#when making complex characters so they dont feel so.. flat

[ask-indigo-park-swapped]

Does anyone know what the sea serpent's motivations and goals are for well.. villainy? If so, please tell me!

Now that you mention it, I'm not so chicken sure why he does the things that he does. I had just chalked it up to... greed, or something. All he ever does is steal stuff...

Either way, we haven't seen him in a while, so it's not like I can just bird up and ask.

[dayurno]

[natsmagi]

some more natsume gender posting but i do admittedly get very annoyed when i see people claim natsume hates things related to femininity because thats just. Blatantly not true. i did make a post a little while back talking about natsumes gender generally (might be a lil dated by now but eh), but there are some additional points id like to make

first thing being natsume very much enjoys more feminine things!! particularly things related to baking/gardening because thats what he would do with his mom when he was little!!!! (plus his newly added skill being cooking!)

with this and his undying love for his mom in mind, does it not make sense for natsume to hold feminine activities fondly? not only is he quite good at it, but it reminds him of his childhood spent with his mom!! he looks up to her alot!! and hes also thankful for the childhood he had because it makes him feel more unique. literally how does any of this read as a hatred towards femininity or his upbringing??? his mom is literally his number 1 inspiration and shes the reason he had this upbringing to begin with. Frankly the assumption that he hates feminine things just flat out does not make sense

and he doesnt even necessarily mind things like "-chan" either. though this one depends entirely on the person. for example kanata is allowed to call natsume nacchan but if tsumugi calls him natsume-chan blood will be spilt. to re-emphasize the point made in my previous post; natsumes biggest concern is being viewed as weak. he hates being infantilized more than anything. when tsumugi calls natsume "natsume-chan" thats not tsumugi feminizing natsume, thats tsumugi reminiscing on the child natsume he used to know. when tsumugi calls natsume "natsume-chan" it feels like hes not being taken seriously, that hes still viewed as a child, that he hasnt matured (which is also why he doesnt like being called "cute" bc. yknow. kids r cute). and this is a REALLY big insecurity of his. he hates being viewed as naive. In the same vein though, natsume is insecure about not being manly enough too (such as him viewing his inability to swim as "not manly"). Which is also a really interesting point of discussion when it comes to natsumes character! but its important to note that his insecurity in his masculinity does NOT translate to a hatred of femininity. natsumes relationship with gender is an incredibly nuanced one and its so frustrating when people dont even bother trying to read into it and just completely generalize his character

with that said natsume DOES have some internalized misogyny though. But this ones kinda hard to navigate as. well. Almost the entire cast has had some to a certain extent at some point. esp in the early stories. which could all just be bad writing. But it adds to the complexities of femininity and womanhood, how the two are often associated despite being distinct from one another. and with this distinction between the two it adds ANOTHER interesting layer to natsume and his own relationship with gender, because we know he didnt mind being raised as a girl (its just incredibly fucking embarrassing that people know about it), yet his views on gender seem kind of........ Conservative. with him assuming anzu is bad at games bc shes a girl, claiming arashis lying to kids by calling herself a princess, worried that people will view him as less of a man for being unable to swim, etc etc. Like you truly cannot just read ONE story and think you now have a full grasp on natsume and his relationship with his gender. i cannot stress enough how complex it is. but this complexity is exactly what makes it resonate. if you're insecure, it makes sense for you to develop a toxic habit of punching down in order to get higher, esp since we know natsume doesnt handle his emotions super well

this section will be very speculatory and is just my own personal analyzis, so dont take it as gospel. But from my understanding it seems like natsume does genuinely enjoy more feminine things, but hes caught up in gender expectations (potentially due to him knowing both what its like to be a girl and a guy?) that this can cause him to say admittedly quite bigoted things due to his insecurities. natsume is a character that wants to be perceived a certain way; he wants to be cool, mysterious, alluring, but as we should all know by now This is a front he puts on. he very often puts on fronts and lies about his true nature and intentions. which all reads like a fear of authenticity. i dont think natsume genuinely holds those beliefs previously listed, he is just afraid of being vulnerable and, once again, having weak points exposed. he was told to be a girl when he was little and now hes basically told to be a guy without having the Common Guy Upbringing, which can easily turn into developing beliefs of toxic masculinity if you're the type who "plays the part" rather than being your authentic self. hes being told what a man is by the world around him so he tried to shape himself into it to play the part. He can be very blunt and cruel in his words to others, but i personally just see it as a projection from his end. its an attempt at making himself seem better and manlier than he actually is by using his words where hes lacking in action. You can pull off alot of mind games with a simple sentence alone. words can paint a deceiving picture if used correctly, and natsume is a fortune teller; if anyone knows how to say the right thing to get a certain impression from someone its him

i do also think its important to note that as time goes on natsume is starting to express himself genuinely more. Just like the rest of the enstars cast; his story is one of growth and bettering yourself as a person. coming to terms with who you are and learning to let others in

either way. im not one to gatekeep but i need ppl who dont read switch stories to stop speaking so definitively on natsumes relationship with his gender or im gonna start throwing rocks at people

TLDR this shit is NUANCED and to say its 100% this or 100% that does it a disservice to me

[pea-brain]

example donation link

if you are an artist or something and want to offer the same commissions, please feel free to take any of these images and use them yourself (edit however you want, remove my art, obviously), the text is free to use.

*in the unlikely event i receive a ton of these, i might have to close them. will let you know. reblogs will be turned off if i close commissions

extra information below v

thank you so much for reading! i used all caps for ease of read, it comes across super agro lol sorry <3 i will be nice in person

also, small note, i dont consider mobility aids (including wheelchairs) to be props, those are free to add.

any further questions DM away!

TEXT IN FIRST MAJOR IMAGES BELOW

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

HOW DOES THIS WORK?

FIRST: AGREE UPON AMOUNT IN APPROPRIATE CURRENCY (SEE "QUESTIONS")

SECOND: WE AGREE UPON ONE OR (IF THE COMMISSION IS OVER $40) MORE GOFUNDME'S TO SEND IT TO TO SEND THE AMOUNT TO

OPTION 1: PAYPAL

SEND ME THE AMOUNT AGREED UPON VIA PAYPAL

I WILL IMMEDIATELY SEND THIS AMOUNT TO THE GOFUNDME OR GOFUNDME'S WE AGREED UPON

I WILL SEND YOU PROOF OF DONATION (SCREENSHOTS, FORWARDED EMAILS, WHATEVER YOU NEED).

(THIS IS MY PREFERRED BECAUSE I CAN BE 100% SURE THE MONEY IS SENT)

OPTION 2: STRAIGHT TO THEM

CREATE AN ACCOUNT WITH 'GOFUNDME' AND ALLOW THEM TO SEND YOU AN EMAIL TO SEND YOU A DONATION RECEIPT

SEND THE MONEY STRAIGHT TO THE AGREED UPON GOFUNDME/S

SHOW ME PROOF (SCREENSHOTS AND FORWARD THE EMAIL CONTAINING THE RECEIPT TO ME)

IF YOU CANNOT FORWARD THE ACTUAL EMAIL TO ME, I WILL NOT ACCEPT YOUR COMMISSION.

THIS HAS TO BE A NEW DONATION THAT WE MAKE TOGETHER (PEOPLE NEED MORE MONEY RIGHT NOW, I WILL NOT BE ACCEPTING COMMISSIONS BASED ON OLD DONATIONS.)

additions:

+75% extra character, complex background/ scene*, full render, complex outfit design by meee ;)

+50% medium background/ scene*, flats (will include nice lineart), complex outfit/ design, simple outfit design by me

*scene means a complex pose or it looks like they're actually in the background. interpretation of this is up to me

addition prices are calculated based off of the base price and do not compound

example calculation: half body ($30) + extra character (+75% of $30 = $23) + medium background/scene (+50% of $30 = $15) = 30+23+15= $68

for stuff not covered here (like a complex prop) just shoot me a DM

will draw: furry (not great but i can try), gore (incl extreme), horror, artistic/ casual nudity, fanart, your roc's, my doc's, romantic/ ship art, anything LGBT+ (people might not know me i felt i should add that)

wont draw: porn, fetish (up to me to interpret what i consider that), ship/ romantic/ nude art involving persons who are or appear to be under the age of 18 (even if they are 'aged up'.) even if its like kids kissing, i'm not comfortable with that cheers, anything i consider 'hateful' (i dunno man i felt i had to add it)

if i am uncomfortable i reserve the right t refuse aspects or the entire request

ownership of the art is yours, if you dont want me to post it to my account i wont

QUESTIONS

USD? AUD? CAD? EUROS?

I TRUST YOU TO BE HONEST, IF YOU ARE AUSTRALIAN, AUD, IF YOU ARE AMERICAN, USD. IF YOU DON'T USE THOSE, PICK ONE. (EUROS AND USD ARE WORTH MORE SO I WILL PUT MORE EFFORT IN NGL)

DO I (THE ARTIST) KEEP ANY OF THE MONEY?

NO!! 100% GOES TO A GOFUNDME (OR MULTIPLE) WE AGREE UPON MUTUALLY

WHEN DO YOU (THE COMMISSIONER) PAY?

ASAP! (BEFORE I START PREFERABLY) THESE PEOPLE NEED MONEY NOW. IF YOU CAN ONLY PAY HALF NOW, HALF LATER, THAT'S FINE. I WILL NOT SHOW YOU THE FINISHED PRODUCT UNTIL ALL THE MONEY IS DONATED. (I WILL SHOW YOU PROOF OF WORKING ON IT (A SKETCH))

WHEN WILL YOU (THE COMMISSIONER) RECIVE THE ART?

I AM CURRENTLY A FULL TIME UNI STUDENT, AND IF I RECEIVE A LOT OF REQUESTS IT MAY TAKE SOME TIME. I DON'T KNOW HOW STRESSFUL THIS WILL BECOME

HOW MUCH WOULD ONE LIKEDRAWING FROM MY (THE ARTIST'S) ACCOUNT COST?

DM IT TO ME I'LL TELL YA

HOW IS 'RENDERING' DIFFERENT FROM A 'FULL PAINTING'

RENDERING INCLUDES CONSIDERED LIGHTING AND SHADING AS WELL AS ATTENTION TO DETAIL. A 'FULL PAINTING' INCLUDES THAT PLUS INTERESTING COMPOSITION, BETTER LIGHTING AND DETAIL, A BETTER 'VIBE' TO IT. ITS HARD TO EXPLAIN, BUT YOU CAN SEE IT FOR SURE. IF YOU DISAGREE

REFUNDS?

NO FULL REFUNDS

IF I AM UNABLE TO PRODUCE A DRAWING IN A MAXIMUM OF 3 MONTHS I CAN REFUND YOU 50% OUT OF MY OWN POCKET. IF THIS HAPPENS, YOU WILL NOT RECIVE ANY ART FROM ME FOR THIS COMMISSION

IF THERE IS AN ISSUE WITH YOU DECIDING YOU NO LONGER WANT THIS, OR YOU ARE UNABLE TO PROVIDE SUFFICIENT PROOF (OUTLINED ABOVE) FROM THE ACTUAL GOFUNDME THAT IS NOT MY PROBLEM. YOU HAVE JUST DONATED MONEY TO PERSON/S IN DIRE NEED SO THATS AWESOME ACTUALLY

TO BE CLEAR: IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND AND THE MONEY IS SENT, I WILL NOT REFUND YOU. I WILL ONLY REFUND 50% IF I FAIL TO PRODUCE A DRAWING IN 3 MONTHS FROM TIME OF COMMISSION

[thatdeadaquarius]

hi! quick tip: if you’re on mobile type ‘:readmore:’ then hit enter! i dunno if you’ve been told but. yeah :)

also, your recent piece on apd was incredible!! very nice to see representation!! keep up the excellent work <3 it did get me thinking though: reader with vocal stims, cementing it in the acolytes’ minds that you don’t speak the language of teyvat, and then you’re all just stuck in this loop of “oh man they don’t speak the same language of me” but they DO

if asks are closed or this is outside of your comfort zone then feel free to delete! have a lovely day <3

AHFJLAKLOSUDBABWB U FELT REPRESENTED YAY!!

A cookie for thee, and also extra for telling me how to do Expand thingy on mobile ilysm 🤲🍩🍪✨️ (pspspsps all askers,, u get cookies,,cometothedarksidepspspspspsss)

I was so worried bc it wasnt like super all the aspects of Apd issues, and it was very based on my personal experience w/ similar symptoms + other bits of ppl's experience so i was hoping it still felt somewhat recognizable for ppl w/APD!! Tysm for the feedback :D

NOTE ABOUT VOCAL STIM DEPICTED:

So i think ive experienced verbal stims, so this is a combination of others shared experiences + personal experience, and while everybody experiences things individually/their own way, please let me know if there is something obviously inaccurate/maybe even offensive.

You will definitely not make me mad or otherwise offended, I really want to hear that kind of feedback from others who vocal stim!

Thank you so much for reading! :)

___________________♡_____________________

So lets just say that ur vocal stims r pretty non-verbal or non-sensical ("her sister was a WITCH BRO-" like memes that dont make sense to them)

Or like, u have verbal stims that r actual language but they dont hang around long enough to hear it maybe ??

♤

So like, this ends up happening

Chongyun was exploring near Qingce village for supernatural stuff as usual

And U were just vibin, chillin near Qingce village livin ur best Creator god cottagecore life

And ur like planting a new seedbed, Jueyun Chilis :) (bc jfc however bad it was to collect them in game, its 10x worse in person, ur tired of running around town getting chilis, Qingce isnt exactly flat 💀)

♡

And every seed u put in the dirt ur like "boop!"

And Chongyun comes by, bc u at edge of town, and the villagers mentioned a strange new traveler settling here

He immediately feels a wave of that same feeling he used to feel when the Creator god had their eyes on him, or would assist him in battles

So poor boy almost overheats trying to climb up the hill to ur house

And is like "??...Creator??"

Then kinda stops bc ur just like-

"Boop!" "Boop!" "Boop!" ☺️ LMAO

And then u finish planting seeds, get the watering can,,

And everytime u pour it just-

... "EJACK! Come, water!"

(Ur saying it so fast too, and he's still somewhat farther away, so he cant rlly hear that well too)

...

..

And its just so incomprehensible to Chongyun he's deadass like "A DIFFERENT LANGUAGE??!"

So of course,

He waves, 👋

And ur like omg icy boy!! :D 🧊💙

But u dont say anything yet, and then he starts,, miming?? He points at u? Then like?? Points up? The sky?? Then like, mimes swinging his claymore???

(ARE U THE CREATOR??!!)

U look up, very confused 🧐

He seemes frustrated.

Then he just kinda, bows and leaves?

...

...oh no.

Do Teyvat people speak that crazy language that u saw in game?

Instead of English??

Well.

Shit.

...

.... U havent rlly talked to anyone in Qingce yet since u just got here in Teyvat like a week ago

And found this abandoned house

♧

It just gets worse 😭

Bc slowly, one by one,

Each playable character in Liyue comes to attempt to talk to you

(And since u have a farm, and they keep giving u food/goods? For some reason?? U still dont need to go into town)

☆

At one point, even Zhongli shows up

And thru complex miming and hand motions u think he means dont worry abt him? Like just go back to what u were doing?? Okay??

U guess he's just gonna chill here for now?

...

...Zhongli just kinda,, squints, and puts his hand on his chin in his classic "thinking very hard" face

So ur tending to the garden saying,

" FREDDY! You're supposed to be on lockdown!Vanessa...I'm... a Material Gworl✨️"💀

...Just, on an endless loop LMAO-

...

(Hes trying to see if he recognizes any part of ur language, poor old man 🤔🤔😭)

♤

And it just snowballs even more, and now,

None of you have even tried to say a word to each other. 🤡

(Other than ur vocal stims)

...

Keqing: "Perhaps, it's similar to Fontaine's native language?"

You, in the background: "🎵 dUdE,,, sHe'S jUsT nOt InTo YoU 🎵" (mimicking the autotune and everything)

Ganyu & Keqing: "..."

You: " 🎵 gOtTa MoVe On, mOvE oN-🎵 Hurricane Katrina?? More like Hurricane Tortilla!"

Ganyu & Keqing: "...Can't be,"

"what else do we got? Should we call Yunjin to better mime for us??"

♡

Xiao's the first one to even get close to knowing u can actually talk to each other, bc he's always checking in on u most often <3

And he only heard u bc u swore u heard a monster outside ur house one night and came out ur house with a pitchfork, very nervous,

"...Hey there demons.. it's me.. ya boy."

(And u just keep stimming that out of nervousness to make urself feel better as u check around ur house lol)

Xiao: "??? Demons???!! WAIT-"

♧

By then, it literally took like 6 months for yall to finally have a real conversation 💀💀

...

(Chongyun got so embarassed bc he was one of the first few to misunderstand he overheated rip🙏)

Im. So. Sorry. This. Is. ✨️Ass✨️

Twas the best scenario i could come up with, im telling yall, im not as funny as the ppl who send in these asks 😔

Keep in mind, I never claimed i was funny or a good writer, u cant hold it against me lol /lh

Lower ur expectations LMAO

Well i hope u got sm enjoyment outta this anon, sorry abt the quality!! :)

Cheers,

🌒🌊🌧Aquarius♒️🌌🌘

[psiirockin]

do you have any advice for opening commissions? i feel like you have them very professionally set up, and i have pretty bad social anxiety, so it might be helpful to hear tips for communicating with customers and such, or setting up a fair tos!

hi so, maybe i do have some advice!!! <33 thank you so so much for the kindness & seeing me as professional lol i’ve been doing comms for 2-3 years and i must say.. still getting the hang of a lot of things. you go through a lot of trial + error trying to figure out what works best for you, so remember theres no truly right way to go about comms! they should all fit the needs, pace, and benefit of you and your work ethic!

what i did personally is start off at some lower prices just to test the waters and get the ball rolling. i priced rendered characters at i think, $24 per character? possibly lower, i cant quite remember. and then i gradually went up as i started to progress in my art style more + had more people coming in.

with customers, i have a lot of anxiety as well! im autistic, so i never like making a customer feel like i dont truly care abt the commission by accidentally sounding too flat or anything. i tend to RLLY overthink it lol so we make sure we are extra talkative + kind about their comm! giving them compliments on the character, showing genuine excitement so they know theyre in good hands! (we love engaging esp when the customer seems VERY excited or enthusiastic abt the commission!)

a lot of irl turmoil tends to happen in our life which can make a comm delayed sometimes. could be severe mental health problems, just being busy w/ shit in general. its important to just keep your customers up to date, especially if its going to take a realllyyy long time or the customer likes frequent updates.

i used to be able to get shit done in like a night. but, with an actual line up/queue of comm work we progressively started taking longer and longer esp as we transitioned from a teenager starting out and into a busy adult with persistent mental health issues. (plus our art becomes more complex as time goes on, so that has to be taken into account) tbhs, depending on your availability and how much effort goes into your work, and as the demand grows, you need to charge accordingly and just be honest with your clientele.

as for TOS do what makes you comfortable! make your limits known and put your foot down when a request or any topic makes you uncomfortable. dont let your customers get inappropriate with you or try to make you feel bad if they dont wanna pay for what they ask for, etc. i also recommend requesting payment after sketch/half and half when starting out just so you can get some experience under your belt + assure future clients that youre professional n wont scam them! (if you plan on switching to payment upfront in the future)

just remember that u are not a machine, you are a human being making art for someone else. putting love n effort into your craft, time and effort. take your time getting the hang of comm stuff, things dont have to be perfect in your setup at first.

[sokkastyles]

personal opinion, I dont like how the comics made ozai and usra relationship. I always headcanon that they were in love and happy at first but slowly ozai became more greedy and abusive to his kids and kept playing mind games with them. I think Ozai does love usra but he loves power more and is willing to sacrifice anything to get it. I know everyone hates the live action, but I like it because they give ozai some dept. He's still an abusive asshole. But an abusive asshole that does have love for his family. Or did. But he cares more about power. And is willing to do anything to get it. I feel like with abusive parents they always make it seem all black and white and stuff when its not.

I didn't hate the live action and I do think they were attempting to give Ozai more depth, but I think they weren't successful in this, partially because I think there's a misconception about what "depth" means, especially when it comes to morally black and gray characters.

Original Ozai does have depth. It is hinted that he loved Ursa, and I think that he would say that he loves his children. Even when Zuko confronts him with what he did to him, he doesn't just laugh evilly, he justifies himself, and looks outraged by Zuko's accusation that what he did was cruel and wrong.

My problem with the attempts to give Ozai, and Azula to an extent, more "depth" in the live action is that they seem to mistake depth for sympathy, and it's not the same thing. The show kind of attempts to "explain" Ozai in a way that actually flattens the character, in my view, and misunderstands how abuse and abusive people work. Ozai isn't playing mind games with his children because he's looking for a "strong" heir (although he may tell himself that.) He's doing it because of his own insecurity and deep need to feed that insecurity. It's all about him.

I think he loved Ursa because she belonged to him, and loved that his children also belonged to him. I think he started to resent Ursa after she had children, actually, at the same time that his view of ownership strengthened. Because having his children both affirms that she is his and, simultaneously, means that he has to share her with the children, who demand so much of her time. I think this is at the heart of his resentment for Zuko (Ursa's firstborn and a boy, who Ozai sees himself and his own weak need in) and his to mold Azula in his image and distance herself from her mother (because he won't make the same mistake he did when Zuko was born, and because Azula is a mini version of her mother that Ozai can mold in the way he can't an adult Ursa.)

This is pretty psychologically complex stuff, which I feel adds more depth to a character than attempts to rationalize their actions, which often fall flat, particularly since Ozai's behavior should not be rationalized. I don't love the explanation the comics give of Ozai and Ursa's relationship, but I'm not a fan of the idea that they were in love, either, especially with the implication that Ozai might have once been a good husband, because like, there are people like this in the real world who never once had good intentions. There are people who get into relationships like this all the time. I believe Ozai would have been capable of charming Ursa once, but does that mean that the relationship was ever good, or does it just mean that Ozai is a good manipulator?

I actually think that the situation was probably similar to what we see Zuko (and Azula) slowly come to realize in the show: that the relationship was never good, but Ozai was good at convincing his family that it was good or at least, that he knew what was best for them.

I mean, Ozai was able to convince Ursa that the only way out of her situation was to commit murder, an act that would brand her as a traitor, put her out of her children's lives forever, and give Ozai everything he wanted. She was being manipulated in much the same way that Zuko was manipulated - banished and made to think it was her fault, made to be complicit in Ozai's crimes.

That tells me more about their relationship and about Ozai as a person than the comics or the live action do with, as I said before, much less exposition.

[choking-on-ice]

South Park College Headcanons

I lost power for most to the day today, so I sat at a coffee shop and just killed time writing down headcanons for every SP character I could think of.

there's alot of them, but hopefully somebody out there finds these fun

Butters

Gender fluid / non-conforming

Saved up enough to move into dorms away from their parents

Autistic and very gullible still

has learned to stand up for themself and their friends better

Got fed up in senior year and spiked Cartman's drink w/ laxatives and locked him outside at a house party

Ppl secretly fear them a lil after that

Kept their baby face and a bit of chub

Still plays for Stan's death metal band

has a strange relationship w/ Kyle (who's grappling w/ some denied queerness)

still an absolute sweetheart

drinks at parties and smokes w/ friends, even tho everyone assumes they dont

their parents still totally suck

Kenny

revolving door of jobs cuz he gets bored easily, but is always selling weed on the side

Ran into more drug problems through highschool after his troubles cheesing

Went to rehab with Tweek and Stan, got clean, and is closer to them than ever before now

Butters stood by him at the peak of his addiction and now he would (and probably has) jump in front of a bullet for him

Joined the robotics club in HS

Pursuing an engineering degree w/ an academic scholarship

Still works as Mysterion, just w/out the undies over his pants

thinks it's funny to cockblock his friends

is kind of a player, but not a dick abt it

flirts alot, thinks it's fun to flirt w/ Tweek and Butters bc they never grew immune to his BS like the others

the idea of one of them reciprocating any flirting is terrifying to him tho

cuz he has a massive inferiority complex and lives in denial that he has real romantic feelings for anyone

ultimate rizz

Stan

Still fronts his death metal band

hopeless romentic

Bonded w/ Tweek over their crappy home lives when Tweek starts delivering to Tegridy Farm

Grew closer w/ Kenny when he found out he was in the same rehab program as him and Tweek

stronk farmboy, also p tanned which juxtaposes his alt style

Opens up to smoking weed in college now that he's sober

emotionally intelligent

NOT emotionally communicative / available tho

bottles stuff up

only knows how to vent when drunk, then later thru music

Kyle

jaded w/ a chip on his shoulder

prone to knee jerk reactions

throws hands at the drop of a hat

usually throws the first punch

kept playing sports after hs - football in college and basketball recreationally

did debate w/ wendy in HS

still bffs with stan, even tho they dont have many shared hobbies anymore

Craig

autistic

rizzless

doesn't rlly need game tho cuz he's only had eyes for Tweek, and Tweek's a mess

monotone + flat expression intimidates some people

has rep of being an asshole, it's only half true

is considered rebellious, but he just sees it as doing what he wants to do not what other ppl want him to

slow to anger, has never thrown the first punch

grew up to be tall and broad like his father at his age

his dad pushed him into playing football, after HS he only plays bc his friends are on the team and doesn't care much about winning

likes old school indie music, underground shows, and obscure bands, isn't pretentious about it tho

when Kenny tells him about the Tweek's drugging Tweek (and the rest of town) he loses it and has to get talked down from strangling Mr Tweek

Tweek

autistic + adhd

loves deathmetal, hardstyle EDM, death rap, and hardcore music in gen

bonds w/ Stan in late HS as he makes deliveries for the coffee shop up to the farm

Kenny and him are acquainted since Kenny delivers ingerdients to the shop

loves fantasy - LoTR, D&D, etc.

Trans FtM (cuz i am and i project onto my faves lol)

Finds out from Craig and Kenny that his parents have been drugging him w/ meth in the coffee since he was a child

spirals after this and has trouble trusting people, questioning everything and everyone in his life

becomes rlly close w/ Kenny and Stan when they all attend rehab together

moves out before HS even ends, couch surfing for the summer until he can move into the dorms

sobering up lets him gain some weight and he begins to look less sickly

I have more on the other characters, but I have arthritis and typing this much killed my fingers already. Hope u enjoyed if u got this far

[taldigi]

I'll be honest, I'm intrigued by the fact that you seem to like Sumi, considering the fact that I've always found her to be the pinnacle of a needless add-on character. A feeling only solidified by the fact that (like you said) she's only ever treated as Love InterestTM or third wheel to Akechi and Joker dynamic by the fans. I don't even hate her like you do Futaba. I've just felt that if I tapped her she would fall over like a cardboard cut out. So I'm interested to hear, is there anything in particular that you find interesting about her?

I think I dont hate futaba as much as I feel like she was pretty squandered and left fully subject to pandering/tropes. I realized this when- after removing her from my game as best I could, I liked her scenes a lot more since she was present in more digestible doses.

Which brings me to Sumi- and yeah, I think the more I puzzle over her: I like Sumi- I like that she has her little arc and I think that without her, the 3rd simester stuff wouldn't have the punch needed. What the villian did is bad, terrible even- but what he did to Sumi is perfectly laid out as why his line of thinking ultimately fails: He helped her, he made her happy, but he also made her unable to heal and unable to grow.

I agree- a lot of her stuff does fall flat and that does fall to the fact that we really don't get a lot of genuine time together and you do have to bullrush a lot of it in order to make it stick enough. It's also that incorperating her into the story seems to be too much (they didn't even really remix the dungeons that much, just added Will seed segments.. which sucks cause we could have had a lot more incredibly awesome grappling hook segments tbh).

She just ran a marathon trying to keep up with her sister and only now is she slowing down to rest afterwards, and- much like every other confdiant in the game, she only really tends to open up when Ren sticks his nose in their business. She's a girl desperately grieving for someone she loved, yet held a remarkibly complex relationship with it, and was forced by someone else to speedrun that grieving process.

Another aspect that's interesting about her is that dispite Ren's empathy and patience, he doesn't fix her. He can't fix her. She has to fix herself, but that journey is rigged from the beginning. He can help, though, he can be there for her... and this is a way more interesting tale to tell when it's not romantic & is treated as a tale of loyalty and friendship via the "I hope senpai notices me" trope cauase like, what if senpai did notice you and you came out a different person afterwards.

Sorry Im kinda rambly 'bout it since my train of thought is everywhere about her tbh. I think her "senpai notice me" plot scares off people from trying to explore her past that.

Also masking, personas, ect ect she's good at embodying that too.

[slavhew]

Any advice for doing back grounds?? Shits mad confusing im tryna practice drawing like characters actually in them and im going insane

ouu i can't say im a good authority on this, because I never did much in lieu of backgrounds except painting some sunsets. I do have some theoretical knowledge but i struggle putting it into perspective, because depth is hard.

I feel like the hardest thing really is making the characters look like they belong in the environment, and that sounds like your problem too? I think ? So it's what I'm going to try and address here.

One that is in my opinion by far THE most important is to start a composition with the background in mind. It is always going to look somewhat wonky if you don't

(Rest under cut)

(exhibit A)

(this is the reason why I often don't do backgrounds, because a vast majority of my work starts as a doodle that i polish up later) (and also I used a game screenshot here, I didn't actually draw the walkway)

compare this to the drawing that was my inspiration, and the difference in flow and focus is astronomical

A good background can be either super simple, just a backdrop or something your characters actively participate in; in both these instances, it will be much easier to draw it if you start out with it in mind and being able to adjust early on is a massive lifesaver

Second, and most often repeated I think, is to think of the space as 3D, and use some geometry to help yourself out

the most useful part of this to keep in mind imo, when it comes to scaling characters, is that they will also follow roughly that line of perspective that in reality "runs parallel" to the rest of them, but in perspective looks as if it gets smaller

There's probably plenty of tutorials on getting a feel for this out there, but looking at other people's art (and the classics) and sketching over them can help

this is only linear perspective examples, but there's lots of them out there! point is, the character, and many lines of the environment are going to "flow" into a point. It's usually demonstrated with tiles and suchalike, but as you can see it has many applications, depending on how exaggarated you want to make the perspective.

You should also be mindful of the perspective of your character versus the environment. A few things to keep in mind are their lines, and their color/shading.

Colors are relatively simple; keep the source of light in mind so the shading feels in line for both the character and environment (perspective lines help with that too).

(this is definitely not to scale but just, to illustrate my point)

And keep in mind that with especially pieces that have great depth, like landscapes, the color of the environment changes the further you look. The lines blur, the details are lost, and it fades into more solid colors. A character and their palette will be affected by this environmental lighting

With keeping the characters consistent with backgrounds, lines-wise, it really helps to block them in first, because you can easier keep track of how they look in relation to backgrounds, and fix accordingly early on.

it's good (and painful, honestly) to keep in mind how bodies are 3D objects too. I had this great reference for this point, that I forgot where i saved, so we have to do with my amateurish recreation:

These lines are going to get distorted and effected by the perspective too. To avoid the characters looking flat against the backgrounds, try to keep them "on the same level" of exaggaration, so to speak..

And lastly. USE REFERENCES!! there is NOTHING more needlessly painful than drawing something as complex as environments out of your head.

All these things contribute to the complex thing that is. backgrounds. Now, please dont take my word as gospel, considering that even keeping all of this in mind, this is about the best i can do offhand to demonstrate my knowledge lol

I wouldn't be surprised if all the things I said here aren't anything new to you, in which case i genuinely apologize, because I'm also a huge beginner with this 😭 but i wish you a lot of luck on your journey practicing this!! It's a lot of work to be sure.

As sort of a PS, a few pieces with cool bgs showcasing some of my points *a lot* more competently, that I have saved in my bookmarks on twitter:

[x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

[uselessheretic]

one thing that i feel like is annoying with villain discourse is this weird insistence that if you like villains then you MUST like then exclusively because they suck and want nothing more than that and for them to be evil. like? not all villains are flat out evil! sometimes villains can have nuances! it's weird when people say they hate when villains are given backstories or made sympathetic because i love it when they are? an evil villain whos evil for no reason can hit p hard esp if they have the cunt aesthetics to back it up, but the ones that stick with me are often the ones with detailed characterization who are sympathetic.

like i love killmonger! i love that he does bad things! i dont think hes evil though. i empathize with his struggles. i can understand how he got to where he is and i feel mournful that he never got to have a happy ending.

i think hisoka hxh is a fun villain, but mereum, when he was given human emotion and changed from pure evil to a person with the capacity for love, that's what made me sob in hxh! is he evil? whos to really say hes just an animal doing what his nature tells him to. thats not an important thing to dwell on for me though when im more impacted by being able to see his character show compassion and receive it in return.

"if youre going to like izzy like him because he sucks dont make him sympathetic" okay but i dont want to. i love that ofmd challenges our perspective, that stede himself is a morally ambiguous character that occupies the role of the villain in another persons story. izzy to me is more interesting and a better written character when hes given complexity. being mean to ed for no reason is dull. trying to hold on to someone you love so hard it hurts you both though? thats the good shit.

i like when villains are given redemption arcs. i like when heroes look at someone that hurt them and can still feel compassion. i love any story where the love for another person compels a person to make bad decisions. its more fun for me this way at least partially bc if i wanted black and white morality at all times i would turn on PBS!

[lnkedmyheart]

The thing is, fandoms have this habit of thinking that pairings/relationships that don’t fit the generally accepted stereotypical idea of “healthy” or “affectionate” or “emotionally vulnerable” or whatever words they’re using on any given day, just flat out are bad or “wrong” or “unhealthy” for not doing so. When the truth is, they’re just complex and fit the people who are actually in the relationship and yes, are weird!

I’m in a fandom where the writer says two characters who are together will never say “I love you,” because that doesn’t fit either of the characters with their personalities and histories, but they’ll always be together, and some people in that fandom get so mad about it! They take it so personally, they call it bad writing, they say “these characters deserve to be happy and say they love each other!” And they’re just completely missing the point.

Relationships are complex and I have found that a lot of the louder parts of the audiences of complex shows are genuinely incapable of understanding nuance. Its why people are so hung up on fiction being a 1-1 copy of real world morality. This is why the purity politics of the past, the Hays Code and the current purity politics are a problem to begin with. And that isnt even taking into account how this extremely loud minority incapable of understanding nuance tends to make vulnerable people, who dont fit the perfect mould they insist on as being healthy, feel.

As for Dazai in particular, a lot of people insist that any relationship Dazai gets into will be toxic and abusive because he is a depressed and deeply disturbed person. And I dont know, I dont care if you are saying this about him as someone with a diagnosis you are still a fucking pig for making that connection between mental health and people's ability to ever be in a loving and healthy relationship. Anyone can be in a loving and healthy relationship with a little bit of work, your mental health and trauma does not make you the problem or reason for the failure of your relationships.

[celestialsun888]

Headcannons: Ghost & Soap

(NSFW)

@celestialsun888

⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

Pairing(s)/Characters: Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley & Johnny ‘Soap’ Mctavish x Gn! reader

Genre: bffr: it’s a lil filthy with hints of crack/fluff [18+ MDNI]

Word Count: 386

Synopsis: I once again have listened to them. It's all true bc they told me!

★ TW: Established relations ;3, talks about kinks, type of lovers they are, no ‘real’ warnings just know there is smut in the cut okie! Oh ya, mentions of pegging ;)) when the word 'weird' is written, its not in a shaming way (if its weird to your personal taste, if that makes sense!)

✒ Authors Note: Its a bit self indulgent… ⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

You all have most definitely thought about a threesome, Soap would probably be the one to say it aloud. 

Ghost is a switch but prefers to top (he likes the control).

Soap is a power bottom (no I am not going to argue).

Ghost has a slight God complex when having seggs

Soap is vocal. Ghost isn't as much.

Ghost is thicker, soap is longer (no i will not elaborate…maybe….you freaks)

WHOS BETTER AT AFTERCARE?! Soap me thinks (but ofc ik bc they showed told me)

Soap is a more sensual lover, would press his forehead to yours and giggle with you checking to see how you were enjoying it.

Ghost would fuck you rough, would check to see if you were enjoying it but in a more… primal way… (aka how loud you moan for him or how many times he makes you cum)

GHOST IS A PLEASURE/ SERVICE  DOM!!!!!!1!11!

Soaps pet names for you are pure me thinks (honey, baby, lover/ my love, darling, MY BELOVED! – imagine the accent too, im pissing that's so cute)

Ghosts pet names lowkey kinda hit or miss. I feel like he really would call you by your name *_* I think he would call you more suggestive (slightly less *pure* at least) types of pet names (princess, doll, sweetheart, probs a short version of your name or nickname, this mf might even pull some ‘weird’ shit like snuggums or pumpkin, most likely when intoxicated). 

THEY BOTH FEEL SEGGSY WHEN THEY DRINK WINE, MOST DEF A GUILTY PLEASURE IDC IDC

side: imagine them having wine nights talking shit

Soap might let you peg (but dont tell him i said that…)

Soap would ask you to check under the bed for monsters.

Ghost is the monster.

Soaps ‘weird’ fetish: mf seems like he’s into feet ngl. Just get that vibe from him, but nothing too crazy (other than the pegging) 

Ghosts ‘weird’ fetish: piss…IDK HE SEEMS LIKE THE TYPE (pls dont come for me, he just seems like he likes to ruin people stuff)

Soap sleeps w/ socks on, no doubt. Socks and undies

Ghost sleeps w/o socks but seems like a sweatpants/no shirt kinda guy. and no underwear

Both these mfs sleep with flat ass, pancake ass, pillow(s). I just know it. Soap probs only has one and ghost seems like he would care a little more and have two.

[kirnet]

I love ur analysis of dsom. I read it a couple years ago and got so frustrated thinking "this is the book everyone is raving about??" The magic system and world has such potential but the characters drag it down. I remember a scene where Kell is up in his feelings about his whole. Incredibly fucked up "family situation". And Delilah is essentially like "well at least you HAVE a family". And the narrative seems to frame that interaction as her being cool and edgy and the voice of truth or whatever. And Kell is like. I guess youre right :( ill stop complaining. But the story doesnt grapple with that any further??? Doesnt use that moment to build out either character beyond "Delilah is so cool and also right (and an asshole but thats what makes her cool)" and "Kell's complex feelings about this are now solved/set aside after this clap back". Family is one of the themes of the book but even this scene doesnt really explore the concept in depth. I may be misremembering it but that one scene just summed up for me everything frustrating about the character writing and the way the story uses the characters. Maybe the issue is revisited in later books. I wouldnt know, bc very little about the writing makes me want to read any more.

Yeah!! Yeah!! That scene was… argh, you’re exactly right. The main source of frustration for Lila for me is that the narrative frames her as right almost always and especially in that instance. And like, if I’m willing to engage with it, it is a telling character moment of hypocrisy where Lila is lashing out in grief after losing Baron (?? I dont remember his name) and is displacing all those feelings onto Kell. But the way it’s handled, like you said, makes me assume that no, Schwab didn’t intend for it to be that deep. It’s so frustrating because the world and the characters have so much potential! With a few more drafts and edits this could be a really good book! But as it stands it’s a 400 page book with little to no plot, hardly any interesting character progression or arcs, boring flat fight scenes, and uninteresting prose. The masquerade scene is there bc she thought it sounded cool. The elements are there bc she thought atla is cool. The fake eye is there because she likes bebop. There’s no actual substance. I have read books half the length that have succeeded in all of these places. I’ve heard similar criticisms of her pacing in other books from people who did like darker shade so, idk, it sounds like she needs a better editor honestly.

And like, yeah, maybe this is revisited in later books, maybe her writing gets better, maybe the second book is fantastic. I honestly had a lot of the same criticisms when I read the Founders Trilogy, but the difference there was that i ADORED the characters and the world building. They were so solid that I HAD to continue even if i had some issues with the writing style and pacing. This series has none of that appeal for me. If she had ended it on a cliffhanger, if she had actually set up this world to be as dark and edgy as she thought it was, if Kell had to use his wits as a smuggler to survive in a place far from his family leading him to conclude that yes he does love them, if Lila had to fight to survive trapped in white london and then come to grips with her violent nature and that its not actually a positive, then I would be all over the rest of the series!! Idk, other reviews mentioned that they were disappointed with this after reading some of her other worlds like viscous, so maybe I’ll give that a try when I feel less burned.

[heirscrchd]

serious ask:

do you think azula met a/a few trans women during her time post atla?? what would her thoughts be??

(disclaimer: anon is trans)

Okay I'm going to be forward here, I don't know a lot about the subject of being Trans.

Identity for me is extremely difficult and while I could be considered under the umbrella of trans (I identify as sorta-NB, demi-girl? IDK where this falls) and sexuality also is extremely difficult for me to get into because of the complexities of it and how simple labels can be when we boil it down.

I don't know how to answer a lot of these difficult questions and I'll fully admit my ignorance and faults I've made.

I'm putting this under a cut so I don't put a giant post on the dash for people who don't want to get involved in it. Please let me know if you need this tagged

When I first made this blog I did see Azula more as a female-leaning bisexual with not a disinterest in men but more a lack of appeal towards them but wouldn't be entirely repulsed. After more speculation brought on by the mutuals I made here, I thought I might as well call her a lesbian and be flat out with it, but as me, personally, tends to be unsure how the term lesbian is seen in trans community for how Terfs like using it to discriminate against trans woman as they see lesbian as "females loving females"

I used the term lesbian and sapphic interchangeably in an attempt to be more inclusive to trans woman because there is a distinct difference between the complexities of sexuality with labels, social inclusivity, and how one personally might have a genital preference for certain sexes.

I have been informed and take responsibility that phrasing things this way does not help, or can do harm to lesbians and others by making it feel like it's a "bad" word so to speak. I accept that and you are in your full right to criticize me for it. I will do my best to keep this in mind going forward and you always are welcome to call me out for it in the future.

As to say, I'm not good and knowing how to address all this of a fictional character, let alone my own life! I call myself lesbian but I don't even know if that's true because sexuality is fluid the more we understand ourselves. My ow nsexuality has been difficult to understand with the deconstruction of what preferences are okay, what do i prefer, how my trauma impacts me being unabel to handle certai nthings, ive constantly been put into question of my label as lesbian because what if it is just my CSA trauma that stopped me from feeling safe with certain things that remind me of it, but i dont know how to fix it if it can be and i. i dont know

but its not something everyone will understand (sexuality and identity being flexible) because it can come off as "you can forcibly change someone's sexuality" which no. No I'm not saying that, but we can discover more about ourselves and change labels when we better understand ourselves and our likes and wants. (my gf for example identified as lesbian when we first met but under more analysis of herself she feels more comfortable being called pan now)

I don't genuinely know how to project all these complex thoughts onto a fictional character who in the canon is only like 14, and in the comics is 17, and genuinely am trying not to think about what the genital preference of a minor would be when they grow up because it lowkey makes me feel kinda gross.

When it comes to Azula, I don't think she personally holds any ill perspectives on trans women or trans men.

Azula holds a respect for power, honor, and a strong will. Whether the woman she speaks to or recuits is anywhere on the woman or non binary feminine leaning line or nb line in general I don't think she would discriminate against them.

I don't think Azula is a Terf, if that is what you're asking. Azula doesn't discriminate on that

she's very much someone who holds ill will towards people who personally harm her or slight her. Even the Earth kingdom and it's people she didn't hold an animosity for like she did Zuko, during the final Agni Kai, or even Mai and Ty Lee who she showed much more hatred towards for betraying her.

Trans people existing doesn't hurt Azula. Trans people living their lives, doesn't personally insult her.

Azula is fine with and would accept trans women and would accept them all the same as women or whatever they want to identify as.

*Edit, forgot to really answer the question: She probably had met at least a few trans individuals while traveling and wouldnt have any issue with them

** This also comes from Azula who was 110% fine with being called "Fire Lord" - Lord being what we see as a more masculine term than Fire Lady, so she 100% would be accepting of trans and NB individuals since she herself is willing to take on a masculine/male/whatever title despite identifying as a girl.

[cuntstable]

hmmmm okay going over my Thoughts on sbr now

over all it was pretty good id say. like johnny and gyro were wonderful characters and i really like how they grew over the story, like both actively developed as characters, which like while not unheard of in jojo before (notably jolyne develops even more as a protagonist than johnny i think) was still notable i think because they did so by learning from each other. their relationship really was the core of the story in a lot of ways and it worked for me…... and the story really was fun and cool at parts, from the early focus on the actual race to all the intrigue later on with the hunt for corpse parts. also the art was so pretty.

but honestly i do NOT see how people think that sbr is the best written jojo work, like i went into it wondering if it was maybe a bit overrated and i do feel like it is….. as a overall story i think p4 is better executed and as for thematic intrigue and interesting ideas stocean also has it beat. its like….. all the stuff with the holy corpse was interesting but the story got SOOO convoluted in the latter half. like even by jojo standards it felt really confusing and badly explained at times and failed to work IMO…… it was just too complex. that and over all sbr could have been streamlined A LOT like not only with the corpse parts but so many of the fights early on felt like they dragged on too… it did not need to be the longest jojo part by THAT MUCH…. also the ending fell a little flat with the au diego stuff, like it felt a bit pointless TO ME for the most part.

but all of that kinda pales in comparison to the gratuitous treatment of lucy. i dont automatically dislike the idea of araki trying to write about sa or even csa, since i find that stories that deal with them can be cathartic and important, even if its not 100% perfect. but the thing is it all felt like it was done for shock value more than anything else (not only with lucy but also with ringos childhood and valentines fathers torture). its all excessive and any believable emotions of horror araki might have tried to conjure with lucys assaults were ruined IMO by their excessiveness, the treatment of mountain tim as a hero, and the fact that araki himself would not stop drawing the 14 year old girl half naked (looking like an adult!) in incredibly sexualized poses both in general and also WHILE being assaulted by valentine. it was gratuoitous and tastless like i said and just makes any points that could be made about the subject ring really hollow to me.

anyways like i said earlier today sbr was a good story except for when it wasnt and when it wasnt it Really wasnt