#well not hard but I literally have no time to draw

[moonstars-tro]

definitely agree, this is absolutely something that needs to be brought to light.

i personally favor leo and donnie because their blue and purple, i always have 😭 (like honestly in every iteration it’s leo and donnie for me just because they’re blue and purple, i start from color and then love the character next. u can look at my favorite characters list and you’ll just see different shades of blue)

HOWEVER, i love raph and mikey so much and i don’t think they deserve to be dismissed or mischaracterized or ignored at all. they’re incredible characters and even moreso, incredibly well written. i do think a large factor that contributes to their lack of popularity is the lack of focus on them in the show, due to the many cut episodes (so many, poor guys… i would’ve loved more sunset duo and brains and brawn) and the lack of a full season 2 in general, it’s the cause of many issues i fear.

little rant abt my love for raph and mikey

mikey is so creative and i love how they made that a bigger part of him in rise, and he’s not ‘just a baby’ he can be childish and immature but he’s also angry sometimes, he isn’t just a manipulative crybaby like some of this fandom makes him out to be…. but he’s funny, he’s got a short temper, he loves so hard, he wants the best for everyone. he’s the baby brother but he’s also the heart and the glue and he deserves the world my baby UAGAHJ i want more attention on him i read two mikeycentric fics lately and they changed my life and one of them wasn’t finished. bc i never checked if it was my heart broke guys.

rise raph is so WELL WRITTEN that it is INSANE. like holy omigosh. he just wants the best for his little brothers but there are so many little moments in episodes that remind you that he is just a child who was forced to grow up too early. he’s so sweet and silly and he’d give the world to protect his brothers. AND HE LITERALLY DID. HE SACRIFICED HIMSEKF FOR LEO IN THE MOVIE that moment still makes me so ill sorry because he cracked his shell that HURTS. omigosh anyways i love how rise kept some small things that make him RAPH, like how he’s impulsive and likes to smash things LOL ❤️ when i first started watching i couldn’t really see how he as raph aside from being physically intimidating and then it hit me as time went on.

point is they are very loveable i feel they deserve the world and so much more attention than they get these poor guys. although sometimes people do this wrong, i don’t think we should start hating on or disssing the twins (i mean u do u i guess 😭) i just think we should start loving sunset more. because they deserve so much love and appreciation and more popularity than they get, i love mikey/raph fans so much because. they always get them so well i don’t know how to put that better, like it’s easy to understand ur favorite character so it helps me a lot with understanding them as well. (mwahaha im actually in the midst of making a mikeycentric fic wish me luuck)

AAALSO i love drawing them i used to hate it because raph’s spikes were hard (i kept making them go the wrong direction sigh) and mikey had a round face when i was used to the twins being like a square and a triangle 😭 but i got practice and they’re super fun !!!!!

leo is my favorite for blue, illusion of ego, flamboyant, funny, and he is my reference for living. i do feel genuinely attached to him but ill never let that be a reason for me to dismiss raph or mikey, they deserve love and respect and SO MYCH MORE POPULARITY. there’s so much depth to them despite the missing episodes and the fact that racism and sizeism is a reason for their lack of love is.. like, genuinely sickening.

sorry about this reblog probably being a whole lot of nothing i yap a lot

Why Rise Raph and Mikey are Unappreciated and Underrepresented in the Fandom: Leo/Donnie Favoritism, Anti-Black Racism, and Sizeism

It's refreshing to see that more Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans nowadays seem to be waking up to the fact that Leo and Donnie get way more attention from the fandom than Raph and Mikey do. However, what's still missing from most of these discussions is exactly why that's the case.

With Raph and Mikey being voiced by Black actors (Omar Benson Miller and Brandon Mychal Smith, respectively) and Raph being a character with a big, burly physique, anti-Black racism and sizeism (in the case of Raph) are definitely factors in all of this. In contrast, Leo and Donnie are voiced by white actors, and both characters have a much smaller build than Raph does. And in the world that we live in with both anti-Blackness and sizeism, sadly and upsettingly, being the norm, it's easy to see why Leo and Donnie receive the favoritism that they do compared to Raph and Mikey.

But this favoritism doesn't just begin and end with the RotTMNT fandom because the series itself shows a preference for Leo and Donnie as well. Arguably, it's those two who receive most of the focus in the show, with many episodes revolving around them or being from their point of view.

The way both the series and the fandom downplay Raph’s parentification due to Splinter’s neglect also is a notable example of how a Black-coded and big teenage character like Raph is treated so dismissively by the creators, writers, and fans. After having raised his three younger brothers for years, Raph has his role as team leader stripped from him by his neglectful father with that role given to his much thinner, white actor-voiced brother, Leo. And, that's not even going into the proverbial mess that is the season two episode "Raph’s Ride Along," which makes light of police brutality and profiling against a Black(-coded) child. The adultification of Black children, and in this instance, specifically large Black boys, is likewise tied into the implications of "Raph’s Ride Along" as well as Raph’s treatment within the series overall. Honestly, all of that deserves its own write-up, but that'll have to be for another time.

Anyway, my point is that Raph and Mikey, especially Raph, haven't been given as much appreciation or grace by pretty much anyone, including the folks who made the series. All this also serves as a reminder for why it's important to have Black talent on all levels of production, not just as performers but as creators and producers. Or if not that, at the very least, projects should have non-Black creators who have enough know-how to portray Black/Black-coded characters adequately, treating them with as much care, attention, and respect as they would their white/white-coded counterparts. RotTMNT fans could also stand to do more questioning as to why they don't feel as drawn to represent Raph and Mikey as much as they do Leo and Donnie.

[hemi-demi]

Not my usual post but something I've been thinking about lately.

I think a part of what bothers me the most about the AI generated images/writing/etc debate is folks claiming that they need it because of a lack of talent and skill. Even going so far as to call it an accessibility device.

Which, as a disabled person, boils my blood. Because I think where this comes from is not in the same way as like a curb-cut levels things out for everyone. It's based on impossible standards in literally every piece of media we consume, and I think that's something we can change, rather than forcing people to use a bland device to meet the rest of the world at their level.

Folks are telling themselves they need AI images because becoming an artist takes time, and money, and effort. Some disabled folks don't have the dexterity to hold a pen, or can't sit upright at a computer for hours (me), or can't process visual information in the same way as others. Those are all true statements.

Same with writing. Dyslexia and other learning disorders can make writing intimidating. People receive harsh judgement for things like having poor sentence structure or spelling, even if you as a reader still know exactly what they mean.

The solution to these issues is not "pay an AI company to steal from other creators so everything washes into the same, boring grey blob of creativity". It's make bad art.

I want to see people's art where they don't have a full grasp of anatomy, but try their best anyway. I want to see stories where someone might struggle with visualizing a scene, but they do their best to convey the meaning in whatever way they can. I want to see more people comfortable with posting less than perfect work, and being proud of it because they made it. Or not even feel the need to post at all, because at the end of the day, the little numbers on your screen will never be the most satisfying part of creating. (Telling myself this as well, tbh. It's hard, I get that.)

If everyone is equally good at creating work, then there's never any variety. You can learn just as much, if not more so, from bad art than good. You can find beauty in it, unique ideas or habits that others have dropped because they were told it wasn't proper. You can see pure creative expression, without being chained to traditional conventions taught in school that beat all the fun out of you to make your work marketable.

We're taught in school that other artists are our competition, so of course people are turning to these tools to try and get a leg up. They never learned what a collaborative art or writing community can look like, and how that actually helps you grow as an artist more than AI or self isolation ever could.

If someone is drawing their entire lives, and never gets any more skilled at it for one reason or another, there's nothing wrong with that. That art is just as valid, and just as beautiful.

I understand that people feel this pressure to stand out in a sea of artists who worked their asses off to get where they are, but turning all art and writing into this regurgitation of what has worked before will never bring new ideas into the world in the same way a bored kid with a pencil and notebook paper can. It just won't.

[wtfforged]

how are your shapes so good. does it just come to you naturally or do you have some super secret resource or what? i love your shape language and i'm gonna try to improve mine so if you have any tips that would be greatly appreciated 👍although i get youve been drawing for a while and this stuff can kind of just be ingrained into you so if you cant really think of any thats fine too. love your art!!

HI THANK YOU i went on a super rant so im gonna hide it all under a read more lol

it does come a bit more naturally to me just because i dont really understand how to draw things WITHOUT breaking them down into shapes (especially since i was drawing robots for so long lol), but i also think my artstyle just naturally got more shapey as i tried to have more fun with art and especially as i started incorporating what i enjoyed from artists i like. an obvious example would be oda's art throughout one piece since i genuinely do think my art took a big positive turn as i started reading it lolol. i have so many screenshots of panels i enjoyed or thought looked cool cause he really is just a master at it all- i especially like the way he uses the line of action, shapes, motion, and expressions, and try to study them a lot. i also looked at some of my favorite artists, like bucketofrobots, monstyra, estridd, aciescoutex, or onebadnoodle to name a few who inspired me. Dont tattle on me btw this is our secret.

so first tip is just See how others be doing it. but that can be for literally anything in art not just shape- thats just how i started. im a very monkey see monkey do kind of person

second tip! is literally to break stuff down into their simplest shapes and action lines. which sounds redundant tbh when i type it out but i mean it. simplify things down to their bare components- especially with the parts you want to emphasize in mind- before you build on them (if you build on them at all ofc). heres some examples of some of my sketches when i do make them, and some with outlines for ones that i wasnt super clear/clean about. i literally will block out and break down the forms into simple shapes, even using lasso tool like in the second image first (especially if i really dont know what to draw pose-wise). sorry a lot of these i was playing with perspective but those or drawings where i have a very specific or difficult pose in mind are just the only pieces where i actually have a sketch layer instead of just jumping right to coloring my sketch which is what i do most of the time

and when i say "parts you want to emphasize", im thinking especially with motion or certain parts of a characters design, like really pushing those shapes so that its visually clear What Is Going On. for example, in the 1st sketch above, i wanted to emphasize that zoro was like, sliding in and about to unsheathe his sword in a really cool combat-y pose. or in the 2nd sketch, the character is supposed to be sort of mid-jump so i left some space around him and exaggerated that movement, as well as his thing being that he has cool giant punch-y gauntlets and is probably about to punch some baddie, so i put that right in the camera. and the third is the same, i wanted to exaggerate the running movement as well as the creepy hand since those are important to that character. and here in this fourth image below i wanted to emphasize one character being too pushy and overly friendly, while the other is very uncomfortable about it, so i really played with one leaning into the other and the other leaning away, etc etc you get the idea for the rest of the examples that i redlined.

im sorry if this doesnt make much sense or is hard to read because its too wordy. im not very good at wording stuff right especially with explaining my thought processes. im a bit too much of an instinct type person so it feels like when i explain stuff i just go "and then you go bwaaahhh! and booom! and babam!! and thats how i do it".

so if this sucked heres a post by EtheringtonBros thats kinda similar to what im saying, and a youtube video from fourleafisland that also, is kinda similar to what im saying and has very good points!!!!!!

thank you again!!!!!! sorry this was so long. hell i even wish it was longer just bc i really wanted to include some aforementioned oda screenshots but i got embarrassed of how many of them were just zoro and gave up on searching and i didnt wanna take much longer on this cause im already late to gaming with friends help. just open the manga yourself and look at whenever he draws sanji or luffy. theyre both extremely shape.

[y0rkshireterri3r]

so uhh have a silly PLATONIC request

C00lkid and Child!reader HCS pls.. pre or post forsaken or both, up to you, basically besties FRRR

*combusts in flames*

AUTHORS NOTE: POOKS WHY YOU IN FLAMES 😭🙏🏻 GO GET URSELF CLEANED UP, but jokes asides ofc I'd love ta!! and ty for being my first ever request!! :3

---

• Just like C00lkid, 007 found you randomly as a pill baby and took you in

• C00lkid was happy about this! A BABY SISTER/BROTHER? :0

• at first C00lkid didn't know HOW to hold you properly and just wanted to play with you but 007 said "Kid, the can't play with you right now- maybe when they are older they can!"

• 007 taught C00lkid how to hold you and take care of you while he was busy with something (he would always be nearby as in my headcanon CK isn't allowed in important rooms by himself cause lil bro mucks it up🙏🏻)

• LOADS OF PICTURES OF YOU TWO

• Framed as well, 007 has a picture of you and C00lkidd on his bedside cabinet

• When you grew older (like 5 or 7... or whatever 😭🙏🏻) C00lkid would DEFO want to play with you all the time

• if you didn't wanna play? That's fine! he's a lil sad but he can draw or watch tv with you!!

• if you DID wanna play? hide n seek and tag was the game you guys would play ALL. THE. TIME.

• 007 even made a literal room, for you guys 2 play in 💀

• I also imagine that if c00lkid loose's repeatedly, he will CRY and STOMP and have a literal tantrum about it🙏🏻

• so you let him win MOST of the time cause you wanna see ur brother happy (awww ain't that cute >0<)

!!SOME DARK STUFF IS NOW AHEAD, THIS IS JUST MY HEADCANON AND DOESN'T/ISN'T SUPPOSE TO BE CANON SO TAKE IT HOW YOUNWILL BUT THIS IS HOW I SEE C00LKIDD BEING LIKE FORSAKEN'D!!

• You woke up 2 007 holding a paper, looked liked a newspaper of some sorts?

• you walked over and asked why he was sad :(

• he grabbed you gently and through tears told you that ur brother was taken away, many believed kidnapped.

• You was confused, what was kidnapping? Did someone wanted to play with him?

• Your father told you what it meant and now you was tearing up

• Ur brother, just like that... taken away from you one day.

• You was sad (no shit💀🙏🏻) barely played, spoke, did anything but stay in ur brother's room.

• 007 knew this was ur way of grieving so he let you grieve alone, but always came in with some food and water so you don't ya know... DIE-

• Life was hard, cause of the financial stress that was hurting ur father. He asked Elliot if he could babysit you.

• I headcanon that Elliot would babysit C00lkid when 007 was working, and that always applied 2 you as well!

• After a few months of C00lkidd disappearing, you as well would also disappear.

• 007 is now in despair, TWO OF HIS KIDS ARE GONE

• Bro does not want to be alive rn but has 2 so he can find you both and protect you again.

• Posters of you two was all over the town, walls, bars, work places- YOU NAME IT. Anything that could spread the word that there was TWO missing children.

• then 007 got FORSAKEN'D as well (we don't know HOW he did so we ain't gonna touch this🙏🏻)

• He didn't know where he was, but bro was fighting out here like some WWE champion (not really, bro was just being a lil silly... I think....?)

• All these rounds... These games and he never saw YOU

• So when he spawns in with the other's and hears and unfamiliar theme, he looks around and see's no one.

• before he realised, he was the Last man standing.

• As he was running away, he had a feeling he was being watched and followed his gut and saw... you

• but you looked different

• you was covered in blood, limbs torn apart, stretched out, body mutilated BEYOND comprehension and you had these weird... tentacles coming out of ur back

• 007 was horrified by what you had become.

• you turned and didn't recognise him, his face was blurry and you didn't think TWICE before attacking him.

• Blah blah blah running away uhhh what else tryna survive and uhh NOT DIE seconds later-

• you caught up to him and went for the kill but the timer was up and you both was transported back to uhhh wherever the survs and killers go when a game is over🙏🏻• I feel like this has become a 007 headcanon now wtd, pooks I'm so sorry about that, now back 2 C00lkid cause I love my son🙏🏻

• DEFO plays with you all the time, his face is the only one that isn't blurry so you don't attack him.

• You also grab him by the eldritch limbs and just gently spin him around, as a way for playing.

• defo let's you wear his silly lil whimsical hat.

• and also let's you eat his big ass lollipop as well, dw he has like... alot (hc that if a killer is good/performing well, THEY GET A GIFT!!)

• if you two was in a round together??? I'm sorry for those survivor's bro💀🙏🏻

• You also sleep together, you curl around ur brother and he just sleeps either near ur eldritch limbs or just laying near ur hands so he can hold you while he sleeps (LIKE OTTERS!!!)

• overall, he loves his lil bro/sis and you love him as well

• ....

• also you guys prank the other killers as well, 1x is the one you guys prank the most (if this gets like... idk 10...20 likes I MIGHT DO THIS AS A STORY...😈🙏🏻)

----

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS, AND ALSO SORRY IF ANYTHING IS LIKE... NOT GRAMMERING, ITS LIKE 1 AM AS IM DOING THIS AND MY TABLET IS ABOUT 2 LIKE LITERALLY DIE RN 💔 But take care, drink water, ear as well and... get enough sleep at night... okay bye - 🎩

[tokwana]

hi im back

[zecoritheweirdone]

wanna preface this by saying that i am. So normal. anyway i just spent the last week redrawing scenes from mystery skulls animated but as that hermitcraft au i posted about a couple times. you guys should watch msa it is. so so good.

[clouvu]

Save me french yuri... Save me

[lunarharp]

pretty & cute witch men

[kelpermoosee]

Knocking them over and watching them scramble to get up with those big ass heads

[vagueeyes]

INSIDE NO. 9 | S6E2 "Simon Says"

[lemongogo]

oo u want 2 draw soo bad..

[bobzora]

i dont remember if i've ever mentioned my mew mew au lmao. but i drew some of that

[skrunksthatwunk]

look sometimes you hang out with your underling's many cats after a sparring match and learn new things about him

[nonsensechemicals]

crying whenever i talk about Cookie9 because all my friends have these interesting and unique theories on them while i take everything too literally and they all just stare at me like “dude… uuugh we r TIRED” <-they dont actually say this they are very kind to me but i can Feel It

[hana-bobo-finch]

jørgan clan my beloved. you guys are so messed up

[cheriboms]

doctober day 5: alarm clock

aka "the exact moment before he decided to invent an automatic dog feeder" :)