#wah perfectionism

[lesbian-moon-gf]

my style is so goddamn boring. it'll take years for me to create one i actually like

[brown-little-robin]

あ

[gaytobymeres]

In the mood where everyone is annoying me and I’m trying not to be a massive bitch

[freakartack]

how do you get Inspiration for your art?

love this question. Visually, everything on this list has a chair in the council of my brain.

Spiritually, i am inspired by a lot of things. #1 is my own damn life. Warioware is a series set in 200x, which, as someone who grew up in 200x, makes it easy to apply my own experiences and people i've met to my writing. Donut Disturb was probably the most direct example of this, as was the infamous Wah-kplace Harassment Training (which was actually inspired by me and a friend joking about if wario led our own required training at our job), but all my comics include elements of this to an extent. Obviously, i've never had wario tell me to harass people at my job, but the fun part about doing stuff like this is that I get to meet the source material halfway. We've all gone camping before, but now I get to imagine how a deranged cast of characters would respond to situations i've been in. They're so larger-than-life that sometimes the jokes write themselves.

Speaking of jokes, it would be remiss of me not to list the things that permanently damaged my sense of humor. Once again, jim henson is huge here; I love the character-based humor that the muppets and its ilk excel in. Every character is so genuine and fleshed-out, which makes it all the more delightful when they butt heads with each other. Homestar runner also had an indelible impact on my brain for much the same reason, in addition to its unique brand of absurdity. (I've had people bring up strong bad on many of my comics, which i wholeheartedly embrace.) Also, I grew up on both Peanuts and Garfield, which basically taught me what humor was in my larval state for better or for worse.

Artistically, as distinct from visually, I am both inspired by things that are Really Really Good and Really Really Bad. Some things that really inspire me to create even though my stuff is very different from them are really surreal animations, like the works of sally cruikshank and everything about peewee's playhouse. Unfortunately, I can only dream of being so ingenious as to create something even slightly on the same level as Pee-Wee's Playhouse, but the nexus of electric creativity and love for the art is something that, similarly to the muppets, inspires my very soul. On the other side of the coin, the writing in shittier cartoons also inspires my very soul, because while I unironically enjoy many things that suck, they also kind of make me feel like this:

If "now i know how a meatball feels" can make it on live TV, I can do anything i want. And so can you!!! Free yourself from the shackles of perfectionism, and MAKE BAD JOKES!!

[ruerock]

What are your dr ocs relationships with each other! Like are any of them friends? In my mind I'm imagining Keiki and Chami being besties and throwing the best tea party ever

thank you so much for the question!!! and omg im absolutely delighted that people point out Keiki and Chami looking like they could be besties/gfs - because they are! im going to go into details under the cut :D

Keiki and Chami are what i like to call one-sided rivals to best friends- since they share a "similar" ultimate, from the start Chami feels a little bit thrown into a competition. See, the thing with Chami is that she tries REALLY hard to cater to other people and her perfectionism makes her push herself a little too hard to the point its overwhelming to others and in turn makes her insecure. this is the total opposite of Keiki who is an effortless people magnet- even the grumpiest in the group like her. this makes Chami really jealous so in her head Keiki becomes her rival and she avoids her altogether. Keiki doesn't hold any negative feelings for Chami although she can tell Chami dislikes her- so accordingly, she is not a fan either.

this changes after the second trial though- when Keiki successfully protects Chami from unjust accusations. Chami is like "WAIT so you actually don't hate me and don't want to steal all my friends from me???" and Keiki is like "girl NO? where did that come from, i was hoping for us to be friends!" and Chami is like "oh. oh 🥺" and they have a very heart-warming "conflict" resolving moment that is interrupted by Jun going "umm ladies i think we're in the middle of murder investigation?" to which they go "RIGHT. im so sorry"

they become best friends after that! inseparable too. turns out they work amazingly well together and like u guessed, they throw the best tea parties ever!

they're hinted to have feelings for each other too- after Paris (who went to american school before) suggest they organise a prom night, Keiki and Chami work hard for it to be perfect. and when the prom night comes they also realize they were so busy they forgot to get a partner!! which, you know, isnt that tragic because turns out they both planned to ask each other <3

me when i go on 34324 pages essay on Keiki and Chami ANYWAYS. one last fun fact i wanted Keiki's hair to resemble cinnamon rolls and for Chami's hair to resemble croissants with the ribbons being like "chocolate toppings"! not sure if it shows through so i thought ill throw it out there :3

from other's distinctive relationships we have Paris and Yami- theyre complex as they are kind of working against each other all the time, but Paris wants to prove herself innocent to Yami and by proximity pretends to want to befriend her. Yami is very weak for kindness shown her way but shes also very smart so this is very hard for her- she's basically having to battle between rationality and feelings. if the game was from her perspective it would be "danganronpa: yami's struggle between wanting justice and crushing easily". Although Paris quite literally gaslights her all the way, she does eventually put so much work into befriending her that the feelings overtime just become a little bit real

i think im gonna wrap it up so no one falls asleep on my post (although if you're curious about anyone else im super happy to answer! :D) BUT i also wanted to mention Kei here since i noticed a lot of people like him- Kei is bros with Kenichi, friends with Akane and also the only person Yami has to a real friend too, he's super sweet to her! Kei is "autistic - loves to talk" and Yami is "autistic - loves to listen" so theyre very wholesome together :'3

IF ANYONE GOT THIS FAR THANK YOU FOR READING it means a lot to me that people r actually interested in it wah!! <3

[kenmaiii]

alright 🧍🏿‍♀️ now that assignments are out the way i will work on art today

[appreciate-kaimaki]

can we get a scenario with kaito asking maki to a high school dance, and maybe a little description of what they’d do at said dance?

This one has literally been in our askbox for months... I'm terribly sorry this took so long to complete, anon! My perfectionism really got to me on this one because it really struck a chord in me, and I was trying a bit too hard to make it flawless. I've got it under control now... I think. Anyhow, please enjoy the fic under the cut! I had an absolute blast writing this, and I hope you enjoy some shameless Kaimaki fluff.

~Mod Shuichi~

Momota Kaito was a man with much bravado, able to bear the rigorous regimen of the astronaut training program and face the myriad dangers of outer space without batting an eye. Yet, as he prowled the corridors of Hope's Peak High School with his best friend-slash-roommate Shuichi in tow, the spaceman couldn't help but fear the task he was now about to face. The Homecoming Dance was looming a mere week ahead, and Kaito had decided to take the opportunity to try and take his longtime crush, Harukawa Maki, as his date.

That, however, was something much easier said than done. The obsidian-haired girl had the nickname of 'ice queen', which had not come without reason - she was known to ward off anyone foolish enough to dare approach her with a silent glare which, according to Kibo, was capable of cutting holes in metal.

Shuichi sighed. "Please tell me what you see in her, again?"

"I don't know! There's... this something about her that makes me want to know her better."

"If you insist. Just come back in one piece." With that, the detective left Kaito and his girl troubles to hang with his other friends. Kaito wasn't entirely sure that he could return without injury, however, as he slowly appraoched Maki's seat. Hoping his voice wasn't quivering too much, he extended a trembling finger and tapped her shoulder.

"Hey, Harukawa?"

Any semblance of control Kaito had left evaporated like a snowflake on the Sun as Maki finally turned to face him and fixed him in her crimson stare. When she spoke, he could instantly understand what Kibo meant.

"What do you want?"

So this was what it felt like to have his blood freeze in his veins, Kaito thought. Despite his best efforts to control his own speech, his paralyzed tongue could only stutter out,

"Uh, doyouwanttogotothedancewithme?"

The following five seconds were simultaneously the longest, most awkward, and most terrifying moments in Kaito's life. 'That's it,' he concluded. 'I'm gonna show up on tomorrow's news as a dismembered corpse.' Frozen in fear, he missed the look of surprise flashing across the obsidian-haired girl's face - but not her reply.

"Yes. I'll go with you."

"Uhwhat?"

Maki's face immediately morphed into a scowl as she turned away, but it was impossible to miss the shade of vibrant red now gracing her features. For a moment, Kaito thought it matched her eyes very well.

"Do I have to repeat myself? I said I'll go with you, loser!"

Internally ecstatic at her words but also not wanting to incur Maki's wrath by overstaying his welcome, Kaito left her a muttered 'thanks' as he hurriedly shuffled over to Shuichi.

"She say yes?", the detective asked.

Kaito could only let out a deep, relieved sigh. "In a sense."

The remaining week vanished in a flurry of hurried preparations, and soon the big day was upon them. The dormitory hallways were bustling and abuzz with activity as a myriad of Ultimates clad in their finest suits and dresses searched for their dates. Kaito and Shuichi also joined the crowd as they too made their way to the girls' dorms.

"Ugh, I'm never gonna get used to having my arm inside my sleeve," the spaceman muttered. He had dressed in a deep purple tuxedo with a smattering of glittering 'stars' on the lower hem for the occasion, but the formality of the event meant that he couldn't just throw it over his shoulder like he usually did with his jacket.

"Can't relate," his friend replied. He was also wearing a tux, but a more low-profile charcoal gray one with barely visible graphite pinstripes. "Most normal people wear their jackets properly, Kaito."

Kaito waved him off. "Pssh, who cares. Normal is overrated anyway."

Their discussion about sleeves and arms were abruptly interrupted when Akamatsu Kaede all but teleported in front of them, her pink strapless recital dress fluttering behind her and a lilac purple ribbon decorating her bosom.

"Found you, Shuichi! And hi to you too, Kaito. Mind if I steal him away for the night?"

An astounded Kaito turned to his sidekick. "Man, someone got lucky! How the hell did you end up going with her? Never thought you'd be her type..."

"To be honest, I have no idea," the detective replied with a shrug. "She asked me, actually."

Pouting, Kaede put her hands on her hips. "Hey hey, Kaito! No badmouthing my date here! Oh, by the way, who are you going with?"

"Harukawa Maki. I was just going over to pick her up."

"Oh, that's good to hear! She always seemed so lonely. Hope things work out great between you two!", the pianist chirped as she took Shuichi's hand and led him away. Left alone once again, Kaito resumed his search for Maki's room.

Finally facing the door, Kaito steeled his nerves one last time. Taking a girl to a dance wasn't supposed to be hard, even if she was his longtime crush who could, in fact, literally crush him to powder should anything go wrong.

"C'mon, Kaito. You're the Luminary of the Stars... you can do anything you put your mind to... the impossible is possible, you just gotta make it so!"

Reciting his mantra to himself, Kaito finally knocked on her door. He honestly had no idea what he expected to see, but the sight he faced when the door finally opened utterly blew him away. Maki had chosen a scarlet gothic lolita-style dress with generous amounts of black lace frills and a slim halter top that was only held up by a pair of impossibly thin spaghetti straps that crossed over her back before disappearing into her corset. It matched her onyx hair and crimson eyes perfectly, and she looked stunning beyond compare. Even her usual hair scrunchies seemed different... shinier, somehow. Kaito guessed they were some sort of satin.

"Stop staring, idiot!"

"O, oh! Of course, I'm sorry." Snapping out of his Maki-induced stupor, he offered her his arm.

"Shall we go?"

Maki wordlessly nodded and took his arm, and the duo made their way towards the gym where the dance was being held.

Homecoming was a very extravagant affair. Most of the artistically inclined Ultimates had been conscripted to decorate the gym into a party hall, and they had delivered splendidly. The ceiling was nearly invisible from all the banners and streamers that had been hung up, and the floor had been transformed into a polished dance floor with rich velvet carpets around the edges where the tables were. A veritable buffet of snacks, drinks, and refreshments were set out on one side, and a state-of-the-art sound system and a grand piano had been installed on the stage to complete the lavish atmosphere.

Many students had already taken to the dance floor, swaying to the music with their dates as light jazz played over the gym. As Kaito glanced at his date, unsure to ask if she wanted to dance or not, Maki suddenly whirled on him with a fiercely determined look on her face and all but dragged him off to the center of the venue.

"Wha- wh- Maki?!"

"Shut up and dance with me."

Kaito did not object. He allowed Maki to lead him in a foxtrot, the girl surprisingly well-versed in dancing to the point that Kaito had to put in a bit of effort to keep up at first. He caught on soon, however, and found himself gazing into his date’s crimson eyes as they settled into a steady rhythm. They were quite mesmerizing, Kaito thought, like swirling nebulae glowing with starlight…

He was jolted back to his senses by a finger that poked dangerously close to his left eye. "WAH!"

"Earth to space idiot," Maki chided. "You almost stepped on my foot there."

Kaito, as always, was not without a comeback. "It's not my fault you're so breathtakingly beautiful."

"Do you want to die?"

"Sorry, sorry!"

Maki's lips thinned into a line and her brow grew a slight crease as she stared into his tie, her feet slowing for a moment as she sunk into thought. "Do you really think I'm beautiful?", she mumbled.

"Of course! Even more than the brightest star!"

She blushed a beautiful shade of apple red and not-so-subtly brought her heel down on his toes.

"Ow!"

"That's for making me lose my composure."

"You really do look hot when you blush- ow!"

The pair continued to dance to the music, Maki's face now significantly redder than before. Kaito couldn't help but smile - he had his perfect date, the dance was going splendidly, and everything was just so perfectly well!

The tone of the event would soon undergo a complete shift, however. Ibuki-senpai soon took over the stage with her trademark 'music' of unintelligible screaming and yelling, and the once-calm party was now more closely resembling a rave than a dance. Kaito couldn't bring himself to understand how anyone could actually appreciate the cacophony issuing from the stage, but judging by the crowd's reaction it seemed he was the exception, not the norm.

"Wanna get outta here?", he asked his date, who thankfully seemed to share his opinion on the Ultimate Musician's 'music'. Although Maki was standing right next to him, he had to shout at the top of his lungs to be heard over the senseless din echoing in the gym.

"Please!", she yelled back.

Covering their ears, the pair headed out to the school's garden where the full moon was casting its light. Glad to be away from the chaos, they found a bench and sat in a comfortable silence for a while. When he was sure the ringing in his ears had finally subsided, Kaito asked Maki the one question he had been itching to know for the entirety of the past week.

"Why did you say yes when I asked? To the dance, I mean."

Maki averted her eyes from the astronaut, but her blush was impossible to miss. "I... I might've had a bit of a crush on you."

"Wow, I never knew that. I knew I had a crush on you, but this is... why?"

"You showed Yumeno your notes when she got sick and missed school last week. You became Saihara's friend when he was alone. You actually listen to what Tojo has to say. And you're kind and friendly to anyone and everyone you meet."

"I'm afraid I still don't see the connection."

Maki let out a small sigh. "I'm not very good with people. I want to get closer to them and make friends, but I just lash out and scare them away. But you always showed so much kindness to everyone. So I thought maybe, you were the one I could try and get close to."

"I'm honored - wait, how did you know all that?"

"I'm observant."

"Anyway, that's no big problem, Maki Roll. I wasn't really good at being social from the get-go, too." In an incredibly bold move even to himself, Kaito put an arm around Maki's shoulder. Even more surprisingly, she actually leaned into it. "I know you're a good person. I'll make sure help you every step of the way, and you'll be making lots of friends soon. I swear by the name of the Luminary of the Stars!"

"Did you just call me Maki Roll?"

Panicking, Kaito instantly froze. The nickname was something he came up with in the spur of the moment, but had he chosen the wrong thing to say? "Uh, sorry 'bout that, it was kinda stupid, I'll stop if you don't like it."

Then Maki burst into silent giggles.

"No, I love it. Nobody's ever given me such a cute nickname before. Sorry I scared you, it's the eyes, isn't it? I have to work on my expressions..." Her smile was clear on her face as she looked up towards him once more.

Kaito grinned. "Actually, I think you're cute even with the murder eyes. It's unique... it's something only you can pull off."

"Oh, shut up."

Chuckling at her remark, Kaito took her hand in his and stood up. He led her over to a small circular clearing in the middle of the garden where the moonlight shone brightest, fiddled with his phone, and set it down on the floor. The suave voice of Frank Sinatra soon filled the air.

Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars...

"What are we doing?", a surprised Maki asked.

"Dancing! The night is still young, after all, and I don't want to waste my beautiful date because the music isn't to our taste." He took a step back and bowed, extending a hand to her like he did earlier. "Shall we dance, milady?"

Maki took the offered hand. "Gladly."

Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars...

Moonlight illuminated the two of them like a dream as Maki allowed herself to be led by Kaito in a gentle waltz. Her crimson dress flared out like a blooming rose with each spin, and his star-studded coattails flew in the wind with each move they shared.

In other words, hold my hand… in other words, darling, kiss me!

The pair danced all around the garden with hands clasped tight, softly mouthing the words to the song that was serenading them. The experience was similar yet completely unlike the dances they danced in the gym only hours ago - this time it was infinitely more private and intimate, a show for the two of them only. Lost in each other's company, it seemed to them as if they had been transported to a realm of nothing but moonlight and soft music and rosebushes and each other.

In other words, please be true... in other words, I love you!

The song came to a close as Kaito swept Maki into a dip, their faces hovering a mere inch apart. Purple eyes met red, neither able to look away. Lips were parted to let out warm breaths that quickened as both realized how close they were to each other. The pair were in perfect balance, each holding the other in place with their very body. And just as it seemed the fragile yet beautiful moment could last forever...

Maki took hold of Kaito's collar, drew him closer, and kissed him full on the lips.

It was as if time itself had stopped. The rustling of the leaves in the wind, the dull thumping of the music from the gym, and even the glow of the moonlight shining above melted away from her senses. There was nothing left behind but his slightly rough but warm lips on her own, the firm fabric of his jacket under her hands and his toned back beneath it, his gentle and sweet scent in her lungs and the pleasant tingling in her heart. In short, it was nothing but perfect. She could have spent an eternity in that single shining moment and never get tired of it.

Unfortunately for Maki, a slew of doubts started bubbling up to the surface like fizz in a glass of soda the moment her brain caught up to her body. Here she was, with her lips on some boy she'd literally known for barely a few hours. What if she was overreacting to someone who'd only shown her basic kindness? What if she was overstepping her boundaries when Kaito only thought of her as a friend - and a closed-off and distant one at that? What if he thought of her as clingy and obsessed over him in all the wrong ways?

"I'm sorry," she breathed, "that was uncalled for. I shouldn't have done that." She hurriedly pulled away, disentangling from his warm comfortable embrace. She was all ready to flee from the garden, flee from her traitorous emotions and this stupid feeling in her chest when a gentle hand grabbed her wrist.

"Maki Roll," Kaito whispered, "if you wanted a kiss you could've just asked."

He pulled her back into his arms in one swift movement, into that intoxicating black hole of warmth she would never be able to escape, and kissed her again with all the passion in his heart.

And of course, like all things, the second time was even better than the first.

[theamberfang]

Practicing stream-of-consciousness writing now, which I guess is what I was talking about yesterday—or recently; I don’t remember if it was yesterday exactly. Regardless, I’m going to try to keep typing my thoughts without stopping. I was really tempted to just now; I really wanted to scoot my chair back, spin around, and probably get up to think about my words.

Anyway, I also turned off spellcheck before starting, so that’s cool. The idea is to prevent the red squiggles from interrupting my momentum, because I have a really hard time ignoring those things.

Otherwise, I’m not sure if I have much more to write. I mean, like, shifting to writing a scene or something. Writing about how I’ll do this stream-of-consciousness thing is all I really had in mind to start with, and the plan was to just see where it goes. And now I’m just spinning my wheels.

Uh...I don’t know, I guess I could try writing a scene, but maybe practicing this flow is better. If only I had something to actually keep going with. I guess writing about how I have nothing else to write has kept things going somehow. I doubt it can keep up for much longer though.

eeehhh.... flibble flarble gibble garbs. shibble shanky tribble ward. minktrupple zeeple barp. flangle florp. sheeb deebee do bop, beep boop. shibby do wop. keep the nonsense going.

That would have been a giant pile of red squiggles if I had left spellcheck on. It actually feels pretty nice to be able to type out the...like, whatever-that-is that my mind gets on doing when I have nothing else going on. *blank stare*

I don’t know what that was. I just stopped thinking—in words at least. I did feel like stuff was going on, but, like, in the background. There was a tip-of-the-tongue sort of feeling, except with trying to even think something in words. Like, something about this process is revealing, perhaps, why I end up stepping away from the keyboard to pace and think about things. I may have learned to do that so that I can have time to try sorting things out so that I can even express things in words. Otherwise, it’s like, trying to squeeze too much out of a small opening and it all just gets jammed up and stuck instead.

I’m not sure if this will work long term now. But maybe it will. I don’t know. I can say that writing a pile of nonsense felt really really nice. There might be something to the way I try really hard to maintain correct grammar and spelling; maybe it feels very constraining in a way that I don’t realize normally. So maybe practicing this can be a means of, like, unlearning some aspects of my perfectionism issues. To an extent at least. I’m not sure how comfortable I’d feel completely letting go of the rules of language.

but maybe it would feel really nice. Again, it did feel great to write that pile of gibberish. That’s something I can’t really deny. Even if that’s a tad extreme. There’s certainly middle ground between that and my typical “proper” writing style—even overly proper, perhaps. Like, I go out of my way to use em dashes even. It’s just a habit at this point; I don’t think I can even say what the alt-code for an em dash is: I just do it through muscle memory now.

shibble shankee deebee boo goo wah bapper shibble work

freedom is a mass...ive....uh yeah that wasn’t going anywhere.

I wonder if I could mroe specifically try to stop using the backspace key. Pracrice practice letting myself make mistakes. Or, as I just did, if I make a mistake, I can just leave it. It doesn’t matter if it makes things difficult to wri read. I’m not doing this for anyone to read. I’m doing this to try different things that might help me write more—not even better, just more.

Like, I’m not usually proud or boastful about things—even when I should be—but I’m at least confident that my writing isn’t terrible. Like, fundamentally. I can’t speak to, like, long form story-telling. Because I haven’t managed to write anything that a long. but even for that, I don’t think I’d be horrible. I feel like I’ve spent too much time thinking about stories and storytelling to be horrendous at it. At most, I’d expect something I write to be boring or something for being too “safe” or whatever. That’s not even somet an idea that I like entertaining, since the whole concept of “safe” in this context has to do with, like, marketability and shit.

I feel pretty satified with what I’ve written tonight though. Even if I’veo nly been doing it for about 11 minutes. Honestly, I never actually spend that much time writing most of my posts. Well, maybe not never. usually I don’t. Usually it just takes more than enough effort trying to get myself to write at all, so I’m quick to stop doing so.

but yeah, I wrote a decent amount in this... more freeform manner. it was nice. This seems like an itneresting method to get myself to write. Hopefully I get inspired to write a scene sometime so I can try to see what happens when I apply this methodology to it. blerghle bob.

[robo-cryptid]

Overthinking and perfectionism are definitely creativity-killers! I broke out of some of these habits (prior to my current slump) by reminding myself of the “stakes”: writing “bad” fanfic has very low stakes, in the end. It’s not gonna end your career or your relationship or any other meaningful part of your life. It’s not gonna end your fandom experience or enjoyment of it (which may also be very meaningful, or it may not). It’s just one “bad” fanfic (and lbr, it’s probably not bad, and even if it is, my bad isn’t other people’s bad; multiple someones will enjoy that you put it out there, and some of those someones might even be people you respect and like). 

Re: the external gratification problem, I don’t think that’s an easy one to solve. It’s really nice to get feedback. I love feedback. I love knowing people like the things I’ve done and let me know about it. But obviously feedback is also a trap, because it’s really easy to talk yourself out of it. It either doesn’t matter at all (”I’m still garbage, wah”) or it matters too much (”I didn’t get enough/from the right people”). So I can’t really offer anything but commiseration on that one. 

Obviously the gremlins argue with my own logic here. I get into big fights with myself, lol. But when it does work, the “low stakes” argument is one self-talk strategy that works. For feedback, it’s just... “it’s nice, it’s validating, let yourself feel good about it, but it isn’t everything” over and over until it sticks.

Any other creators out there have this? I get the creating-a-thing joy while I’m doing it, then the little combo of “fuck yeah, I accomplished A Thing!” with “eeee I hope they like it, yes, they liked it!” rush when I post the thing, and then a few hours later the brain-gremlins come crawling back and they are worse than before. Like there’s some kind of high then letdown where I feel like actual garbage and doubt my entire existence.

Most of the time posting writing results in my brain either going “Yes, we’re motivated, let’s write more!” or “Welp, I finished a thing, guess I can turn off FOREVER.” So I have some strategies to manage those reactions. But this other reaction is new but increasingly common and I don’t know what to do about it? But it is sapping my will to write, so if any of you have dealt with it and have thoughts, advice or just “Yeah, me too”s, I’d like to read it!