounge he frequents.

He doesn't care that much about what he wears but he'd happily put on a fashion show for you.

If y'all are close you can joke about his trauma, Mars even encourages it

[save-the-villainous-cat]

Hello cat!

Just read your 3k series and wanted to give you a bit of feedback.

End of part two feels a bit hasty, besides the typo in the second to last paragraph (pretty sure you meant villain not hero there). There's a few typos but who cares, this one was just a bit confusing and stopped my reading flow. BUT.

Part four is GREAT OMG the feelzzzz

And don't get me started on the ending it's truly villainous~ and just over the top honestly. I love it. Hard, hurting, realistic. Wanted to let you know you did a great job on the series :)

Personal opinion: I feel like you could have made this a lot longer. There's only a glimpse of the feelings you're trying to express, they came out but they'd really sink in if you'd dwell on it a bit more, write about the stuff a bit more. Although I think that's mb just not your style since you put more weight on dialogue. Like I said it's just a thought it's still great you don't have to change anything in your style.

Something else entirely... I've read some german mostly in your tags sometimes. So I wonder where you're from if you want to tell. Don't have to ofc.

Greetings!

Uhm…okay?

So, when I put my work out here, I obviously have to expect criticism. That’s kinda unavoidable. People will have an opinion about me and my writing.

However, I don’t really know what your intention is. For example, I don’t see the “typo in the second to last paragraph.”

I wrote:

The hero stared at them, eyes narrowed. As if all of this was a trick. But then eventually, they spoke. Followed by a line spoken by the villain.

The hero stared at them. So, they spoke eventually. I get that using nb/nb for both characters is confusing but most of the heroxvillain community is structured like that and nearly all my writing is too. Which makes it weird to me to see this as a mistake on my part…? Like, you could use any line I’ve written on here and tell me I actually meant hero or villain because they both use they/them pronouns.

Also, I didn’t really catch any big typos/mistakes in that snippet. I used a lot of short sentences in this especially because the hero is extremely tired in these scenes and thinking in long ass sentences is just not really possible in such a state of mind (at least not for me lol). So, I guess this could be a reason for why you were confused/not satisfied with the writing flow? It’s structured like all my other snippets and it’s my usual writing style, so that confused me about your ask, too. Of course, I make mistakes as well and I make typos but again…you could say that about every snippet I write, so I wonder why you chose this one specifically?

Additionally, I don’t really see which parts of my snippets are giving “only a glimpse of the feelings [I am] trying to express.” I don’t think my readers are dumb. I think my readers get what I mean when I write “It fried their brain, making it impossible to even think straight. Old panic resurfaced but they put on a tired smirk.”

I think my readers get that old panic means that this character is familiar with panic, whereas putting on a tired smirk is a reaction to it. Which is (as we see throughout the whole story) a thing the hero does a lot. Hiding their pain and distracting themselves with flirting. Readers aren’t dumb. I don’t have to go into every little detail about every tiny thing the characters experience. In fact, part of being a reader is, that you get to imagine these things for yourself. As the writer, I give you a tiny bit of information and as the reader, you get to interpret and shape that however you want.

My readers get what I am trying to express with my characters’ actions and their dialogues. The villain asking the hero if they think they’re a good person has meaning behind it and normally, as a reader, you get stuff like that. I don’t have to describe in a paragraph that the villain doubts themselves and is beginning to value the hero’s opinion on them, no, I let them ask if they think they’re a bad person.

Of course, this series could have been longer. Could’ve been deeper. It could’ve been a whole book. But I am not here to write books for you for free. I am not here to write thousands of words because one anonymous user thinks a blog which posts snippets, should write more and more and more.

So, I believe this is more opinion than actual criticism. I guess? Because, like I said, there’s a reason for the way this snippet is written and if you want to “criticise” me for typos, you’d have to criticise every post I have ever made.

And another thing is, this message is coming from an anonymous user. So, I’m sorry if this offends you but I really don’t care about your opinion that much. I don’t think this message had any criticism in it which improves my writing.

Eventually, your opinion doesn’t have the same weight to me as the opinion of a certain epiclamer or a certain lilyaang or a certain creweemmaeec11 or a certain snowshowerwriting or a certain avvail or a certain thepenultimateword or a certain English teacher of mine.

This is your opinion of the series and this is mine — I don’t see any big mistakes or horrible decisions I’ve made and some anon telling me they didn’t like this or that won’t change that.

And yes, English isn’t my first language. I am German, come from Germany, live in Germany.

[khaleesiofalicante]

Firstly, thank u for sharing stuff about yourself. I did wonder a lot what u studied and I'm glad that mystery got solved. Were you a little disappointed in realising that there was math in your field as well?

( Also a little out of topic , I know u dont like math, but can i make a case for it by saying that the reason math gets a bad rep is that it feels like u either get it or you dont. But once u kinda realise that math is like this one thing that is consistent. Like there are some absolute truths in here that wont change whether youre in space or earth , or youre an ant or a human. Those truths can lead to relations , now. I know its disappointinhg , frustating and agitating when u cant find the relationship you need for some particular question. But u can still try and find a relation, what u may end up with maybe not the relation u need but its still correct. You did find another truth , it maybe just wasnt one you needed at the moment. Math is beautiful like that , its like a prism that u can look at from all angles, sure the rainbow might come out under specific circumstances but its still a bloody cool shape and form. I hope this atleast makes you and maybe anyone else think of math in a little different way. )

Also you're the youngest that breaks a lot of my younger siblings stereotypes as well. It's so cute you're all earthy , would be so in character if your horoscope was a earth sign too. I love ur weird obsession with the number 21 .

I will take a chance to tell you sth about me as well for no reason other than u said it's okay to.

- I'm the oldest in my family, extended family as well.

- My name means a little brook or lake in my native language .

- I was the head girl of my school and my first and only high-school boyfriend was the head boy.( who i initially hated)

- i used to be really scared of darkness and ghosts and now i have learnt to live with them both .

- my favorite fruit ever is cherries.

- my life mantra is live and let live but sometimes people misconstrue it as i don't care , which isn't true and i hope people i love know that.

- im very very close to my family and will fight anyone who disrespects them.

- You're my first parasocial relationship that i am a little too into. I'm usually very private about my fanfiction interest so the first time i told my then boyfriend about how much i loved u , he was a little scared of my groupie behavior and told me to not be stan from the eminem song which made me a little scared of how i might be coming off. But u truly inspire me and my mom sends u wishes as well. ( the mom bit was a recent one)

- I'm also a nerd fighter ( we are very pro nerds and fight world suck) which is just the community that John and hank green have online.

- if u ever visit where i lived ( rn it's london, ) i would die and faint .

- when u write ur book I'm gonna buy 20 of them . 4 for me , 10 to give away to my loved ones and 6 to give out to stranger on the street because people need u to in their lives.

First things first. I'm not bad at math, I just don't like it 😂 I'm a humanities girlie through and through so not having to write an essay answer irks me. What do you mean I have to fuck around with numbers and you'll grade me on that??? No thanks!

Also you're cute for defending math so much (Other Max much???)

I was indeed SHOOKETH to find out about math (or stats rather) when I did my degree. And it was for a whole semester too. Fuck them, seriously. Should've warned me. But I like research so it was okay I guess :(

I'm a fire sign, bebe!!!

Thank you for telling me about yourself!! (You didn't say your name though or what you'd like to called here!)

It's cute that your name is called little brook. Max's name means great stream 🥹🥹

HEAD GIRL AND HEAD BOY???? WHAT FANFIC-

I am proud to be your first parasocial fanfic author person. And thank you for the wishes from your mom! I love wishes from mothers hehe.

I've always wanted to visit London (just not high on the priority list right now). But my sister moved to England last year so I will def visit sometime soon at least to see her 🥺

Thank you for all the love! I am trying to find more time to think about my book. It's difficult when there are so many work tasks and fics to write about. I need another vacation for it hehe. But here is a tidbit, there is a character called Radio and he is the best boy!!

Sending love 💖💖💖

[dramionediscussion]

Sorry for taking a while to get back to you. Also, I had to block some titles and names from this post since we don't allow hate towards specific people and their work, we can discuss things in general about fics, but calling out names and specifying why you don't like a person's work is not allowed.

Here is the thing, art is subjective. Just because you do not like a thing, doesn't mean others feel the same. You cannot understand how people like these very popular stories? Well, those people can't understand how you cannot like them.

Not every story needs to be well written, or has character development, is plot-driven etc. A story can be simple, basic characters, easy plot, no drama etc. There are indeed so many great fics out there, and yes some of them are better than others, some have better world-building, and you wonder why hasn't this blown up? But just because they haven't gotten as much attention as others, doesn't mean the popular fics are bad.

I am one of those people who suggest you read the classics when you enter the fandom. The Dramione fandom started in the early 2000s, but mid 00 to late 00, there was an explosion of fanfiction and for a lot of us still here after all these years, these are the fics that pulled us in. Those are the fics that we first read, and that we have nostalgia for. Those are the ones we have read a few times. So when new people come and ask for recs, we tell them read those. Read those earlier stories to get an idea of how the fandom evolved. Read the most popular fics so you can get a feel of the fandom. Those stories were the ones that created some of the fandom's headcanons, those are the ones that later authors ended up taking inspiration from. Were they the best-written ones? No. Did they have a of spelling and grammatical errors? Yes. Was it incredible OOC at times? Of course. But they still shaped the Dramione community.

Onto your next point, you shouldn't get angry at fanfiction authors trying to rewrite their work to remove the HP references from their novels. You should be angry at the publishing houses for making them rewrite fanfiction instead of an original story. So many authors are getting book deals based on their fanfiction and the publishing houses want that, not original ideas, they want a novelization of the already popular fanfic. That fanfic has a built-in audience who will pay for the new version, and the publishing industry knows this.

A lot of people in general have some negative thoughts on fanfiction, so when they hear that a book was written by someone who wrote fanfiction, or that this new novel was once fanfic, they get turned off. The new Anne Hathaway movie is said to be based on fanfiction, the author said it is not, but she does take inspiration from modern celebrities. But people didn't listen to the author and listened to what the internet had to say and joked about the movie before it came out. (After it came out people really liked it and no one is mentioning the fanfiction thing anymore).

A good author can take a story based in another world and rework it. Having not read those Dramione authors turned novelists' work before, I cannot judge whether they accomplished that or not. And I rather read it myself than listen to Goodreads reviewers. (I use Goodreads a lot, but many times find myself disagreeing with the most liked reviews.)

Also I actually read a very popular published romance book that was once a Reylo fanfic, and I didn't know it was fanfic nor do I know anything about that fandom, but I still loved it.

Your last point about authors getting a lot of praise and not enough criticism. I kinda agree to a point. They have the ability to block or delete negative comments. There has been an instance where someone left a comment that was perceived as negative and the author complained about it publically and the fans went to harass the commenter! That is horrible. But I don't think it is because everyone is "sensitive now", there are loads of people who ask for criticism, they welcome it. Just because you have noticed a handful of people acting this way, doesn't mean everyone is the same.

And again if they "publish actual novels that in reality have flat characters, chaotic development of events and in general are objectively bad", blame the publishing industry who allow this to happen so they can put out stuff quicker and make money faster. Because for them and many other industries, that's all that matters, money, not quality.

-Lisa

[thesunlikehoney]

take ur fav/s between these! :D also very happy to hear ur thoughts(any)

<3

HELLO MY FRIEND!!!! THANK YOU T-T

I am going to answer all of these because they bring me joy and because I have many opinions XD

9: Anakin killing the Tuskens. Just. I'm not upset about Anakin killing people I am upset that Lucus had him kill these specific people in this specific way for these specific reasons. Like. Come on Lucus. You're the one who showed your ass, not Anakin.

10: Oh boy. Worst part of fanon hands down is the tendency to strip away what little complexity canon gives to the clones. Sure, canon doesn't do a fantastic job with them, but there are Themes and there are Character Arcs and there are situations where the clones are in conflict with the Jedi and when they are in conflict with each other. A lot of fanon tends to ignore that and flatten the clones into a monolith.

14: One thing I see in fics all the time is Cody and Wolffe and Fox and Bly and Ponds as batchmates, with Rex as their collective baby brother. I don't know why. This is not negative or positive it's just something I see a lot that I don't really understand. It's usually sweet. I guess some fic with this hc got popular and other people started writing it?

16: I answered this in another ask but I'm gonna answer it again because there are many things are popular that baffle me. Mando clones. Like, fully embracing being Mandalorian as a community and using Mando'a fluently and respecting all these traditions and beliefs. I have written Mando clones! But I have also written non-Mando clones. And the more I think about it and write about it and look for fic that does not use Mando'a the more I wonder why this is so popular that it's virtually inescapable. Clones wanting to be Mando and wanting to have this culture and this language that could or maybe should have been theirs is one thing, exploring the complexities of what could be called a diaspora is one thing, but I have read a lot of fic where the clones are written as basically Mandalorians who just kinda happen to be in this situation serving the Jedi and it. Hm. Yeah Jedi and Mando parallels are cool but that's not. That's not who the clones are. That is not the role they serve in the narrative. Why are so many people writing the clones as straight up Mandalorians?

17: There should be more fic where Cody and Obi-Wan are not friends. That is all.

18: Davijaan. It's Davijaan it's always gonna be Davijaan I am always gonna be sad that my dude has so few fans. He's so great guys. He's a pilot and he doesn't paint his armor and he's in the background of more scenes than you would think. But jokes aside this applies to all the clone characters who are just there for a few scenes and get forgotten. Fandom shaped Fox and his two minutes of screentime into something great why can't we do that with Boost and Longshot and Hawk and Appo? All these minor characters with so much potential.

21: I said TCW show in another ask and I guess I kinda stand by that, a lot of lists say it's something that needs to be watched but honestly I don't think that's the case. I don't know. I think by and large most SW fans are pretty realistic about the quality of this canon XD

22: So there are two short scenes (if I recall correctly) where they are brought up, but the clones have identification chips in their wrists. I have seen one other fic besides mine even touch that. It's so-- there is so much there, so much to explore in regards to autonomy and personhood and the logistics of desertion. And it adds so much context to the Chip Arc. Of course Rex and Anakin and Windu and Shaak Ti were totally unphased when Fives said the clones had a chip in their head. They already had a chip in their wrist, what's one more? I wouldn't say it's my favorite part exactly but it's... I guess it's another thing fandom is sleeping on. Something from canon that adds a lot of meaning to the story for me, but that nobody else seems to even acknowledge.

[echolipse]

1. What is your romantic/sexual orientation? Panromantic asexual 2. Are you out? To whom? I'm not even sure. I'm not hiding it but I haven't done a formal "hi this is what I am" lol. 3. How old were you when you realized you were asexual? What made you realize it? I knew it was something weird with me sexually at like 13, but I didn't realize what exactly until I learned about asexuality at the age of 20. 4. Do you identify as a part of the queer community? What communities do you identify with? Yes. Mainly just LGBTQ+ in general, but for more specific ones it'll be the asexual and trans/enby communities. 5. Tell the story of the first person you came out to. I came out to my mom as bisexual when I was 14, that's what I thought I was back then (I just knew I liked both binary genders), I didn't know there were more specific things than straight, bi, gay. I told her in an SMS from my bedroom lol. She replied that she loved me regardless. 6. Have you faced oppression because of your asexuality, whether institutional or societal? I'm not sure. 7. Who’s your favorite Doctor? (Or, do you have a favorite asexual character?) David Tennant. 8. Do you believe there should be asexual pride? What do you imagine it being like? I mean, just celebrate pride with the general LGBTQ+ movement. 9. What does being asexual mean to you? Sexual attraction is little to non-existent. 10. What have other people said about your asexuality? Not much tbh. 11. If you’re out, talk about the most accepting person you’ve come out to. If you’re not out, talk about what you would hope a coming out experience would be like. Most people in my life are very accepting of LGBTQ+ as a whole. 12. Your favorite asexual Tumblr site. Don't have any. 13. Your favorite asexual website. Don't have any. 14. Tell us about a time you met another asexual, whether in real life or online. Don't remember. 15. Your favorite asexual character/celebrity/person. I like that guy on tiktok that calls himself tiktok jesus, he's asexual and pretty funny. 16. Your favorite “asexual” book (as in, sex and/or romance are not the main focus). A good girls guide to murder. 17. Your favorite “asexual” movie. Can't decide on a favorite. 18. Tell us a funny joke about asexuality. No. 19. What do relationships mean to you? Haven't been in one in 9 years, don't even remember anymore. 20. Tell us about your partner(s). If you are not in a relationship, tell us about your best friend(s). My best friends are great. I don't know what to say, I just think they're great and I'm happy to know them. I don't have the energy to write a lot about each of them (even tho it's just 2). 21. Your favorite asexual quote. Idk, maybe the classic "I'd rather have cake" 22. What do you believe causes asexuality? No clue. What causes gayness? 23. What is your favorite asexual pride image? Probably one with a dinosaur shape colored with the ace colors or something. 24. Write something or post a picture about asexuality that upsets you. It's hard finding love... not that I tried that hard, I'm lazy and don't like people lol. 25. What is the worst argument you’ve heard against asexuality? "You're not a plant" 26. Who is your biggest ally? My best friends. 27. What is your favorite types of cake? Carrot cake. 28. What is your favorite type of pie? (Or, is pie an acceptable replacement for cake?) No. 29. Where did you first learn about asexuality? I think it was here on tumblr. 30. Tell us anything about asexuality that you want to end with. I'm tired of writing now.

[dkettchen]

completely random ask that might be worthless idk but,

I really really like your style it scratches my brain nicely, if you could please tell me how you draw eyes/hair i would greatly appreciate it

okay have a great timezone goodbye

nO SELF DEPRECATING ON MY BLOG!!!!! 

that’s like a huge area you’re asking about ummm... reference, default photoshop brush, and 20 years of practice?? I guess??

if it’s about my style specifically, a lot of it at its base comes from disney and anime/manga styles (general proportions & shapes, expressions, gender cues, etc), which works well for my comics & animator background: if someone else managed to draw the thing many times then that kind of design is likely easier to replicate en masse than high-detail illustration-y stuff. It's all about looking at reference, both from real life & other people’s work.

Ex. for fanart and meme redraws I often try and match the original art style as closely as possible (unless it is offensively far from my usual style and won’t be posable properly in which case I will take my liberties with some of it 😅), which is also great as a style study from reference!

(vv specific eye & hair advice under cut vv)

((yes I will be using this opportunity primarily to gush about my comic character designs))

generally what I think about for eyes is default eye shape (ex. Diego’s eyes are a different shape from Leon’s, the middle bit of the upper lid goes down earlier/at a different angle)

expression (what emotion are we experiencing, what are the lids doing, how do we stylise that (this is where I get a lot from anime/manga))

and other facial detail where applicable (ex. I made sure to include double lids or lack thereof in the style for my comic (which I often don’t bother with in fanart etc, cause lids is just another line to draw, ain’t got time for that x’D) in order to be able to better differentiate between different characters’ ethnicities (important when you’re stylising away a lot of information like colour schemes & various bits of face structure, I know many examples of both western & eastern cartoons that fail at communicating that stuff via design alone (which is obv not limited to eyes alone also)))

Also when in doubt: dot eyes are your friend!

for hair, think about hair texture (how do we stylise straight, wavy, curly, tight-curly hair?)

hair style (how does this person use their hair? how does their hair behave and what shapes does it make when you do that with it? various lengths of hair (really short hair like Zoros will look different than longer hair of the same texture)/hair sections (like undercuts), gel, straightening/curling, ponytails, various types and styles of braids/plaids, ex. I like to stylise protective hairstyles like on current-day Kelly & Nate’s designs as just nice big chunky shapes for each dread/twist/braid, etc)

and shape language you want to use (ex. both Leon & Al have a similar hair texture and length at times, but I use a pointy shape language for Leon (lots of strands sticking out from the main shapes, bangs, layers) and a rounder one for Al (she has very few strands separating out from her main chunk of hair, it’s a wavier looking shape instead) to differentiate more between them)

[your-sweet-cookies]

Alt!

Send me "alt!" and I'll introduce you to a character I've rped in the past, want to play in the future or are currently playing somewhere else!

Message from Mun: Since I don't know how many of these I will get, I'll introduce y'all to my very first OC ever!

Okay, I dunno how many of you are familiar with the anime/manga Naruto, but that thing was my childhood and it holds a great place in my heart, for it is a show that got me through my darkest times, so it's only natural that lil ol' me decided to make her own original character for writing stories with her favorite Naruto characters, this OC being my longest active RP character for over 10 years (I created her back when I was only 12 years old, so this year will mark the 11th anniversary since I own this OC).

So, without further ado, I introduce you all to my Naruto OC... 猫好き 寂 (romaji: Nekosuki Sabi), also known as うちは寂 (romaji: Uchiha Sabi) (after marriage)! A few information on her: She's a former Konohagakure Chunnin ninja of the defunct Nekosuki clan (she's actually the last survivor of the clan, as the clan got wiped out in the Uchiha genocide, since they were directly affiliated to the Uchihas as a former enslaved clan, and thus lived within their community, alongside them).

Sabi left the Leaf Village after her family's and the Uchihas massacre at the hand of her former boyfriend, Uchiha Itachi, and spent most of her teen years in solitude and on the run, in search for the afro mentioned wanted criminal. She knew that Itachi wasn't a bad person, she felt it in her bones that there wasn't something right about the whole reasoning behind the massacre and she wanted to know the truth directly from Itachi himself. So, over the years Sabi trained harder in order to become stronger and be capable to face and fight the man she still loved even now, in the eventuality that he was indeed 'corrupted by evil' and she had to kill him. Luckily, things went in her favor and her gut instinct turned to be right. She got reunited with Itachi, learnt the truth and decided to remain by his side no matter what, even if the path he was walking now wasn't the most honorable of them all.

They married and went on to have two beautiful daughters, but sadly, Itachi died 2 years into their marriage (who has seen the anime/read the manga will know what's up his death), so she was left to be all alone yet again by fate (it's like a predestined omen since the kanji of her name means "silence" and it's commonly used in the word for 'loneliness'), but at least now she had her two daughters to take care of. So, she is currently an independent single-mother, living a peaceful civil life in a random small village near the borders of the Land of Fire, raising her two daughters and trying to live a peaceful life away from the sorrowful and unfair existence of the Shinobis.

A few infos on her appearance: Sabi is a tall (172 cm), slim and beautiful woman, with long chestnut-brown hair reaching her lower back, dark brown eyes that have a feline shape and air to them, a generally pretty and attractive face structure (similar to Tsunade's and Mei Terumi's, for reference) and natural generous curves (similarly to Hinata's), all of these being general characteristics of her clan's women (one of the reasons that determined the Uchiha to want to enslave and own this specific clan).