#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

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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)

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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)

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

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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

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DM IT TO ME I'LL TELL YA

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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

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NO FULL REFUNDS

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[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.

[p3achpunch]

My Commission Board!

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FORM LINK: OPEN Peach's commission form

***I take about 3-5 openings for commissions***

email: dreaminglucid413@gmail.com

twitter: @SweetTamago2p

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General base price list

Quick Sketch 20 USD Headshot : 30 USD Half body/Hips up: 35 USD Full body: 50 USD Chibis 35 USD ***I am not at the moment accepting complex pieces, if I am accepting prices will be discussed through messaging.*** -The base price for each additional character is 10 USD (bust/torso), 15 USD (half body/thigh up) and 20 USD(full body). The base color prices 5 USD black and white/mono-coloring 10 USD flat coloring 15 USD for color and shading 20 USD for color, shading, and rendering

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Upon commissioning me you have agreed to the following terms;

General

Pricing and Terms of Service can change at any time. The ToS and pricing you are subject to is what is agreed upon at the time of the transaction.

The commissioned piece is a digital good only. No physical copy will be provided.

I reserve the right to refuse or cancel any commission.

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Payment will be made through PayPal invoice only.

The price list is only a general baseline. I will give you a final price estimation before I send you the invoice.

The initial agreed-upon price might change if major changes to the artwork are requested after the sketch has been approved.

Payment is made either 100% upfront or 50% upfront then 50% after the sketch is approved.

Cancellations are free of charge until the concept sketch is received. Once the cleaned sketch is received, cancellations will only be refunded up to 40% of the total commission value I received.

If the commission is canceled before I start working on it (either because you canceled the order, or if I cannot begin with your commission for any reason), you will get a full refund.

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The commissioned artwork is for personal use only, and is not permitted for commercial use without my permission. Any such use needs to be discussed with me beforehand.

Printing or making “merch” of the artwork is allowed as long as it’s for personal use only. It is ok to post for covers or art in fanfiction as long as you are not making a profit off my work.

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Don't use the artwork, or any previous iterations of it (sketch, progress updates) to train AI or generate AI images. Any use of AI concerning my work is strictly forbidden.

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Original characters

Fanart

Mechs ( depending on how complex the design may be)

Furry

NSFW ( you must be of age to request this)

Your pets

Any other requests that is not listed please feel free to ask

THINGS I WON’T DO

Gore (to an extent: so no organs falling out or stab in the eye stuff etc.)

Immoral or hateful content

anything that makes me uncomfortable

General commissioning info You can contact me via email, dreaminglucid413@gmail.com (or in my DMs), and give me a general gist of what you want me to draw! If it’s an OC or a character you think I haven’t drawn before; please provide some reference images. I’ll answer within a week, but if I don’t please check my twitter and tumblr for an update post! When you send me an email (or a DM) one of three things will happen:

 I’ll accept the commission or ask for more info!! Let’s go yeehaw!

I’ll reject it. I will message you to let you know if I can’t do it, but sometimes I won’t be able to. If I don’t answer within a week and there’s no update post on my twitter or tumblr just assume I won’t be able to do it.

I’ll put you on hold! I might not be able to do your commission immediately. But! I’m interested and willing to do it in the future when I’m capable of taking commissions again.

Time

Please understand that this is not my primary form of income and that I work and go to school. smaller pieces will take about 1 week-2weeks to finish once I have begun, larger complex pieces may take longer to up to a month.

Any further questions please do not hesitate to ask.

[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.

[avorbl]

Avor's Watchlist for weeks 48 + 49

We are in advent and the busy pre-christmas weeks dont leave much time for watching dramas. But looking at the list and the release calendars others are posting, there should be some time during holidays to catch up on the things I want to finish this year.

Currently Airing

Love Sick 2024 13/15 Lovesick has established itself as a solid weekly watch where I can just spend an hour of enjoyable television.

Fourever You 10/16 I should really check out the cut version of this because all the episodes have felt to long for the amount of plot they were conveying

Usotoki Rhetoric 8/10 The genre mix of episodic detective drama and fantasy apprenticeship really works. The theme of contrasting objective lies with harmful lies works well. Hopefully we get to know more about the detective’s background in the last episodes Suzuka Ouji’s acting is phenomenal but the character would remain a bit flat especially compared to the policeman.

Light of my Lion 7/11

See Your Love 8/13

Bad to Bed 6/10

Love in the Air Japan 6/10 The two part nature still feels a bit weird but the shorter runtime of each episode makes it more understandable along with the resulting highlight on the characters.

Our Youth / Miseinen 5/11 To see them so clearly needing each other but knowing that it wont last and the beautiful cinemaphotography really keep me enganged.

Fragrance you inherit 4/8 There is somthing explosive about this one. They are all so kind and thoughtful of each other but I cannot help to dread Kanae’ father.

Caged Again 5/10 Oh my sweet earbest children trying.

Your Sky 4/12 Oh my sweet earbest children trying.

The Heart Killers 3/12

Winter Is Not the Death of Summer but the Birth of Spring 10/21 So far this prison can proudly stand next to all the all boys school as the most BL setting ever created.

Seoul Blues: Spin-off 2/4 Seoul Blues needed a continuation but this is so different again that its probably better appreciated as a separate work. And then the second episode has us in full Battle of the Writers territory. It is really just them doing concepts is seems.

Spare Me Your Mercy 3/8 As long as we accept Tew being thoroughly charmed and fascinated by Kan from the first meeting this series works well enough

What I am catching up on

Unstoppable High Kick 29/167

The Princess Royal 27/40

Word of Honor 24/36

Playboyy 4/14

Still on my watch list

Fight for My Way 10/16

Tengu no Daidokoro Season 2 2/10

Polyethylene terephthalate 2: Even if it's just a dream that I'll forget when I wake up 5/8

Stealing from My CEO 16/61

Buddy Boy 5/?

Kiss x Kiss x Kiss: Love ii Shower 1/?

Secret Love 12/81

Finished in the last two weeks

Jack & Joker: U Steal My Heart! 25.11.24 6,5/10 Went out in a whimper. Too much of the resolution was put on a action packed finale which made the human and social endings feel rushed and like an afterthought .

The Nipple Talk 28.11.24 9/10 Queer community and three love stories. About choices we make to be happy. A celebration.

Latex 28.11.24 8,5/10 I am not sure how far I am supposed to interpret the central metaphor. But I am thankful that Matchbox still puts out these decidely queer stories.

Everyone Is a Stupid 30.11.24 8/10 Short film about the negative impact school has on (queer) youth an institution. In the form of two childhood friends finding back together and thereby finding confidence.

Blue Canvas of Youthful Days 01.12.24 9/10 This is probably the series I made the most notes for. Ultimately it fails at its success in getting released. For a series that so meticulously proceeds from one point to the next the happy ending time skip felt out of place and undermines the the cautionary message it means to convey.

Love is Like a Poison 03.12.24 8,5/10 Liked the colour story in the end. The actual ending felt too forced. Making it so personal strechted the believability too far.

Blue Complex 07.12.24 8/10 It builds up the relationship to the other two well. Their mental states are believable and well portrayed but it falls in the trap of the one saving moment. While tha might work for a mental block preventing you from swimming its ridiculous in the face of a suicidal depression the camaderie and saving moment have to be followed up by professional help to not ring hollow.

Let's Eat Together Aki and Haru: More Please! 07.12.24 10/10 The perfect slice of life about the importance of staying true to yourself . With strong colours. A wholesome story to pick you up.

[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.

[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

[itoendme]

comparing vinland saga to everything under the sun bc my brain refuses to think about anything else pt i dont even know anymore

Some obvious parallels can be drawn between Vinland Saga and the 2004 anime Black Cat, a show that has similar themes about the futility of violence and revenge. I watched black cat a long time ago, but, when I was thinking about the parallels, I rewatched the first couple of episodes to refresh my memory.

To put it rather bluntly, black cat was trying to be what vinland saga is. When I put aside all the nostalgia I have for it, it kind of falls flat. while i think thorfinn is one of the best and most complex characters in all of anime, train (aside from having a very stupid name) sort of fails as a character because his development doesn’t make sense. let me explain.

thorfinn and train both lose parents at a young age, and are raised in an environment that causes them to become desensitized to violence. however, while thorfinn is forced to leave the battlefield when he is sold into slavery, train chooses to leave his life if violence behind him… except he doesn’t really. train gives up his weapon in an attempt to force the option of killing out of his life, but fails spectacularly as he gets it back only like a day later, and continues to find ways to justify hurting and killing people.

the main difference between thorfinn and train is that, while thorfinn is tormented by his past and the guilt he feels for sacrificing other people’s lives for his own personal goals, train looks towards the future and honestly seems to feel no remorse for all the lives he has taken. everything train does is for his own personal gain, yet it is portrayed by the series as a redemption. Thorfinn’s development is prompted by the events of the story, and it is only after he is off the battlefield that he is able to look at it from a new perspective. In train’s case, he chooses to leave chronos of his own accord, after saya prompts him to think about how he wants to move forward with his life. However, train’s desire to change his lifestyle at this point in the story is curious, as he continues to live as a sweeper with no qualms, and he even goes on to kill multiple people after this ‘revelation’ that killing people isn’t good. Like they try to make out that he’s had character growth when he hasn’t really grown at all. Being able to choose who he thinks it’s okay to kill instead of killing whoever he’s told doesn’t really make him a better person. Honestly it makes me sad because he had potential to be a good character. He had the potential to be thorfinn, but he just fell so, so flat.

i dont want to talk too much about world building because obviously vinland saga is set in the real world and black cat is set in a fictional one, but the politics in the black cat universe just make zero sense. chronos makes no sense as an organization. how do they have so much money when all they really do is kill people without even collecting a bounty? they own the economy but somehow no one knows anything about it? they run the world and are above the government but there’s only one location? no international branches or anything? we need better world building PLEASE

sorry had to rant there. moving on, i want to talk about more character parallels because askeladd and creed serve a similar purpose in their respective stories. They both kill someone close to the main character, leading the main characters to seek revenge. However, there is one glaring difference: the fact that thorfinn is clearly more obsessed with askeladd than askeladd is with him. while askeladd sees thorfinn as sort of wasted potential compared to thors and just uses him as a tool to do his dirty work because he can, creed is /obsessed/ with train. its no question that creed is more obsessed with train than train is with him, which is a little weird, because creed literally killed train’s kind-of-girlfriend, and train sort of seems to forget about it for long periods of time and only seems to care when he’s reminded of the evdntd or when creed is right in front of him, whereas the only reason creed has to be obsessed with train is that he’s good at killing people. (sorry that was a crazy run-on sentence but this is my self-indulgent tumblr blog, not a literary journal.) thorfinn and askeladd’s relationship makes sense because the characters emotions align with their actions. thorfinn is angry because askeladd took the thing he loved most in the world, his father, away from him, and he dedicates his life to killing askeladd because he isn’t ready to let go of thors. askeladd shows admiration for thors, and when he sees thorfinn walk willingly into the environment thors died to keep him away from, he is disappointed with thorfinn, and decides to use thorfinns hatred for him to his own advantage, because he knows thorfinn wont give up. this relationship between them develops gradually in the eleven years they spend together until it gets to the point where thorfinn admits that he no longer hates askeladd, and askeladd, on his deathbed, actively encourages thorfinn to do something more productive with his life. In contrast, the relationship between train and creed doesn’t delelop at all, and, as i previously mentioned, they way they feel about each other doesn’t particularly align with the actual events of the story. the power dynamics are also insanely different. askeladd undoubtedly holds power over thorfinn, using thorfinn’s own motivation against him. askeladd is so good at manipulating thorfinn that, no matter how strong thorfinn got, he was never able to defeat askeladd in a fight. contrarily, in black cat, train holds power over creed. creed basically spends the entire series simping for train, and train continually refuses to give him the time of day, despite the fact that (and i need to reiterate this) CREED KILLED HIS GIRLFRIEND. train should not be the one with power in this relationship. if he truly hated creed, creed would be able to use that against him, giving him the upper hand. Thorfinn’s character development is gradual and clearly shown, whereas train’s priorities sort of just change on a whim. He doesn’t really develop he just suddenly changes with no real indication, or there’s an implication of ‘the character development happened during a time skip’ which vinland saga also does, but, in vinland saga, the motivation for change is clear and believable. train is an enigma, and not in a good way. He doesn’t make sense. He had the potential to be interesting but then his entire character went to shit because the writers failed to develop him properly. maybe it would have been better if it weere a longer show and there was more time to explain the development. i also know that the manga is slightly different, but i haven’t read it, so maybe everything makes more sense in that, but the anime feels like a half-assed attempt at a complex show.

honestly a lot of the time i shy away from media with ‘good messages’ because it can often feel preachy. and in truth, vinland saga can get a bit preachy sometimes, especially in the vinland colonization arc. what i like so much about vinland saga is not the messages it conveys, but how it conveys them. i think vinland saga is good because there’s a compelling storyline with complex and well-developed characters which it uses to convey its themes. in black cat, the characters and the word are severely underdeveloped, which makes the story fail to convey anything. as a disclaimer, i didnt intend to hate on black cat so much when i started thinking about this, i just got really heated. this was supposed to be an analysis of why vinland saga works so well, but I guess im just a hater at heart.

in any case, just another unhinged rant for the books.